Choko

Maybe we don't back the player, but don't want to sack the player because that's not in our immediate best interests. Maybe we want to prepare for Saturday and deal with the fallout, which is complex, over time. Doing things at our own pace and not being dictated by parochial supporters or by the AFL can in fact be the best "backbone" of all, and can be the epitome of great leadership. Just give it time.

Correct. Which is why he needs to go. AD has made this about him getting shafted by "evil" Thomas, but in fact, it is more to do with the fact he, at best, embellished and therefore misled both Thomas and the AFL (because this issue was taken to the Executive). That is..... unless the alleged MFC insider lied.

Or neither, which I think is most likely. Alleged insider mildly disgruntled, in the context of personal circumstances and a new regime. Mifsud interprets favourably to his overarching mindset/agenda, and embellishes or inappropriately uses info he receives for other ends. There is no interpretation that saves Mifsud IMO from impropriety.

Will you settle down? This is much more complex than back or sack FFS

Or, possibly a former player speaking to Mifsud about what he had heard....

You have to remember, there is a chance our player is a liar. In which case, the club would want to shut this down. There is also a greater chance that Mifsud is a self-important and unsophisticated "player", and he interpreted some comments in a way that suited his end. In that event, our player stands to be embarrassed by any more oxygen on his involvement in the situation, so I can understand why the club would want to shut this down in this case too. If the player was squeaky clean, and Mifsud had simply lied, then I suggest this would have evolved a bit differently. Even in that case, though, MFC gains nothing by pouring oxygen on the fire.

If people think legal action is a tough, or effective, way of dealing with this, they have not spent much time with lawyers or courts. Demetriou's repeated suggestions that Neeld and the MFC take legal action is nothing more than his own vengeful view of Thomas.

I have read through all of this and I cannot believe what I am reading, quite frankly. Some people here should be dead set ashamed of themselves. There is no more evidence of Aaron Davey being involved than there was when Thomas inappropriately implicated Neeld. Aaron Davey has denied involvement, and in fact has come out to say he was not involved, and has actively defended the coach to at least Caro. Now some of you are saying that he forgave Mifsud too quickly, or that other media types (who, until this flared up, had said nothing) are more reliable than the man himself. Aaron is an MFC player, and he has been to my knowledge a loyal servant for many years. More years than most of you have had your jobs. He does not deserve to be called a liar, double crosser, underminer and conspirator by hysterical morons hiding behind a computer screen. What is clear is that Mifsud is an unsophisticated, agenda driven person who cannot be trusted. To go public to Thomas of all people based on hearsay is unable to be justified. However, those of you who quickly bag Demetriou are also falling for populist and reactionary crap. You need to assume he knows a lot more about this than you do. Of course his decisions can be scrutinised, but let's put it this way, he is more likely to make a sensible decision than those who are happy to defame Davey on this site. I think people need to settle down.

I confess that I recently personally apologised to Mark Jamar at a function for calling him an "oxygen thief" for years.

The same thing is happening in every facet of life, with microblogging and the ease with which someone can have and voice an opinion. The key is not to get despondent because of it, rather to learn how to sort the noise from the legitimate and valuable contributions. Grant Thomas = self-promoting noise. It's so easy to pick a word and give it significance. But what value does that have, except an ego trying to stay relevant. Valuable = what our coach says, because he is our coach, and his choices and way of thinking are directly relevant to how our team will fare.

Do you perform every day at work? I would like to say I do, but I have good days and better days. Hopefully not too many bad days! But then again, no-one exists in my workplace with the sole aim of making me look bad and beating me (that special job goes to my wife!!!), and unlike Beamer, satisfactory performance of my job doesn't rely so heavily on so many variables. I just think we should give the guy some slack. He has historically worn his heart on his sleeve for the club. He has been one of the first, not the last to fly the flag. Yes, he had a shocker. Let's cut him some slack.

Agree entirely. There are a lot of keyboard heroes here. Moloney had a shocker, that's for sure. He is not an A Grader, but there's nothign new there. He is a very solid footballer, who finished top 10 in the Brownlow. That is a result not to be under-stated. But for crying out loud, he had one shocking game. The idea of writing him off after one bad game is ridiculous. Also, show me any evidence that he is sooking. Grant Thomas saying he said "coach"? Please, that evidence wouldn't pass year 11 Legal Studies. The same people who bag him, say he is sooking, say there is no place for him any more.... I'll bet you will hide yourselves when he comes out and delivers again.

I think there is no doubt that at 3/4 time and full time there was substantial booing of the players. Myself? I couldn't be bothered.

I'll contribute the 5 things I learned from Round 1: 1. We have no pride 2. It's going to be a long season 3. We are going to have to at least have a partial rebuild, again 4. 40,000 members in 2012 is a pipe dream 5. Our senior players cannot be trusted True enough, some of these are not new lessons, or I'm a slow learner!!

I personally don't give too much credence to what Neeld did at Ocean Grove. I am more interested in his time at Geelong and Collingwood, which was almost universally lauded. Anyway, he is our coach for 3 years, and it's as simple as that. We need to get behind him.

At this stage, it is a baseless rumour, which even Thomas admits may be incorrect. And Xiss - let's not go nuts and slam a rumour as disgrace and racism of the highest order. Racism is more complex than that.

I'm sorry, but Grant Thomas talking about relationships is like Terry Wallet talking about list management. Marketing hype, and people who like the smell of their own sh*t too much. If we had won on the weekend, would Grant Thomas have said "Neeld's no-nonsesnse school teacher approach is what has been missnig from the demons for years". Probably. And fancy Thomas liking "humble" McCartney. I think the only time Thomas came face to face with humble was when it hit him in the face in the form of a pie when he got sacked.

Unfortunately, his kicking and handballs are too often ineffective, or worse, he turns it over. You can't get a game in a good side if you can't deliver the ball, especially when you don't have other party tricks. I don't think Barts would get a game at any other club.

Bartram is as courageous as the day is long. That is the start and end of his value.

Excellent and accurate post. Sad.

Effort can suddenly happen. If you think an unwillingness to show effort is a culture, then you can't be critical of people for being disgusted.

See I would usually agree with you. But to hear Trengove and Neeld say that we didn't have enough effort defeats everything you are saying. Yes, new game plan. yes, Stynes could work as a distraction rather than a spur. But effort we CAN control. How dare we show up for the first game under a new coach, of a new season, after Stynes' death, and leave the park 7 goals down and saying we didn't try as hard as we should. So no, we are not being hysterical. We are in fact a disgrace.

Add Bail, Bartram, Joel Mac to that list of similar types who are not quick and have significant flaws. Trengove also not quick. And also similar are our forward line types. Not one who can keep the ball in, but the talls are Clark, Watts, Howe, Petterd, Martin.... and they all get in eachother's way.

Maybe Jones instead of Trengove.

He had a shocker, but I think we can forgive him one. And he also had friends.