A very reasonable post again and a welcome contribution. You certainly don't give off the impression of someone purely sticking to principles on this subject, and have clearly thought it through. Kudos. A few points which come to mind:
- I doubt anyone is claiming that Neeld took over a picnic. I am however of the opinion that the situation has worsened, significantly, since Neeld took over, through poor decisions both on and off field. Clearly there were issues to which you have alluded, not least of which was the dearth in leadership. This in itself is something for which there is no easy fix, though your post seems to assume that the captaincy appointment was the only move that could have been made. I doubt many could honestly say that the Trengove appointment has been shown to be a correct decision. Quite the opposite. It would appear no-one has benefited from it, least of all Jack himself. And I don't for one minute buy into Neeld essentially washing his hands off it by claiming it was put to a vote. He's the coach for heaven's sake. Selecting the CAPTAIN is one of his most important decisions of which he must take ownership.
- The loss of Rivers and Moloney - a huge chunk of games experience walking out the door. For what reason? Both have provided a pretty clear indication it was due to an inability to play for Neeld. His defenders on this site will point to this as a positive, citing Moloney and Rviers as being representative of a poor culture that preceded Neeld. In the scheme of things, this is irrelevant. They are human beings, and they have talent. A good senior coach would have been able to achieve their buy in as SENIOR players, no question. Neeld had the opposite effect, resulting in both seeing their only option being to walk. Moloney in particular is certainly not free from blame, but both his and Rivers' absence has hurt us, and for that, Neeld must be held accountable (note I am not disregarding the impact of the J Mac decision under Bailey, which was a stinker).
- I think to attribute the form of Garland and Jones to Neeld is a little too convenient. I'm not discounting it, but the form of the vast majority of the list points towards it being more likely that these players are simply coming into their prime, Jones in particular.
- To single out the Freo and Gold Coast games is essentially washing over other performances which have, on the whole, been completely unacceptable at AFL level. Granted, Gold Coast showed against the Hawks that they are a much better side than they were last year, but this does not absolve the team from the disgusting lack of effort in that match. Which leads to the next point which you raise...who is to blame for this absence of the fundamentals?
- I am not for one minute saying all for this is Neeld's fault. Clearly the playing group have to take an equally large degree of responsibility for what is happening. But the buck stops with Neeld for good reason. As senior coach he is the one providing the instruction and motivation, which on the footy being produced has been a monumental fail on both counts. Players look lost, constinually second guessing themselves, and simply unable to move the ball on quickly which is so important in the modern game. Over the weekend I witnessed players simply not running in the first quarter. The FIRST quarter. It was almost unbelievable to witness, and it is inexcusable because it can not possibly be a fitness issue. It is either a misunderstanding of the gameplan and not knowing where to run, or a basic unwillingness to try. After 18 months at the helm, this to me can not be defended because this MUST come down to Neeld. We're not asking for miracles here. We're asking for something remotely resembling a cohesive, competitive side. He may be an absolute gun coach for a developed side, but for a developing side, he clearly is not.
- If Neeld is somehow able to retain his job after the Bye, following thrashings at the hands of Hawks and Pies, am I to assume that your view will be altered if we are put to the slaughter by St Kilda and the Bulldogs? Having watched both of those teams a fair bit, I can't see us getting close to either one. I just want to be sure that I understand you when you say those matches will be "the benchmarks of our progress", because I know there are some posters for whom no loss will be too great to covnince them, or at least to admit, that we've got the wrong bloke leading us out of this hole. You seem a reasonable guy, so am I understandfing you correctly that failure of these tests would see an alteration in your view on Neeld?
- We all know the lines being fed to the footy world. "We're in a rebuild of a rebuild". "It is what it is". Right now, we are accepting of the state we're in because we have to wait it out while the players build up games' experience. That's what we're told. We have to accept being legitimately and statistically compared with Fitzroy on its last legs, having our brand massacred and mocked by the entire country. Reduced to complete and utter irrelevance. We have to accept it, because "it is what it is". I say that's crap. It doesn't have to be this way. No club has to be brought to its knees like this in the name of a rebuild. The time for a statement has come, and that statement is we do no accept the football being produced, and we will move heaven and heart to bring the person or persons to this club who are capable of restoring it to where it once was, and utilising the talent on our list to its full potential, of which are are only seeing a shred.
