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Fearful, spineless, weak-kneed tripe. We are not a "business measured by financial success". We are football club measured by the strength of our resolve in adversity. If any other 'supporters' share the same view feel free to stand up now and exit the room. I hope D-Mac wiped his butt with your 'email'.

I haven't been paying to much attention to the endless comments being made by the many football "experts" out there at the moment, many of who are lining up to put the boots into the easy target. David King was the latest to have a crack, probably the biggest crack so far, suggesting the board should come out and sack Neeld now and admit they made a massive mistake. A load of misguided, uninformed tripe like a lot of the stuff being said. One thing he did say caught my attention though. He likened Neeld to being a square peg being pushed into a round hole. He of course made out that this was the whole problem. Neeld didn't match our club in some way and therefore shouldn't be here. I actually think this is why he is at this club. We need someone like him to come in and force his way into our club, and change the shape of the hole until it is the shape it needs to be - fully professional, resilient and ready to match it with the rest of the AFL. Neeld signed up others like Misson and Craig who could help do this from a fitness and discipline area. The square peg is needed, and time needs to be given for the square peg to mould the hole into the right shape.

I have never been so positive about the future as I am now because I am seeing something occur at the club that I have never seen before ... the complete gutting of our marshmallow soft underbelly and a serious attempt to transform us into what we must become if we are ever to seriously challenge for a flag - a formidable, fighting unit that plays tough, defensive footy. It's high stakes poker time and Mark Neeld, with the board and the co-captains behind him, has gone all-in. Bravo!

Is this one those psychological tests ?

I trust you won't be celebrating any success that might emerge from Neeld's methods, then. We won't be thinking of you when the Jacks finally raise the cup.

Mark Neeld is the right man for the job,it's the pissweak players who don't like hard work,they all should don their skirts and play for the Vixens next year,they'll have nothing to fear as there's no tackling in Netball. Under Bailey,yes we won 8 games last year but we'd win by 100 and lose by 100,we'd beat the bottom 8 teams and lose to the top 8 teams,we'd never win a final under Bailey with his one way game style. Can't you guys see-OUR PLAYERS LOVED BAILEY'S STYLE BECAUSE IT WAS ALL ONE WAY,THE PLAYERS DIDN'T HAVE TO WORK THE OTHER WAY. Under Neeld,it's all to hard for the senior players and they don't have the heart for it,apparently some of the younger players have adapted well and i'll take a guess and say Jones & Magner,these guys are tough and love hard work but they can't carry Moloney and Sylvia,who must be dropped this week. We have weeded out Dunn,Bate,Bail,Joel Mac, and we only need to get rid of Moloney,Green ,Sylvia and Davey and play the kids who could be our future,the above 8 aren't our future and should never wear the Demon jumper again. Mark Neeld is tough and most of our players are weak,it's so simple!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dead set, you are a genius. Why bother reading the likes of Wittgenstein, when I can simply log into Demonland and follow the intellectual might of 'thaipantsman'. A suggestion - google the media articles immediately following Bailey's sacking and check out who the so-called 'experts' (most of whom are now superficially fanning your fire - fickle mongrels that they are) reckon should get the senior coaching gig at the MFC - and, perhaps more importantly, what 'type' of coach the MFC needed to appoint. It might, just might, cause you to temper your vitriol somewhat at the moment. Given your form to date on this issue though, perhaps not ...

http://landing.newsi...on&VID=23625838

I have never had time for Mike Sheahan. a so called melbourne supporter who epitomisies what i dislike about the media. Just when the media beat up on mark neeld and the MFC is firing up, Sheahan has to write a "special exclusive" and turn the blow torch up higher on the Dees. What ever happened to supporting teh club you supposedly follow, Mike? When his article comes out tomorrow club supporters need to demonstrate to the footy world that we ar enot going to be swayed by this nonsence. This pressure from teh media is putting the clubs future at dire risk. I can only hope that the board and FD are strong enough to ignore this media bull**** and stay the course. I am gob smacked that people can not see what Mark is trying to do here! This is ALL about the players , not the coach and , hahahaha, not the board. lol. what a ridiculous preposition that is. The players are not AFL standard. Fullstop. Mark wants an AFL standard team and is getting crucified by the media and, im very sad to see , some MFC supporters as well. MFC is not an AFL standard team at the moment. We've brought in a guy to change things and it has become very clear why MFC has never been a successful club. Everyone is bleating about the 'tough love'. To those supporters getting sucked in by the media - Harden the **** up!!. Stay the course and broaden your vision.

It is refreshing to hear someone wear his heart on his sleeve and stand up for the Club and show enough courage to bag someone who he works with at SEN. It was interesting that he admitted that he had spoken to many people at the Club from the Board down and all were committed to Neeld and his future plan. He has always said in the past that he did not have close relationships at the Club. I will always remember after last year's "186" he said that he hated where the Club was and it affecting his life so much that he was fighting with Karen (wife). I think it was not long after this or during that period that he ended up having fisty cuffs with someone at SEN. I loved David as a player and the way he stood up for his team mates against those thugs. He is now standing up for the Club he loves. Like we all should be doing.

I'd love to see full on bruise footy(not bruise free) this weekend! Attack the ball and give it to a team mate in a better position, who then kicks to a leading forward.

I disagree with his and others take on our list. There's so much "fast food" list analysis by people that aren't fully cognitive of the players on it. It's a knee-jerk reaction by those that think it's the obvious answer. This guy wouldn't have heard of Tynan or Taggert. He wouldn't know what has recently ailed Tapscott, Strauss and Gysberts. He'd dismiss these players as not good enough. They haven't shown enough. But most that know our club intimately recognise that these players are very much part of our future. If not for injury these players would have 50 games to their names and would be well on the way to being important players for the club. But none have played 20. And there's no doubt that development of our players has been lacking, but we have new structures in place which will make a difference. I'm not saying that we don't have holes. We all know that our midfield needs an injection of class, but that can happen relatively quickly. We also need a couple of quality small forwards, but that can be addressed relatively quickly too. There's so much lazy journalism at the moment. Journalists and opposition supporters laughed at Neil Craig last year when he said that the list he had was the most talented in his time at the club. This was on the back of a 96 point thrashing by Melbourne. But suddenly one year later the Crows are lauded for having a great list and are one of the premiership favourites. As I said, fast food list analysis seems to be the order of the day. As canvassed, there are major issues at our club, but I reckon the list is in a far healthier state than is presently being shown.

Grimes has been good for a 30 - 50 game player Jones is a 100+ game player. If we had more 100+ players we would be much better.

This exactly. Everyone who works in a corporate environment, or has worked in a corporate environment, that has 'psychological' testing knows what a load of b.s it is. It's funny that a 'footy journalist' is seemingly commanding such currency on this issue. Wilson wouldn't know the first thing about professionalism. Ironically, I reckon Neeld would have a fair clue though. The best recruits are often through contacts and by word of mouth, particularly from respected people in the know. Malthouse's endorsement of Neeld is worth so much more than some b.s 'psychological' test - it stuns me that this has got so much press to be honest. Shows how easy it is to excite the masses these days. The MFC absolutely nailed our recruitment in the off season - Neeld, Misson, Craig, Rawlings, Clark. I fail to see any credible contrary view - other than, of course, from a muck-raking perspective. And as to the game plan, perhaps a lot of MFC players and supporters are disappointed that the days of the downhill skiing game plan are officially over ...

I note in the article that they mention other clubs employing consultants to help them pick a coach also. I would just like to say that I find this a truly abhorrent practice and one that I am very happy we did not indulge in. Why on earth would you hire someone who is an expert at hiring coaches? Surely you'd be better off listening to people who know about the game and the club rather than an off-the-shelf solution that is applied to every situation. You may note from this little rant that I am not a fan of consultants. I also despise Leading Teams and their ilk, and MBA's getting management jobs in industries they know nothing about (yes, I've been unfortunate enough to work for one). Perhaps I'm behind the times, but I think if you want someone to help run a football club, get someone who knows football clubs inside out. It really isn't relevant whether or not they know about how water-polo players bond after a match.

The only problem we had with not doing psychological testing when selecting our coach was that it wasn't done on the players.

Who?

I have just finished watching the press conference with Jack Grimes. Very impressed. He stood there and took all questions - easy, tough and stupid (and yes, some of the questions by the journos were sooo dumb). He might be young but his character strength is the steadiest, most upfront leadership I have seen since Junior was pushed aside. Maybe we got the right man for the job?!?

http://www.melbournefc.com.au/tabid/7415/default.aspx?newsid=136598 Just read this, and if it is possible to put the emotion of our 0-8 start and how poorly we played on the weekend aside. It is an interesting comparison made here in that changing a game plan, as significantly as Mark Neeld has done could be akin to trying to change a golf swing. Again if people are able to put aside the thoughts of "a lack of effort", "we are getting nothing from our senior players", "how the heck can we be worse than GWS and GC" type thoughts for a moment, it would also be worth noting that the more ingrained the gameplan is the harder it is to change, suggesting that the style of our gameplan we are trying to implement is very likely going to make us look a heck of a lot worse whilst it becomes instinctive, and that it is the sort of thing that would add to the perception that our older playing group is poor, or not committing. ... before it looks better. I have played a bit of golf in the past, and followed it on the television like most sports tragics do, it's worth noting players like Adam Scott and Tiger Woods have had their golf swings remodelled with different "swing coaches" over the years and they play worse (sometimes a LOT worse) before their game improves. Instinct, and a commitment to see the change through before being able to completely trust that it is the right thing are not easy things to do. Even with myself as a very amateur golfer, getting coaching to improve a golf swing, it really sucks to start with and feels awful, and unnatural, to the point that you question yourself (especially if you revert back to the old swing and manage to connect sweetly...) Golfers also have the luxury of being able to put these changes in place on the practice fairways etc... where there is no way to get this to work in the AFL sense but out in the middle of the G with all of us watching them. I am by no means excusing or justifying what has progressed this season as I am as flat and pained by all of this like the rest of the people on this board. I still do have serious questions over some players efforts, what happened to cause 186 etc... but we are trying to change the "golf swing" of the MFC with 22 people holding the golf club. Not only do each of them have to learn, and get this instinctively correct, but they will have to buy in, and perhaps not all of them will, but thats what Neeld and the rest of the coaches have to keep working on. .... I no longer play golf by the way frustrating bloody game!!!!

Relax, we haven't got this.

Yeah? You mean they expect to collect zero premiership points from the game?!! Love it!

Jones is by far the most improved so far under the neeld style because jones has always been a hard worker and love's a challenge. We need 25 more like this.

Jones has thrived under Neeld. What a surprise that arguably the most professional player at the club is flourishing and backs the coach, and one of the least professional players is really struggling.

Why? It should remain as a monument to stupidity.

Strange the turnaround. We absolutely smashed these same stats between 2007 and 2011.

I doubt there was anything in that article that most of us didn't suspect anyway; I wasn’t shocked when Jolly left. I remember when he came back from injury and was passed over for Jamar, who was clearly an inferior ruckman at the time, it was evident then that they didn’t like him. I must say it left me gobsmacked as Jolly was a far better ruckman at the time but I guess Jamar made less noise when only given 5 minutes a game.

I wonder, with the benefit of hindsight, Neeld may regret not having made Nathan captain.....not denigrating the Jacks, but was it fair to promote them so young when he knew the club was going to have a [censored] (start to the) year?

I still don't think our list is that bad. The talent that was there hasn't disappeared, what we are seeing is a bunch of under 25s trying to win without any senior leaders on field putting in. Even gold coast and GWS have better on field leaders than us. That is my single biggest disappointment; that players I love don't seem to care and don't seem to run hard both ways. Until now I thought it may have been the coaching, or the game plans or the "buddy buddy" mentality of our last two coaches, and maybe that was the root of the problem originally, but now I think it's just players thinking they are better than they are, and not being willing to put in the hard yards to improve themselves. Edits: fix auto corrects.

He's still the best coach I've seen as an adult at MFC. If Jolly wasn't getting enough cuddles, he wouldn't be the first, and won't be the last in the AFL to suffer that. No-one gets every player right.

I get it, the MFC is playing horribly, nothing has gone right this year.... But Mike coming out of retirement to take his chance to slag us off in media print as well? The AFL media circus is seriously crazy at the moment, and rather than putting something out there that requires thought.... it's the cheap attacks that are akin to laying the boot into a person when they are prone on the ground that get me. Even the article today that Jolly wrote,... he was happy to slag off Melbourne when he was there, lets drag up the corpse of the past and lay the boot in that one too. PLEASE GET A WIN SOON BOYS!!!! I just am so sick of the shite journalism rehashing the same things over and over

We are lucky to have the Ox on the radio right now. He is standing firm. Onward Demons.

I just pity the OP and marvel at their ability to have not yet won a Darwin award.

Its almost like these guys have become football shock jocks...spout the most extreme views in order to provoke an emotional response in order to gain/maintain media and public attention

There is an alternative. Let’s sack the coach and have the disgruntled players select the new coach. The psych test will be optional, they wouldn’t like to be told how to run the process either way. By coach I mean someone who would be happy for the players to advise of their preferred style of play and training regime. Modern game trends and proven finals football is not essential.

David King became irrelevant as a respected analyst last night with his comments. Especially the tripe he peddled about us being on the right track with Bailey. He was one of our loudest critics last year carping on about how we didn't press etc. Someone should embarrass him by finding the footage from AFL360 last year and getting him to admit he just loves the sound of his own voice.

My attendance at the game this week will be strongly swayed by the team selected on Thursday night. I am not going to sit at an away game copping it off Carlton supporters if I am not confident the players on the park are giving 100%

To me it's like taking jazz musicians and telling them to play classical. They're used to syncopation, innovation and not much following a script, and suddenly they have to adhere to formal structures, count bars and work strictly together as a team.

As I've said before, I'll stick by this CLUB. It's certain members of the playing list that are losing me at the moment.

You are more than welcome to see it like this. I see it differently. I see club officials, and a demi-god of this club, who knew exactly what the club as a whole needed and didn't want to involve the Robert Walls-type 'Premiership Coach' that was involved in the previous panel. We did everything you 'should' do in the process that landed Bailey. Everything people paid to 'consult' says you 'must' do to get the best coach. Sick and tired of consultants rpfc is. Sick and tired of doing what we 'should do.' If we had done what we 'should do' since Neeld arrived we wouldn't have got into the 'lost cause' that was landing Clark, we wouldn't have removed an underwhelming captain, we wouldn't have given over the reigns of the club to the next generation of players. Rant over. I think there is some sense in there...

I will admit that I also responded to the email sent by the President, but mainly to emphasise that the problem is with the players, and that I would be 100% behind any submission to the AFLPA if the club challenged the assertion that 92.5% of the salary cap be paid to this playing list.

Guys it was a different era, ND probably had a FD of 4 people. So some players do not get on with the coach now there is a surprise. Players not getting on with the coach is as old as the game. Whatever is said about ND there is one fact that cannot be denied He got the dees into a GF when we had terrible training facilities, poor back up , little money and a disfunctional board. Only the second time in 48 years. We should be doing as badly on the field now.

Sorry guys that article brings nothing to the table, Neelds position was only brought into doubt by some dubious Caroline Wilson twitter rip off and this guy has built an article around it. Even on this forum where emotion is running high for obvious reasons I don't see many calls for Neelds head, I see questioning of his approach and game plan and why not after the performances we have given on field. The worst list in the competition? well I guess we are performing like it.

Pretty much agree with RR. A lot easier to sit back and throw abuse when you have no idea the inside workings of a club! Not sure what you mean by Jimmie not being around to see what Don has done to the club. Jim was involved with everything last year including the sacking of Bailey and appointment of Neeld. For what it's worth I think Don is doing a great job and things will turn very quickly. This time next year hopefully we will all be laughing at this!

Way to much sense in that article......he should be burnt at a stake. Caro wouldn't write something as insightful, thought provocing as that.

Are you replying to yourself..?

I dont get it. You list ALL the players we have recruited and highlighted those who are gone. Yet you dont do the same for the Hawks? Thorp (2 games) and Dowler (16) - both taken with PICK 6 in the 2005/06 drafts - they're gone. Ellis, PICK 3, cant get a game in their senior side and has always been flaky. Brown, Muston, Tuck, Renouf, Dawson, Jarryd Morton - all are gone (plus a bunch of others i've never heard of). Just thought if you were gonna take shots at our club like everyone else you should at least do it right.

What? Who would have thought? Neeld who didn't do a psych test? Got it right? Who hasn't turned around a club who hasn't been close to good for over a decade in a preaseason and 8 games? Oh well i'm sure the dooms dayers will hijack this positive thread soon enough. Sorry but I'm sick to death of people bagging Neeld. Go Dees and well done Jack!

Dunstall went very easy on him. He repeated a few questions to King (that King couldn't/refused to answer), but he could have made him look a lot stupider if the circumstances were. King was embarrassingly awful. Dunstall was, behind the veil of 'Devil's Advocate', backing what was happening at the club. He said that the same thing happened at Hawthorn, but there was a vision behind it that people outside the club couldn't see. Neeld has spoken about the similarities with Hawthorn and Richmond. People have short memories (Chris Judd said it was about 2 weeks in AFL footy), so we forget just how bad those teams were during the initial stages of turmoil with a new coach. In time, people will forget how bad we were during this initial run. They may possibly even forget by round 22, but more likely by round 1 next season.

David King endorses this thread. Don't know if anyone caught his performance on AFL Insider. What an absolute dope of an individual. Reminded me why I don't watch the show. - Said Neeld was the wrong appointment because he wasn't the right fit for the club and the list, but couldn't specify who would be the right fit or why. Continued to use the 8 and a half wins last season as evidence the wrong decision was made. - Said the club needed to act swiftly to fix "the problem", but couldn't specify what that act should be. - Said the club should do a review of its operations to identify "the problem", completely oblivious to any review having already taken place. - Claimed that the club was not acknowledging there was a problem. President and captain have done exactly that. - Implied that the club could go under in a couple of years time due to sponsors and members jumping off. Just hysterical nonsense from start to finish, and Fox try to tout this bloke as a brilliant footy brain. He's a complete imbecile.

11) After a round 10 defeat to Essendon drops the Demons to 0-10, the club holds a colouring competition open to the members whereby the winner gains a spot on the playing list. Plucked from obscurity, a random poster from Demonland named pantaloons wins the competition and surprisingly gains selection for the Queen's Birthday clash, where he kicks 10 goals on debut and leads the club to victory. More heroics ensue, and the Demons rattle off an improbable 12 straight wins and an unlikely finals berth on the back of young pantaloons' 103 goals and Coleman Medal from the forward pocket. More zany action ensues in the finals, where the club reaches the Grand Final after three straight wins by less than a kick, including a goal after the siren against Hawthorn in the prelim. The club then defeats West Coast in the Grand Final by 120 points and followed that up by using pick 22 on Jack Viney. The end.