rpfc

As opposed to one of those QC's that just wings the exam...

There is your answer - there is no excuse. He answered by talking about the progress made in the first half. I read it as saying that they would normally deserve a bake for their inexplicable drop off but relative to last week it was gold standard.

Free Agency will not save us. We will have to make something of the players we have and build through the draft. I don't believe we have a great list but it certainly better than 2 good quarters out of 12. Our immediate improvement will come from those on the list. So talk them down and call them crap but if you want to get better you are going to have to pinpoint players that we have that will improve.

Gysberts, Pick 52, Pick 63, Pick 68, and Pick 88. That is what Pedersen, Byrnes, Gillies, Rodan, Jones, and Terlich cost. They are hardly the reason why we are at where we are at.

Yeah, great. Can't get one of those till September/October. So how many months of caretaker do we want?

We have already jettisoned two high draft picks that for very little (Pedersen) we can afford to keep the one bloke that has a chance to be something.

I know this is a side argument but in defence of KPIs: 1. I like to use them to see where good footy teams need to do better in. 2. Of course they simply state the bleeding obvious when you are getting flogged, there is little insight required when you do everything poorly. I haven't done my KPI thread for this reason. All numbers will be down, there is no insight into how to get better: you need to do everything better. If I could localise the first half from the second half then some insight could be gleaned from those numbers. But such was the domination that it will most likely lead to a "Everything Went Wrong" prognosis. So, in summary, KPIs useful unless your team is useless.

Best high mark he has done. Running backward and still knew when to jump to get on top of the bloke running toward the footy. Just great.

C&B a member of Opus Dei? Because that is some serious self-flagellation.

Watts needs confidence. If we were to give up on players because of a lack of confidence we would strike a line through half the list. We persevere, not because of where he was picked, but because of the person he is and the player he could be. And, I responded to this thread because a few MFC fans think like this, not because of Barrett. Please don't read Damian Barrett. He likes easy kills and we are surrounded by blood in the water. Don't click the link.

To robbo24 - sorry you didn't get an explanation for the reject of Danger Mouse for Redden (I blame the internet). Player position changes are coming up on Wednesday and I thought I would wait that out as I reckon a couple of mine might change. So I won't trade until that is revealed.

Since when is winning against GWS going to mean Neeld keeps his job for 2014? We cannot get one of those coaches during the year, so Neeld gets the bulk of this season to salvage something or he is gone. Just because MFC fans do not think Neeld should be dismissed now does not mean that they don't think there should be a reassessment later in the year.

I have added Grimes to 2016 and also put a timeline in on Free Agency because people see it as many saw the Mayan Calendar. And just like the Mayan's prediction - it's a bit of a fizzer... The only players eligible for FA in the next three years are: Sylvia, Davey (both this year), Frawley (next year), Jamar, Garland, Jones and Spencer (end of 2015).

League handouts? Draft picks are handed out worst to best. You are argtuing against the system now, not just PPs. It's every club for itself here too - handn't you noticed? We decided to do what teams - ruthless, well run, or otherwise - do when they are having a losing season in a draft regulated sport. I don't think you know whether you are arguing against tanking, or arguing against the fact that we didn't profit immensely from tanking: we didn't get Thomas and Pendlebury, we didn't get Franklin and Roughhead. I am defending the institution of the draft - you have changed the subject to the ineptitude of MFC administrations - and then attached my belief that we haven't been inept. Of course we have - we decided at the conclusion of 2007 to begin a rebuild of the list through the draft with an enormous number of U/20s coming into the club over the following 2 years. While we were doing this, we ddin't deem it necessary to boost the recruiting department. We went on a strategy and didn't invest in it's success. Before that were the malaise of the 70s and 80s that I can only retell stories of delapidation and politics. The PP is an extension of the ethos of the draft and it is has been abused over its short existence. Should we be eligible for one, we will take it, and try to work harder to not get it again. It is not something that will save us, and it is not something we want, but it is certainly not something we would turn down.

Well, if they don't work out, they cost nothing, ND63 and Gysberts, and nothing.

At their best they won't be at Casey. Jones, Byrnes and Terlich are in the AFL. Magner should be in the AFL. Gillies is injured, Pedersen got dropped for his indiscretion but is back, Rodan has been down. These are not world beaters - but we didn't pay world beating prices: Picks 52 (Jones), 63 & Gysberts (Pedersen), 68 (Terlich), 88 (Rodan), two FA signings (Byrnes & Gillies), and a rookie selection (Magner). What kind of 'young talent' are we to get with those picks? And why are we so intent on surrounding our 'talented youth' with more (in numbers) 'talented youth'? You say that you can never have enough talent or potential but I think you are just mistaking the MFC for a team with an established set of experienced leaders that can absorb so much youth. We did the right thing by our kids and I hope that they have the space necessary to develop and come into the AFL when they are ready.

I also put 'deserves' in inverted commas so you can keep your grandstanding to yourself. You don't want to see teams benefit from being poor? Then go and enjoy your unregulated nonsense that is European soccer. Where fans dream of being bought by Russian or Middle Eastern billionaires and for their teams to be used as personal toys so that they can win silverware. We have a draft and slary cap regulated sport and hallejulah for that. We will fight to win every game and take whatever picks a team in a position should get at the end of the season.

I am sure these are all things that keep Mark up at night. Personally, I think the troubles we are having now would be comparable to the problems we would be having if we still had Moloney, Martin, et al. and if we didn't remove Green, Moloney, and Rivers from the LG in 2012. The leadership at our club is young and that is why we are at where we are at. Junior McDonald should have played 2011 and 2012 with the Demons as Captain and this would have been mitigated slightly but I am not so naive to think that we wouldn't be having the pain we are having. We have some talented kids and we need to make sure we are developing them right - this is how we get out of this mess. Toumpas, Kent, Barry, Hogan, Taggert, Tynan, and Stark need to be played under the right conditions after establishing themselves at Casey. I appluad(ed) the recruitment of Terlich, Jones, Magner, Rodan, Byrnes, Pedersen, and Gillies in lieu of speculative kids because we don't need more talented kids - we need to develop the ones we do have the right way. And having bigger bodies take the brunt of this nonsense is better for our future.

We will get what we 'deserve' - arguments of the merits of Socialism not-with-standing... We are a socialised sport - as we should be - we don't want to go the way of the EPL. You can blame the mindset that the PP engendered, and the way we 'built' through youth without investing in the recruitment department but don't blame the fact that the game is socialised for our plight. The draft, and the vagauries of the salary cap will help us get to where we want to be and I have no problem taking any extra help that might come our way. Collingwood embraced their PP, as did the Hawks, and Carlton.

Happy he is ok. It's his vocation and his decision. And helmets will make it worse. They give you a false sense of security.

I don't judge kids after three games but he should not be playing AFL. I thought this was why we got Jones, Magner, Rodan, Byrnes, et al so we don't have to throw these kids into situations where they are asked to do too much. Thankfully our happy idiots are not allowed to play Hogan or we would be playing him to so he can be monstered and beaten and be bereft of confidence. Let him play for Casey, get Magner on the bloody list and let's stop throwing our kids to the wolves.

Lol

I think the point is that when Wilson and Sheahan calls us 'pathetic' they are disingenuous, misguided, and he, like many others, is sick of it.

Well, that is disappointing. We don't know the exact context but the fact remains that the FD is completely new with the oldest appointee being Viney in 2011. The players should be able to move on from that. Which leads me to the current issues with the current FD and where that will leave us in a few months time.