praha

The media's role is to scrutinise. It is scrutinising the club. Don't be such a pansy like the club and get all offended by the true words of a fickle [censored] writing for a crap newspaper. What he says is not untrue. But let him get his shares on Facebook. He's not wrong. He's really just a messenger. Don't hate the player; hate the game. And Melbourne's game is worth hating right now. Without Melbourne's crap gameplan there is no Melbourne bashing. Solution: Pucker up and earn some respect.

Keeping Hogan is up there also.

2 coaches now and counting... Watts has played good footy under Neeld. But overall, he is Bailey's legacy. So is most of this squad.

lol he's bigger than anyone on our list... Remember when everyone had an orgasm over this shot:

Honestly, I think we'd be a top-8 side if we had just two of those mids in our team.

We wouldn't have Clark and probably not Dawes if we'd kept Scully. We'd also not have had Clark either way if Neeld wasn't coach. Are you suggesting ANY coach would have chased him? I'm not sure Bailey would have. A better question: Had Paul McNamee had stayed on and gotten his way re. throwing a million bucks at Jonno Brown, would we be better off? The Schwab instead of Bailey scenario is kind of like swapping [censored] for [censored], really.

I am definitely a winter person. I can hide my fat easier.

"Of our decent tall payers, who would you trade for a good mid from another club?" Jack Watts. Every. single. day. of. the. week. For a ball magnet like Prestia that has Judd's hips and Swans' smarts I'd even consider giving up Trengove. Yes, really.

I have considered the prospect of trading Frawley but he's a diamond in the rough, albeit a struggling one atm.

"FORMER Fitzroy coach Robert Shaw says Melbourne is worse than the Lions in their dying years and is insulted by comparisons with the now defunct club." He's so right. Fitzroy was a murder. Melbourne is a suicide. http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/robert-shaw-insulted-by-comparisons-between-melbourne-and-fitzroy/story-e6frf9mf-1226643371146

Get him in the red and blue. The Prestia family is diehard Demons since the 60s. No excuses.

Strangely, Dawes mentioned this in his column today, that the result was an "indictment" on the playing group. What I find most interesting since 186 is that the players have consistently come out in defence of the coach, and in essence the club, to blame it on themselves. I don't quite understand it. I don't think I've seen players so empathically take the burden of an ENTIRE club's misfortunes. We saw Richmond players spin their crap performances for decades, but with Melbourne it's as if the players are acknowledging the situation the club is in at the moment, everything that is wrong, and putting it down to their own performances. Realistically this is probably the only way to address adversity, but boy is it getting ugly. For two years it's been "us, the players". They say it as if to take pity on the club. Makes me sad.

Far too few Jack Watts references.

Sounds good.

Reminds me a bit of Guy Rigoni.

The spin is a PR front. It will never stop, and no one is holding a gun to your head to read or listen to it. It's there for sponsor relations and to try and keep the brand strong under adversity. I hate it too but it's no worse than saying nothing at all. You've 20-25 year olds getting in front of millions of people speaking on behalf of a 150-year-old club. Give them a break now I think. Even I am guilty of being a [censored] sometimes.

Intellect? I didn't need to read any more of this post. Spot on. That said, it's important for the brand that the club faces the adversity front on and doesn't just hide underneath it. Then we'd have a REAL Fitzroy case on our hands.

The board will get on board. What do they have to stand behind? As bad as Melbourne has been coping it people still don't quite understand how incompetent the board and club are. Someone mentioned the NBA taking over New Orleans. That's different because the demographic doesn't go to NBA games. Melbourne is in the HUB of AFL, is the oldest club, 12 god damn premierships, which are essentially worthless now though, and plays at the MCG for crying out loud! Clubs are knocking on the door to play their games there. What do you think will happen to Melbourne when Carlton moves in? Unless the team is actually competitive? We can't be in a position where we constantly receive the benefit of AFL assistance because people don't respect that. And you can't be competitive when you're constantly in that position. These people have a fricken PhD in how to ruin a club and a brand. People that say the AFL wants a team called "Melbourne" in the AFL are on to something: the club's affiliation to the history of the sport's foundations means the league is obliged to ensure its existence..but the sheer fact that the league is prepared to assist it suggests the club is worth more than it imagines. It's just that a consistent stream of idiots is running it. It's like putting an infant in the driver's seat in a ferrari and putting a brick on the gas and expecting them to parallel park.

The Age subs its articles like 50 times. By the time it got through the whole team and everyone had a group hug, they celebrated the finishing of the article with fairy bread and soft drink. By this time, of course, her articles are redundant, bordering senile. Case in point: today's article.

Join me in hell.

I stopped listening at 0:44. I swear to God I've seen this press conference about 20 times since 1990. We didn't need him to tell us the contest was unacceptable. We watched it. We'd at the very least expect them to acknowledge it. Also, saying you're disappointed and that all 22 players aren't contributing, is suggesting you're better than what you're playing, which technically would suggest imminent improvement. I'm seeing increasingly more evidence to suggest that the club is actively seeking to blanket its poor decisions when it comes to drafting, recruitment, and development, by making us believe that it's not a poor performance through a lack of talent: rather, it's a poor performance because they're capable of better. This is all lovely PR fluff. So lovely I can smell its rose fuse through my computer screen. Col I'm sure is genuinely frustrated, and I'm sure this interview is truthful, but does it change a damn thing? I mean, how is it any different to this: http://www.foxsports.com.au/afl/afl-premiership/melbourne-demons-coach-dean-bailey-responds-to-186-point-loss-to-geelong-as-the-critics-line-up/story-e6frf3e3-1226105028777#.UZDUYCs8rd4 And how long until we start calling for Garland to be traded? I honestly do not know what of this club going forward. I would not be surprised if Peter Jackson recommends a complete wipe of the club and its assets, and a full relocation.

I'm pretty sure paying to be a member equates to one "putting their money where their mouth is". As a member you have the capacity to challenge the club.

Not sure the club could afford another $500,000 non-punishment.

Yep. The Giants were better than Melbourne for 3/4. They flopped in the last as inexperienced teams do and Melbourne ran all over them as the typical downhill skiers suddenly had a bit of oomph as the pressure waned.

Thread lacks Jack Watts.