Chook

That's an opinion, not an argument. You content that he's made it worse. I contend that he's made it better. Clark, Viney, Hogan (who unfortunately can't play this year), Matt Jones, and a few others have come on board since Dean Bailey's reign of error - not to mention Chris Dawes who may or may not significantly improve our structure and onfield performance. We need to give the coach the time to implement his vision. Calling it quits after 18 months is a surefire way to lock us into a cycle of mistrust and revolving door administration that will well and truly sink this club.

West Coast players were walking through our tackles because we're not strong enough for long enough to stick them. That's why our tackle stats are so low, and that's why we lose the uncontested possession count week after week.

That's because our players aren't very good. They can't apply pressure because they don't have the fitness and intelligence to go to the man with the ball before the man with the ball gives it to someone else. This can only be rectified by bringing in PLAYERS who do have the intensity and physical fitness to stick to structures and zone off when needed.

I was just responding to your equally shallow argument of "Has to go."

Expecting a shocking (and extremely young) list to do anything but get worse before it gets better is expecting miracles. And so would hiring a new coach and expecting them to turn the ship around. How long would you give our new coach? Another 18 months?

Good thread. Oh how I wish we'd played poorly in the first half and well in the second. These forums would be a totally different place right now. But unfortunately people are sometimes a bit like goldfish. They only remember what just happened.

No he doesn't.

Anyone you get rid of without giving them time to do what they're supposed to do is a scapegoat. If we're in this position in 12 months time, then sack Neeld and go after someone else. But to expect miracles after just one season is asking for too much.

The players aren't fit enough, they didn't have the desire, and West Coast are a pretty bloody good team.

Oh well case closed then. Any coach should be able to turn the worst list in footy around in a season's worth of games. Obviously I meant "give him another year." We just cannot sack coaches every two years. It has not and will never work.

It's already unacceptable, but we need to realize that scapegoats don't work. This is a team game, and everyone in the team is one nth responsible for the deplorable state we're in.

Judging from today's comments, it's definitely Mark Neeld. Can we please just give the guy a year. Changing coaches every couple of seasons is not the way to win a premiership. Surely that's obvious to everyone?

6 N Jones, who is just about our only AFL level player. 5 Viney, who's as good a young kid as you could hope for 4 Terlich, who gave us some run and layed a few great tackles 3 M Jones, who is already one of our better mids 2 McDonald, who has the makings of a brilliant CHB if he can just get his Joel MacDonald-like errors out of his game 1 Bail, who showed effort and courage in the face of great adversity. Hopefully he can continue his career without damaging his post-AFL life.

He needs to do himself a favour and retire. Stay on as our ruck coach but for god's sake put yourself out of our misery please!!!

Agreed.

Why don't you address that letter to the players? They are the ones who need to take ownership for the seven years of hell that this club has been through.

I wasn't getting personal. I was using a word that's barely offensive to begin with, and I used it to refer to the collective masses who were calling for the coach's head. I would never call you or anyone else a moron, but I reserve the right to use it against entire groups of people who decide on the spur of the moment to sack the coach after one horrendous quarter of footy. Why don't we leave the administration to the administrators and just get on with our lives?

It doesn't change the fact that you're blaming the coach for the bad things, and not giving him any credit for the good things. You're a stats man it seems, and yet you rely on something as ethereal as luck to explain away the inconsistencies in your argument!

I see. When we're efficient, it's luck. When we're not running and tackling, it's the coach. Great logic. And to Macca, if you want to get me suspended for sticking up for our coach, go ahead.

Why?

You morons bagging the coach for this god-awful quarter need to realize that its' the players who are responsible for dropping away so quickly. It might be fitness, or it might be something else. Whatever it is, getting a new coach is not the answer.

Mark Neeld has to get his players to forget about that quarter. If we can pull off an even three-quarters, we will have made tremendous progress. If we're destroyed for a whole 'nother quarter, then everything we did in the first half won't have mattered. Come on Dees!!!

How is this our coach's fault. You cannot lay the blame for an atrocious quarter of footy on anyone but the players on the field.

Mark Neeld needs to make this final quarter a whole new game. He needs to tell them that what happens now is just as important as what happened when we were in the game. We just cannot drop away for an entire half of the game. It just totally undoes the great strides we've made in the first half.

As usual, Colin Garland is taking years off my life.