jabberwocky

Agreed, young sides have a habit a of playing inconsistently. We will show signs but I think it is fairly safe to say that we will not play finals in 09. All I am hoping to see is talent, self belief, spirit and determination. To finish in the eight we would need an unbelievable turnaround in the midfield and the forward line. ie Jones, Moloney, Sylvia and someone else who can run and hit a target. And Newton or maybe Jurrah would have to emerge as a reliable consistent target and kick a lot of goals. Cant see both of these happening in 09 on a consistent basis. those people looking at our previous topsy turvy years are kidding themselves if they think we are going to rise to near the top in 09. the 2 sides are like chalk and cheese. this side is a total rebuild.

Yeah, definitely see him as a wingman patrolloing the centre square getting himself into space. And the boy has skills, he shanked a few kicks in his first season and all of sudden he can't kick, not likely. Let the boy aclimatise to the pressure of AFL. He will probably be the man who we want the ball in the hands of going into the forward line ala trav. He is not comparable to Adam Goodes at all IMO. Firstly he doesn't have his leap or leg speed. Far more comparable to Cam Bruce but with a greater up-side at the same age. Will be around for a long time. Probably will do more of the sublime rather than the spectacular.

Leaving blame of this person and such board aside. How much money have we been losing per year since the 80s on average? How much money did Gutnick put in? What will it take to stop this club pushing the emergency button every 5-7 years to ask for a white knight or a debt demolition? An extra million a year? 2 million? How many members do we need to sign on each year to balance the books, 30k, is it enough?

Does anyone know when we started to go backwards? ie how long did it take us to accrue all of this debt?

I get that but -not everyone was raised with english as thier first language -not everyone has access to an equal education -some supporters are labourers, panel beaters and garbos and are as good at what they do as you are. I think some need to get off their high horse otherwise we risk perpetuating myths about Melbourne supporters. In our own little way this is supporting a type of exclusion. This site has the ability to break that down. If we want this club to grow and prosper let's embrace all our supporters. Vince is concerned about our club and his question is legitimate and valid.

Cheers Vince, I was under the impression that this place is about passionate Melbourne supporters sharing thier views, regardless of thier english ability. Many share your view but things have certainly taken a step with the club facing thier demons and at least putting a plan together to fut up a real fight. We have a plan off the field and if we can begin to put it together on the field I am warmly optimistic about our future. If you are a member Vince good on you, if not get yourself one. That is where the money will come from and when this is healthy, and with a bit of success and stability the corporate dollars will come.

Thanks shaft, His slight build affecting his ability to own a position and affecting his roundedness ie flexibility. Not to be patronising but you don't need a comma after "patronising" or "it".

Dunn: The difference between Dunn and bate is that Dunn can kick. He is also a better tackler and would kick more goals if the coaching staff played him up forward like he should be. Unlike Bate who often runs underneath the ball Dunn has a natural leap at the footy and doesnt let it go over him. It's hard to comment on Dunn as he is being played out of position in my opinion.

I would has it as a guess that the question marks would be over what position he could own, his roundedness as a footballer and his low possession count.

There is a perennial push by many to make Dunn a KPP. There is a major problem with this. From my observation Dunn is all at sea when the footy is in the air. His marking attempts are clumsy and ill-timed. I cannot recall Dunn taking one strong or contested mark. This is generally not something that can be fixed. Most of his goals early on where where kicked from receives or crumbs from around the edge of the arc if memory serves me correctly. Natural KPPs have an ability to judge the ball in the air and courage to stand up straight in the contest. Dunn has not shown these abilities. He has reasonable pace and skills and good endurance. I think Dunn needs to find a niche, other than tagging to maintain his place in the 22.

I hope for prove me wrong too Borat.

For me its make or break year for the following Meesen Bell Dunn Bartram Newton Of which three are contracted. In which case it appears that we will be unlikely to have the turnover that we have had in the last couple of years. With the possibility of a couple of retirements we may not be big players in the 2009 drafts. Still 12 months is a long time in footy and players who I thought were not going to make it will and vice versa.

Redleg I feel and share your passion but Jarka has a point. I understand your view but the last line in your post is probably unnecessary. Your ideas are great for those who have the means. Not everyone does and many people are not at a stage in life where there is a lot of spare money lying around ie students, young families, pensioners etc. I purchased my first membership this year. In previous years it would have been out of the question.

By the way, has anyone seen the poll on who should be MFC captain in the Hun? Asks the question and then gives the only options for answers as yes/no. Very strange http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/poll/1,,661-5037425,00.html

He's probably just a kid Roost. Hopefully he will mature a bit and stop trolling.

Totally missed the point of this thread, what was it?

I'm sorry but they are just not a viable club and are a victim of the national expansion of the AFL. I think its time that they either moved to Tasmania or West Sydney.

I reckon realist in his own subtle way has raised a good point. Spectators can judge the value of a footballers playing ability but leadership is intangible and far more difficult to gauge from the sidelines. The players and coaching staff are in a far better position to make this judgement. I know that the rebuttal of this will be the problems with the leadership group being elected by the players last year but last year was not a normal season. With Neitz injured, Yze and White out of form there were not a lot of players to choose from.

got an email from the club last tuesday with all of them and BP in melbourne garb, should be on the club site I would have thought.

sorry mono I reckon a third (fence sitters) option indicating that we haven't seen enough yet might be an idea. great idea!

I respect what you say but there will always be stoppages and always be a place for contested ball players in teams of footy. FWIW and getting off track I don't believe that Jones difficulties were as a result of any game plans. In fact a lack of quality running players that Jones could dump to probably contributed to his difficulties.

Right I never compared those players with Valenti on ability level and for you to suggest that either shows that you are being mischievious and trying to cloud the issue or you just have not read what I have posted. My point was that like Valenti they struggled to cement a senior game early in thier careers. Once you called my post silly and another time it was stupid and both times you apparently drew conclusions from my post that I thought certain players were comparable to Valenti which was plain wrong. My main point being that IMO it is very difficult to come to a conclusion about Valenti's worth to the team at this point. I think it is a very brave man who would come out and say that Valenti is a dud or that Woneamirri is going to be a superstar etc, etc.

Shaun Hart was all that and he also struggled to get a game and when he did he was a bits player early. Greg Williams was let go by Geelong because of a lack of pace. I think you have a bit of an issue with reading and comprehension. READ IT SLOWLY. It is therefore pointless to have a sensible debate. If you have an issue with any of the facts that I have stated please respond with evidence. I think you will find that people are dropping off the debate for a good reason. If you are challeging me to a battle of wits I never attack an unarmed man. Dan out

Now thats a silly question. How can we possibly judge Valenti's standard on a handful of senior games????? If you discarded every player who didn't quite cut the mustard after 9 games you wouldn't have anyone on your list.

Shaun Hart was a fringe player for a few seasons at Brisbane. Greg Williams spent a fair bit of a season at the geelong 2s before going to sydney. There were serious question marks about his pace early on.