maximum bob

Get Sheedy and go backwards. A couple of years of wedded excitement and then it's all over quickly with a messy end. Look to the future rather than hang on to another coach's past glory years. Sheedy won't even make the short list.

It's with increasing disinterest that I watch this coaching melodrama. Excitement pitched now it's waning. Basically I'm not sure we'll make the wisest choice. And the list of candidates isn't all that inspiring to me at any rate. However... The best option given the circumstances might well be Sheedy on a short term contract, 3 years max. Voss on board as understudy for 2009. Hand over the reins in 2011. I'm clutching at straws or the best possible outcome. I have no idea but what the heck.

Fortunately Joffa was featured on the Ten broadcast at least three times in the last quarter. Now I know what a stunned mullet looks like. The cuts to Joffa made a nice change from the testimonials between goals from the Bunnings 'Team Members'.

Interesting and astute post WC. Definitely food for thought. I for one hadn't seriously considerd Sheedy but the landscape's changed significantly in the last week.

I've got a bob each way regardless. I started supporting Sandy and the Dees in the same year due to a grandmother living in Tennyson St Sandringham. Footy was a whole new exciting experience and I was young enough to enjoy watching both teams. I probably saw Sandy play more than I saw the Dees for the first few years but I'd already become a loyal Melbourne supporter because of Barassi's persona and performance. That was the team I wanted to support. For me, the marriage of the Zebs and the MFC was a marriage made in heaven. Three flags in a row for the Zebs is exceptional and in the record books. Four will be amazing.

T.A.N.K.I.N.G.

Appointing Sheedy as the next coach of the MFC would be the dumbest move the Board could ever make. Sorry to rain on the parade but it simply won't happen. Look forward not back.

Paterakis again named in the best. I don't know a lot about him but I like what I'm hearing. From those who've seen him play for the Zebs, is he worth a chance down the track?

Midfield clearances (or more relevantly the lack of them) has a lot to do with the coaching and amount of practice they put in. Our rucks, contrary to a lot of expectations, have done well in getting first hands on the ball. Maybe this has surprised our mids because they seem caught out of position too many times. Then they play catch-up footy. Regardless, their positioning has often been woeful. You can't fault their endeavour but too often they're chasing shadows, not making the play with the pill in their hands. Paul Williams wouldn't be getting a pass mark atm no matter who he has to work with. Whoever our new coach is you can bet your bottom dollar that he'll look hard at the current assistants and sweep a new broom through them if he thinks he has better options. Interesting times ahead.

Good question Dazzle. I can't remember a younger team running out. There may well have been, but it's lost in the mists of time for me. Not to mention the amount of games played collectively. Not a hell of a lot.

Voss's brief moment of stupidity will be a 10 minute wonder and in no way affect his chances of being appointed as a senior coach. Whether for us or someone else. I won't bother to list the litany of the way-more serious offences committed by listed VFL/AFL players here. Anyone with half a memory and an ear to the ground will know that Voss's punch ranks low on the scale and multitude of offences recorded over the years. Dumb, but hardly a career threatening event. If it was, why did a national television network sign him up fully aware that he was in the spotlight for his indiscretion. It's not as though it was some big secret. It's been in the press for ages. Some points you make 'too much Herb' aren't worth responding to but a few are. The fact Voss didn't play footy in Melbourne you lead off with as your most important reason. Three premierships on an alien ground 'in the spotlight' as you see it looks pretty good to me. Voss is a 'baby'. Doesn't warrant a comment. Of your other preferred coaches only Ratten appeals as a fallback appointment. This continual conservative thinking that an AFL coach has to be a proved assistant is the way back for the MFC not the way forward. This softly-softly approach has held the club back for years. Time to bite the bullet and appoint Voss. What have we got to lose? A touch of arrogance with footy nous wouldn't go astray unless you're happy with another decade of 'that's good enough'. I'm over it.

Voss gave an [censored] a slap for endangering a team mate and stirring up aggro in the pub. Big deal. If he'd wanted to do some damage he could've. But he didn't. And we couldn't tell what that idiot was mouthing at him anyway. It was more like 'get off home sonny, it's past you're bedtime' but here's a goodnight kiss. It could have been a lot worse. It was stupid but it in no way puts me off Voss as our next coach. Fire Up!

Let's stop piddling around. Young renewing list equals young coach with a hell of a lot to prove. Pagan = NO. Connolly = NO Sheedy = NO Reilly = NO Any one of umpteen assistant coaches = NO Computer says YES = Voss.

Enough of the tantrums fellow posters! The salient point is that we played nine players aged under 21 against Carlton. Thank goodness some of our older players were unavailable and getting themselves right for '08 or the last few rounds. It's a win/win situation. Circumstance will see Newton, Frawley, Buckley and probably Garland amongst others given significant game time against the big boys in the weeks to come and this can only be a positive for our list. (You could have added Petterd until last weekend). Playing 'I was right, you were wrong' games is a waste of time and space. Let's enjoy the unfolding of the future regardless of how it pans out. It makes a refreshing change.

Thanks for that. Very prompt!

As a matter of interest, what was the crowd today?

Any thought of getting this primitive to the club is the shortest route to stupidity and failure I've read in a while. We need to build a greater team ethic across the entire playing list and not bring in a half-arsed wild card to rock the boat when what we're after is stability after an upheaval. No prima donnas thanks; just hard, tough, talented, consistent footballers who respect the jumper and play for the team. Fevola fills one of those criteria and it ain't enough. Thanks but no thanks.

More clutching at straws. Forget Pagan and Carey. There is absolutely no chance either will be coaching us next year. Carey is morally bankrupt and a flake and wouldn't have the respect of the players and Pagan has had his moment in the sun and it won't be repeated. He's more interested in his horses than his players these days. Coaching a footy team now funds his real passion.

Gazza? NO. Not in a pink fit.

Very simple answer to this vexing question. Michael Voss will be the next coach of the MFC. He and Gardner will be a nice match and hit it off from the start. The board will respect his success and his hunger to prove that he can cut it at senior coaching level. Forget that drivel about spending time being an assistant and learning the ropes. Robert (dumbo) Shaw is a prime example of not the way to go. Why wouldn't you want a champion player who once he crossed the line took no prisoners? This is the attitude we need. Look forward, not back. Any talk of Lyon, Pagan and CC is retrograde thinking. A rare moment, a new broom. Seize the time, take a chance. Voss for mine and beggar the consequences.

Way too harsh on Gardner Mono. You can't blame him for the coaching performance tonight. I'm sure he's spending restless nights right now over ND's coaching tenure or potential replacement. However give him his due. Gardner's got the club back into some sort of black considering our previous debt and he's working hard at cementing us as one of the key Melbourne/Australian sporting clubs with a stronger identity and better home base than we currently have. The "group of Melbourne sporting clubs" announced last week is a positive move. What else would you expect Gardner to do? Sack the coach now? Smells like teen spirit? Sorry, smells like St Kilda. ND may go. Believe it or not, Gardner and the board will make the decision at the end of the season. Hold your breath.

Scores anyone? I'm computer bound atm.

Just back from work (and a few bevvies) and wanted an up to date games thread. As of 10 minutes ago not a great one here so checked Demonology. Site down. 9.45 pm. BTW both sites offer lots to the die-hard supporter.

Stuff the stereotype. This tripe about snow bunnies started with Barry Humpries way back in the 60's on one of his early (best-selling) records, for those who remember vinyl. About going to the snow etc. I always thought it was more about Geelong Grammar (Sam Newman springs to mind...his almer mater), although Barry did attend Melbourne Grammar and was poking fun at some of his classmates. But by no means all. Nevertheless this populist mud has stuck and we've had to live with it as the MFC ever since. The so-called alliance with the MCC hasn't helped this perception either. In the old days the opposition supporters would sit in the 'Outer' and look across to the Grey Smith stand and the Members and the Ladies stand and give us kids heaps. We were sitting in the 'Inner'. And fair enough. We had the privileged seats and looked high and mighty. The irony was that many of us got a free ticket in as juniors and supported the Dees regardless of where we sat. In '64 I stood in Bay 13. It didn't matter to me where I was in the ground as long as I was there. The salient point is that since then we've developed (and always had) a much broader supporter base than the popular perception of toffee-nosed skiers.

Truth be told, I don't give a monkey's f if you're one and the same poster. You each share reactionary opinions and you each emphasise outbursts by posting juvenile messages in UPPER CASE under your posts. I look forward to some actual analysis of games and players rather than kinder play. More than happy to contribute to the dialogue btw.