QueenC

Fresh start all round......good luck to him !!!

I have spent the last couple of days in at the SCG watching the dismal Kiwis play against my beloved "baby" Blues and I have to say that while I know how poor the New Zealand side were (and they really were), it was genuinely great to see so many players who have yet to learn how to shave play well as they did. It was nice to see a glimpse of at least part of the future of Australian cricket. The other thing was that on the first day both Michael Clarke and Brett Lee (as was Doug Bollinger who suffered with the same virus as they did) were there, they looked better then they did in India, but have been on drips and antibiotics and both, especially Pup, looked like they had lost a lot of weight. They were however feeling better and confident of playing next Thursday. They were also very proud of the NSW kiddies they have helped step up.

Well it seems to depend on who you actually want to believe....... The club who say that he was offered a contract with some of what he wanted, or at least what they were willing to give him at this stage of his career and with his standard, and that it was CJ who refused to sign it and therefore pushed the whole saga to the "last minute" and therefore he is going elsewhere. Or Alan Johnson who says that his son was "scapegoated" (for what I am not sure) and it was the club that would not commit to any contract, or without giving the player what he desired until CJ had had enough and therefore took his career into his own hands and looked for other prospects. I don't think any of us have any idea what the truth is here, not completely, and we probably never will given it seems to have become a "he said v he said", & while I am a sympathiser for any player who feels they can do better elsewhere, there is definitely something icky about the way this one went down. As for the confrontation on the field, well I understand what Mos Def is saying about potentially creating friction between Bailey and the possibility of some CJ-sympathetic former team mates, but that is not really and should never be an issue. Bailey wants them to want to play for Melbourne, have loyalty and respect for this club, and for what the club has done for them, and what they will do for it. If he sees someone maligning that for money then that is never going to sit well. And the thing that bites me here is that while Johnson had a good year, by far his best, he still has a long way to go before he gets to throw is weight around. If there were playing provisos in his contract that he didn't like then toughen up because this club has stood by you in lean years, and while yes they can trade you out or delist you, it doesn't mean they will because it is up to the player to put the performances on the field to justify his place and therefore his future. I don't think this happened with CJ, and that is disappointing for any player, but especially one who comes from a Demon-centric family like he does. Just my opinion !!!

And we all appreciate what you and everyone else who went to the Summit today did...... And I'll say thank you for coming back on here and letting us all know what went on and what your feelings were about the day. So thanks again and hopefully it will prove to be a very helpful gathering !!!

I stop reading and have fits of fear and trepidation whenever our Premier's name is mentioned !!!

Sorry that was me....... I just merged this new thread!!!

Amen to that RR, this is not a sprint, is huge in the context of our future and needs to be done right...... And as to the Caro debate, I think a lot of the softening around here on her is because she has written a few Demon-sympathetic pieces in recent times, but if she rips into us again, for whatever reason, there will always be those that will again think that she is some kind of ill equipped hack masquerading as a journalist. Personally I have always liked reading her work, I don't always agree with her, but that doesn't make her poor at what she does, she knows football and she does seem to have a particularly good handle on the politics behind the game.

Busy boy !!!

Very, very idle hands !!! As exampled beautifully in this particular argument, so lets just get over it shall we cause it is very boring to read over and over..... And finally someone with some logical reasoning behind this particular mis-step by the club..... The world is not coming to an end despite some questionably frantic hyperbole on here, and while I can understand the frustrations felt by some in here (and the appearance of a lack professionalism) lets not leap to the conclusions that we have no way of getting to. Redleg is completely right, because we don't have the facts and without those I am not sure how or why anyone with any sense can just assume anything, unless you want to think the worst.

I think you will find fatty that that is something we are all trying to find our way through, just with different ways of going about it. Like an E-Tag lane on the Harbour Bridge? With or without the Range Rover? I don't mean to sound naive but is this the only area MCC members come from? I am sure his wife would love the night off!!! From who? Our sponsors, influential members, community gatherings etc But only the high priced ones, we don't want to scare the older folk!!! And I don't think anyone here should or would shoot any idea down that could help our beloved clubs survival, even a little !!!

Yep that is what it says here...... Bailey speaks out on Johnson loss Our preference was to always keep Chris Johnson as a part of the Melbourne Football Club. To do this, we offered Chris a new two year contract, but unfortunately he wanted to play for another, rival AFL club, and subsequently asked to be delisted.

Congrats on a great win you guys..... It sounds like a great game, a fun day and very importantly a really good win!!! Well done we are all very proud !!!

Well I appreciate you shattering the glass ceiling for the rest of us !!!

Me too, I deleted twleve delightfully unhelpful spams overnight !!!

While I'm not inordinately cut up about the end result here, the whole tacky situation does leave me with a pretty sour taste. And BBP is completely right about the utter uselessness that has become of Trade Week.

I've got goosebumps...... A fantastic piece that binds us all, congrats!!!

Well there is no good here and that article sums up the utter imbalance, even corruption, of the AFL completely....... But the unfortunate reality is that this is the world we live in, and we can only do the best we can (even while they do their best to tie our hands and punish us for our horrible form) with what we have, and hope (which is probably utterly useless given who we are dealing with) and push for something better in the future. That seems to be the best I can do with it !!!

Club by club analysis MELBOURNE The good: Thirteen games at the MCG, including all 10 Victorian home matches. Retain the Queen's Birthday fixture against Collingwood, the year's big money-spinner. The bad: Beggars can't be choosers, but 13 Sunday fixtures won't impress as the club fights for people to watch them. Cop top-four sides Geelong and St Kilda twice as well. Don't miss: The embattled Demons get their chance on Friday night against the Bombers in Round 12. It was never going to be great (that many Sundays is definitely ordinary and makes corporate sales and events obviously more difficult), but then again as it says here beggers really can't be choosers, and while I can appreciate peoples conecerns (and lets remember that the AFL has never been fair or even handed in its approach to anything) it is what it is, and we are just going to have to make the best of it and hopefully in the years to come we will be able to put ourselves in a better position to wield a greater bargaining power.

Apropos....... Gilchrist called to explain: Tendulkar

Amen Rhino...... If there were any more eggshells everyone has to walk on it would make the actual playing of cricket impossible. I thought Tendulkar's actions and opinions last summer were some of the worst I have witnessed. To state that they should all take their bats and balls (if they exist) and go home if Singh was not found innocent of racial abuse was extremely incendiary and only made the matter far worse than it already was, and of course everyone buckled. He is a fine, brilliant player, but I am thrilled that someone has said something that I have thought for quite some time now.

You trying to get up my nose? Cause if so you're are doing remarkably well !!!

Discipline part of Hislop axing

Not to mention giving 110% !!!

Hey I've done that, maybe I could get a vote !!! Brock for mine as I think that it is important to get the wheels in motion from top to bottom about where we are heading. I have no doubt that Bruce is a contributor to the club and the game but we need more than that and most definitely a new leader, one that a young team can rally behind, and I don't see that in Bruce. I have always had a soft spot for Green in this role but Jaded is right, while I respect him completely appointing him could well be seen as a protection of the status quo and I really don't think that is what we can afford to do right now. McDonald is in a similar situation, especially since this will be his last season. Although all that being said Green would still be in my opinion a massive improvement on the current captaincy situation. I guess the thing that hangs over McLean are his flirtations with the law last year. But you know what we all grow up and most of us learn from our mistakes, and hopefully he has done that and while he is quite obviously the best captain on the field we have, we can only hope that he is ready for the responsibility of the position off the field. Coupled to that is the fact that no-one should be punished for their misdemeanours forever and Brock is not exception to that. What most people in here seem to agree on in theory at least is that Brock will lead this club some day, and it is just a matter of when, so I guess all we can hope for is that the club and the inner sanctum (that we know nothing of) know what they are doing and can make a decision that best suits us going forward.

Sorry HT, I do tend to get a little defensive when it comes to Brett as I sincerely like the guy...... You are right what happened on the field was not a great sight for the team, but the blame goes both ways as I don't think Ponting's communication skills are as good as they can be, especially when dealing with something like this. And frankly no matter how poor Lees figures were (and they are bad, no argument) bowling Hussey before him when the runs are flowing pretty easily already (without Lee factoring into the run rate) seems insane. As for a "quality spinner" well as I said those aren't just going to drop from the sky (unfortunately), and maybe we need to realise that we are not going to get another Warne, he was a once in a generation type bowler, and the way I see it now we must simply work with what we have, and stop saying so-and-so is never going to be another Warne - no-one is, in fact we may never see another one in the next twenty years, if ever. What we do have a bunch of younger prospects that have to be looked at and worked on. I didn't think Cassen was to bad in the West Indies earlier in the year, despite their pitches doing bugger all for spinners, and I was genuinely surprised that he was left out in favour of Krezja. McGain deserved the nod given his figures, but injury (and his age to a point) may have robbed him of his opportunity. I have never seen White as the answer, which is pretty unfortunate since he could have been a genuine all-rounder if his bowling was more of a threat than it is. I think the reality is we are all going to have to come to terms with the rough ride we have in front of us, as the national team goes through a massive re-shape and rebuilds itself. You don't lose what we have lost and will continue to lose in the next year or so and simply bounce. It was a tough match in Mohali and one that plenty can be learned from and improved on and hopefully we will see that improvement in the next test. But I wouldn't be making knee jerk changes to the team, they just need to do everything better!!!