Dr. Gonzo

I want to give him a chance and the players I names is not a slight on them - but from what I have heard of Cook he sounds more like a Watts than a Butcher or Hurley. Didn't someone on Demonland report that he got teary at training once because Moloney gave him a spray? Yeah I'm not holding my breath.

Yeah compare their hard-nosed kids to Blease, Morton, Watts, Gysberts, Cook etc

That's all well and good for those in our 20's, 30's, 40's, 50's and 60's - but how do you explain this to a kid in primary school? That is the point of the thread, it's about the next generation of supporters, not those who are already well and truly beyond the point of no return.

Midfield? What midfield?

Lazy and slow footballers. Thats what it comes down to. I think the only player who can hold their head up high week in week out is Jones. This guy continues to impress me considering I thought he was not much chop. As for the rest of them they need a reality check. Hardnes, toughness, heart etc isn't only about the physical game. It's also about pushing through the pain barrier to actually spread, create options and make the next contest. Our team is way too one dimensional, soft, slow, mentally weak and above all else LAZY. They have been that way the last few years and they have continued even under a new FD.

The difference is they knew they had to tank and did it with arrogance. We knew we had to tank and it caused an existential crisis within our club.

So what he still would have been better than our other options.

If you'd read my post you would see that I wasn't necessarily bagging Cook just wondering at the mentality of those who play down Darling's efforts to date and play up Cook's potential just on the mere fact that he is on the MFC list. Cook may turn into a champion but if you looked at their respective careers to date its clear who is in front and its also clear that Darling would have complemented our team more than Cook who from what I have seen and heard is a Watts clone.

It can also be argued that it's accurate. EDIT: Look I'm not saying that we should be entitled to kick the club when it's down but the supporters are getting very frustrated and disenchanted with perpetual failure - can you blame them? It is getting to the point where going to the football is actually stressful not enjoyable. I'm not saying we have to win every or even most games. I can cop being a young team, learning new structures, rebuilding blah blah blah. What I can't cop is the team not giving 100% commitment to the ball, to the contest, to their teammates, the club and supporters. You say it starts with the supporters, well I think its reciprocal. Put your head over the ball and bust a gut like the Hawks and Cats did on the weekend and no supporter can complain. We may still lose by 108 points but at least the players can come off the ground and look their coaches, each other the media & supporters in the eye and say they left nothing out on the field. That is why supporters are so angry and frustrated at the moment, not because of mere losses.

Haha no worries I kind of knew what you meant but it gave me a laugh anyway!

LOL - so its because of frustrated supporters venting their spleen that 10K members from last year are yet to resign? Get a grip on reality man!

Who drives that negativity mate? This is a game, a sport where winner takes all and the loser be damned. We have been damned for 48 years so you can't blame the supporters for being negative. How about the club/team gives us something to be positive about instead of demanding positivity from the supporters who buy memberships and turn up year in, year out brimming with positivity only to be slapped back down to earth again almost instantly due to the pathetic efforts of the team wearing the blue & red out on the field. For the amount of crap the supporters have had to put up with (most of them their entire lives) I think they are doing extremely well to maintain any level of positivity whatsoever.

The Bombers didn't seem to have to wait too long for junior players to come on or the team to learn a new game plan either - they hit the ground running and made finals. I hate the bastards but one thing you can't accuse them of is making excuses for poor performance.

This post broke my head. He was definitely not a ruckman, was way skinnier than Embley (though I concede he played the similar "winger" role) and don't think he ever played full back - you might be thinking of Tony Campbell or Johnny Howat.

So Darling who has cemented a first 18 spot in a top 4 side is an unknown quantity whereas Cook who might as well be nicknamed the "ghost who walks" for all we have seen of him was the right choice and bound to come on and star? Hilarious.

I agree 100% Ron, the only question in my mind is that after his first contract would he have done a Scott Thompson on us? We'll never know but I can guarantee WCE would have gone very hard for him and given him every excuse to go home. It's all hypothetical but I have a feeling he would have said "Go f&%& yourself San Francisco Melbourne"

So Caro still sticking with the story that Davey either outright lied or embellished the story and all Mifsud did wrong was leaking this? Something really stinks here.

The only thing I got out of that article is that it is now confirmed Greg Healy is the Footy Operations Manager - previously this had been raised but wasn't confirmed.

The "journalists" here are relying on "sources" - they obviously haven't read the report themselves as it would be considered confidential to the MFC. I don't expect the report to be made public to members however there is something here that has gone on and Schwab seems to be a central part in it. The very fact that the report was undertaken pre-season was looked at suspiciously in the first instance. OK the FD has been restructured but of Schwab's role in all this (Connolly has been pushed sideways so that has been addressed also). The fact is that what the report probably didn't address directly but did uncover related issues was that the MFC is still to much of the old boys club. Say what you will but as I said in my previous post I think Schwab and Connolly were appointed as "jobs for the boys" with Lyon sticking his head in only when it is convenient for him. There is obviously some merit to their appointments but I think we need less of the "same old" and more of a new broom to sweep through the place and instil a professional culture from the top instead of one where reputation is the most important thing.

Exactly - Mifsud still has to go. Regardless of whether someone "lied" or there was a "misunderstanding" he has breached a players privacy and confidence by running to the media with his gossip and not only failing to take it up with the correct channels but deliberately avoiding them by failing to return calls to the MFC or Davey for the last 3 weeks. Where is the "Community Engagement" there? In any other company a breach of privacy of this magnitude would result in instant dismissal.

Still reeks too much of an amateur boys club; you want a professional culture start at the top.

E25 - there was another one in there as well that I can't remember another TV character like Artie.

Really? Where were we at in 2008? What happens if we can't snare a major sponsor? Where are the 10K members from last year who haven't signed up? How can we expand our membership base if we are anchored to the bottom of the ladder? We won't go bust next year but if some of these things don't turn around quickly we could very well find ourselves back where we were in 2008.

If the Cats get another flag out of this group I think they can safely be called the greatest team of all time. Better than Brisbane's three-peat, better than Essendon in 2000, better than the Hawks of the 80's, better than the Demons of the 50's and better than the Pies in the 20's. Yes Hawks won 5 from 9, we won 5 from 6 and Pies won 4 in a row but times have changed and the comp is different now and more geared towards a socialist evening up of the competition which in theory should see every team win a flag every 18 years. No more flags and I think they are a rung below those three. To win 3 from 5 (4 from 6 if they win this year) would be an absoltely astonishing achievement. Additionally they haven't lost many H&A games over that period either. And to think they could have still had the best player in the comp running around for them.

@Jose Murinho They could act on it's recommendations - or at least let us know why they thought it was worth spending $100K on it and then ignoring it.