The Great Pretender

The problem I have with the one we have now is that it represents the Sydney Swans or the old South Melbourne more than it does us. Agree that it's insipid and hasn't been associated with much success either. Time for a change.

Don't tell me that's due to AOD9604

This is what the wurst is going to taste like - Angry Sandor Earl tips bucket on Stephen Dank

The AFL in its wisdom has thrown the final eight into disarray and the last round has taken on new significance with Essendon out of contention and locked in 9th place. The bad news is that Carlton is in the box seat. It can seal the matter by beating Port Adelaide at AAMI Stadium and could even stay in the 8 if it loses. Brisbane has almost no chance at Simonds Stadium. I'd like to see North fall in ... but can they beat the Pies? How would people like to see things pan out.

Isaac Weetra will become a champion footballer at this club.

Good work lads and lasses. Keep it up.

If Paul Roos gets wind of this thread and realises what the typical Melbourne supporter is like, there's no way known he'll coach Melbourne let alone ever look at a banana again.

Is the poster who you were responding to not one of those "feckless goons"?

I agree and you should tell that to Mr. Baghdad and the other gloaters who posted above.

Missed the point entirely and in all probability, you didn't even bother to read my post. Pointed out that this trio were all appointed before Jimmy Stynes came into office and if people want to blame Stynes/McLardy/Schwab for what they did, then it should be acknowledged that they in fact, inherited some of the perpetrators. I disagree that we we were ruderless most of the time. We got ourselves out of debt and into the black. Had the old board remained, we'd probably be on the Gold Coast or in liquidation by now anyway.

Bailey, Connolly and Prendergast - the recipe for our disaster? What did they all have in common? Appointed by the Gardner board and inherited by Jimmy, McLardy and Schwab. That's where the root of the problem lies I assume.

Well, time to start the game day thread seeing that there's 12 hours to go and the big news is that Paul Roos likes us. Why Melbourne can turn it around sooner than you think, writes Paul Roos This is his best team with a question mark next to some who he asks whether they would be consistent AFL performers ... and there are a few blanks. MELBOURNE B: Frawley Garland ... HB: Grimes McDonald ... C: Blease? Jones Watts HF:Sylvia Dawes Hogan F: Clark Howe ... R:Jamar? Trengove Viney I/C: Fitzpatrick? ... ... ... Only 10 of that list playing today. Is it enough to avoid the humiliation of a defeat at Skoda?

You read this?Why Melbourne can turn it around sooner than you think, writes Paul Roos Certainly sounds excited about our future but is he coming?

He did get somewhere but his report's now locked up in the vault.

Pick 1 & Watts for Yarran, Betts, Bell & Carlton's first pick.

After this round I appreciate how puerile the umpires are these days.

Sack Jackson. We can't win a game with him at the helm.

No accident or a right royal blunder?

The other possibility is that the information was leaked by the AFL which would have received those notes from the club. As we saw during the tanking enquiry, there were allegations that the AFL and even the investigators were not averse to leaking information when it suited them.

Invariably, that and opinion are what it all boils down to in many cases. There's no such thing as absolute truth and we're all entitled to hold opinions and views but just don't do harm (Galen).

Were you awake over the last five years?

Bollocks.We were told after the outcome of the tanking investigation was announced that the senior counsel representing both the AFL and the MFC had given advice to their respective clients that a charge of tanking could not be sustained if it was taken to the Supreme Court. Those views were formed after reading the evidence of all of the witnesses in the case including the stories put forward by the disgruntled ex-employees. The fact that they gave short shrift to their stories suggests that the evidence of Bailey, Connolly etc. was given more weight. Now what's this about you being privy to what Wilson and the AFL knew and what were their sources?

Judging by what I'm reading here, I think you have a story to tell about this but you're not telling so why not fill us in on what you know?I've read what was said to be Dean Bailey's version of what happened at the vault and it differs markedly from the one attributed to the welfare officers and the recruiting person who had all been sacked by the club before they gave their evidence. I suppose you're suggesting Bailey lied?

Very cute. Yes. Schwab's a ventriloquist and he put those words into Gardner's mouth and he did likewise with those informants who fed a highly exaggerated account of the vault story to the enquiry. No, I don't think Schwab was incompetent but he inherited a few who were not only incompetent but proved to be proper snakes after they were given their marching orders. Sheesh.

I suppose the fact that the former chairman bagged the club for tanking at the start of the tanking investigation counts for nothing TimD & RR (or Bill & Ben the flowerpot men?). Or that someone told lies about the new coach to Mifsud about our indigenous players? Or that a few disgruntled ex-employees ratted on the club to the tanking enquiry and went to the media on top of that? Or that people formerly connected to the club boasted of knowing what media people knew and what the AFL knew? None of them are thankfully in positions at the club and while they remain squeaky wheels, are now basically irrelevant. A competent CEO would easily by pass such elements. I'm confident that we will end up with someone better than Ray Ellis, the faceless man from the Age or the wonder boy from the world of tennis.