beelzebub

The oddest thing just occurred to me about our game plan. In a sense its like a picture formed by folding a paper about the middle resulting in a mirror image. Our foward play is all but exactly what we try to force opposition teams to do. Our defenders deny opponents fowards arial superiority, we force the ball wide to the flanks.. We pressure the ball. We deny the corridor and rebound into attack... The most bizarre thing then seems to occur once we get past the middle is we adopt all of those attributes. We try to get the ball from the arial entries ( aka bombing ) only to end up going into the flanks and pockets ourselves. You have to ask....if we dont think having the ball towards the boundary is beneficial for our opponents in their fwd 50...why would we suppose it will work for us ?? We seem keen leading to pockets when really you should be leading out of them. Strange game...our style of footy.

Maybe Chandler gets a rest...... ANB seems wedded to Goody. Goody likes his 'efforts' . All very commendable but the game is won on outcomes. Trying alone is inconsequential....achieving is what it's really about.. We tried hard yesterday; ran ourselves ragged doing so. Achieved little. If ever the maxim " work smarter, not harder' had relevance it must be now. Dont expect to see Bullen at Casey anytime soon.....unless we're training there.

Not thinking you'll need to worry over conflicting positions this year. We're not winning the flag ugly or otherwise at this rate.

Thanks for your report. Shame about the lad. All the best to all.

You, and others, do realise the only STAT that truly matters.... IS .... Goals !!.. i.e tge Scoreboard. There's no prize for winning a lot of trumped up innocuous stats...none whatsoever. You only win via Goals and Points...and Goals far outway points. All those stats have no real context as much becomes subjective... so all.it really tells you is we ran around all day accomplishing very little for the effort. Not a stat but an extrapolation of all of them is to ask....why not ? Why weren't we more EFFECTIVE ? So if you apparently have all the elements....but end up with a dogs breakfast what does that tell you. Tells me we dont know what we're doing once we get it past the centre. We are literally clueless. How can this be ? Is anyone prepared to put their hand up and say our forward game is 'good'... we're just unlucky ?? Good teams, clever teams don't end up with so many shots on goal with as many 'hard' ones as we do. We play a very defensive offence ( forward game) . It's as though we set out to make it harder than it really ought to be. The number one priority as I observe , when we have the ball in our fwd 50 is to defend the ball. It's absurd really. The number one priority is to score. A condition of the scoring is to give yourselves the best chance by making scoring shots the easiest as can be. Is it just me...we seem to attempt the polar opposite. Theyre all quite capable footballers. So the real problem must be organisational.

It's the Elephant eh 😉

Someone had to keep an eye on that part of the ground. It's been a major flaw in our game that if you can get out our back door...the worlds your oyster. I have no doubt ( in my view ) that the box plays the % in this regard. But as a manner of playing this game you cant expect it to work all the time, and im sure they don't. But in games ( especially) where your 'game' isnt winning and where the opponent are showing more guile the logical adjunct is to make sure your defenders keep an eye. We should have played one more back behind the ball.

Also ...why is fatigue any more a factor/excuse/contingent with the Dees and not 17 other clubs ? Its a furphy.

We we're very fortunate.. in an inverse nature of Lemony Snickett and his game held up for a very short time. Are you suggesting he's travelling ok atm.. ? Seriously. Much if not all of our problems emanate from the game plan ...and selection . Responsibility is ?? By all means wear your Goody Hat. Im over this ridiculous persistance with a game thats every other coachs fodder. Its ok though as we're just brim full of 'learnings' This bloke will now burn careers and waste a lot of talent. There's at least half a dozen blokes that should be playing in the magoos on form.... but theyre not. Any number of players are playing in the wrong spot... or being directed to play the wrong role. The players dont make any of those decisions...do they. We have a dysfunctional foward line.... by design...because theyre playing utterly stupid football in terms of patterns and footy nouse. Cant be accidental..can it...?? Its not like one week or so are an aberration to a norm ...its not like we generally play ok up front but just have a bad game here or there ..is.it. No. Week in week out we see the front half of our game as our weakness. It the coaches job to fix that and the head coach's job to get his others to do it. Unless he can't. Goodwin has peaked.. 23 has 22 written all over it....

Football 101 NEVER leave the goals ( arc from one point post to other ) undefended once ball in your defensive half.

Hunter forward... Woewodin to that wing ?

Here in lays the problem.. and it's the fundamental one upon and around all decisions and selections will pivot. In the minds eye of Goodwin ....does the season need 'saving' ... or ... 'perservering' with. I.e... are there fundamental problems to be addressed....or is it a matter of "backing the lads' ( which by extension means backing them to back in his (coach's) game ? If Goodwin fancies the game is sound but just needs a bit of this and a smattering of that and all will sort itself out....especially as 'learnings' are applied, the what we have seen transpire will essentially continue. To suggest he or any of the FD will attempt to right the boat and save it ( from itself ) will need them to not only acknowledge that, and by extension ( as well ) concede theyre at fault. Therefore needing alternative action(s) Given our recent history ( and for the purposes of this exercise we'll limit it to the Goodwin years) how often has that happened...with anything done ?

Doesnt seem to matter a lot to us.... we cant enter the arc with meaning or menace...and cant hit the side of a barn... wet or dry . We're in a spot of bother. Lyons lot will expose us..... unless Badloss and coherts do some serious recasting of their runes.. Need to dust off the alternate game. The one we used preseason and glimpsed against the filth. Time to chuck plan A in the bin. Times up on that rubbish.

Hardwick was up for a change... he realised his errors. He adopted a different tac , a different game. Goody doesnt change... we all see this. Its odd really. He IS capable of alternative ideas in games.. somehow that all ( or nearly all ) gets left somewhere and the the same melbourne game rolls out week after week. Id take Hardwick...happily

The assistants are only implementing the Head Coach's game. Changing assistants accomplishes nothing.

Think you'll find you're far closer to expert than those taking coin to be so ;)

He was on the outer... Now hes been.in good form... far better than the coach. Tomo has games left in him. If him id tell Goody and co to gaft..

No we won't... how many times ffs. This is woeful footy...not even footy....just woeful. We learn Jack !! An AFL game isnt where the learning is... on the whiteboard, at the reviews, on the track.. practice games... thats where you learn Games for 4pts is where you execute.. where you Do. Not us apparently Embarrassing to watch.

And this durge we serve up isnt ?? Anyone thinking we're a serious finals contender... pfffffffft 🤣🤣🤣🤣

In wet weather conditions there ought never be a link of more than 2 handball...ideally just one...to a moving player or one in the clear... then a kick.. wash/spin/repeat. Keep ball moving.

Got Buckleys... interesting ideas though 😉

This morning I'm attending a market with my lovely wife. It happens to be in Caulfield....actually, at the Racecourse.... to be specific...in the middle. Quite expansive... gee...make a good spot for a sports training establishment... If Melbourne dont grab this...we're truly stupid.

Just by way of curiosity....anyone have knowledge of how this field plays after so much rain ? You might presume it drains quickly ....does it ?

Possibly. Never going to be dropped for THIS game though

Latest ,via the bush telegraph is a certain well known recluse and shiraz gurgler's transport had become mired . It's rumoured he, staff in waiting ( esp the '[censored]') have transferred to Camels and set off for the Centre.. Adorned with his classicly styled sun hat he was reported to be pretty pithed.