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Anyone who thinks we would be shooting up the ladder if we'd picked Wines over Toumpas is totally deluded.

If he's half as good as the other President Bartlet I'll be happy.

Thank god he got the job instead of that Stockdale [censored].

Tweet from Jay Clark

I have been meaning to come on here for some time to discuss where we are at re Roos. Simply there is nothing that has happened that has changed the view of where we are at. Roos is still seriously considering, the club is rightly putting a back up plan in to place, however the club still remains more than hopeful, but confident he will become our coach next season. Roos needs to see we have our house in order, this is a major issue, and from what I hear this why he is not confirming interest. AFL concessions also likely to be a reason. It remains telling that he will not declare no interest. He may also have issues with interstate movement with his family (not confirmed with me), this is something I have only heard on Demonland. Interesting on OTC tonight. Jackson was very clear about football department spending remaining at least at this seasons levels. He seemed to be driving this point. Maybe there is something to be read into this. Regardless, nothing Roos said suggested to me things have moved positively or negatively at this stage, everything remains in process. As I have said before, a decision will be made seasons end. Lets not sugar coat the alternatives, they may be good, but Roos is our man. Again I can confirm the board remains confident. Roos continues to leave the door open. He is not one to play games, he would not be doing this if there was no chance. I hope the MFC, MCC, board and all other stake holders create the right structure and environment to bring him to the red and blue.

Alan Richardson name thrown up as coach by Sheehan. PJ says we cannot have a untried coach. Thank god.

What a stupid stupid post. I find it incredibly insulting to someone who has given us great service over his career.

If Wines was playing for us, then I could guarantee that there would be posters saying "We have so many butchers of the footy and now it looks like we've wasted pick 4 on another one. FMD!" They'd probably be the same ones that currently whine about Toumpas.

He [censored] slapped Connolly on national TV, and then in the same sentence remarked that the club doesn't need the best former red 'n blue people, it simply needs the best people. It was breathtaking. I also loved the irony of Gerald making the remark about red 'n blue people under the guise that loyalty should be rewarded. Under that logic I believe our footy club owes Gerald a public flogging and a 10,000 foot restraining order.

He basically narrowed the coaching field down to Roos, Eade and Choco.

this club hasn't bent over for ages, it's just lays there and let's anyone have there way.

First time poster. Love the [censored] off look on Healy's face when he read between the lines that his good mate CC is GONE!

"Melbourne over the last 10 years didn't know that a great football club needs a great football team"

Paul Roos is yet to mention Sydney, something is wrong.

Dunn: You can't be serious. I thought he was our best on Saturday. Dunn was on a very dangerous player in Lindsay Thomas who is Norths leading goal kicker with 45, and kept him goalless despite endless inside 50s and opportunity for Thomas. He was the ONLY Melbourne player to beat his opponent on the day. Further Dunn's form has been consistently good. He is given a role each week and this season has almost always completed his role with distinction. Dunn made one poor error which cost us a goal, but outside this was excellent in an awful performance. I can't understand the Dunn haters on here. He is doing his bit. He goes in hard on every contest, wears his pride on his sleave, shows controlled aggression and usually wins his position. He has been close to our most consistent this season, behind Garland. With the roles that Dunn is given he will never be BOG, but due to the ball constantly being in Norths 50, he was our best on Saturday. Clint..... watch the game on replay and spare your frustration to those who do not go hard enough and lose their position every week.

Yeah, I can smell it too.

It defies belief that people are already saying that Craig has coached himself out of the race. A few reasons: there has been a big lift since Neeld departed and Craig is essentially cleaning up a mess. There have been notable improvements in some players performances however the list is still extremely sub standard - it would be a miracle if we were to be somehow meeting the expectations of some fans at the moment. This whole season has been an absolute write off and to cancel out Craig's chances on the basis of his performance would be poor form. He hasn't had a chance to really show what he is capable of as the situation this season hasn't allowed it. Very much still in the race for me but by no means the lead candidate.

Everything he said was spot on. Removing leaders from the locker room Relying on high draft picks for success Poor player developlment The old boys club mentality I love PJ. I hope he gets us Geoff Walsh.

I didn't realize Action Jackson was Dean Baileys older brother

I'm just giving updates on what is being said.

Works for the board. Reports to them, keeps AFL informed.

I feel so much happier now that we have PJ on side.

"Melbourne Football Club hasn't understood what it takes to be a strong, ruthless professional team."

It starts at 830. If Cowgirl From Hell would stop watching bull [censored] about the royals I will try and update what is said and if Roos scratches his nose, crosses his legs, coughs, laughs and any other body movements that could mean he has signed with us.

It's not about shooting up the ladder. It's about stripping the culture of meekness and getting some combative spirit on the list.

I am informed that when our new President mentioned his favourite food was banana bread, it got him over the line.

I agree Dunn has defended well so far this year. He is, unfortunately, prone to brain fades during games but sticks to his job and usually gets it done. As a backman his errors are costly. IMHO there are plenty of others in the team who do worse and are lauded here.

We should move our first round pick 10 spots backwards for a free agent? No thanks

It would be interesting to know how many posters on this site actual attend matches on a regular basis, more importantly over the past 6-8 weeks. I'm lucky to sit on the second teir at the MCG and on the weekend, this enables you to see certain things that you can't see at ground level. One thing Toumpas does is run to the right spots, same as Watts same as Sylvia, we just don't have the courage to hit them, these three players run to damaging positions, our players are scared to kick there because if they miss the target the turnover will kill us, but the reward if they do it is we will most likely score. Jimmy runs to where we should be kicking the footy, the problem is our players have been coached over the past 18mths to not take risks use the boundary line, don't come up the middle out of defense, switch at all costs, everytime we got the footy in our defensive 50m arc we look across for the switch we are predictable, North just left players out there and we kicked it to them. Dunn and McDonald stare at the switch they don't do it fast it is slow. I have no concerns that this bloke will be a gun and a lot sooner than we expect, next year with the right coach we will show us what he can do.

This post is embarrassing for you.

If we needed Wines as much as you say we do then Magner would be playing now. Or Couch. Or McKenzie. They aren't. Remind me again of all the classy, hard running finishing midfielders we have one the list at the moment that can take Toumpas' spot. Who are they? Look at the players we selected in the draft: - Toumpas, Viney, Kent, Jones, Terlich, Stark, Clisby, Barry. - We also brought in Dawes, Hogan, Pederson, Byrnes and Rodan. Aside from Viney (and Stark as a rookie), every non-KPP we drafted was a running outside player that could hit targets. Drafting Wines would have been totally against this. Why was this the case? Well look at the weekend, where our inability to run and hit targets resulted in us losing by over 100 points. I would assume that we will probably follow this path again, as we get more and more runners with good skills. So who are the hard running, skilful midfielders that are ready to take Toumpas' spot?

And if Toumpas turns out to be a better player than Wines .......? Should the Bulldogs have picked Terlich at pick 4? Terlich has been doing better than Macrae. Maybe GWS should have picked Matt Jones at pick 2, because O'Rourke has done nothing so far, while Jones has played nearly every game. I would have thought that selecting players for today was the idea of trading, while drafting was for the long term. It's probably my fault for accepting mediocrity, rather than being irrational.

WWE style contract signing where it ends with the couch being tipped over and Gerard being thrown through the set.

Just like supporters are also smart enough to see that we draft outside players - instead of inside types who actually go in and get the ball. Supporters aren't silly, we have to watch the Cale Mortons and Jordan Gysberts' year after year, when we could have the Dangerfields and other great players. We have to watch the Dustins Martins and Ollies WInes go around dominating the competition when they were exactly what we needed at the time. MFC drafters seem to have the mentality that they need a Chris Judd type player, when there are usually an abundance of Selwood types on offer, which is what we've needed the past decade. After years of talking down Dustin Martin, I guess now it's Dees fans to talk down Ollie Wines, but it's not Martin or Wines fault they are absolute guns.

Hes sowing the seeds of a reason for leaving. Chances are if we get Choco or Roos etc they WOULDNT need a Craig above him and he knows it,hence he saying it here. Chances of him being next coach ...be less than 25% Chances of incoming not needing him above 90 % Craig can exit with dignity and such intact. We save 400 biggies ( or whatever hes on ) No losers really.

So predictable that a thread like this would be started. Some things never change. What is the point of this thread given we still don't even know for certain if he wants to put his hand up for the senior role?

What we have been going through is nothing new in the world that is AFL football... we will survive one way or another through our own efforts and the support of the AFL; Essendon however... well, what is happening there is pretty much uncharted territory in the AFL. No-one really knows what the repercussions will be; for Essendon and for the rest of the competition.

Having read through this thread I think while most of these reasons are correct we are also missing one of the most obvious. If since 2009 the only have 13 players left on the list and have had 4 coaches, we seriously lack on field stability and cohesion. If we wonder why the last seems so mentally fragile, maybe the uncertainty of list position and constantly changing coaching instructions goes a way to explaining why they play like they do. The players have hardly paid a full season together, what chance have they have to develop instinctive pay or Trust that others will be where they should to support and receive? What we need next most of all in my opinion is stability. A period of 3 to 5 years where the players can pay together and develop under one coach. Develop s core group, develop a culture and some consistency of message.

Craig did say after our thrashing yesterday that (quote)" Improvement doesn't happen in a straight line". Just as we looked to be showing marked progress under Craig we suffered a severe downturn which has disappointed many of us. Let's watch the remaining games before we condemn Craig. He certainly seems to have the players confidence.

Rohan Bail runs as hard as Scully does. Merely being able to run doesn't make you a decent footballer.

Yes, but saying Clark and Dawes wanted to come to the club isn't really relevant when you're considering the class of players for whom pick 2 is appropriate. Neither Clark nor Dawes are, or were, worth pick 2, so it hardly matters whether they wanted to come here or not. No one who is worth pick 2 is likely to want to come here, and you haven't been able to name anyone who is worth pick 2 who is, as yet, on the market. Asserting, then, that we must trade pick 2 doesn't really wash, given there isn't anyone out there who appears available. If Scott Pendlebury walks out on Collingwood tomorrow, you may have something. Right now, pick 2's best use is in the draft.

There's plenty of "can't" in our team. What this football club needs is less "can't"

Well, I'm sure that this will be hard hitting journalism. Luke Darcy could not question his way out of a paper bag.

Why don't we worry about fixing our own back yard before we gloat over another teams mismanagement. we have enough problems of our own to be concerned about.

I cant believe how selfish Hird is starting to appear. From a neutral unbiased POV he appears to be selling his players down the river for lengthy suspensions in order to save his own skin. Turning on AD and the AFL who it appears were trying to minimise the impact on the club because it may cause his own demise. His inability to take responsibility for his own actions after he said he would. Allowing loyal servants of the club to take the rap whilst pathetically proclaiming his innocence and making legal threats to all and sundry. And also the unseemly stab in the back he did to Knights previously. He may go down as one of the slickest slimiest snake oil merchants of all time once all his schtick is exposed.

he won't be our coach next year, he has too much baggage from working with Neeld. We need a totally fresh start with a new coach.

He was never truly in contention.

I'm looking forward to the day when a guest is invited onto a programme such as this because of his great achievements as a player or a coach.

How's the Dream team looking now Bummers?? You arrogant bunch of tossers.

Theres no ulterior motive He is there as a guest as he took on the task of restoring the most dysfunctional footy club in history, and they would love to talk to him about the things he has implemented since hes been there, the state of the club when he arrived, all the sacking he has had to do and thee search for a new board, president and coach. Even a non MFC person would think hes a great choice as guest.