Gary Lyon pretty much says that before you can fix a problem, you have to be able to admit there is one.

I've said quite a few times that this club is in more trouble then we think it is, both off and ON the field. Everytime I say I think we're going to have a terrible year, I get the typical, "Have faith" or "I'm sick if people like you...blah blah BLAH!"

I'm not crying. I'm not angry. I'm just being realistic. This club is an absolute rabble. Gardner won't admit it, Bailey isn't in a position yet (only early stages of career) to admit it. Also, how on earth can a man with a full-time position successfully lead a club in the presidency? I've got no doubt Gardner is a great business man, but we've gone backwards. He's found us a home, granted, but anyone really could have done that. Instead of being where Hawthorn is and was after only 3 years after the 96 debacle, we're still down the bottom on memberships and finances.

Also, I sincercely believe that the only reason Daniher was with us as long as he was, was because the board wanted it to be a last resort (sacking him). He's still getting paid, isn't he? Even if his not, he was consistently inconsistent and we achieved nothing under him. Don't say we made the GF, because his teams down years overtook that GF appearence.

MFC is a rabble. No, that's an understatement. This club is at a crossroad, with no GPS, no watch, no water, no phone. Nothing. One road takes it to success. The other takes is to death. We're half-way down the road to death. We went up the right road for a while, but suddenly, we've walked back and headed down the other.

Many of you bag the AFL and its actions. I bless them. Without the AFL, we wouldn't be here. Our "profit" (if you can call a few hundred K a profit when other clubs are making millions) was because of the AFL hand-out. Without it, we would have been in the red, even with record membership. That's disgraceful. They say membership means a lot, yet we would have been in the red if not for the AFL, Even with record membership.

Believe it or not, I'm looking forward to this year. You know why? Because I'm very, very, VERY curious to see where and how my membership money gets put to use during a terrible time.

It helped that you used an abundance of facts to back up your argument...

Sobering and realistic post there CBoy

Why doesn't Lyon do something about the problem, rather than just write a couple of paragraphs that we don't already know about. If his mate JB can get off his ass and do something about his beloved Roos, then why can't Garry do the same.

...

You do realise that EVERY club gets handouts from the AFL. Some of the big clubs actually get more than we do, inclusive of our so-called 'competitive balance fund' money. The difference is they get it under the guise of pro-rata distributions based on who draws the most people to games, who has the most tv-viewers, etc. If the AFL had 2 brain-cells to rub together, they would realise that putting the stigma of the CBF upon us actually doesn't do us any favours at all.

Having said that, yes, we are presently a rabble. The AFL does little more than the bare minimum to help us, however. I should also add that they are not obliged to do any more, but they can't go potting us, having done their level best to crash our 150th party and commandeer it for themselves.

is the article online ?

Sobering and realistic post there CBoy

Why doesn't Lyon do something about the problem, rather than just write a couple of paragraphs that we don't already know about. If his mate JB can get off his ass and do something about his beloved Roos, then why can't Garry do the same.

With all due respect Powelly, Not every one wants to be president. Harsh reality is what Garry wrote is sopt on, and yes, most of us know the plight, but coming from a club favourite, it carries alot of weight. I think Garry does a helluva lot for this club, dont forget what a great servant he was, and just because he wont be president, does not mean he does not care and is not doing anything.

........

Before you pat yourself too hard on the back, Lyon's comments stated nothing that has been regularly and routine discussed on this site for years. The problems have been there for some time and well know.

He said nothing new and the article was lightweight and suited the media's desire to kick something when its down.

The issues are not an easy turn around at MFC.

CB I dont know why you need to overrate the reaction to your comments. There is usually a vacuum of fact and a wealth of hyberbole. Just for your information ND is not contracted to the Club and we are not still paying him. What you believe and what is fact seem to be fair way apart.

BBP, despite the media attention James Brayshaw has acheived little at North. That not to decry his efforts. But its a pin [censored] in the ocean. I spoke to a NM official who said that they dont expect membership numbers to grow much above where they are now as they believe that all people that will buy a membership have done so. In addition he did not believe that this year's membership performance will be sustainable given the member turnover. Which ever way you look at it commercially North are stuffed.

Correct Diablo about other Clubs receiving handouts. Only 2 of the Victorian clubs are stand alone profitable. But if you follow CB's hyperbole you would think we are the only basketcase and oh yes ......we are a rabble and that's an understatement!

is the article online ?

a herald sun will set you back $1.10.

Garry has an insight that nearly every other media pundit looking to stick the knife in doesn't have. His words carry far more weight.

Should he make the decision to not enter coaching, he is our next President. We need the public profile.

And I wouldn't knock what Brayshaw has done in a short space of time at North, he's raised capital that has allowed them to expand their footy department for the first time in roughly a decade, and with yesterdays Government grant and more fundraising they'll have a $3m upgrade for Arden St. They might be a long way off the Collingwoods of the world but they are taking steps forward, and that has to be respected.

This topic has been discussed in a couple of threads and I won't repeat everything but here is a summary of Gardner's achievement (please note that I am far from his biggest fan but you have to acknowledge his good wotk):

- Olympic Park will happen, the delay is not his fault

- Record membership of 28k in a very poor year

- Reduced debt

- Increased expenditure to the footy department

Not bad for a bloke who has apparently done a terrible job. Sometimes I think that people have forgotten what state the club was in when he came into power, remember we had lost over $5m over the space of just 2 years. He will probably leave us at the end of the year but he has set us up so we have a chance for survival in the future, after Szondy left we were as good as dead.

Whilst I'm all for strapping Chri$ Judda$ to a dunking chair to determine whether Cartel Football Club tanked or not I am not too impressed with the witch hunt going on re our own Board on this forum

Some people seem to think a President can deliver a premiership Not even Eddie Mceeveerywhere has been able to do that for the filth.

Whilst there have been negatives - the handling of ND's departure and the high admin staff turnover, there have been some very good things; the reduction of debt mountain, the increase in overall membership numbers during the tenure, new training premises, and the restructuring the club.

Remember that the board members have committed a lot of time to help steer the club through what were pretty dire circumstances [time they could all have spent on far more lucrative personal pursuits...or even with their family].

Before you pat yourself too hard on the back, Lyon's comments stated nothing that has been regularly and routine discussed on this site for years. The problems have been there for some time and well know.

He said nothing new and the article was lightweight and suited the media's desire to kick something when its down.

The issues are not an easy turn around at MFC.

CB I dont know why you need to overrate the reaction to your comments. There is usually a vacuum of fact and a wealth of hyberbole. Just for your information ND is not contracted to the Club and we are not still paying him. What you believe and what is fact seem to be fair way apart.

BBP, despite the media attention James Brayshaw has acheived little at North. That not to decry his efforts. But its a pin [censored] in the ocean. I spoke to a NM official who said that they dont expect membership numbers to grow much above where they are now as they believe that all people that will buy a membership have done so. In addition he did not believe that this year's membership performance will be sustainable given the member turnover. Which ever way you look at it commercially North are stuffed.

Correct Diablo about other Clubs receiving handouts. Only 2 of the Victorian clubs are stand alone profitable. But if you follow CB's hyperbole you would think we are the only basketcase and oh yes ......we are a rabble and that's an understatement!

You have missed the point of the article.

We all know the problems have been discussed in various forums for some time now.

Garry's point is the time has come for the the club to acknowledge the seriousness of the situation. it's no longer acceptable for our Chairman to focus on the few positive aspects of the club. Paul Gardner's outlook is not shared by MFC supporters, hence the non existent growth of our supporter base, poor financial position etc.

Putting our problems in the too hard basket is counter productive Rhino.

Why should it take a North Melbourne type scenario for the club to realise the gravity of our situation.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl...6-19742,00.html

You have missed the point of the article.

We all know the problems have been discussed in various forums for some time now.

Garry's point is the time has come for the the club to acknowledge the seriousness of the situation. it's no longer acceptable for our Chairman to focus on the few positive aspects of the club. Paul Gardner's outlook is not shared by MFC supporters, hence the non existent growth of our supporter base, poor financial position etc.

Putting our problems in the too hard basket is counter productive Rhino.

Why should it take a North Melbourne type scenario for the club to realise the gravity of our situation.

And if you think that pundits on a forum are more informed about Club financial matters and other issues plaguing the Club then you are indeed naive. Far from playing the hard basket routine, i think the Club has actually had the guts to address some of the long term issues. Home base, debt and membership are not easy fixes. FCS, they have just dumped the CEO on the basis that he is not meeting Kpi's and putting in place

The Club for sometime has acknowledged the seriousness of the situation. I do not expect a Chairman of the Club to perform a warts and all digression of the Clubs issues in front of the media. Generally Gardner has been quite media savvy in the way he has handled himself in the media and it would be ludricious for him to make negative comments about the Club in public to satisfy a couple of pessimistic agony aunts.

It does not take a North Melbourne scenario for the Club to realise the gravity of the situation because we are and have been a NM scenario for the last 10 years. This current administration has realised that for some time. Have you?

Dont fool yourself that anyone on the MFC board sees it rosier than it is.

Dont fool yourself that anyone on the MFC board sees it rosier than it is.

I agree. I find PG to be quite realistic. I said today on a similar thread PG has shifted the momentum and addressed issues that have been ignored for 25 years. He has found us a home and yes record membership was a great achievement (however it won't mean as much if we don't hit the 30,000K mark this year).

The ND departure was not handled perfectly but most importantly the decision was right and made at the right time. PG and SH gave us the best opportunity to appoint the best available coach. Carlton, Essendon and Fremantle all appointed assistants. Whether they were the right people for the jobs, only time will tell. However I'm extremely happy the MFC undertook a proper process which led to the appointment of the best candidate, not the one that was already there.

None of this would have been an issue if we had won even a couple NAB cup games. Stop looking for faults in our president just because our team hasn't performed on the track.

I stand by PG, and I think MFC is better served by people on this forum sticking behind him.

And if you think that pundits on a forum are more informed about Club financial matters and other issues plaguing the Club then you are indeed naive. Far from playing the hard basket routine, i think the Club has actually had the guts to address some of the long term issues. Home base, debt and membership are not easy fixes. FCS, they have just dumped the CEO on the basis that he is not meeting Kpi's and putting in place

The Club for sometime has acknowledged the seriousness of the situation. I do not expect a Chairman of the Club to perform a warts and all digression of the Clubs issues in front of the media. Generally Gardner has been quite media savvy in the way he has handled himself in the media and it would be ludricious for him to make negative comments about the Club in public to satisfy a couple of pessimistic agony aunts.

It does not take a North Melbourne scenario for the Club to realise the gravity of the situation because we are and have been a NM scenario for the last 10 years. This current administration has realised that for some time. Have you?

Dont fool yourself that anyone on the MFC board sees it rosier than it is.

You may be satisfied with the progress being made by the Gardner administration, but I expect more from my football club.

Debt and membership are issues that face all football clubs, not just ours. Hawthorn, St Kilda and to a lesser extent the Bulldogs have been able to make far greater progress in comparison.

The threat of relocation at North Melbourne has galvanised their supporter base. I don't see the AFL offering to move us anywhere just yet...

However with your head in the sand attitude, this won't be far away.

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/sport/afl...6-19742,00.html

thanks Mousey...must 've been hiding from me..lol

A very 'average' effort in many respects.. from our point of view. The 'our' being the many that discuss it ad nauseum almost.. Some folk out there in public land might not be so au fait with it all..so for them it might be news. Certainly not for us!! We know all this. We've ben yelling and carrying on about it for ages

The New CEO has his work cut out.. and he needs to start yesterday.

Melbourne needs to think outside of the box. The little box that is Melbourne on the map really offers us very little.

Thanks Garry...but nothing new there mate !!

as like Everything Gaddy Lyon says or writes, its hardly illuminating.

I love the guy as our favourite son, but he sits on the fence more than a politician.

Say SOMETHING Gaddy !!!! Yes we know we are in financial strife, yes you even repeated we are looking to get a permanent summer training home, but can you suggest anything, what road we should take.

I give far more credit to someone who takes action and stuffs up.

just once i would like Gaddy to have a definite opinion on something.

Snore.

Way to summarise current opinion, Garry, tell us something we don't know.

Lets look at the other side of the coin also.

Last years problem that Garry says need addressing.

2007 no coach - 2008 solved

2007 no were to train- 2008 Connoly a long way into getting

summer training venue at Casey fields

2007 very small profit- 2008 new CEO new plan

2007 no home -2008 new home starting to be built

These seems to be somethings being done around the place

Snore.

Way to summarise current opinion, Garry, tell us something we don't know.

Agree. What a pointless article. Garry, actions speak louder than (written) words. Get that group of former players together and firing, I wanna see them outside the MCG signing up members on Sunday!

Lets look at the other side of the coin also.

Last years problem that Garry says need addressing.

..............................

These seems to be somethings being done around the place

I think this is a reasonable outlook also. Its very easy to say nothing ever changes.. but it is. just slowly !!

Yep we got buggered around wtih Bubbledome; wasnt our fault..and nothing we could do. yes it sucks.. but hey.

We havent fallen apart at the seems..we've gone quietly about fixing what we can..its probably the QUITENESS that disconcerns some as there is no brass bands anf ballyhoo to get all gung ho about.

Right this very moment my only beef is that MFC have dropped the 150 a bit and let theAFL run with it..

lets see what unfolds

You may be satisfied with the progress being made by the Gardner administration, but I expect more from my football club.

Debt and membership are issues that face all football clubs, not just ours. Hawthorn, St Kilda and to a lesser extent the Bulldogs have been able to make far greater progress in comparison.

The threat of relocation at North Melbourne has galvanised their supporter base. I don't see the AFL offering to move us anywhere just yet...

However with your head in the sand attitude, this won't be far away.

If you had been reading this site I have taken issue with the Board but that would not fit with your uninformed generalisation.

Have you actually done the hard yards on this?

Nah. Its easy to take broad brush swipes. Despite your woe is us attitude I dont think the Hawks, Bulldogs or the Saints are much further ahead than us. They do enjoy both community and membership numbers support (and have some time) but financially they are not sound.

If you think NM's supporter base is galvanised you would believe anything.

Thanks for the floss.

We need help from former players who can drive the elusive corporate support essential to the bottomline.

How is writing negative articles about Melbourne going to do that Gary?

If you think we're in trouble, come in and help, instead of publicly sinking the boot in. Yes he is a journalist, but I thought he was a Melbourne man first.

And where were you last night when PG was staring you in the face? Why didn't you speak up then?