Dr. Gonzo

The media in general are a joke these days but when you have guys like Matt Thompson, Jon Ralph, Damian Barrett, Craig Hutchison etc as senior footy journos and Mark Robinson as a chief football writer you know they're really plumbing the depths. It's for this reason I'd love Melbourne to come out and announce nothing today just give these morons nothing to write about in their papers tomorrow. Would make them apoplectic to think we didn't follow their witch hunt to sack our coach. Find another bone to chew on you numpties.

Hah yep it's like that scene in "I Heart Huckabees" when they smash the ball into their face until they are able to detach themselves from all the crap going on around them.

Haha great idea mate think I'll have to invest in some.

This is simply not true - pretty much everyone on here are "die-hards" the ones who will generaly go every week and are long term members but even these people are staying away.

I still believe though that these things shouldn't influence the board's decision on the coach/FD. The only thing that should matter at this stage is whether we will lose key players if Neeld is retained and whether they think he is actually on the right track. If they think they will retain Watts/Sylvia/Frawley etc and think they can still lure recruits and think that Neeld is still on the path he set when coming to the club then they shouldn't be swayed by low crowds or the media.

I've been going to as many games as I could get to for the last 25 years but just didn't have any desire or inclination to go today. Instead I took my newborn son to my grandmothers for lunch with my wife, dad and brother - I still watched the game when I got home but at this point all my brother and I can do is laugh and ridicule how utterly inept the team is at the moment. I don't even care any more about those who'll try to guilt you into it by saying "go and support someone else, you're not a true supporter" etc etc life's way too short to spend cold Sunday arvo's at the G watching a bunch of overpaid hacks make mistakes that would put junior footballers to shame. I'll still buy my membership and will probably go next week and a few more times throughout the year but my interest is dwindling. I assume when (if?) we come good again it will return but at the moment my interest in footy hasn't been this low since I was 18 and the only thing keeping me watching most games is to see if I get the results of a $5 mutlibet I put on each Friday. There is only 1-2 good games each round at the moment and it's not in any way entertaining to watch for the most part.

So did the FD choose the captains or did the players?

As if he ever would have come to Melbourne, he wouldn't sign with Collingwood for money why would we be different?

Worse than Nicholson, Bail, Jetta, Tapscott or even Dunn or Jordie in the seniors? Surely he could replace at least one of them, he's already shown he can play just needs to gain experience and a tank and be played in the right position.

That's the big issue all else is largely irrelevant - if we are going to lose players because of Neeld he has to go. We don't know that only those within the club know if its the case.

Essendon was an away game.

Oh please. Ok will have to take your word for that - I don't understand why he wouldn't be pumping games into guys like these though if they are going to be part of our future, nothing like learning on the job. Surely they'd have to be better choices than some of the guys who keep getting games.

Close to finals??? At this stage I just want to be able to beat a team other than GWS and come within 15 goals of a top 8 side.

Poor post

I agree to an extent - I was shocked we went for Cook when Darling was still there and thought we should have taken Talia when they went for Gysberts. However I dont think you can just say its one or the other it's gotta be both. Sure Cook may not have made it no matter where he went but look at guys like Tapscott, Blease or Strauss or even Trengove and Grimes I have no doubt if they went to a club with good development programs they would be far better than they are with us and would be cemented as senior players even despite their injuries.

@pm24 You make some good points however two things I'll say in response 1) it's not about not being able to win, it's about being absolutely demolished - it's not about being fixed in 18 months it's about at least seeing some improvement 2) we are not even getting games into the right players - why are Blease and Strauss not getting game time? Let them develop in the seniors to at least see if they can play. Blease especially can break lines and kick goals something we sorely lack.

This - I won't not go to the game as a means to hurt the club but I probably won't go to many for the rest of the year just because I've got better stuff to do on the weekends and would prefer not to waste my time being bored/angered out of my brains. I would still watch our games on TV though (even if on IQ during the week).

The list is not as bad as they are performing and I agree the coaches/FD needs to change as does the admin side of the club. However they are still bad and I think the best this group could hope for at the moment is to push up to 9th-12th on the ladder all things going right - possibly a rung or two higher if other teams collapse through injuries etc. To put it plainly we need guys with good skills who can run through the middle and win their own ball and we need about a dozen of them. We have Nathan Jones and then possibly a few others like Viney, Matt Jones, Trengove, Toumpas IF they come on. You need at least 8 or so to make finals and about 14 of these guys to push for a flag. We have 1 and maybe 5 at a stretch. Compare this tithe sides in the 8 and even those in the lower half of the ladder like GWS, GC, Brisbane, Port etc

I agree - the "it is what it is" comment was just a flippant tongue in cheek remark referencing Neeld.

I agree but that doesn't change the fact that a large portion of our list are simply not up to it. Unfortunately it's going to take more time (at least 3 years plus more to get exoperience and development into them) which can be mitigated somewhat through trading but then you ahve the even bigger task of trying to convince the players we need to come to the club. We will not be a serious finals contender until our younger guys like Trengove and Grimes are the senior players teaching the new kids coming through which is at least 5 years off (ie when Trengove is 26-27). Until then we need to start building from the ground up with strong foundations so that in 5 years time we have the right leaders in place who can then teach the kids coming through at that stage. The hard sell is 1) to keep the players we want on the list until then and 2) to keep the supporters/members/sponsors to keep showing up and signing up. The culture of this club and the playing list has been so utterly destroyed over the last 6 years (not that it was perfect before then because it definitely was not) that I think this is the only way forward. It is disgraceful that the inept mismanagement of the club has come to this but "It is what it is".

Drafting or development?

Surely Harrington has to take some of the blame here as well. His role is List Manager and under him the management of the list has been deplorable.

Why aren't they playing Blease and Strauss? They need to get games into these guys or if they think they're not good enough delist them at the end of the year. No use sitting on the fence and have them clog up the list (FWIW I think Blease will make a good player not sold yet on Strauss simply because I haven't seen enough of him).

What leaders??? The only one we have is Jones.

My conservative estimate just going over the list quickly says there at least 15 (more likely 17-18 plus another couple who are too inexperienced to jude) players there who simply aren't good enough. We have 1 good midfielder, a couple passable another couple too young and about 23 flankers on the list. This is our problem, we need players who can run through the midfield and be effective we have an abundance of guys like Strauss, Blease, Davey, Rodan, Byrnes, Bail, Tapscotr, Grimes, Nicholson, Dunn, Sylvia etc who either aren't up to scratch or can play well as flankers but not midfielders. You need at least 8 good midfielders these days and closer to 14 to compete for top 4. We have 1 with potentially another 2 more if you want to count Viney and M Jones.