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Right, I'm already loving this bloke. Finally someone with the cojones to point fingers, rattle cages and get to the bottom of how and why a football team can lose to another by 186 points. Did we really think there'd be no-one with their nose put out of joint by this brave and radical new tack? Be prepared for more heavy losses and stinging news articles because its slash-and-burn time at the MFC and only the strong of mind will survive. Mark Neeld is on the right track and should have our full support.

How is Jack Watts escaping blame for all this?

If it's a waste of money recruiting Clark (and it's not) imagine how big a waste it would have been if we hadn't got him and they'd spent it on pay rises for our senior 'stars'.

Lol it really is just one thing after another now. This season has exhausted me, and it's only the beginnning of round 2! We have this and a shellacking at Subi to deal with in the ensuing days. I was a wise girl to hitch my wagon to this star lol

Dean Rioli Twitter: As an Indigenous past player I am ashamed to have Jason Misfud as the voice of our mob. how can anyone in the football world trust this man

I'm starting to really think the media saturation of AFL is slowly turning me off the game. There's simply too many journos all trying to outdo each other with any tiny piece of irrelevant c rap they can lay their hands on. So Beamer said "the coach" BIG #$^$#ing DEAL! Neeld said "i" instead of "we" - are you serious?? It's partly my fault for watching 360, Footy Classified, twitter, forums like this etc so I guess I only have myself to blame but honestly, some of the absolute c rap that passes as a story these days in quite staggering.

Grant Thomas said it shows something that Moloney referred to the coach as 'coach' and not to his name. What an absolutely stupid comment. Talk about reading way too much into a comment. What's wrong with saying 'the coach'? What difference does it make if he says his name or 'the coach'? You cannot read anything into that. Thomas is just looking for a way to back up his opinion, because at the moment he has nothing to support his criticism of Neeld. Anyway, I've heard Brad Green repeatedly say "Neeldy" in a number of interviews, so there's Grant Thomas' theory down the toilet. There is nothing that can be read into saying "Mark", "Neeld", "Neeldy", "coach", etc., especially in a one-off comment.

If you heard the interview last night then I will ask you this How do you actually know what the game plan is ? Neeld stated clearly that the plan wasnt successfully executed and it has a long way to go before the players play as he would like. We bemoaned last year that we played uncontested footy but we have the reverse this year - we went at 52% of our possessions being contested - unheard of. ( geelong averaged last year 39% and Swans who are the benchmark for contested footy go at 44%). It seems the players have to an extent taken on his message of getting the contested footy but Neeld said he was worried about the overall possession count. What we are missing is the uncontested footy - this comes from not running and spreading hard enough. Criticising the game plan at this stage is like saying " I really hated the film the godfather - I walked out during the opening credits"

I, like everyone else on this site, don't know the truth. Many were quick to defend Neeld against the allegations, not condemn him until proven guilty, and accept his denial (as am I). Why is it that half the posters on this site were so quick to condemn Davey? Now Davey has made a statement denying involvement in the story. Do we give him the same benefit? Davey is condemned at the moment because he is perceived as 'soft' and is out of form. People have decide that he is a 'sook'. We don't know Aaron Davey. We don't know his character.We don't know what's in his heart. I hope that the posters who are so quick to condemn him are equally ready to apologise for the slurs and inferences they have made if he proves to be innocent. I suspect they won't! Dee-Luded went as far as to say - "...At the very least the Indigenous boys should front the Full Leadership group One at a Time, to either Fess Up, or explain what or who has said what to Mifsud...said the club should line up the indigenous players and demand an explanation." How would you feel if you were an indigenous person? You were lined up, and asked and asked to "fess up" or explain to the leadership group? .... You were treated as a suspect BECAUSE YOU WERE INDIGENOUS! Do you realise how racist this is? I am so saddened and angered by the attitudes that surface when indigenous issues are raised on this site.

i think many are just afraid at admitting that we need to undergo another mini re-build. Not the likes of 08/09, but one all the same. "we're perpetually re-building" they think. Well, time for home-truths. What DB and Co were planning wasn't working, in fact it seems like it's done more damage than good. I want to see my team in the finals again. What i don't want to see, is for us to be a finals regular but only good enough for semi's. Building on what we have now would just be covering up the cracks. We need to re-lay some of the foundations. If we want to be a serious threat, we need to do things right. It's funny how the right way is usually the harder way. I'm young enough to feel like i have a good chance at witnessing a premiership, my 51 year old dad however, is this close to just not giving a damn. All the same and with due respect to him, taking the easier option and believing what we have is enough with a few bells and whistles, will ultimately have us end up right where we started. Do it right. If it takes a little bit longer, then so be it. Anything worth doing, is worth doing right.

It's too late for that though, Stuie. Things did fall apart. Dramatically. I love the fact that he says he's not surprised we got done. He knows what he's got himself into. Clearly under no illusions. He can be judged on his tactical coaching ability at a later date. There are bigger fish to fry now. And that's the changing of a culture at a football club.

I'm no genius but if the source is a senior indigneous players at Melbourne then that narrows the suspects down to one.

FMD - you couldn't make crazy [censored] like this up if you tried!

As for Misfud, this is now twice that he has resorted to trial by media rather than moving through the proper channels. There are procedures in place to deal with any apparent racism in the game and administration, and he has taken it upon himself to not follow them and instead to simply put it into the public forum and force the issue. This is a totally unacceptable approach and he can not be allowed to continue in such a sensitive position. In my job I too have access to sensitive and often confidential information. I can say with absolute certainty that if I were to make any of this information public knowledge I would be sacked the moment I was found out and rightly so. I can not understand how the billion dollar business of the AFL does not follow the same standards.

Hi all, Long time reader, first time poster. With the negative sentiment in the press that seems to have surrounded the club in past few weeks (some here would argue years), coupled with the loss of Jim, culminating in the defeat on the weekend, I feel like some perspective is in order as to the direction of our club. First of all I'll start by saying I agree that now is definately the time to buy into the new regime - my reasoning/ranting is detailed below: We have installed individuals at the helm that come from fostering cultures of success, who are well aware of the hard work and application needed by all to achieve a common goal - the difference from past coaching groups is that we have moved from appointing 'developmental' types who persevere with 'blind faith', to those who are unwavering in their pursuit of a winning culture. Mark Neeld has made reference on a number of occasions to players taking different amounts of time to adjust to not only a new gameplan, but a totally different way of thinking. In this repect it is human nature for some to reject change, more so from those who are older and have more ingrained sets of beliefs. I believe that we saw all those elements listed above at play on the weekend, with; 1. the younger hands to some extent embracing a different style of play before droppping off in intensity after half time 2. the older/senior players failing to embrace a different mindset, reverting back to old un-accountable football when the going got tough 3. the media and some melbourne supporters taken back by Neeld's brutal response at his first post game conf, failing to realise that this in my opinion is the ideal reaction of a man who does not accept mediocrity as an excuse. Following on from this, we will see over the coming months who of our playing group actively embraces what is expected of them. For those who haven't already shown commitment, they will be relegated to the 2's, for those who fail to do so by seasons end, they will be traded/delisted allowing the way for new recruits & fresh faces who are easily molded to the new set of standards. It is in this natural (& forced) attrition cycle that we will truely develop a premiership list - as many have said; change takes time. What is clear to me now is that we finally have the backbone & direction to make it happen, irrespective of talent on paper or top draft picks. It is cliche but the question is no longer how, but when. So to summarise - we should all feel optmistic that although we might loose faith in some players, for the first time in a long time, we shouldn't loose faith in the MFC. Cheers & apologies if I've posted in the wrong area!

just watched it for the first time, not sure what some people are talking about, i thought he was honest, firm and refreshing. Something we have ALL wanted and said we NEED at the MFC for years, and now we have it we still complain! I think some people on here are just never going to be happy...

I think that as Dees supporters we have been down so long we are all so well balanced that we have a chip on each shoulder. When the media get stuck into us, it is generally warranted (not always, but generally) and I would argue that they also rally behind us from time to time... for example, the debt demolition got a lot of positive coverage, Trengove's sling tackle got a lot of supportive coverage as did the Jurrah case. I would say that all in all, the media coverage tends to balance out in terms of unnecessary hammerings and supportive articles.

Deck chairs. Titanic.

I knew some of our supporters would fall straight into jungle drum beating of Wilson and Thomas. I, like most others here welcome the attempt by Neeld at changing the culture within the footy club and we outside have to chill out for a bit and see how it unfolds. I am absolutely NOT backing the players. They have failed me/us repeatedly. They need to tow the line, fall in or get out. So real or imagined discontent, don't even go there!

The time is now for the "buy in" from our supporters - just have a feeling we have a massive opportunity with Mark Neeld & Neil Craig to really move forward as a football club. Do we owe it to them & ourselves too at least give it a chance or, will old habits die hard & we will be "boat anchored" in the past. Only time will tell. I hate drawing lines in the sand - but geez I cant help but think we have arrived at one reading these forums of late. Just a thought.

"Neither Demetriou nor Mifsud would identify the person who provided the wrong information, although there is strong suspicion the person is either employed by, or has an association with Melbourne. When it was suggested to Demetriou that Thomas and Mifsud's reputations had been sullied, but Mifsud's source had escaped without any sanction, the League boss said this might not yet prove to be the case. He said this person had been presented with a series of facts that were then misconstrued and incorrectly relayed to Mifsud." Can I ask in what whay shape or form does this imply a player within the club??....that last line shows that it was someone who was told something and then decided to add some condiments tot he story and told mifsud, who like an idiot just told Thomas. If i was Neeld i would take demetriou's advice and sue Thomas and Mifsud and the AFL as his employer.

Mifsud has brought the AFL into disrepute. On that basis alone, he should be fired. Not to mention the fact that he can no longer adequately perform his job, since the players don't trust him to keep his mouth shut anymore.

Maybe that's what the [censored] who spread the rumour wants you to believe, because he needs somebody to blame for this fabricated load of garbage. Caroline Wilson says that Davey, the only senior indigenous player at Melbourne, personally flat out denied this crap. I will believe Caro everyday of the week and twice on Sunday before I listen to Robinson. We might have a rubbish midfield, we might have a boring game plan, our coach might possibly be planning to murder our players, but we are not a racist club who treats their indigenous players with such disrespect. Move on.

Imo believe neeld is in the process of seeing who is united behind the direction he is going in. He has been since he first got to the club. He has given every player on the list an opportunity even those that many believe have no place on the list and he will turn over the list until he has what he wants. He has done the right thing by the players he is honest with them and speaks to them before talking to media so that players cannot look at the papers and see something he hasnt spoken to them about first. But like he said on the couch he was talking to the supporters when doing the press conference after the lions game as he doesnt believe supporters deserve cliche's i loved hearing that as now when he has to reign himself in next time we all know what he will be really thinking. One comment in particluar 'we have a core group of younger players or at least inexperienced players and they'll be ok'. Says to me that he has players he believes can take the club forward and avoid falling into the holes that other experienced players have fallen into. He is going to work with this inexperienced group of players and its up to the experienced group to fall into line he is/has given them the opportunity to do so, it really doesnt say much for those that dont grab this opportunity with both hands. Its going to take time and everyone is impatient but the more support and buy in from everyone associated with club the quicker we will all see more positive results.

I agree with this topic. To many supporters are afraid for change. Guess what people, what we were doing before WAS NOT WORKING. we lost by 186. we got dominated every second week, we had no heart, no fight and no mental strength. We've been a pathetic club for too long. Other supporters and other clubs do not take even half-seriously. We need change. We need a guy to come in and tell us things aren't ok, things aren't fine the way they are. And if some supporters get upset because they're used to the style that saw us lose by 186 points, then so be it. If it means a few players like Moloney and Davey get upset and dropped to VFL. so be it. Because last year, Moloney, Davey, Green and Rivers were our leaders, and no leader i have ever heard of would let their team lose by 186 points. it's unheard of and you can't lose by that must without having not one ounce of heart. The senior players have rightfully been put in their place. The supporters are going to have to accept change and so will the players. What was going on for the last 4 years was unacceptable. Change is good people.

I'm in I have a feeling we'll have a very different club at the start of next year.

Do you have any evidence this is the case? If not (and I have no doubt you have absolutely none), why slur our own players especially the indigenous players?

Everything he has done since he walked through the door and the way he has gone about everything has impressed me no end. It will take time but he is exactly what we need. Time for everyone at the club from players to footy department & supporters get behind this guy. Furthermore in regard to the untruths spoken of Neeldy by Mifsud & Thomas take it all the way & if there is a rat at the club banishing them to Casey is not enough ban them from the club all together. Having said that it is a big IF as I would not put it beyond the realms of Mifsud twisiting what was originally said to him!

Hang on a minute. It is quite possible that the 'rat' told him something which was misinterpreted. For example, maybe Neeld spoke to all the indigenous guys about Jurrah's situation, possibly at their request, and Mifsud misunderstood and 'leaked' what he did. At this stage, who knows, so please let's all calm down.

I think Neeld ( MFC ) have done the right thing and called all to task.. Next the club needs to ask for 'something' more than an apology... possibly a head on a platter, that will do , for now !! We wont be kicking practice anymore

What gets me is, in neither case did Mifsud confront the alleged perpetrator directly. Chose to back door both. Then he expects to be able to conduct a "private" conversation with Thomas while not extending the same courtesy to Rendell. What a weasel.

On the contrary, as a club we will do ourselves no favours by burying our heads in the sand on this issue.

Double standards, Melbourne should pointedly refuse to deal with any AFL employee until fully resolved. Neeld should sue the AFL and Misfud and the club should too.

Anyone watch Michael Douglas in Falling Down? His physical resemblance with Neeld and behavior(to a more extreme degree) is spooky. HIs character goes nuts and rages against decayed corrupt and heartless society.

How many chances have we given him? Wasn't that round 1? It was really bad but this kind of talk seems ott.

Well lets talk about the 'strengths' of the team. Neeld and Misson have made it clear that our players level of fitness was well below the level of the players at the 2 clubs they came from who have won or played in Grand Finals in recent years. So fitness levels are not a strength we can play to. Do you understand what that means? Are you angry that under Bailey our players were not prepared to the elite fitness levels of players at the Saints and Pies. How can we compete with the best if don't match their fitness levels? Paul Roos, Michael Malthouse and others have similarly commented on our complete lack of a hard defensive ethos and the fact that under Bailey we consistently defended from out defensive 50 when other teams were trying to force turnovers in their backine or midfield utilising the press. So defence was not a strength under Bailey. In short it is not Neeld driving the cultural change at Melbourne its the game itself. Our players have been living in Dreamland coasting through pre seasons and playing unaccountable footy in season. I don't want another rebuild I want a Coach who will demand elite standards of fitness and who will implement a durable game plan that will stand up under pressure and who will demand the players adhere to it.

Agree entirely. There are a lot of keyboard heroes here. Moloney had a shocker, that's for sure. He is not an A Grader, but there's nothign new there. He is a very solid footballer, who finished top 10 in the Brownlow. That is a result not to be under-stated. But for crying out loud, he had one shocking game. The idea of writing him off after one bad game is ridiculous. Also, show me any evidence that he is sooking. Grant Thomas saying he said "coach"? Please, that evidence wouldn't pass year 11 Legal Studies. The same people who bag him, say he is sooking, say there is no place for him any more.... I'll bet you will hide yourselves when he comes out and delivers again.

Nervous Nellies, because they don't Understand whats happening, taking place at our club. Most people can't trust in what they just don't get, & why should they? It's a natural Human trait.

As Mark Neeld said on Saturday, I'm not going to be putting blind faith in the club, I've done that for three decades, I want to see results.

What do we expect? He is a first year coach, the team he coaches just got thumped, the output from his players in the second half was totally unacceptable, he was attacked by a former coach accusing him of segragation by race and having lost his player group and he was facing the brother of our football director plus a former coach. He had every reason to come accross a nervous.

That's a disgrace. How about talking to Mark first Grant? Thomas " After talking to Mark I withdrew my comments" so withdrawal makes it all OK, does it?

Lets hope that they are all scared of him!

You purposely didn't watch an interview with our coach because you're over the talk by the MFC but then clicked on a thread focused on what was said in that same interview? Interesting. I lapped it up. Any opportunity to get an insight into the way our new coach thinks about the game is fascinating given the importance he will obviously play in what we hope is our next premiership. I would certainly have approached many things differently to him but as a student of 'leadership' with some coaching experience, I'm fascinated to see if his approach will get the 'buy in' from the players that so many in the media are talking about. He seems almost 'old school' in his treatment of players and seemingly even his gameplan but as I've been at pains to point out on this forum of late, we tend to look at things in black and white. Either you're a boundary line team or a corridor team. Either you're possession team or a bomb it long team. Either you're a hands-on man manager of a coach or you're autocratic and disciplined. I'm looking forward to Neeld revealing exactly where he stands and observing the grey when it emerges.

I thought he performed well on the couch. He has to make boys into men. That is going to take time. We are coming from a long way back in terms of fitness and game plan. On a side. By God there are almost more ex players/coaches employed in the media to breathlessly voice their opinions and their opinions on other ex players/coaches opinions than there are current players. Michael says something 3AW. Its earnestly commented upon by Robert on SEN. Gerard and Mark on AFL360 study it like some revealed truth. Matthew comments on twitter about either Michael's original comment or Roberts comment on the comment or Gerard and Mark's comments on the comments on the comments. Then finally that guy with the glasses from Crocmedia breathlessly makes it a feature story on the Footy Show.

He basically admitted that in hindsight he'd water down his tone in the after-match presser, but in reality he said that he's grown up a footy person and has always hated the cliches we've all been subjected to. And he wanted to give the club's supporters more than trite remarks after such a disappointing performance. He'll work it out and realise when he needs to pull back, even if we supporters want the warts and all approach he gave on the weekend. It's a long journey, but he'll mould the team in his way. It'ill take time. He wants the coaching group to develop a handful of players on the list to be worthy recipients of Mike's top 50. We all know, as does Neeld, that Sheehan's top 50 is a sideline, but I appreciated the gist of his comments. He knows that we need to develop 4-5 true 'A graders' to be genuine contenders. I like the guy and just have this overwhelming feeling that he gets it. He's not patient, which I like, but he'll leave no stone unturned and I really like his values when it comes to accountability and head over the footy principles. But, as in everything, he'll eventually be judged on results. Dean Bailey lost his first two games in 2008 by a combined total of 199 points. His game-plan was built on attack. Neeld's game-plan is built on defence and then attack. I know which I prefer and I know which succeeds in finals. And it's not 186.

One observation of mine is that he seems honest almost to a fault, hard nosed, confronting & some times aggressive which I like. The reason I like these things is because they are the charecteristics of elite competitors & winners. The character of premiership players often reflects or mirrors the coach, if Neeld doesn't see these traits in his players they will not be at the club. That is my impression of Neeld & I hope the club has the conviction to back him when the questions will inevitably be asked.

I get that we're trying to convert T Mac from a defender into a forward, but after a great pre-season in which he excelled in all the running drills, he got crap all game time in the NAB cup and then proceeded to be the equal top goal kicker for Casey on the weekend. If we don't reward that sort of performance after so many of our first choice players stunk up the G, something is very wrong. At the very least we know he has the tank to run out a full game. A nice commodity to have in a team sports which runs for 2.5 hours.

He's not all talk. Our contested possession is the highest in the leage, up from the lowest in the league. Our defensive structures are already better than last year and we're only one game in. We're a damn sight off "the hardest team to play against," but we're already better than we were under Dean Bailey.

When Gerard Healy implied that he had insulted the senior players by withdrawing them from the leadership group I could just feel Neeld wanting to say "mate did you see them play on the weekend" Luckily he showed some restraint

I think he's a ruckman.