Ron Burgundy

They haven't won the flag yet.

2011 was Bailey's fourth year with the list.

Exactly - I will never complain about winning the clearances. I mean, seriously ...

Simplistic in the extreme. FFS.

Absolutely. MUST sign him up. Finals are over-rated. They pass.

The issue I have with losing Beamer for no adequate compensation is simple: - we need hard bodied, senior midfielders, perhaps more than any other team in the competition - Moloney is a hard bodied, experienced midfielder - it is hard to attract such players to this club, especially without having to pay 'overs' for them - Moloney was at our club, was a lifelong Demons fan, and with any level of respect being shown to him would presumably have stayed - he clearly would be on our team sheet this weekend if he were still at the club Why exactly did we lose his services again? My view - because Neeld likes to work with very specific personality types, and Beamer didn't fit the mould. On any construction, this is a failing of Neeld, and losing Moloney for no adequate compensation (ie, a commensurate midfielder) has turned out to be an error. It looked like a dud call at the time, and IMO it has turned out to be one. Not fighting harder to retain Rivers was also an error. He's in Geelong's best 21 for Christ's sake. Neeld took a fairly high risk approach on the way he treated our incumbent senior leaders upon taking the reigns. I expect it was calculated. It seems to me that this approach was a pretty big miscalculation in the circumstances. Probably made sense on paper - made no sense in reality.

As I posted in another thread, the Cubs and the Red Sox share more similarities with the Demons than any other club in the AFL. By a distance. Perhaps Robert Murphy should put up his hand and come over to us ...

Cannot trade Frawley.

Great article. The irony, however, is that the Melbourne Demons would be the closest equivalents to the Boston Red Sox and the Chicago Cubs in the entire league - not the Western Bulldogs. Very similar DNA as clubs - essentially old school and unsuccessful/unlucky.

Hats off to all contributors to this thread. There's an absence of the '[censored] for tat' stuff - just genuine debate from different perspectives. Good to read. Personally, I don't know what to think anymore. But a 10 goal loss to the Suns at the G did it for me - absolutely unacceptable IMO. I'm pleased/relieved with the appointment of Peter Jackson. However it's clear to me that the football department needs to be reviewed, and quite urgently. The only untouchables for me in that department are Todd Viney and Dave Misson. I didn't expect a top 8 finish this year, but I definitely thought we were going to be quite competitive throughout the year - after all, that's why we recruited some mature players, 'moneyball style', wasn't it? So I literally hated hearing that we were 'out muscled' against the Suns, particularly in the context that Rivers was not retained and is now in Geelong's best 21, and Brent Moloney was let go and is now running through brick walls at the Lions - both players with the MFC in their DNA. I expect Neeld knows how to coach, but he does not know how to motivate players who don't conform to a certain personality type. And not all about coaching is science based - it's people based too. In this context, Scoop Junior's just got to be right on this - the coach is also responsible for the 'effort' displayed on the field each week. Perhaps worth reading this article - it's about Moyes giving a lecture to uni students at Cambridge University about coaching, taking on the Man U role etc - in it, he comments on dealing with players: "They teach you a lot at these universities," he said. "But they do not teach you how to walk into a dressing room and deal with Paul Gascoigne, Duncan Ferguson and David Ginola." http://www.smh.com.au/sport/football/moyes-passes-first-test-with-honours-20130515-2jm3m.html#ixzz2TP0dgY9k

And my response will be to stick my middle finger in their face and say - tank on that.

Geez I hope you're right hardtack - I would love to see Sylvia play out his career at the Dees. I'm thoroughly sick of seeing the treatment of our senior players over the last decade - it's got to change.

I think we have good bookends - personally I was, and continue to be, a big supporter of the decision to recruit Dawes. As everyone knows, it's our midfield that sucks. And AFL seems to be all about the midfield these days. That said, I think it's probably the easiest area on the ground to fix, and to fix quite quickly. It seems to be easier to lure an A grade mid, than to lure an A grade forward or defender. There are just plenty more mids out there, and there are always a few 'on the move', unlike the really good KPPs. Our list still has a lot of upside IMO.

I almost feel sorry for my two week old son reading that, Darbsy. And then it occurs to me. No, I don't - any kid can choose a Collingwood or a Carlton, whereas no kid gets to choose the Dees these days - it's generally a privilege, it's a family thing, it's inherited. Accordingly it's more meaningful IMO. And it shows more character if they can stick with the club in the long term. The kid may get bagged a lot more along the way - but if ultimate success ever comes the way of the MFC, no one will begrudge a long term Demons supporter their time in the sun. No one - with the potential exception of a few Pies supporters of course. The Demon supporting kids in your classroom are the ones getting the real education now - one day they'll thank you for that.

Not so sure about that. She agreed to marry me - even my parents think that was probably a reckless decision.

My IMPRESSION is that he would be open to a discussion with Peter Jackson about it - Roos would have a lot of questions that would need to be answered to his satisfaction, and the terms would have to be very favourable. My wife disagreed - she doesn't think he wants to coach again.

Issues for discussion: 1. Roos did not categorically rule out coaching the MFC if approached - said it would be highly unlikely - but, for the first time in living memory, he didn't bag the club per se, just generically said he liked his current gig and did not really want to coach ANY team 2. Roos suggested Lyon may have been interested in coaching the MFC at the end of 2011, but was not approached 3. Healy suggested Moloney should still be at the club and the selection of Dawes was poor 4. None of the panel could believe that Neeld stated that we were 'out muscled' by the Suns in the post match press conference - if true, 'an indictment on the whole club'.

Great pick up.

Yep - you're actually right there. It was someone's fault. Hope not another cause for deep regret.

I understand the respective player types - that's obvious to my mother. Just look at the pick exchanges/flows. I forgot Martin by the way - don't think he was a big loss really, but can see the arguments as to keeping him.

This is a concern if true obviously, but some of the ins don't strike me as wholly unsuccessful. It's the recruiting prior to 2011 that still irks me. 2012 - off the top of my head: Draft Toumpas was very highly regarded - I recall hearing somewhere that both Vineys were excited about his arrival - and both know Wines, even though this must've be a difficult decision. Hogan - absolute no brainer. Barry - perhaps paid too much in pick 13, but seemed to be part of the Jack Viney deal. Jack Viney - again, absolute no brainer, but at pick 27 - a great deal. Dean Kent - early days, but looks to be a good pick up. Matt Jones - consistently in our best. Already. Dean Terlich - same as Matt Jones. Rodan - questionable, left field selection - but he was pick 287 or something similar. Trades Dawes - we now have a very sound forward line, on paper at least. (And backline too IMO - we all know where the issues on the ground are.) Pedersen - Gysberts - was always nervous about this one - not in recruiting Pedersen as such, but that we paid 'overs' to get him. We need ball magnets in the midfield - and, as everyone here knows, Gysberts showed a lot early on in his career in this regard. Byrnes - Rivers - Gillies - Moloney - can see the rationale for recruiting Byrnes - already in the leadership group, but losing Rivers for Gillies was a disaster, and losing Moloney for essentially nothing at all was plainly stupid. IMO the bad stuff is really down to losing Rivers and Moloney for no adequate compensation (yep, I get the free agent stuff), but that's what clever negotiation and managing contracts is all about - they weren't replaced "like for like" - we just lost out, seemingly because of factors that occurred at the end of 2011. Gillies is the one that I really don't get. Pity we missed out on Hannath too - but I'm not sure this is anyone's fault though. iPad typo

Like the post. But don't those graphs also reflect Essendon's current football department reporting lines ...

I'd like to hear it from Sylvia. Part of the old guard and great mates with Moloney.

So, what are the answers then? Sack Neeld tomorrow and we'll be sweet? Haven't heard that before ...

I love that interview. In fact, I love this bloody club. Garland is one of my very favourite players.