Retrospective

FMD, even when I expect the worst I end up being over optimistic.........flogged by Sydney and playing the worst footy I've seen for years

It is only fair to do this the other way round.... Deduct points from the season total according to tonights performance Davey -6 Morton -5 Green -4 Trengove -3 Sylvia -2 Moloney -1

Last July we lost by 186 to the Cats. I think the loss to the Swans was worse. Vs Cats; Played at Skilled Cats on a roll of outstanding free-scoring but accountable footy Cats were on their way to another flag We were always going to be belted... it was only the scale that inspired awe Their list was truly top shelf Johnson, Selwood, Corey, Enright, Mooney, Ottens, Varcoe, Bartel, Scarlett, Kelly, Chapman, Milburn, Ling Even following the game we were still one game out of the eight vs Swans Played at SCG Swans are only just......I don't expect them to be contenders come finals Swans missing Goodes and coming off a 2 game losing streak (including a loss to the Tigers) Best players ; Roberts Thompson, Hannebury, Kennedy, O'keefe and Jack last time the met we drew Not a high scoring team at the best of times... disciplined yes but brilliant? not like the Cats. Now don't get me wrong, 186 was gut wrenching and a low point to my lifetime as a Dees supporter BUT I think 101 v Swans was worse..... Sad isn't it

Spot on Hardnut.... The New Messiah arrives, and in the highly celebrated straightshooting style tells everyone they are [censored], both in private and in the press. Moves on to sack all of the experienced players of the leadership group regardless of how they'd been travelling, appoints a handful of kids. If we were looking for engagement of a playing groups in changing our culture I reckon the mark was missed...... and before we get to the bit where a set of Demonland posters jump in to say all the players should be honoured to be offered a game for the MFC and shouldnt need motivation, bear in mind the coaches and FD are paid to get the team operating as a team... THAT IS THEIR JOB

Well it would be a better skilled team.... and much harder at it than the blokes who "played" this week. Do you have a replacement coach?

Settle down Gonzo and read the post... I dont think mmc was suggesting 'we were ok under Bailey" at all...they were pointing out that at least we had something to watch....the current approach on the other hand...... and as you point out today was as bad as 186..at least that was by a freewheeling high scoring GFC... today we got flogged by 16goals by SYDNEY

Well last week we dragged Hawthorn down to our level for a quarter... unfortunately they recovered to play some very very poor football that we weren't good enough to match over the second half. I'm hoping for improvement but expecting a solid loss

Although at this stage I'd still pump for "A few Good Men" We can't handle the truth

Does that make it "Ghost".....ditto

Far from our worst and one of the payers I think could really thrive quickly after a couple of tough years. Bate offers plenty. Not likely to be a superstar but already seeing him engage a new plan quickly

Bate, Jones, Bail, Magner really showing that there could be light at the end of the tunnel.

Not quite good enough but at least we put something up

No, Goals per inside 50 could not be less than 0. It could be (and is ) less than one (31/110= 0.28).

Dogs could easily score more in the third quarter than we can get for the match. Mark it down. We will not be within a bulls roar of them Cooney to get more than 30 possessions

GC are better than a good chance against us... I'd expect them to go in solid favourites based on what we have seen to date. We should be able to handle GWS...but it is round 13 and whilst we couldn't conceivably get worse they could improve enough to give us a real shake

Correct me if I'm wrong but Neelds involvement with a winning set up at Collingwood is no more compelling argument for future success than DB's involvement with a winning plan at Port.

Where were we for the last 5 years? I was sitting at the Punt Road end suffering through another round of the 5 year rebuild to success. What changes in a week? 7 days ago we were belted in Perth by a "slick" Eagles side that is a genuine contender for the top four. This week we played at the MCG against a side that is ordinary by all estimation, but which has shared our recent lows. And we didn't just lose......WE WERE FLOGGED. I know we've been less than stellar for the last 5 years... I am gutted at the realisation from yesterday that I think we are in a worse position than we were when we started the rebuild. HTFU or wake up Well that's about perspective cobber.... harden up for me means not accepting all the blue sky bright side storytelling .

My issues: tailored media message to keep the press at bay is only one step removed from being more denial about our problems.... are you really comfortable that our head coach thought we showed resolve in that debacle.... we are in a world of difficulty on and off the field. I'm not about tearing our hair and crying in the corner but I am a believer that you have to admit your problems and not kid yourself if you want to progress. No-one at the club deserves a free pass.....They are all there to deliver a result. They are not delivering, and they are rapidly "losing their stakeholders support"... and that's not the players ( I reckon they've already gone based on what I see).... its the supporter base. We are a laughing stock. I can handle that . I want a vision for the future I can believe in (and I do want to believe). I don't want soft gutless uncompetitive footy followed by denial about how bad things really are. edit spelling

http://www.afl.com.a...ld/Default.aspx This just caps it off. . The definition of RESOLVE is that you stick at.... Our side did not show Resolve we showed resignation and Surrender. Followed this up with the normal...we are a young team getting games into the kids.. This is not about Mark Neeld in particular... this is a club Presser and before anyone defends it with the argument that we have to stay positive, I can't see any reason why today's shambles shouldn't have been followed by a press release that shows some recognition of how much we gave up. Get with Reality and stop the justification. Why not declare that we are embarrassed by our performance and lack of endeavour and have one of our oversupply of "captains" and "leadership group" apologise to the supporters and sponsors. Who will pay to come to watch this dross and then be told that it's actually ok...... if this performance continues the club won't make it to 2015. Please MFC........Don't [censored] down my neck and tell me it's raining

He's been around a top side at this level, didn't lead it....No doubt the players are not providing much support but Neeld can't escape scott free..... he is paid to get this side up and competitive. They are not. It's his job to fix it....

Contemplating a 16th finish is optimistic in the extreme given today's events

What game plan?..... I defy anyone watching that game today to identify our plan. Unless it is be unaccountable, turn the ball over, stop trying after half time put too many blokes on drop your head get smashed by a bottom four team and hope they get tired

We could see 186 smashed apart in round 6 if we are still playing like this

Against Brisbane I thought our problem was that we couldnt execute the brave new plan Against West Coast I thought the new plan might not be a good plan Now I see that we actually don't have a plan..... just 18 blokes at a time strolling around the park for a couple of hours (except when we have 19 blokes out there) So what happened over the last year..cant even compete with Toiges.....just smashed everywhere....DISGRACEFUL

yeah coaching and game plan are one of those areas. Players with heart is another