Axis of Bob

So there were 75 members of the FB groups when the article was written but, 3 hours later, only 74. Vive la revolution!!

Countdown timer until this will be merged with the other topic talking about exactly this ..... 5 .... 4 .... 3 .....

Who said that I don't believe in social media? How old do you think I am? I am just saying that the facebook group will not be taken seriously by anyone of any influence, because they understand the emotional nature of football and obviously know a lot more about what it happening at the club than 75 torch burners feeling tough on facebook. That group wouldn't even cross their mind. I think social media is a great way to do a number of things, but petitions are not it. It's a great way of sharing information (such as in Egypt, or with information services, memberships and marketing) but it's certainly not something that is the basis for decisions like this. I could set up a group claiming that a creatively shaped turd was the second coming of Jesus that would get more people to join, and probably mean as much.

He was rated as top 3 because he was already the size he is now at the age of 15. The only rating that anyone has of him is where he was rated by recruiters on draft day.

Which says more about the tabloid nature of journalism at the Herald Sun than anything. Seriously, a story based on 75 angry people on facebook? I'm surprised Jay Clark could even bring himself to put his name at the top of the article.

It's a tactic to beat the zone. Obviously the zone only has one man guarding a bit of space, otherwise it would be a soft zone. Perhaps we need to change our zone to include another player down the line. But do we have enough players of size who can run to cover that tactic when the play is switched to the opposite wing? No, because Jamar is the only player of size we have. We need to wait until we get the likes of Cook and Howe into the side, and let Watts progress. They have Cox, Kennedy, Darling and, last night, Ebert who were all strong enough to block and mark that kick last night. We had Jamar ......

Then you won't be able to vote.

Yeah, we are getting sweet FA from Green and Davey. To be fair, the pressure game doesn't really suit Green at all. Certainly not like the older game. On the other hand Davey doesn't run hard enough at all. He's easy to tag because he doesn't work hard and doesn't do enough defensively in the midfield. Without any output from our 'best' players, we are struggling. Sylvia is the only mature player who is consistently dangerous, as well as Jamar and Moloney (who lacks class). We are clearly not focusing purely on winning games this year, but I want to see more intensity. Rodney Eade was asked how you beat Collingwood. He said that you need to match their intensity for 120 minutes. Not 100, not 110, but the full 120. We had good intensity for very brief period, but overall it was dismal. How much was our lack of intensity a result of playing Gold Coast and then having a bye? Players going to the break thinking they were better than what they were since they could win by 90 points without ever having to play with top level intensity.

No issue with creating the group. Just got a bit of amusement from people thinking that they were going to change the world. There are few similarities between this and Egypt. How did all of those groups protesting about the new Facebook layout go? If the board renew Bailey's contract, how many people do you think would be prepared to vote out Jim Stynes?

It was West Coast who intentionally kicked to their own static men. Thatt's one way to move through the zone.

Bailey's immediate role at half time was to improve the performance of our players in the second half. Of course that's what he should be focusing on. We were only 26 points down at that stage too, so we were still in a position where we could win. We still are developing players. Otherwise we'd have players like McDonald and Bate in the side. Or we would have traded a draft pick last year to pick up a more mature player. I'm happy for Bailey to continue developing players in priority to winning games. It may be frustrating (and performances like last night truly are) but I don't want a result like that to cause kneejerk reaction which makes him feel like he has to put player development on hold while he brings in the big bodies (who will not play in an MFC premiership) and coaches for his job.

You need to lead into space. With a zone set up you often do not have any space to lead into. The West Coast talls didn't usually mark it by leading, but by setting up 2 on 1s with Cox and having players shepherd in the marking contest. It's much easier to do at Subiaco, though.

We are clearly better than Gold Coast. They are inexperienced and get smashed nearly every week. We are the second least experienced and are clearly better. Going on stats, we are bottom 4. If we finish any higher than that it's a function of our talent.

Egypt's case was a way of mobilising people. It wasn't a petition like this.

Putting pressure on the opposition is a basic skill. We didn't do that last night so I don't have a problem with any call to 'go back to basics'. If people don't want that, then what would they suggest? (And not the predictable, but illogical, call for Bailey to be sacked this week)

It was an awful game. We were awful. It was awful to watch. Our ability to pressure was poor and our ability to deal with pressure was also poor. But it's also obvious that we were physically monstered across the field by a bigger and more mature side. Sure, they can't kick, but they can win the contested ball and that is where we were absolutely smashed last night. Unfortunately our big bodied mature players are also our least classy players. Moloney and Jones are poor decision makers (especially in tight) and Sylvia is more of a power runner than a true inside midfielder. Where we lacked was our ability to deal in close confines. It is actually our kids that are the best at it, but they are not physically big enough yet to do it. Our best at it was clearly Trengove. Gysberts usually is but he was physically monstered. I thought Bennell also did well in these situations, but doesn't get enough of it. I think that people have overrated how good we are, and perhaps the players themselves have read some of the hype. Our mature players aren't that good, and our kids aren't big enough yet. The club spent the preseason clearly trying to put a dampener on expectations, but I'm not sure that message was heard by all. And, before anyone tells me, I know how bad we were last night.

Tee hee. I'm laughing at you using the word 'bravado', deriding my masculinity and then followed it up with a 'lol'. Very manly, cupcake.

So sorry to have disappointed you. If a moderator deems my light hearted post to not be in keeping with the code of conduct, then I will happily let them remove it. BTW, you're definitely more fun after a loss. It gives you so much more bravado.

Sorry Hannabal, did I give an opinion on the coaching situation? I merely gave an opinion on this thread. Is that stating the obvious enough for you? Maybe I'll rephrase it as a statement, rather than a rhetorical question, if that makes it more obvious.

Watts was very good. Built on last week's final quarter and now looks like he a genuine threat in marking contests. Really good signs. Gysberts was down, and we really lacked McKenzie around the stoppages again. Priddis was fantastic for them and was able to release players from stoppages and contested situations. He really killed us. Cox's ability to push up and down the wings to create 2 on 1s was the main reason they could move the ball so easily.

This thread is a classic. Although it needs more shouting and CAPS LOCKS !!1!!1!1!11 It's a long season kids. At this rate you'll be in hospital by the mid season break.

Interesting that Watts is selected and Petterd isn't. Watts plays his role in the side. He almost does it to a fault and needs to show more of his natural flair. He runs hard up the ground, pushes back, chases, tackles and is clearly improving his 'big man' skills. Petterd is more mature but is not performing his role. AND..... Petterd and Watts are not competing with each other for a spot in the side. Petterd is competing with the defensive forwards. Watts is likely to be competing with Bate. In short, if Ricky chases, tackles and causes turnovers in the VFL then he'll probably be promoted. If he doesn't then I'm sure he could probably kick 8 goals for Casey and still be playing VFL the next week. The ball is in Ricky's court.

What is Petterd's role at Melbourne? Basically, he is a defensive forward (similar to Dunn). He has pace and is dangerous when he can jump at the ball, but his main role would be to apply a lot of forward pressure with chasing, tackling and harassing of the opposition defenders. What he did so well in that Collingwood game last year was shut down Heath Shaw completely. That he also kicked 4 goals was a bonus. He avewraged 3.5 tackles a game last year as a small forward. So for this year, he has laid just 2 tackles overall. He's not good enough to be a star, so he needs to play his role. If he doesn't then Bailey will play someone who will play their role, like Wonaeamirri (4.5 tackles a game this year) or Rohan Bail (4.8 tpg). Even Watts averages 2.5 a game (a big improvement on the 1 tackle a game he had in 2010, which show a big improvement in his physicality).

The game has changed in the last 3 years. That was one of the reasons I put forward for picking a tall. Interestingly, I think it was old 55 that made that point. You appear not to have understood complexity of the argument. At least your standard operation has not changed. You still need to discredit those who oppose your opinion in order for you to feel like your opinion has merit If you weren't so insecure, you may even learn something.