Go Ds

Damn! I wanted more bang for my.... Buckley!

Boosting team morale won't help a team win a game?!!

You should have told him it was only ... for fans. 🤣

Jerry Seinfeld's what-the-deal-about spiel about sports fans was that ultimately we support laundry.... we love Howe, then he plays in a Collingwood jumper and we hate him. We get Grundy ... or perhaps Mihocek ... and that fresh new Melbourne jumper means now we love him. Go back many decades ago and Catholic and Protestant schoolboys would throw rocks at each other and marrying someone from the 'other' religion well, you'd think twice .... and I'm talking about here in Australia. This all seems as frivolous. While I love AFL fans booing and hissing at pantomime-like villains I really don't care about Buckley's past clubs. I sure hope the current grumbles are in jest. BTW is Barassi our last official coach to have actually played for us? It never bothered me that the coaches since came from 'enemy territory'.

Yep, assuming they'd get their man would have been stupid. Just imagine if Buckley, Longmire, Simpson and the most promising assistant coaches all genuinely and categorically had stated they weren't interested and we ended up with a dud (and thread on here soon after about it) ...we'd be getting back to circa 2013.

How sad! If we get Buckley it would be "he never won a flag (and maybe he was out of coaching too long or that McRae did way better with apparently the same team). If we got Simpson or Horse it'd be how their sides ended up dreadful ( or just dreadful in GFs) Just about anyone else it would "we should have got an experienced coach ...or stuck with Goody." It's so easy to whinge.

Yep, there's often plenty of upside. Often the surprise premiers (who were not in the market in March) in hindsight had all sorts of little hints for improvement the year before. Of course even Roos and the naysayer journos are in the dark really about a lot of where the Dees are actually at. But I'm glad Roos has some confidence and , quite simply, it's too easy to get stuck on our current ladder position or much-mentoined flaws and forget change can be possible.

In late breaking news Maynard to hang up his boots and become Melbourne's assistant coach. 🤣🤣🤣

Conversely footy journos and commentators saying we can't doesn't make that true either.

I don't think that was the angle he was taking :)

I just saw Paul Roos saying we can win the flag next year. He said we still have lots of premiership players, are nowhere near as bad as many claim and cited Chris Scott, MacRae and Longmire doing similar(!) Roos declares Melbourne 'could win a flag next year' amid...Melbourne currently has no senior coach and sits 13th on the ladder, but Paul Roos believes the club could have a quick turnaround next season.(I saw this on Facebook and it was on something like the ABC Sport page.)

Petracca almost lost his life last year. Perhaps that's an exaggeration but if he believes it surely that'll affect his on-field confidence. Also if players are meant to be in peak physical condition wouldn't a month or two of being an invalid affect that? He may improve a lot next year. Fingers crossed

In 2021 in close games (margin 12 or fewer points) we were 4-2 and a draw. When the margin was 7-12 it was 3-1. Since then for games 1-6 margin we're 6-12 and for games with a margin 7-12 we're 5-7 (and all games under 13 points we're 11-19) This year in the 2 goal or fewer points margin games we're 2-5. If I'm not mistaken we lost our last 3 of these games in '24 so that's 2-8 since midJune last year! I am so f****** sick of the close losses!

In 2021 in close games (margin 12 or fewer points) we were 4-2 and a draw. When the margin was 7-12 it was 3-1. Since then for games 1-6 margin we're 6-12 and for games with a margin 7-12 we're 5-7 (and all games under 13 points we're 11-19) This year in the 2 goal or fewer points margin games we're 2-5. If I'm not mistaken we lost our last 3 of these games in '24 so that's 2-8 since midJune last year! I am so f****** sick of the close losses! (The new format is infuriating! Somehow I clicked on the wrong link....again)

@Demons11 It's so hard to win flags. While a close loss isn't quite the same as a GF win I doubt an ordinary coach gets that close.

He may be nervous at his 'next' GF. But would the players be? If say 10 from '21 play in this their experiences will probably well and truly nullify Longmires individual...demons

Can a player use being sub as an excuse? I think partly yes BUT even factoring time on ground does he ever look at home in the seniors? I'm happy to be corrected but it always feels like he averages but a few disposals only per quarter (despite fresh legs!)

Yep! It's amazing to think supporters have no clout. Sure, the board didn't suddenly look at this site or the like and make a decision. But as dissent snowballs, as those on the fence go that way too , I'm sure this becomes apparent even just with supporters at the games (or lack thereof of them) From there a board gets more and more antsy and often end up caving in. While I'm annoyed there were already dissenters as early as late '22 no online commenter deserves a dressing down (bar the ***** sicko with their death threat). Coaches get sacked too often as a lazy, often counterproductive, solution so I'm disappointed . We rightly persevered with Goody in '21 and Clarkson, Hardwicke, possibly Chris Scott were given reprieves and paid back tenfold (while the likes Carlton, Essendon and St Kilda languish with regular coach changes) In 2021 we really had no proof Goody could go all the way. Yet now despite that proof we're less patient??? Anyway it's done now. Of course Gawn's attitude is the right one. I look forward to following each stage in our new coach's story.

What's strange about that is that if we beat Bulldogs, the 9th team, they're suddenly 3 games behind the Pies with two games left and thus Pies are in the finals. That said I'd prefer we somehow win our last three.

I guess so 🙄

That'd be nice. But I'm sure the sacking will be front and centre in the next podcast (and the teams first game result after it.)

Apart from Roos which other midseason caretaker coach has gone on to success? There were 2 maybe 5 years ago that failed rather spectacularly. If it's almost impossible for such a caretaker to go on what is the point of having a holding pattern for half a year?

How do you know he's wrong? Certainly he'd know way more than randoms on a website. The irony is if we crash and burn for a few years it could be argued Goody was clueless OR that the new coach is useless and Goody should have stayed. Similarly if we win the flag in 2027 suddenly Goody was right OR the board was right sacking Goody(!)

That sounds like riddle. So make tons of extra decisions because...some are bad?! BTW non-decisions are actually decisions too.

This could be disastrous! It always looks like a club is doing something but a coach sacking can just wallpaper over the cracks. How many coaches did we have between Norm Smith and Simon Goodwin? Statiscally the next coach probably won't win us a flag. Fingers crossed we get a Chris Scott replacing Bomber Thompson. But if not and the player shortcomings persist then suddenly there we are desperately needing the draft picks Tasmania take. (And don't feign surprise if this happens.) Too often coaches go prematurely.