Dr. Gonzo

I don't mind going and we lose that comes with following a sports club. Not even the best win every single time. But to watch us consistently be embarrassed and humiliated when I've got a young family at home? Yeah I think I'll be hanging up the boots for the next few weeks at least. I'm a sucker so I'll still watch on TV but I've got better things to do with my weekends at the moment and this is coming from someone whose been a regular attendee week in, week out since I was 6 years old.

He is the coach of the midfield - out midfield failed at any point in the match to even apply pressure to the opposition in the centre square let alone win a clearance themselves. It was utterly disgusting the way Essendon were able to clear the ball under no pressure whatsoever again and again and again and again and again....

What about Damian Gaspar?

Bwahahahaha no way in hell Roos would attempt to ruin his legacy by coming to us. Thanks for the laugh though I did need it.

Bad commentator/journalist = anyone who criticises MFC?

As evidenced by the way they went on to carve out stellar careers after leaving the MFC...

For the record, I'm not against the strategy the club undertook in 2009 & believe they handled the investigation and outcome as best they could. Taking the AFL to court would have been futile especially considering everyone knows what went on. It was a negotiated outcome which appeased all parties. We were scapegoated but that doesn't mean we were innocent.

An overview of the club and Schwab's "achievements" since returning to MFC; SPONSORS - failed to secure Mission Foods who were signed by Bulldogs - lost Hankook sponsorship despite De La Rue being a long time Demons supporter due to his dissatisfaction with the manner he was treated by the club - Kaspersky signed due to a supporter approaching them - EnergyWatch signed without due diligence of background checks which would have revealed poor prior business practices, problems with the ACCC & an unlikely ability to meet payments - deal subsequently fell apart for other reasons - Webjet signed due to a supporter referring them - Opel signed as a major sponsor - NT Tourism signed as a minor sponsor with an understanding MFC will play additional games in Darwin in the future - Several minor sponsors still unsigned going into 2013 season with club resorting to emailing Foundation Heroes and running an ad in the newspaper to try and lure sponsors - Despite continued comments the club is close to signing a major Chinese sponsor nothing eventuates and the matter peters out BUSINESS MODEL - Have cleared $5M debt - Club continues to be reliant on AFL handouts and supporter donations to make a marginal profit - Have significantly increased our asset base by merging with the Leigh Oak club at Oakleigh - Have acquired several hundred pokies machines at a relatively bargain price following changes to government legislation - Have overhauled FD and increased FD spending though have failed to make ground on larger clubs - Club is fined $500k following an AFL investigation into alleged tanking in 2009 MEMBERSHIP/SUPPORTERS - Membership increased to record levels over 2009-2011 though declined in 2012 and likely to decline again in 2013 - Anecdotal evidence of some Foundation Heroes unhappy with treatment by the club and withdrawing their significant financial support - Club has embarked on trying to develop a support base in the Casey region including community programs, partnership with Casey Scorpions and second training base at Casey - this is signed on as a 30 year relationship thoughthere appears to be get-out clauses if required CLUB UNITY/RELATIONSHIPS - Significant fracturing of the club between admin & FD leading to decision not to renew Schwab's contract at end of 2011 - decision subsequently overturned following 186 as coach was sacked instead and didnt want to spill both leadership positions - Club remains disjointed/fractured with admin based at MCG & FD based at AAMI Park - Schwab has effectively disappeared publicly (including shutting down even his Twitter feed) due to either being told to do so by the board or electing to do so due to the increase in supporter agitation due to continued poor performance of the team - Several senior players dissatisfied with the way the team was coached in 2009 believing the club was trying to "tank" games in order to secure priority draft pick - Several senior players sacked by the club most notably captain James McDonald who was told unexpectedly at the end of 2011 his contract would not be renewed. The club is criticised morefor its handling of the de isions rather than the decisions themselves - The club commissions an independent review of the club, dubbed the Andrews Report, prior to the 2011 season - senior players were allegedly interviewed for the purposes of gathering info for the report -the report is subsequently shelved when it comes back allegedly critical of the running of the club particularly by the CEO - In July 2011 senior players are again spoken to about their opinions on the club/admin - they feel they have been marginalised again which leads some to allege they play a game in protest losing by 186 points to Geelong - their protest has the unintended effect of saving the CEO and sacking the coach which is the opposite of what they had wanted - Relationship with Casey FC sours at times particularly during 2011 when the VFL side recruits Brendan Fevola and the MFC again withdraws players from the squad as Casey embarks on a finals campaign - Andrew Leoncelli quits the board in 2011 leaving his position as conduit between the FD & admin vacant for the remainder of the season - Head recruiter Prendergast leaves at start of 2012 leaving his position to be temporarily filled by Todd Viney (who has minimal if any experience in this area) until the clubs preferred candidate finishes his contract with Collingwood which doesn't occur until after the National Draft - Defensive coach Sean Wellman is re-signed to a new contract on the back of a great performance in 2010 which sees Frawley become AA and the backline lauded for its work - he subsequently advises he wishes to rejoin his old club Essendon following Hird being appointed coach and the club releases him from his contract without hassle TEAM PERFORMANCE - Schwab develops the "Red & Blueprint" a document which details the Premiership model the club will undertake which focuses on slashing senior players and rebuilding solely through the draft by obtaining as many first round picks as possible - Player development is hindered with draftees being played in senior matches before they are physically or mentally prepared - this is exacerbated by a dearthnof leadership on-field during games - The initial rebuild fails culminating in 186 which sees the coach sacked - a new coach is appointed who undertakes another rebuild, slashing the list again and repeating the same mantra of needing to get games into players with the addition this time of stating the players are unfit and require 3 pre-seasons to get up to AFL fitness levels - In 2012 the team goes backwards winning only 4 games, 3 of which are against the new franchises GC & GWS - Prior to round 1 the CEO makes comments to he effect of round 1 being only one game in 22 and its no big deal if we lose as we can always rebound next week - After making significant changes to the list at the end of 2012 supporters are hopeful of increased performance in 2013 - in the first game MFC loses to PA who finished low on the ladder in 2012 and had appointed a new coach over the summer - the players look listless in their loss leading to supporters venting their frustration during and after the game - the performance is made worse by the fact several other teams including GC, GWS & the Bulldogs put in spirited round 1 performances with fans fearful these clubs will overtake them as Richmond, North Melbourne, West Coast & Essendon have previously - Following the round 1 defeat several players address the team in the rooms after the game including debutante Jack Viney - at the press conference the coach & captain look bewildered stating they couldnt understand the performance considering how well they'd trained over the pre-season - No. 1 pick in the 2008 draft Jack Watts makes comments lamenting a lack of leadership on-field seemingly unaware that it is each players responsibility to lift the team and not rely on others to do so first - this is on the back of getting only 2 kicks & 5 handballs playing loose in defence after being drafted as a key forward I think that is fairly comprehensive though I have likely overlooked some things which I am happy to edit in if anyone cares to point them out. I have tried to be fair and include the positives as well but the negatives comprehensively outweight them from my assessment. Others can make up their minds on what this all means but for me it points to a dearth of leadership at the top of the club and a dysfunctional relationship between the CEO and the rest of the club.

Its not specifically Watts' fault. Its not specifically Schwab or McLardy's fault or even Frawley, Garland, Pedersen, Rodan or Neeld. Its all of them. They all need to stand up and show leadership on and off-field. I will say those comments by Schwab are particularly damning and quite disgusting for a CEO on the eve of the season. What was he thinking. The comments from Neeld, Grimes & Watts this week not much better. If they cant see the difference between preseason training and an AFL match they're in la-la land. And to be happy that we're now able to train like an AFL club? Then you have the "leadership void" comments by Watts. They are all worrying comments that give the players a cop out.

Precisely what I was going to say - but good on good ol' Grimey nonetheless if it helps secure a young Demon instead of losing him to another club or another sport it was well worth the effort

I went just about every week with my dad, uncle and cousin all over Melbourne when they still had most of the suburban grounds in the late 80's. Never really had a choice but wouldn't have mattered if I did I was red and blue through and through an even converted some primary school mates to the dark side which I bet they regret now! My dad said I could support anyone I wanted but if it was anyone other than Melbourne I'd have to sleep outside. Garry Lyon cemented it for me though from 1988-1990 I wouldn't hear a bad word about him. Darren Bennett was also a favourite but then injuries struck them and a bloke called Allen Jakovich came onto the scene burning brightly but all too quick. Having them make regular finals and GF during my formative years can't have hurt retaining me as a supporter, my earliest memory of a game was round 1, 1988 when we smashed Richmond. All I remember is leaving walking around the back of the old Southern Stand and Tony Campbell kicking a bag. I recently got a copy of the Channel 7 replay of this game (and many others from that era) and I can't remember a thing from the game other than we smashed the Tiges. I think I went to games in 1987 as a 5 year old but I can't remember them though I do remember being at the Show on PF day 1987 with my then-Hawks cousin (now Richmond like his old man) and getting regar updates from staff during the day. That was devastating when I heard we lost after everyone told us we'd been winning all day though not as devastating as the following year when I was up at the crack of dawn watching the GF Marathon and U19's GF ready to go and watch the Mighty Demons in my first GF after seeing them the week before at Waverley and going to training during the week only to be told by my old man as he left that he couldn't get a ticket for me! I was shattered but then the game happened and after half time I switched off and went and kicked the footy in the backyard reenacting how I thought the game should have gone with Melbourne winning of course.

The sad part is we lost a great thread by bananas titled "Run, run, run" which was a pretty good analysis of part of the reason why our team continues to flounder.

Yep I do have deep-seated problems, the fact I love and support a football club that continually lets me down and proves time and again it still has not fully caught up with the modern professional game. Keep deflecting though, you're failure and complete inability to address any of the specific objective points raised speaks volumes to the validity of your arguments. I suspect that is your aim though so that all salient points in the thread get lost amongst your drivel. No worry though the facts speak for themselves and I'll keep reposting Schwab's "achievements" so that all the normal people on here can evaluate the facts for themselves. By the way I'm one of those 30k you talk about, 24th consecutive year and a premium member and just signed up my 2 week old son. Love hearing more new members signing up - thats the point of our criticism, we want to see the club get better and the club is more important than individuals, even the CEO.

I thought that quote was ridiculous as well - did he watch a different pre season to us? He must have because the one I saw was quite putrid and I certainly didn't think we were going OK watching it.

Is he good with sponsorship though? We lost Hankook, failed to get Mission Foods (may have been before him?), Kaspersky was recruited by a supporter, Energy Watch you can kind of forgive but it shows we didn't do our homework, Webjet was also got on the back of a supporter from memory, he kept selling us this "China connection" that never eventuated, as far as I'm aware we're still some minor sponsors down this year etc It just seems the longer this goes the more it seems we've been sold snake oil. I don't have anything personal against the guy as I don't know him - what I do know is I love the club and the guy doesn't seem to have the ability to lead us out of the mire. No doubt there are some positives to his resume but I feel they are far outweighed by the negatives. I would love nothing more than for him and the club to be successful but I just don't see it that way. I don't think we should slash and burn after round 1 but for me this game was the critical mass that proved to me we need new leadership at the club and this needs to be addressed later in the year. The coaches and players need to be addressed as well but the admin of the club seems to have failed us badly.

Thanks for the insights RobbieF I really do appreciate stuff like this and it's not like you're divulging sensitive club info or talking out of school. I think it's disgusting to be treated in such a manner particularly considering you are one of the supporters actually digging into their pockets to keep this club alive and allow the likes of Schwab etc to be able to say "look at all the money we've raised/debt we've demolished". No one does that for the plaudits they do it for the love if the club but its fair to say a little recognition wouldn't hurt. If I spoke with someone for an hour one week and then ignored them completely the next at my job I'd find myself on the outer pretty quickly. You don't expect them to memorise 30,000 members but if you attend functions regularly, donate significant amounts of your hard earned and engage in lengthy discussions with some of these guys you'd expect they'd at least remember you and you'de expect they may at least make the effort to acknowledge the people in the room not just those who can help them climb up the ladder. It's the difference between an inclusive club and a soulless franchise.

What's the point? They'll only fob you off with a glib stock standard response from a call centre employee anyway.

I agree the players and coaches need to be blamed/held accountable for the weekend. However Schwab is in the gun too and not on the back of one game. He is a senior leader of this club, why have we not heard a goddamn thing from him since the weekend when the supporters are bleeding following another inept performance and the realisation of get another long year to endure under his tenure? In an article this morning it stated in over 15 years of Schwab being a CEO at different clubs only 1 year a club has made the finals! 1 year!! Despite the fact he does not line up at CHF his administrations are abject failures when it comes to a footy clubs prime objective, to win games of footy.

It's been reported in the media numerous times, has not been refuted by the club and has been verified by those with links to the club like Lyon. If you really don't believe that Schwab was going to be sacked on the eve of 186 and think its all just some conspiracy to tarnish his name I really don't see how you can offer anything of substance. There is supporting the club and then there is blindly following the pied piper.

It's part of what's wrong with our culture - it's one thing to not air dirty laundry it's another to keep these exclusive cliques that view long term loyal supporters with contempt (see Schwab's last post on Demonland - I'd bump the thread but it was locked by a mod). BTW not having a go at you in particular RF there are many on here who elude to things but fail to elaborate as the rank and file are not part of the inner circle or boys club.

You've got rocks in your head mate, not gonna waste my time banging my head against a brick wall when you just continue to deflect and fail to address simple questions. You still claim Schwab is responsible for our facilities despite the fact its been pointed out multiple times this was set up by the prior board. You're a dead set joke, keep playing the sycophant though if that's what floats your boat.

The best stat in football is still that since 1982 Fitzroy has made the finals more times than Richmond. I love it how this continues to hold up year after year.

There is a stat "Hit-Outs to Advantage" recorded by Champion Data however they refuse to release this info publicly and none of the media sources seem to think analytical stats are worthwhile. Suffice to say his stats in that area would be well below 4th. When we re-signed him last year for 3 years I though it was a huge mistake and I stick by that. 3 years for a bloke who has had one passable season in his 10 year career - ridiculous.

Why was the club going to sack him on the eve of 186? You seem incapable of answering this simple question.

Membership decreased last year and will again this year - that is shrinking. What happened before Schwab is irrelevant - the business model under Schwab is unsustainable. Sponsors have been largely gained through efforts of supporters and one in particular (Hankook) was disenfranchised and pulled his money despite being a long term supporter of the MFC. The article you referred to he is praised by McLardy who just reappointed him - wow what a surprise! After 186 we sacked the coach but the CEO's head was on the chopping block the day before? Why? You've failed to answer that.