iv'a worn smith

Mate, I never prevaricate. It's bad for your eyesight.

If you want to engage in semantics, then so be it. My comment was based on one observation. I certainly do not intend to hang anybody out to dry based on that one observation. My opinion is predicated on a series of observations which in no way put Neeld in a good light. Like I said, you can wait if you want to, but the rest of the football world won't. As with any public forum, let's just agree to disagree.

I don't think I ever said that. The point is, the head coach has oversight and he should do. I am talking about the lines of communication and report within the football department. That is what Jackson has identified as a significant problem.

Not sure what you have been reading, but I will lay london to a brick more arses will be kicked, other than Neeld's, as a result of Jackson's final report.

Is this the right room for an argument?

The point of my post was given in the context of the topic of this thread. Some contributors to this thread believe that to cut Neeld loose now, would cause more harm than good. As with Rhino, I subscribe to the view that we are at absolute rock bottom. We can no longer afford the luxury of going through one re-build after another. I will say it for the last time, sure, we are nowhere near finals contention, but we are better than what we are putting out on the park at present. The players are just not responding. To let Neeld go now will obviously garner negative publicity in the short term, but who cares. We cannot get any lower. Right now we are headline sports news for all the wrong reasons and this is precisely why the AFL commission do not like what is going on at the MFC. We are trashing the AFL brand. A new broom will provide for a new direction and that is clearly what we need. The sooner we do it the better and we will give clear air to the person who takes over. And it won't just be Neeld who will bear the responsibility by the way. Neeld's proclamation, at the beginning of his tenure was ill advised and he painted himself into a corner because of it. It is akin to Terry Wallace's prediction, when coach of Richmond, that they would threaten the premiership. We all know what happened to Terry Wallace. If you wish to sit and wait, hoping that by some freak of nature things will turn for the MFC, then as far as I am concerned you may as well wait for Godot. You can do that on your own.

More pertinently, what's the point of your insult? Perhaps if you go back to the top of the page, you might get the gist. As for silly statements, people in grass houses should not get stoned.

Sorry, I just don't see the comparison. I would be far more comfortable if my coach said we will never give up, than an over reaching superlative that we will be the hardest team to play against. Besides, I think right now, Hinkley can sit quite comfortably on his current record, when measured against an aspiration of never giving up.

If he said "tuffest" he should never have been a teacher. He stood up at the B&F night and stated it in front of the assembled faithful. If you consider that it is a typical flash statement from a new coach, then we clearly selected the wrong man. I have not heard any other new coaches making such "flash statements".

But it was Misson's call??? Go figure. All I am saying, the football department is clearly moribund and Jackson has basically said as much.

I think that is basically what I said. My only point is, the rotation decisions were not made in consultation with the coaches. I have no doubt Misson is pre-eminent in the world of fitness, but I am not sure about his footy smarts.

I certainly think the Board needs to be looked at as well. The lack of footy nous on the Board is not good in my view. However, as has previously been said on here, Neeld stated from the beginning that he wanted to make the MFC the hardest team to play against. They were his own words. While I accept his objective could not be attained within the time he has coached thus far, going backwards surely is not what the Board asked him to do. Given the lack of footy smarts on the Board in any event, how on earth could they even think of telling him what he should do.

I am reminded of the pre-season practice match at Casey, when the Scorpions played Port Melbourne. There were 9 MFC listed players in the Scorpions side. Understandably, the MFC players, which included Mitch Clark, Trenners, Blease et al, required match fitness. What I found strange was Neeld and Craig standing upstairs, while Misson called the rotations at boundary level. While I understand this may have been done with fitness in mind, I could not understand how this would not have been done in conjunction with the football people who are in charge. There was no communication between the 2 parties and I was standing right next to Misson at the time in question.

Agree 100%

You may well be right RR, but I cannot say for certain. I agree Neeld is part of the problem, but I am not convinced he is the entire problem.

Precisely Dfan. We are copping the flack because we botched a wonderful series of opportunities. However, in reality and being as objective as I can be, I would rather be in our position than the Doggies. I think their situation is far more grave and they are more prime than we are for a merger or relocation. The difference right now is, the football world accepts that their current list is not up to standard, but reckon they at least have a red hot go. The perception of us is that we are as soft as butter and have only promoted the elitist image, which has come back to bite us on the bum. Everyone loves an underdog, but will not put up with an under performing dog of a team. That is how we are perceived by the greater football world at present, for obvious reasons.

This is the point I cannot agree with and is the basis why we need change in the FD. While not threatening the 8 with the list we have, we are better than what the results show. If we rip the heart and soul out of the playing group then we will not advance. We have already been down this path when we jettisoned Junior, Bruce and Green. We need seasoned bodies to help the young guys coming through. Let's not repeat history. It is not the playing list that is the core problem at the moment.

An averaging losing margin of no more than 5 goals. Sheez, I can't believe I've just said that.

You may, but numerous other members/supporters won't = position untenable.

I agree, but suspect it's not all of his own doing. There is a lot of weeding to be done in the FD and the Board, in terms of how it has interacted with the FD. At such times, I would have thought the Director of Football would have had something to say.

Added to that UH, we cannot continue to go down the so-called "rebuild" path. We are in desperate times, requiring drastic measures. We had a chance at rebuilding, stuff it up and that is part of the problem. The football world (read AFL) will not tolerate further prevarication.

Generally means nothing if they can secure a senior job, the club to which they are contracted will release them. That said the paucity of names on that list says there is not much out there. Wonder what Chris Judd thinks?

Obviously never spent a cold winter's day at the old VFL park in Waverley. That said, my fondest memories are the come from behind win against the Weagles in 87 and the wonderful day we beat Carltank in the 88 prelim. I said it on another thread, but those Demon teams were not star studded, they just had a go for each other and their coach; Swooper Northey. Loved those cold days.

UH, you are right, we can't just blame Neeld for this current debacle. That said, it is my view, just from observation; nothing else, that the players are not responding to him. I accept that the current list is below par, but we are not as bad as the current results suggest. I am also glad Jackson is there, but I suspect his review, when finalised, will be brutal in its honesty and will not take any prisoners. There will be a few others in the administration who will feel pain, over and above MN. I am also left to ponder, if MN had known the full extent of the paralysis within the club, would he have taken the job in the first place. For that, I have some sympathy for him.

Agreed Hardtack, but the two scenarios in question are somewhat different. For a start, Fremantle were not a basket case of the time. Similar to when John Northey left Richmond and took the Brisbane job.