jnrmac

We are slow to take our kick thus shutting down any quick option that might be there We do not run and spread thus giving few options for the kicker We do not kick to space we kick to the player (often next to an opposition player) We can't hit targets - so we should try more to kick to space in any case We're all doomed

Are they like baggy shorts from the 70s?? Or a distress signal when at sea?

It's not my intention to offend you so apologies for that. But, this playing group has not improved one iota in 4 years. And players within that have had many, many opportunities to show leadership and resilience and rise up against adversity. We have played a lot of 'backs to the wall' type games and been hammered in nearly every one. I personally am sick of it. I want to see players having a go. Explain to me how a player like Magner can come in and be our best player two weeks running?? It's a sad indictment on the playing group. And the rhetoric of Brad Green and Moloney is worth zilch, zippo, nothing. " The players are really hurt and we know we have to put in a better performance" Really?? Ha, I have yet to see it. They have no ticker. Geez North play like that every week - they are hardly blessed with a lot more natural talent than we are. But their culture is to be admired. If not for Jimmy and the members who contributed money this club would have been close to folding. Is that desperate enough for you? Oh no let's give em a while to settle in....

We had/have a very leaky defence. Our losing margin last year was around 60pts and our winning margin was around 48pts strangely enough. Our i50s were the third lowest in the league primarily because of the poor midfield that cannot run both ways, control the footy or deliver it cleanly to a forward. The defence were doing OK given the amount of ball going in there but they were poor on the rebound - it has been said we defended from too deep on the field, not sure about that. We had to tighten our defence first. You have to stop the goals. We need a solid system and structure that will withstand an onslaught. Its clear we don't yet have it. I believe we are two quality defenders short. A Luke Hodge type quarterback that can set up forward thrusts and a ball carrying linebreaker. We are continually let down by Bartram and Macdonald. Blease hasn't come on and Strauss is yet to impress. Frawley seems to have gone backwards this year and Rivers is terrible one on one. Bennell hasn't made it despite being given many chances and Grimes has suspect disposal. Garland should be OK. The next part is the midfield. It's diabolical. We have no-one that can dominate a game like the elite players. And we appear unable to develop a payer of that calibre. They are slow and don't run both ways. Consequently the ball pings out of our fwd line incredibly fast and straight into our defence. I am less worried about the fwd line. We have some talent and unpredictability there. The midfield is the real problem. We have a surfeit of triers but little quality. Jones is improving and I love his heart but Moloney isn't the answer. Davey can't do it. Bate and Dunn are really not up to standard and Sylvia continues to be my most disappointing player after 8 years of holding out high hopes. You can have a game plan but if the players cannot play to it then there is a problem. That was the case under Bailey. I have hopes Neeld will get it right. The final comment is on culture. Watching the Geelong game yesterday I was yet again amazed at how that club will not give in. We sadly have a team that turns its toes up at every major game we play - a Friday night game against a quality opposition, a game to honour Jim Stynes - the list is too numerous to mention. Our culture sucks and has for a long time. That is harder to fix but has to be done little by little and weeding out players like Davey and Morton will simply refuse to chase and go in hard. I would happily swap both for two James Magners. Let's hope we don't drive out his competitive spirit and let's hope we can find some more of it amongst our playing group. Barry P and Craig C had a drafting plan over the past 10 yrs but it didn't seem to include hard bodied mongrel footballers who want the ball at all cost. Give me 22 of them and at least I won't come away from a game feeling dudded yet again by a lack of spirit and fight.

Kicked 5 against us in hs first game.

My 'Clint meter' has gone from 7 (useful but with flaws) to 0 (flaws totally outweigh any positives he might have). As for leadership, I am not sure what Neeld saw but I ca't see it either.

Imagine what the trauma of the last 4 years would do..... To a footy club and its supporters. You seem to be eating a lot of the magic puddin'. I hope in your rosy world that Doves don't cry either. Get real. FFS. It's dog eat dog out there. Footy is no different.

SO long as there was some logic to it because I too am bewildered by Aaron's attitude since mid-last year. Doesn't want to be here. Looks lazy and uninterested.

Everything about West Coast is sus. Don't use them as a poster child.

OUT: Bartram, Green, Morton, Blease, Moloney, Davey, Bennell, Job lot. Gone., Find me 20 players in the VFL that attack the footy like Magner and Jones.

9 head high tackles. We are just stupid dumb people on a grassy field. Can't bring myself to call them footballers. Watched a few games on the weekend. None play the kind of *%^&$(_) we play week in week out. other games are actually enjoyable contests. You are witnessing the killing of a football club. The players, coaches and staff are all responsible. I want my weekends back.

We have STUPID FOOTBALLERS. We gave away nine frees for Head high tackles. DUMB We had ZERO tackles in the fwd 50. Not ONE. We continuously miss targets from 20m. We bomb the ball in long to a 2 on 1 or 3 on 1 contest. We have midfielders who do not run, chase or tackle (Magner and Jones excluded). 78 inside 50s to the Eagles was the 4th highest on record. Brad Green had 4 kicks. Enjoy Casey Brad you'll be spending some time there. WHERE IS THIS HIGH LEVEL OF FITNESS WE WERE SUPPOSED TO HAVE DEVELOPED OVER SUMMER?????? If the players are trying to kill a footy club they are going about it the right way. They stink.

Cheney was delisted.

All we could do. I don't mean to sound like an I told you so but the dogs were barking about this guy well before we took the sponsorship on. Shows how desperate we were (and are) for sponsors. Interestingly it could make a great story for a WHite Knight company to come along and say " we applaud the Melb football club for taking this stand and hereby agree to replace their sponsorship". One can always hope. Geez and I said yesterday that the Davey story wold blow over because there would be a new story out today I didn't think it would be us again and this of all things! Aargghh. We must have killed a black cat or something,,,,(nothing racist in that!)

Gold!

Didn't he just sign rescently?

What? To be fed to the marauding media pack? Neeld is right. Kill the story. Move on. We have nothing to gain. It's an unwanted distraction. We play West COast and that is going to be hard yakka.

Davey's 'grievances' seem to have started early on last year. At least that's when his level of disinterest and commitment to a contest started. Who could forget his game against North before he was injured....

NEWS FLASH Neeld has gathered all the redheads at training today to tell them to put sunscreen on as the sun is out. Outrage at the Herald Sun over blatant discrimination....

I'm not sure about that, It's a well known poltical tactic to deprive a story of oxygen. If you don't feed the monster it can limit how long people talk about it. If you respond to every little angle because a journo demands to know it then you prolong it for an infuriating amount of time. Tomorrow there will be a new story that takes the back page away (please!!!)

Just by the way, if Neeld did happen to address the indigenous boys as a group why is this racist and why is everyone up in arms? Are we being a little over-sensitive?? Yes I can see that it would be seen to be treating them differently because of their race but the indigenous boys identify as 'brothers' and a collective group. They will offer each other support and make their way to each of the opposition indigenous players at the end of each match to shake hands and chat. They freely talk about themselves as a collective unit. Is it a case of double standards? Not saying it is or isn't but it's hardly a hanging crime is it? Paul Roos got away with saying indigenous players have less endurance and hardly a word was muttered in protest yet I personally would find that more offensive. But what if it's true? Why is it that the last 30 or so world record 100m metre runners have been black? It it racist to say that they are better runners? Or does the evidence simply overide that?

Davey has to play this weekend now doesn't he? Last chance saloon altho if he fails again then he will no doubt blame it on the furore that was created by the AFL. If he gets dropped the wagons will circle again saying "it was true, the leaker was Davey" The easiest and best way to resolve this is for Davey to play a blinder but sadly I don't think he has it in him. He checked out a year ago.

QUOTES from the Hun Asked yesterday why the source had fabricated the story, Mifsud said: "It was a number of weeks ago now and it was in a broader context in regards to where he's at within his current life, the demands that have been elevated at the Melbourne Football Club and a whole range of other personal circumstances which I'm not going to go into. "And I think he acknowledged last night that he'd put a series of conversations together to articulate what, at that point's time, I was very clear on what he was saying but subsequently he's now denying." So, not only does he pass this confidential information on to Thomas, he further inflames the situation by telling us about Davey's private life and he dislike of the training regime. FCS shut the F up you moron. Any of us would get sacked for the same indiscretion. Double and triple standards. Poor matt Rendell!

His body language and performance screams worse than that - total disilliusionment I would say. Lift your game flash. You are there to do a job. Do it.

"When I was at Coll ingwood we didn't worry about tagging midfielders" - Mark Neeld. Wow.