Grand New Flag

I somewhat agree. However, I am not sure this is the point. The point is: How has it all come to this?

Did you just say improvement????????? Are you kidding, we are at least a 10 goal worse team than when he took over. We are a worse team then even last year. We have won just one game (not including expansion teams) since Neeld took over. Mate, hate to break it to you, but we are going backwards, we are being compared with the worst teams in the history of the competition!!!!!! Statistically we worse than Fitzroy in all but Fitzroys last season. What is worse is that we have a young team of 1st and 2nd round draft picks, we should be improving. Can I remind you we won 8.5 games in 2010 and 2011, including some big wins against top 8 teams. The only thing I am blinded by is how pathetic we have become on-field since Neeld took over. Incredible comment.

Watts has been managed appallingly since the day he arrived at the club. It was my hope Neeld would put an end to this poor management. How wrong was I. Neeld making him a scape goat for the round 2 flogging was disgraceful. According to Neeld he had the flu. As such he should not have been playing. Blind Freddy could see he was struggling to run that night. Neeld subbed him off, but instead of coming to his defence and admitting that in hindsight he should not have played as he was still suffering the side effects of the flu, Neeld publically sprayed him and then dropped him. It was unprofessional, and disgusting publically humiliation. Neeld (not for the first time) made him into a scape goat for the teams terrible performance. Despite being sick Watts was far from our worst that night. In fact I will say that half the team played worse than him. The following week he was then left on the boundary as an emergency, while hacks who played worse against Essendon and have 10% of his skill played. Absolute appalling player management. Its as if Neeld went out to try and destroy this kids self confidence. It worked. No wonder he wants out under Neeld.

Ablett equals 1 player. Not 5 of your top 10 over 2 seasons.

The damage that Neeld has and is still doing is untold. It is a unprecedented disaster. It is hard to imagine anyone doing a worse job. At this stage anyone would be better than Neeld.

I know as a fact the Carlton are all over Watts. Multhouse has approached him personally, plus Carlton players. No doubt an orchestrated campaign. They would "love" to have him.

Bossdog: I highjack every thread because of the seriousness of the situation. I truly believe we are in a death roll. Doing nothing or pretending things are not as they are will bring us to extinction.

By now most here should know my opinion. After round 5 last year I started writing posts outlining the terrible choice we made in making Neeld Coach. I said that he had divided the players, he had lost the players before he even coached his first game, I said Neeld did not have the personal skills or management skills to be head coach, I said after round 6 Moloney and Rivers would walk, midseason I spoke of a major falling out (fight) between Neeld and Martin and that he would never play for Melbourne again. I spoke of a falling out between Jurrah and Pettard with Neeld......... but few listened. I told all that would listen that Neeld was the greatest mistake since firing Norm Smith and that if we did not remove him quickly he would drive us into extinction. I said we were in a slow motion train crash. I was and still am called an alarmist, a nutter, other people asked for me to be banned from this sight, however, everything I have said on this subject has turned out to be true. This season, I have said that as things currently stand, Frawley, Sylvia and Watts would leave season end. Again as recently as yesterday I have been smashed. My information has never been made up, it has come from within the playing group and player managers. I love this club and l will do anything I can to help ensure its long term viability and survival. I have made significant donations to this club via debt demolition. I only want to see my club survive. It is time for those who still have their head in the sand to wake up. We are deep in survival mode. We should no longer be looking at Premierships, we must put all effort into survival. Make no mistake, we have 2 to 3 years to turn this club around or we will be relocated or merged in time for the next broadcast contract. If we lose more senior players that task will be close to impossible. Its time to look at the big picture, everything must be done to hold all our top 25. I will make things very clear to all who will listen. Mark Neeld may not be the person who started the rot, however, he is not the person for our club. He has divided our playing group, he has lost our players, he does not have the motivational or personal skills required. He is a cancer, he is part of the problem rather than the solution. He was a terrible choice in head coach. The ONLY chance we have is to fire Neeld immediately, replace him with a motivational coach that can unit the players and do whatever we can to land Roos or then next best experienced coach. Only then may our players stay. Only then may we survive. This is the train wreck I told you all was coming. I am devastated. We must move quickly while there is still time. I again call on the board to fire Neeld immediately.

Blame the spin and constant conditioning of supporters, lowing our expecations by our failed coach for this. The problem is it also lowers the expectations, confidence and self belief of our players. The pass mark given for the Richmond game makes me sick. Hell we were smashed. If it was not for their poor set shots combined with our excellent conversion rate per forward 50 entry, the losing margin would have again been embarressing. Enough of this crap!

Perhaps you should read my posts before making comment. Show me where I said any of this? Its total BS? Mate, if you don't want to believe what I am saying, that is fine, keep you head in the sand, but if you are going to quote me quote me accurately. Also please consider your comments with the predictions I made last year. I was smashed for what I said on here, mid-season I said Moloney and River would walk, I said Martin had a massive fight with Neeld and would never play for Melbourne again. I said Neeld was losing the players with a militant approach. You guys smashed me and at the end of the season almost everything I said would happen turned out to come true.

This is what I am hearing from a player manager who directly looks after a number of Melbourne players including one of the following: Watts: seriously considering asking for a trade, has been approached by a number of clubs. Is said to interested in Carlton, Multhouse has been his mentor and he wants to play for a coach he believes in, and believes in him. Frawley: Likely to ask to be traded Sylvia: Likely to take free agency This is on top of last years walk outs. Make no mistake Martin, Moloney and Rivers all left as a direct result of the coach. That is 6 players in 2 years. 5 of which are in our top 10. Get your head out of the sand!

rpfc: You make a very good point in regards to Jackson. Although I feel August would be too late, 21 days is not enough. You would think the board is waiting for a recommendation from Jackson, simply he has not yet had enough time to make that recommendation. We would all prefer to wait a little longer and make a the best decision on timing, and transition.

Mate, there is no need to get personal or aggressive. I am entitled to my opinion and also entitled to voice my concerns in what I see and hear. What I hear is not C Grade gossip but comes directly from a close friend who is a player manager and directly looks after a number of Melbourne players. If you care to look at my predictions and concerns revolving around Neeld, which I started publishing this time last year, you will see that virtually all my fears, concerns and predictions turned out to be true. Your post demonstrates classic blind faith.

Clearly I think this post is spin and BS. As an example are you trying to tell me that Paterson who is a direct replacement to Martin is better than Martin???? I could go on and argue most of the points here, but it is circle work, people no hear have read it before and know my opinion. How anyone can defend Mark Neeld is beyond me. It is defending the indefensible.

I have said this before and I will say it again. The only hope we have of holding onto our senior players is to change coaches imminently. Neeld is a absolute disaster. Last year Moloney, Rivers and Martin left as a direct result of the coach, this year we are set to lose Sylvia, & Watts with Frawley likely to ask for a trade. I am not making this up. Pretending these players are not important and brushing this crisis under the doormat is beyond stupidity. River's may have said he wanted to play finals, no doubt this is true, but he would have stayed at the MFC if we had a coach he believed in. This is not speculative talk, this is well known in player management circles. We must change coaches to someone that can create self belief and inspire our players as soon as possible. Someone who not only believes in our players, but also makes football enjoyable for our players again. The very existence of our football club depends on it. We are starting to resemble a 2nd division team that is nothing more than a player feeder club to the 1st division clubs. A head coach is responsible for the entire football department. This includes on-field performance, list management, player satisfaction, culture, confidence, self belief, and recruiting. I challenge people to tell me any part of the job Mark Neeld has had success in. I love the MFC and I fear the way we are headed. I will not stop until Neeld has gone. To me the continued support for Neeld is mindboggling. Simply it is beyond me that anyone can support, what has been a disaster of an appointment. How much more pain do you guys want? Talk about blind faith!

Forget Harry Taylor. He will NEVER come to the Dees.

I just completely disagree. See comments.

I am not arguing with any of this. Except surely you too are not know comfortable that yesterday was a pass and all Neeld needs to do to hold his position is get the team to try for the next 15 weeks?!?! I just see your post as a completely different subject. We are stuffed, no its not all Neelds fault, yes he is along way down the list on the horrors board. What I am saying is that the appointment of Neeld has been an unimaginable error by the board on the same level as the firing of Norm Smith. Simply both were appalling decisions that have both cost the club untold damage.

I do not believe this statement. Like many here I have my connections inside the club. I am certain the board was not of the view that we needed a complete re-build when Neeld took over in 2011. If you believe this you are falling for Neelds spin. In 2011 the board believed we needed to harden up and needed to be more defensive and accountable. They did not want our kids to develop without accountability and believed a tougher coach would be better in developing our young, early draft picks. I agree with this. Unfortunately the board chose the wrong coach. They did not expect this level of redundancy, no one expected our team to deliver this level of ineptness. The red flags appeared for me from the very first press conference. The problem is that until now the board has had its hands tied. Simply you can't dump a new coach without giving him an opportunity. Most of us saw what was going on and have gasped, and have chosen to look away or put our head in the sand, wanting, wishing ,willing that the board was right, that the Neeld experiment would work. That Neeld knew what he was doing and positive results would soon be seen. What we have instead is a complete, utter and absolute train wreck. Pretending it is anything else is denying blatant reality. Let me remind you in late 2011 when we were looking for a new coach, so were 3 other teams. It was widely considered that of the four, Melbourne had the best young list and was the most advanced in any re-build. We were 4 years into a re-build, our list was full of young 1st and 2nd round draft picks and numerous top 5 picks completed with a smothering of older experienced players with finals experiance. We had won 8.5 games for the previous two seasons, with some tinkering we were set to continue our progress up the ladder. What has happened, the performances that we have now become accustomed to, are a result of poor coaching at every level. From developing an appropriate on-field game plan that matches the strengths and weaknesses of the list, to developing confidence and self belief, to recruiting and list management. Ultimately everything on-field is the responsibility of the head coach. Neeld has failed terribly at all performance indicators. The results are there for everyone to see. This disaster is of Neelds doing. It is time for those who still have their head in the sand and have blind faith to wake up. Our club is at the cross roads. Make no mistake if we are this pathetic in 3 years time the AFL will look to merge or relocate us in time for the next broadcast deal. Neeld saying the club is 5 years away from finals may well be true, but its true because Neeld has lead us into the abyss. The game against Richmond has again highlighted to all the horror story Neeld has developed and how far backwards we have gone since he became head coach. It is now a good performance to only lose by 7 goals to a mid-tier team who only two years ago, before Neeld s appointment was considered in a very similar position and stage of development to Melbourne. Neeld has literally driven us over a cliff and if he does not go soon he will drive us to extinction. The board is no longer in a position that they must give Neeld a go before firing him. The writing is well and truly on the wall for all to see. They must take responsibility and accountability for their poor decision. It is now time the board do what they must do and rid us of this cancer. As I have said now for over 12 months, appointing Neeld is the single biggest mistake since sacking Norm Smith.

No point playing Watts at Casey unless he is unfit. He is far to skilled for the VFL and as such does not need to work hard enough to get his 25 possessions and be in the best. He must be brought in place of Tompus, he must play forward, rotating on the wing.

No, that is a 2010 game. I am comparing to Round 13, 2011 http://au.sports.yahoo.com/afl/scoreboard/20110141403/2011014/14/

This club has fallen so far under this coach that a 7 goal loss to a mid-tier team is now considered a positive. FFS! As has been previously pointed out, this match just two years ago was billed as the battle of the up and comers....... the teams on the rise, the likely future dominant teams in the AFL. The winner was in the 8. At the time we were well in front in terms of development, had lower draft picks and won by 4 goal, Watts was a standout that game. Today we are a laughing stock of the competition, are widely considered as worse than Fitzroy, we are in consideration with the worst of the worst teams in the history of the competition. As a result the club is on its knees. Meanwhile Richmond have continued the long, slow march up the ladder. It is indeed a tale of two clubs. Simply one team made the right choice in coach and the other made a disastrously wrong appointment. Yes, we had a crack but don't be fooled by a semi competitive performance against a mid-tier club. We still lost by 7 goal, we were smashed, if it was not for our excellent forward 50 conversion rate and Richmond's inaccuracy, the game would have be all over by half time and we would have been again humiliated on the score board. The performance was still appalling, as has been virtually all performances since Neeld took over. So what has happened, what has brought us to this point? How did it all come to this? Well there is a long tale to be told, but there is just one common denominator, and that is Mark Neeld. Neeld has squandered our talent, failed to develop our kids, failed to implement a positive or winning culture. He has divided the players, installed an inappropriate out dated defensive game plan and if that's no bad enough he now tells us we are a further 5 years away from playing finals.......... and that is if everything goes right. By any measure, he has utterly and completely failed. Mark Neeld has destroyed the Melbourne Football Club, he is personally responsible for where we are now. He has personally recruited more than half our list (26), our players are now his hand picked troops. Yes, we do have other internal problems but there can be no excuse for the unprecedented backward path this club has taken under the watch of this coach. The incompetence is breathtaking. How anyone can support him, how he still has a job coaching is completely beyond me. It is time to cut this guy. We chose the wrong coach. He has done untold damage and is continuing to hurt this club everyday he remains in charge. I truly see Neeld as the source of most of our failure and pain, and personally responsible for it. I hate him for what he has done to our playing list, our club. It is time for the people who are responsible for his appointment to take responsibility for their poor choice. I again call on the board to immediately terminate the dud of all duds, Mark Neeld.

It is beyond me how anyone can defend Mark Neeld. Defending the indefensible!

Are you serious? On paper it looks poor, in performance it looks diabolical.

Just watched the 2000 QF highlights. Good God I needed that.