iv'a worn smith

I would suggest his brief composed the writ, not James himself. Give me a break.

And the end result is? The writs have only just been issued.

Regardless of guilt or otherwise. Regardless of the efficacy of going to court or otherwise. They will fight and fight again. I sometimes wish my club had anything resembling a fight burning inside.

I think it is unlikely we will get Roos. That said, Roos is not the type of guy who will fuel expectations, while there are incumbents in current jobs. He will make his final decision at years end. Not sooner.

This is a great appointment. A very clever bloke, who also knows footy well and doesn't take any prisoners. More importantly to perhaps us as supporters and certainly the players, his is a great communicator.

Well said. Unfortunately, it's not just footy anymore for these guys; its a profession------- a job. He has had to work for a basket case and if he chooses to leave, that is his right. We only have ourselves to blame if he does leave. It goes to show how much work PJ has in front of him. If we can put the right footy people in place in the off season, we may see a change of heart, but not for one minute do I blame a young guy for wanting some security for his future. Maybe it was just his way of shaking things up. Long overdue in any event.

Well said DA. He also, along with his dedicated support staff, instilled a culture of belief in a team ethic. Such a culture has seen what appeared to be also rans at the previous clubs, turn into solid performing AFL footballers, such as Ben McGlynn, Marty Mattner, Ted Richards, Shane Mumford and Rhyce Shaw. Not to mention a Canadian former Rugby player by the name of Mike Pyke

Winning a premiership would have been pretty exciting as well.

Aren't well happy little vegemites?

Equanimity is never trite in terms of appropriate justice. Moved on I have, but in terms of this topic I was simply expressing a view in relation to a question posed by Clint B. I didn't expect the Spanish Inquisition. Or even a Greek one for that matter. As I said before on this topic. A far greater "crime" which was committed by the MFC, was a seeming belief that first round draft picks would be a panacea and a failure to develop from within for far too long.

The club only did what the rule which applied at the time permitted. I am not hiding behind Caro, I am simply stating that when Caro's articles began to gain traction in the football world, the AFL was left with no choice. No doubt a deal was done behind close doors, but this was all about the AFL being seen to be proactive. If, as you say, the saga started when the Board decided to tank, something which the AFL investigation cleared the MFC Board from any wrong doing, then for the purposes of equanimity other clubs ought to have been pursued. The whole affair - that is the 'investigation' or saga as I call it was a sham.

The other problem is OD, that passing on the MFC mantle to the younger ones is becoming increasingly more difficult. I have no factual basis to say this, but I suspect that on a per capita basis, the MFC would have the oldest membership base in the AFL. Sorry RPFC, but to tell us we have to grow, is pushing the boundaries a bit and I consider extremely unfair on staunch supporters who have stuck by over many, many years. I have seen this maladministration since the sacking of Norm Smith. As a paid up member - these days almost a shareholder - I consider I have inviolable right to hold this or any other administration to account.

The burning at the stake has occurred, as you say, due to generational mismanagement. But we are just being on topic here. To tell long suffering supporters of the need to grow is not telling us anything new, but geez the growing pains are becoming chronic and excruciating.

On that we do agree BB. I often wonder how Bailey's coaching would have gone, if he had some clear air to do what he really wanted to.

Now that comment adds some efficacy to the debate.

It hasn't is the past. A lot of other things need to change in this footy club. As I said before, unless we change the culture, draft picks, no matter how high, aint going to do much

WYL, far be it for me to hypothesise, as some on here already had, but perhaps the AFL's 'sanction' deal, was contingent on CS's demise shortly thereafter. The AFL could hardly finger CS, after McLachlan publicly stated: There had not been a directive from the Melbourne FC board or executive management that the team should deliberately lose matches in any game during the 2009 premiership season. The fact that the AFL could make such a contradictory finding makes the whole saga, nothing but a sham.

And when did that "saga" begin? 3 years after the alleged offences took place. The catalyst for the saga was by dent of a number of spurious articles written by one Caroline Wilson. Until that time, the "saga" - read investigation - was not in anyone's line of sight, including the AFL. The so-called practice of tanking came about directly as a result of the construct of the AFL's own drafting framework. The fact that the AFL stuck their collective heads in the sand for so long, makes the whole process even more of a travesty. Like I said, based on their contradictory findings, the AFL took from us with one hand and less than 12 months later have given us back substantially more with the other. That is the biggest red herring in football that I can think of in living memory.

Thank you for selectively quoting me. I did not say we didn't tank, I said the investigation itself was a red herring. McLachlan was damned by his own words at the press conference. He had a bet each way and the two bets contradicted each other. Just read the quotes again. We were the fall guys for a practice which had been going on pre-2009 and subsequent to that year by a number of other clubs. We were seen as the softest targets. What makes this is even more a travesty is the AFL is seen to take from us with one hand and less than 12 months later, give back substantially more with the other. It was never going to happen of course, but just to fantasise a little, I would have loved to have seen the matter go to court. Based on McLachlan's own words, any judge would summarily dismiss the defendant's evidence and award substantial costs to the plaintiff. All that said, I was responding to Clint's question about "quotes" attributable to the AFL, re Connolly. The rest was obiter.

Correct, but remuneration is part of anybody's job outlook, is it not? I would reckon anybody looking at the prospect of a new job would look at the remuneration package as well as the other employment conditions which may apply, as I pointed out above. There is another topic on this forum which speaks about a "soulless club". If even half of what is being said in that thread is correct, it is little wonder players may be looking elsewhere. And that is no fault of their own. Rather, it is the workplace provided by the administration to its "employees", that is the main problem. As I said, whether the perception that Jack Watts is good enough or not, will be determined by the market. JW is well within his rights to see what his future employment conditions may be, before making a decision. As it is with any employee.

We seem to forget that AFL footy is now a full time, professional form of employment, which, compared to other forms of employment, has a limited life as a career. As with any employee, you have a right to investigate what remuneration may be available to you, the environment and nature of the infrastructure at any new work place and whom your potential new boss may be. That is just life. As far as the worth of Jack Watts is concerned and whether he has it or not, to make an A-grade AFL player, the market will determine that, as it will with any AFL listed player.

I don't disagree with anything you have said. My point being that the underperformance of this footy club for so long, goes to the heart of the performance of the players. The issues that you rightly point out are so ingrained within the fabric of this club, that it has become a cancer that affects every other section of the club, including players and it needs to be cut out. In my view, we have at least started in the right direction with PJ at the helm

While I accept it was a different time. There were quite a number of players in this 1988 grand final team that weren't exactly A-Graders. Still, they gave me a lot to cheer about. Melbourne B: 9 Alan Johnson 18 Steven Stretch 14 Rod Grinter HB: 34 Stephen Newport 28 Jamie Duursma 17 Brett Lovett C: 12 Todd Viney 7 Brian Wilson 8 Graeme Yeats HF: 3 Garry Lyon 5 Earl Spalding 15 David Williams F: 11 Jim Stynes 27 Sean Wight 45 Ricky Jackson Foll: 10 Danny Hughes 16 Andy Lovell 33 Greg Healy © Int: 37 David Flintoff 21 Steven Febey Coach: John Northey

Well said CT

Yes CB and to quote McLachlan again: He also said, in my view in a totally contradictory manner: