absolutely fine

goodwin had to go after the aints loss

now to clear out the rest - richardson (who i think will stay due to soft cap issues), griffiths, williams, and probably chaplin unless he's contracted

playing list changes happen next

After trawling diligently through the now four applicable threads?

Anaesthetised.

Edited August 5Aug 5 by Timothy Reddan-A'Blew

I’m setting up a group that exists of men dancing naked around a bomb fire with sage sticks chanting Satanic verses at the MCG. Wanna join my group?

I’m fine. 🧐🤨🥴

It’s a mixed bag.

I won’t miss forward connection being a weekly discussion point, assuming the next person can do something meaningful to fix it.

I won’t miss the wooden media performances and public appearances trotting out meaningless, maddening cliches.

As brutal as the timing seems, it can be rationalised. The results haven’t been there.

So there’s some relief. Some trepidation.

But the predominant feeling is reflecting on the fact we owe the man a debt of thanks. No one can take 2021 away from him or us.

He’ll be remembered fondly for what he did for the club and so he should be.

43 minutes ago, Ethan Tremblay said:

I just watched the Goody segment on AFL360 followed by his press conference. Fair to say that I didn’t ’nut up’ and that I fought back tears.

Yeh, it’s a bit rough. It’s like a break up and you can’t call them even know you want to.

It was the right call, however it’s I guess hard to move on just yet, so used to him being our leader.

Should be good in about…. 2 days I’d say is good enough.

27 minutes ago, whatwhat say what said:

absolutely fine

goodwin had to go after the aints loss

now to clear out the rest - richardson (who i think will stay due to soft cap issues), griffiths, williams, and probably chaplin unless he's contracted

playing list changes happen next

I just want to fast forward to 2026 to see where we sit, personal wise.

I'm grateful. Grateful for the Legend. Premiership Coach. Brought home the cup after 57 years in the wilderness. An immortal of the Melbourne Football Club. Thank you Simon Goodwin. You will always be remembered as a Demon hero.

2 hours ago, joeboy said:

A few years ago we rid ourselves of the Norm Smith curse after a coach was unreasonably removed …,,

It’s neither unreasonable and sensational.

Just a humdrum change of coach that has had an underperforming team for 2 years now (4 years if we are nasty about it - but right).

I’m disappointed but this is the game, I just hope he considers himself a Demon for the reunions.

This was not a surprise and I think it’s the right decision. It’s also the easiest decision. Much harder ones to come.

Slightly off topic but couldn't help but think about Neal Bullen's great escape from all this madness.

What timing this man has, friggen impeccable.

Edited August 5Aug 5 by YesitwasaWin4theAges

1 minute ago, YesitwasaWin4theAges said:

How about Neal Bullen's great escape from all this madness.

What timing this man has.

A hair behind Gus in the "Magic Formula" rankings.

Sad for Goody, you could/can see how much he cares about the club and those sorts of people are hard to come by. We can talk all day about whether he was the right man for the job this/next year, but none of that changes the joy he brought to the club. We will always have that pure euphoria of 2021. The bang bang bang. The most devastating qtr of footy in a GF ever. Maybe even finals series.

But for whatever reason Goody AND the club/ players just could not get things to click in the last two years. We could have won a flag in ‘23 if not for some bad luck. Fight me.

He did right by us and he’s a Dee for life as far as I’m concerned, regardless of where he goes next. And he will land OK.

Sad for Goody and the ‘what might have been’ had it clicked next year. I love a good redemption story, but we won’t get it now.

Im okay. This had to happen in order for us to turn the corner but I do feel it's a long , wide corner we need to get through. We are a fair way off being a top team again.

I do feel for Goody. The club just seems so unstable and it's not all his doing that lead us here. I hope his replacement gets a revitalised, stable group behind him.

End of an era, but it's a new dawn.

I want to be optimistic but I just can’t find it in any believable way. It’s the official end of such an exciting era and I think so many of Goodys qualities will be missed. I miss him already.

Will we ever see another era like it? Another collection of stars like it? I’m in no way certain we will.

The real question is, how is Demonland’s server holding up?

My 29-day-old has been upset all day ever since I told him.

I'm accepting of the events that have transpired, but as anyone who reads my rants will know, my deepest fear is a club turgid with factional bile, where every new decision is instantly contested as much for the 'side' which made it as for the merits of the decision.

I am also conscious of my own urge to 'get involved' somehow... which is exactly the honorable intent that has driven so many perfectly earnest supporters into conflict.

In the end, whoever the new coach is, I'll be doing my best to stay humble and patient and give them time to make their mark.

After all, one must remember that I have been granted a personal prophecy of a Demon 2028 premiership. Third year of new coach with a nicely mixed list to work with seems about right.

1 hour ago, Lou C. Fur said:

I'm grateful. Grateful for the Legend. Premiership Coach. Brought home the cup after 57 years in the wilderness. An immortal of the Melbourne Football Club. Thank you Simon Goodwin. You will always be remembered as a Demon hero.

Yep summed up well, but as iterated many times, I would have let him go two seasons ago, but I can be a ruthless bstard!

It had to happen but that doesn't mean breakups aren't hard.

For me it's been a day to reflect on the success we've had under Goodwin, the 2018 finals series and 2021 will never be topped. The start of 2022 when it felt like we owned the comp and we'd never lose again was a feeling I never thought I'd experience.

Tomorrow will be the time to look ahead to what's coming next.

I am genuinely the happiest I've been about something footy related since the flag, didn't think the club would have the balls to do it.

Thanks for the flag Simon but to be honest I'm not gonna miss you one bit 🥳

@layzie said it's like no other coach sacking. I disagree. As a 13 year old I'd seen us raise the cup in 1964. After 12 rounds in 1965 we were 9-3. We sacked Norm Smith. It took us 57 years to win another flag. Perish the thought we'll have a repeat of 'The curse of Norm Smith'.

Having said all that, another flag would never have come with Simon at the helm.

Last point, I'll love Simon and my Dees until I die for bringing me such joy that September night.

Edited August 5Aug 5 by M_9

I'm annoyed we have someone at that club that can't keep their mouth shut.

Someone leaked that news out to jay Clark & morris.

It's not the first time either obviously.

22 minutes ago, dees189227 said:

I'm annoyed we have someone at that club that can't keep their mouth shut.

Someone leaked that news out to jay Clark & morris.

It's not the first time either obviously.

So WHO IS THE BLABBERMOUTH, OR has it been leaked tactically??

I’m a romantic idealist — so yes, I’m heartbroken.

After 25 September 2021, I truly believed we were at the dawn of something eternal. I assumed, unquestioningly, that glory would compound. That we would refine, elevate, and become the envy of the competition. More premierships felt not only possible, but inevitable — mere steps on a path that seemed preordained.

And for 10 glorious games in 2022, that belief held. The dream still shimmered.

But then... the reality bus arrived. And it didn’t just stop — it ran us over, reversed, and left a burning wreck in its wake. The post-premiership landscape now looks like the beach scene from Apocalypse Now. We’ve been napalmed by the four horsemen of the footballing apocalypse: denial, rigidity, hubris, and tactical stagnation.

The once-grand vision of an enduring empire lies in ruin — scattered on the turf like a broken game plan. And the architects of that dream now ride off into the next chapter, leaving behind the rubble for others to sweep up, reflect on, and try — somehow — to rebuild.

As Dostoevsky wrote: “Your worst sin is that you have destroyed and betrayed yourself for nothing.”

And that’s the part that stings the most. Not that we fell — but that we did it to ourselves.

I feel like something has died. Some of those players owe him a huge apology. Pathetic

Perfectly fine.

It’s a ball game and Goodwin is a millionaire.