beelzebub

.Being married to a Collingwood supporter... as is pratically her whole family of 4B and 3S wih one staying currently with us...I do actually end up seeing alot of Collingwood play. lol Thyer pretty good arent they !! Yes many ways to skin cats the AOB. However we arent them ( filth ). We are running a decimated outfit of late. All comparisons really with a Geelong..or Pies etc are a stretch ( to the point of snapping ) Counter question. Does Geelong, Carlton or Collingwood play a game based off of half back ? ( not the last time I looked.., yesterday as it happened) Who was Carlton playin loose on Friday ? o BTW..they won because they have a forward line..and an effecive midfield and apply accountable forward pressure ( and strangley in the forward 50 ) In short they won because they set about winning.. kinda showed too

You dont tend to stuff around with the defence during a game. You have men take to task and possibly change matchups if not working but these days you dont rest anyone down back. If Steph is taking the lions share of rucking ( ftm) then he would rest up forward.. or on the bench. He could do this only if another ruck took over. Possibly this is where Gawn comes in. Maybe start Gawn in the middle. Put Martin in the square and line up Howe next to him.

this truly beautiful..as im sure you dont see the irony. Many here understand whats happening . Its not that hard to see the failings at Melbourne. Arguably its harder to pinpoint some causes and trangressors.. But the failure itself is manifest. Contrary to your view.. I more than get it.. But its my opinion. You want some to take what you say as fact, but others arent buying. In respect to fridays effort. There are facts..and there are consequesnces of actions and directives. Fact . We played a lose man in defence ( at the expence of our offensice ability, especially given who we put down back ) You cant play lose man in back without conceding potency up forward, unless and this is the big one, you have a very powerful and dominating forward line which can afford being one-short. This is not the case at Melbourne as even with 6 positions filled up front no one is sure we really have a forward line of note. Take one man ( playing woth form) away and we can gaurantee we dont.. Bailey offers up the excuse ( i wont even credit him here with reasoning asthe reason fails) that he wanted to maximise the push from Half back. But for what..theres no one up forward who can do much . He's robbed Peter to pay Paul. All of Baileys ideeas come from the notion that the game is powered and determined from Half Back. Great thinking this as youve automatically conceded about 25-30 to the oppsosition. Most teams seem to think the game starts and stops with clearances, esp at teh center bounce. We seem to retreat to this fall back position and wait.., to unleash this Agrona from Hell . Bailey sought to mitigate any blowout by loading the backline. This cant be refuted for it is , what it is. The consequence of bolstering your defence is to weaken the forward potency. This Bailey was happy to do. This was akin to footballs Custer's last Stand. Whomever the carlton player was , who spoke of knowing theyd w on it in the warm up, well he was obviously correct. That score board went in one direction only really for the rest of the day. And it was always going to as our structure ensured it. You dont retreat and form a rear position counter offensive until you have exhausted your attack and all claims at winning.. Oh thats right we had before the first bounce.

Probably as a result of such littel usable rucking stocks to go to the well for. Maybe if Gawn comes in this week we can have a look at Stef down front ? At least in spurts..maybe

Go shove it mate... you make like you know it all...and we can all plainly see you dont.. Many come here to debate but few assume the know it all status you aspire to. Go back to your Chinese Id suggest. In English however.. Bailey played a losing hand perfectly... i.e he had not thebest cards and he sought to lose as little as he could. Many would sugest thats not what we ought to be about. You dont like it...fine.. Beijing awaits !!

How do you not understand theyre the same ??? Try as you may describing a Donkey with balck and white stripes...its a Zebra !!

Im not at all sure as what in its entirity , Stef brings to the table in terms of ability or skills. He obviously has some, but its potential is far from understood, neither by the club nor himself. Hes being given opportunities and in his best way he's giving it a red hot crack. is he successful ? Jury probably still out, but then is it actually being asked for its judgement just yet ? In steps, some small and some larger hes getting more accustomed to the role(s) asked of him and hes creating a contest. I think hes coming on ok. and hardly the clogger some suggest.

Humour me here.. He recognises he is limited in defence...and moves to shore it up... How is this not minimising ? Its exactly what it is. A compromise it may be, but it was a tactic to minimise the onslaught he thought coming. In doing this he scuttled any endeavour of the side to win.

The whoile problem with fridays game was that it was undertaken in a negative mode. It began with the notion we were to be smashed and how to minimise it. The game was lost before the bounce. I was always under the impression you should at least go in with the attitute that any game might be won if given effort and attitude, fate may well stooge you , but if Baileys going to start the minimising game...then he can go now.

obviously a false dawn... an aberation as opposed to a real step up. He hasnt followed it up withmuch....has he ?

Of coure break out games occur. Thats when a player finally makes that statement.."Im here. Ive stepped up to the next level ( often equal to his acknowledged ability ) and this and this is where im staying " 4 years in our system....times ticking Cale !!

starting to sound like we need a new FD !! seems like theyre trying to organise a fit-out before the building's in place.

There is an awkward truth that occasionally pops its head up. It runs along the lines that things just dont quite work out as you had imagined.. Cale was drafted for al lthe right reasons in all likelyhood. Unfortunately not every player blloms quite according to plan. Cale is an example of such. Cale was drafted in 2007 debuted in 08..its now 011 Many are going to throw the time-homoured 'injurerd' card into the deck. This has a litte credibility but it cant explain really how slow Cale is to take the game to the next ( and required ) level. That, is purely a function of his mind. Hes shaping up as a classic NQR...too good for VFL.. just average for AFL and not quite what we had in mind. Still waiting for that break out game....still !!

Maric was drafted for his general high level of abilities and his goal kicking. Thats where the kicking came into it. It wasnt his general field kicking that he was known for it was his presence around goal. He was incredibly accurate. ...and can still be. Im not really sure of any real merits of playing him all over the ground ( in a manner ) , other than some sort of interpreted general footy education . Hes a very capable forward pocket player.. ffs Bailey leave him there. Hes not a midfielder. Hes a goal kicker...and bloody hell we need them .

Forwards...we have forwards ??? Would love a dollar for every time I glance to our forward arc and see no one home.. Are we reaaly sure we've got forwards ?? lol

Iwonder if they had to line Goddard up at training ?? Doubt it. Watts has always wanted ro be amongst the fray...just knew he had to get his head right and body a few kilos hewavier.. But always wanted it Morton shows none of this

it graphically represents one step forward...two back. Though it might have been over your head..

who job is this ?? who supposed to be moulding the team ? what can I say...its the usual suspect He cant possibly do everything I realise, buit he's charged with overseeing those who do.

, you realise most of this will go through tothe keeper dont you ?? lol the underlined does present a very simple question I think, as no doubt do you . I dont really se much in the way of answers anywhere; mainly excuses or possibly reasons why our current dillemma and malaise is understandable and to some defendable. But I look at it in much the way of thinking thats defined by "if we simply accept where we are right now as irrefutable, then what does Dean really bring to bear as amunition to support his support going forward?" I care not really about his personal life and demeanor, its irrelevant; its how he is and performs in the guise of Melbourne's coach. Many also need to understand that the clearing of the deadwood was much less Baileys doing as it was those in charge of list management and recruiting.. Bailey is the Coach. He has input but many more do so its arguable almost anyone would have achieved simnilar results to date regarding the list. Its what hes done with them since thats an evidence of his ability. Id probably give him a 'B" here. Nothign brilliant, nothing glaringly wrong...or in simpler terms, nothing to write home about either.. Ive said for quite a while Im not so much concerned by the situation regarding injuries etc as that is to a point unaavoidable its what you do with those left that is our focus. The style of game we seem determined to play isnt gelling. OUr stategy this last friday was embaraqssing. That the players managed even a fist was to a point commendable but they should never have been asked to play that way.; its demeaning. So id back the call of your ppost Hannabal, someone, anyone answer. What is it about the way and the results of Baileys Caoching that anyone likes ? I can tel lyou whats missing.. but im curious too as to what some like . over to whomever ...........

of course its all rather arbitrary...as the first prerequisite is that theres actually anyone in the forward 50

I concur.. any semblance really of ducking behind a smokescreen of legitimacy is completely , either by design or otherwise, simply choosing to diregard the appropriateness of it. As you suggest BRFE what sort of message , if only subliminary, is being broadcast here. Another team , much younger and less experienced ( together ) has a red hot go. Only when their young tired legs gave way did they cease to offer genuine competition but then only by weariness, not by design. I know which style id rather watch , barrack for and support. Only one thing really worse than being mercilessly thumped and thats surrender by design. Its just not fair dinkum

Have a good read of this : http://demonland.com/forums/index.php?/topic/26185-dean-bailey-i-hope-youre-watching/page__view__findpost__p__437009 tell me if you still think the same ( not having a dig...amgenuinely curious)

Sir Humphrey would be most pleased !!

Two things of note that will come away from this weekends round of games. Gold Coast earnt a truckload of respect........and Melbourne further diluted whatever it has.