Ned

Agree. Choco was good once. But he's past it. I don't want a coach whose last tilt at a flag ended in a 119-point defeat in a grand final. Melbourne's had enough of those sort of performances thanks.

I'm not a Choco fan but let's remember the guy was a pretty good footballer (was Bailey any good?) and his family were royalty in South Australian football. He came out of an incredibly successful and ruthless Port Adelaide culture. I don't rate him any more but he had a lot going for him in his day, Choco.

Oh please, if Williams or Laidley come anywhere near MFC I'll be ill.

He's been playing terribly so I feel nothing reading the news. Don't like seeing any player get injured though.

I disagree. Richmond are Melbourne last year. They play with great verve and passion. It upsets me to watch them as it just reminds me of how exciting we looked in parts of 2010 and how badly we've fallen down. I can't escape pointing the finger at Col Sylvia, even a few days after the match. His efforts are appalling for one so talented. Compare him with Daisy Thomas (of all people), who goes like a maniac at the football these days and is now a complete player. That should be where Col's at.

Todd Viney isn't James Hird. With all due respect to Viney, Hird is an extremely intelligent individual off the field as well as being a star on it. Again, I mean no disrespect to Todd who was/is an incredible athlete with extraordinary ability at any sport he turned his attention to (I knew their family a bit many years ago). If you want that combination of brains, skill, courage and passion for the Melbourne Football Club then I think Lyon more closely fits the bill. I would be a big supporter of him taking over.

This. The ar$ewipe who made that call should be shown the door. The decision was a disgrace and is now coming home to roost.

Sums it up for mine. Send Sylvia to the seconds while you're at it. Morton shouldn't even be in the magoos.

I don't even care about Bailey. The one that's killing me is Col Sylvia. What a prima donna. Go to Western Sydney Col. You're an enormous talent with a heart the size of a pea. I don't even want to begin with Cale Morton. That guy shouldn't be in the team.

Hear, hear! Devastating for them.

No it doesn't. Port are in crisis. Teams don't lose from 40 points up late in the third quarter against 15 teenagers and a superstar. Nothing can be drawn from our 90-point win. We played really poorly and then poured on eight goals at the end.

I have given this a bit of thought lately and I've come to the conclusion that if Malthouse coaches next year, it will be at Melbourne. If you think about it, the guy has scaled almost every peak in football. What a way to finish by coaching the league's oldest club to its first premiership since Norm Smith -- one of, if not the, greatest coaches of all time -- and along the way break the record for number of matches coached? It would appeal perfectly to Malthouse's planet-size ego. He would be up there with Barassi. He would walk into a club with a very good list, a solid administration, new training facilities etc. It would fit him perfectly. I doubt he'd even care that much about the money (in terms of matching Collingwood). He would want the prestige and to engrave his name in AFL history. Having said that, I can't stand the bloke (at least from what I've seen of him). But I can easily see how it would happen.

Stynes has made the point in the past that he didn't hire Bailey. But he has generally been very supportive. I think Jimmy's comment after the Hawthorn game about the performance being unacceptable was actually pretty significant and put Bailey on notice. My sense, as others have said, is that there's rarely smoke without fire. I'm not saying Bailey is gone but I think he is really under the hammer now. We have a great list, a totally overhauled administration, are debt free and have new training facilities. The team has to step up now as all the building blocks are in place and the club has momentum. The coach seems to be the last piece to be decided. I, like everyone else, really admired what was happening on the field last year. But we seem to have regressed this year. That was the worst 90-point win I've seen. I doubt Caroline Wilson is making it up. She may be beating up the significance of the issue but something is bubbling, I think.

Not sure I agreed with much of what you wrote but I did chuckle at valium Bailey. Classic! Incidentally, how many games did Valium Bailey play for Essendon? I don't remember anything of him as a player.

Yeah, I do. Hostilities and hostile mean two different things. You seem to have troube reading, in addition to difficulties expressing yourself.

Yeah, er, I didn't write the word hostile anywhere. But I take the point of what you're saying above and fair enough.

I really want Bailey to succeed. I reckon he's thoughtful and smart and there's just something likable about the guy. I also like the idea of him rebuilding from scratch and taking us all the way to the top. But for whatever reason, I don't see any improvement in Melbourne so far after a really good 2010. I know that as you get higher and the opposition takes you more seriously, it gets harder. But something just seems amiss with the team. The desire and intensity. Perhaps it is losing the backline coach. Not sure. As to Roos, I doubt he'll coach again with two teenage sons. Whatever people think of his game plan, he assessed what needed to be done to win a flag and achieved it. The runs are on the board. That demands respect. I like the guy, can't help it. But I can see why others don't.

Chief, when someone tells you a site is for informed discussion, it suggests what you have said is uninformed and you are unwelcome. It's a pretty arrogant statement. That was followed up by suggesting I look at the improvement since 2008. So yeah, I thought that was idiotic. To spell it out, I should admire Melbourne improving from a season of three wins? I confess to denigration and ridicule. Not sure I initiated hostilities though.

Right, 2008 as a benchmark. Nice one. Your version of discussion is piffle.

Right, better off sticking your head in the sand and saying ``the club knows best''. Have you been impressed with how the team has played so far this year? (winning against weak teams aside) Tell me about the progress you've seen. I would be very interested to hear about it. This is a forum for discussion.

Yep, sounds about right. You can see there's a problem.

Roos comments on every team and is extremely diplomatic in his assessments. It's a pleasure to watch. Reading between the lines, I think what he has been trying to say is that Melbourne is in serious trouble. I have taken nothing out of it suggesting he has anything more than a commentator's interest in Melbourne.

I'm not happy. I reckon we look rotten. A team of kids pushed us for three-quarters yesterday, a team of spuds and two aged superstars almost knocked us off last week, and we were blasted off the park by Hawthorn. I haven't seen anything yet to suggest Melbourne has improved. I have seen a bit to suggest the opposite. The only thing I am happy about is that it's only April and we haven't lost a game we should have won yet. But that's all on paper. What I have seen has been disappointing.

Exactly. Also, I'd say if we didn't have the Lions and Suns we would likely be 0.5 from 4. Our footy has been pretty poor.

I think the top of our 2008 draft is close to disastrous. Watts, Blease and Strauss. At this point, 2.5 years on, we've had nothing from any of them. Essendon must be laughing. They aced it. I don't rate Morton either, certainly not a No. 4 pick. We did well in the top of 2009. In general, I've got concerns about where Melbourne is at. Last year, for all the frustrations, there was noticeable improvement and we were an exciting team. The Brisbane and Gold Coast games showed a team lacking desire and heart (Moloney the exception), in my opinion.