Ron Burgundy

Unlikely I know, but it'll be interesting to see what angle the media adopts towards the MFC if, God forbid, we put in decent performances and actually win the next two games. Hard for the media to maintain the frenzied hyperbole against us if we're mid table after round 4.

I don't think it's the game plan. I think it's more straight forward than that: 1. We are getting absolutely smashed in the clearances and never have the ball; and 2. Our tackling pressure has been sub standard. Fix these two areas and you'll see a better performance immediately. Edit: iPad typo

Is Stephen Powell a Demons supporter these days?

No one's disputing we were that bad in THAT game. That said, I don't think this is the worst Demons side I've ever seen. Could be wrong though - it's only round three and we're already negative 225 or so after two games.

Kerr and Le Cras as ins this week obviously ain't great ...

From what I've heard he got extremely lucky with being the head during a period which had an exceptional coach and player group - in short, any CEO would've been successful during that period. The sun and the moon essentially collided on his watch.Dumb luck really. Absolutely hopeless people manager with appalling judgement. Got found out badly in his second stint. All was exposed. Edit - iPad typos.

I have it on very good authority from a number of people at the ARU that John O'Neill is a buffoon of the very highest order. Absolutely hopeless. Almost remarkably so.

I know this sounds stupid, but I reckon we have an outside chance. It's at the G and the Weagles are injury depleted. I also reckon Port and Essendon are better than people think. And, despite our absolutely loathesome, pathetic performances thus far in season 2013, we're not actually quite as bad as people think.

Exactly. But the mob finds simple solutions, scapegoats and slogans more attractive. And Col, to them, is an easy target.

Junior McDonald owned the sheds. I don't think he had a lot of time for Bailey at the end - the decision to cut him one year early was a disaster. That said, I don't believe he has any time for Schwab either. Wants to come back to the club in some capacity in the future - loves the MFC - but apparently will not return whilst Schwab is at the helm.

I completely deferred to the panel of experts who appointed Bailey in 2007. I had thought Sheedy would've been good for the club at the time, but I figured that panel knew more. On the face of it, Bailey initially presented quite well, even though I hadn't even heard of the guy prior to him applying for the position. I now think/know the panel got this wrong. Massively wrong - that much is clear. Quite simply, we would not be in this position had the MFC appointed a fired up Sheedy at the time. I've since heard Sheedy speak at various GWS functions. All extremely impressive. The guy's a legend - he's a people leader. He has vision. He's a marketer. Sponsors love him, and he is uncompromising on such things as culture. It now sickens me that we missed this opportunity at the time. It seems to me that he now absolutely hates the MFC and wouldn't agree to be involved with the club. The only way I expect it'd be possible would be if the AFL organised it, not us.

Not sure this is entirely true. NRL attracts the most basic crowds in the known universe.

Wishful thinking in the extreme perhaps given the start to the year, but if we actually manage to beat West Coast this weekend, we'll be ahead of West Coast, potentially St Kilda, Carlton and North Melbourne on the table. How would that impact upon the current media frenzy 'MFC - Club in Crisis' headlines, particularly given that everyone knows we're in a development period, unlike any of those clubs - and yet we'd be above them on the ladder three rounds into the season. It'd be massive if we win this weekend. Simply massive. It'd have to censor some of the frenzied media commentary - even if only for a short period of time. A week in footy can be a long time.

Funny really - I never quite understood why we didn't have a really good look at Danyle Pearce. Good enough for Ross Lyon - apparently not us though.

Perhaps we should put him in the ruck?!

IMO 148 is worse than 186. Geelong at Skilled cannot be compared to the Dons at the G. I don't necessarily think it leads to the conclusions that have been made here though. The inductive analysis that several posters here default to is not particularly clever, or compelling. That said, the jury has to be out on several people and some of the decisions that have been taken post 'the Bailey years'.

Mother of God - tell me this isn't so.

This is all very depressing.

I don't know which way is up and which way is down anymore. Some days, I think the players love the club. Some days, I think they just want to get the hell out of there. For instance, is it true that Frawley wanted to go to the Saints last year? Because, if it is, I have major concerns.

Rivers hurts IMO. Could not believe they didn't offer him enough for him to stay, ie, essentially let him go. If he's in Geelong's best 21 - he's clearly in ours. Error.

This is exactly what Paul Roos just said. In fact, he cited his kid's under 16 side which played yesterday as an example. From my perspective, the worrying thing has been the clearances - we just can't get our hands on the ball. Ever.

Just interviewed on Foxtel prior to the Geelong v North game. Roos essentially said - throw out the game plan. It's clearly too complicated for the players. They have no confidence in themselves and can't execute a complicated game plan on match day. That's obvious. Simplify it all. Next week - must play 'one on one' footy all over the ground. In fact, when an opposition player is rotated, the MFC player assigned to him runs off the ground with him. And he is back on when that player returns to the ground. You will then see where the players are at. The one thing the club needs is UNITY. Cannot change the coach, or the players at this stage. Need to bunker down, stick with the coaches and players - and stick together. Supporters will no doubt be aggrieved, but no one is hurting more than the administrators, coaches and players at the MFC. It is their livelihood and it is a big deal for them - they'd be hurting a truckload at the moment. Something is clearly wrong with the club - has been for years. Don't know what it is. It's evidenced in the fact that you have the whole spectrum of players from number 1 draft picks to recycled players and no one has succeeded. It's not been the recruiting - it's the club culture and development of players. For instance, Petterd, Rivers and Moloney are already playing well at other clubs. Must sort out the club culture asap and DEMAND UNITY! This is a summary of the interview. Compelling stuff. My take out - there is no way Roos would ever want to be associated with the Melbourne Football Club.

As I posted on another thread, passionate Dees' supporters are the Joel Selwoods of the AFL's supporter base. We continually put our head over the ball - it's not easy. Not easy at all. I expect supporting a successful club is basic. All downhill skiing in fact ...

The irony. Apparently we had Rory Sloane locked in at pick 35 in 2008. At the very last minute, we called out Jamie Bennell. Took Luke Tapscott in 2009 with pick 18. Fyfe went to Freo at pick 20. I expect he would've been in the mix. Overlooked Wines last year. Happy with Jimmy Toumpas and Jesse Hogan though. Our culture and development must've had a lot to do with where these players currently are at. I still hate the decision to let Junior McDonald go when they did. We were the one club who could least afford to let a senior leader like that go prematurely. In fact, I reckon it's one of the dumbest things this club has done in recent years - and that's saying something.

Real character shows through in the tough times. Far easier to be a Dons supporter. Soft pricks that they are. Let your mates know that there's a big difference between the club's players and a club's supporters. And, in this regard, we're the Joel Selwoods of the competition's supporter base.