Pates

Where does Hogan sit on leading goal kickers? I'm do glad I got to watch the first 5 minutes of the game today, Casey should be on the box every week with this kid playing.

This is what I would go with personally, we don't need wholesale changes but it gets the right people in IMO. If Jamar is ready to go then perhaps Gawn will be stiff to miss out, but I think Fitzy is starting to get a bit of confidence so I'd like to keep playing him. Wouldn't say no to Jamar playing for Casey for a week to earn his spot.

Although I feel those guys are just talking out their a$$es, the big thing about Roos is he hasn't given a categorical no yet. IF we are to get him it'll be interesting to see how much coin he'd be on, because there'd be no point in him taking on the role if he's crippling the club financially with spending in the FD, and I reckon he would see it that way as well. Still I place him as an outsider to Choco in terms of likely coach.

I have this nagging feeling that if us getting Roos is dependent on whether we get a priority pick then they will give it to us. And I think also feel that this is one of the things he's waiting to find out.

Thanks KC, I skimmed the pages must've just completely missed it.

Would it have been Neeld that determined the contract length, in any case whoever did it is on some very powerful drugs. I don't have an issue with us taking a punt on him but 3 year contracts are for players who are established and recognised. I actually would've preferred him to not get any touches yesterday because he was shocking with his decision making and execution.

I would say it was a case of him being asked the question and him answering it. I haven't actually heard a direct quote regarding his contract prior to this. Watts has been good in the last couple of weeks, he is actually a forward. Still plenty for him to work on, he really should take Dawes as a role model because although he didn't have a good game yesterday he was the only forward willing to bust his gut hard to chase.

Thanks for the updates KC, how did the development side go?

Do you honestly pay for a membership JUST to have the right to vote? I know I don't, it's a small part, but mainly it's to support the club financially and be recognised as a part of the club. I don't think I've voted for anything to do with the MFC.

First step to addressing the problem is recognising you have one. It's disturbing to hear those beliefs but it doesn't surprise me. You look at players who have come from just about every other Victorian team some have been able to forge media careers post football. The Ox and Lyon are the only Melbourne petsonalities I can think of in the media, they are a different generation.You have to be playing for a marketable club to get out in the media, we couldn't be further away from that. Beyond that is the obvious fact that we haven't been close to playing finals in years.

Great work 45, I'm all for putting her on the D-land banner on their match day.

I'm concerned it will make us more the AFL's b!tich which will lead to us copping worse fixturing and more low drawing games. But i will say that for this point in time the AFL is on our side and trying to get us on our own feet (again).

Perhaps this is a case of wanting to have your cake and eat it to, but I really don't like the idea of the AFL have such overriding authority over the club and it's directors/president. I think they should definitely have an opinion and maybe even a seat on the board to keep them apprised of everything going on here, but the fundamental structure of a club is that it's beholden to the members. The members should have a right to vote for who they want in. If they want to put forward candidates and present them as the best options then I really think the members will vote that way anyway, but this amount of control is concerning for me.

If our decision is going to be between Roos, Choco, or Eade I think either way we will get a very good coach. But for me if Roos does not want the job and I mean want it, not just be convinced by mountains of cash, then Choco is the one we should get. He did very good things at Port, and knocking off the Lions run off premierships is a massive feather in the cap. I want a senior coach who has held the cup aloft and knows how to get us there again.

To be honest I agree as well, I really like Viney but I think you have to earn a spot up there. We have our two captains, our VC who is also a current captain, and a man who leads like a captain. I would have Dawes as the third, he's been a beacon of leadership. Having said all that you've done (another) top job Demonland, you're probably becoming too used to altering the banner after a negative thing.

Unless we get Roos or Lethal we won't get them before the end of the year. Eade and Williams are both contracted till the end of the year and I think would want to see it through.

Not meaning to be a smartass here, but how can you possibly know what sort of evidence is available. Yes it sounds like the initial investigation was botched and corrupted, but it was still withdrawn. No matter what the situation, it's got to be the hardest crime to prove, especially this long down the track. I can't believe St Kilda is actually thinking of playing him, I would be standing him down at the very least for one week if nothing else for him to get him away from the club and the media.

I like this emblem, but I can see this being an emblem for a line of clothes rather than for the club. I actually really like the current emblem, I know it's a Schwab creation but just because he made doesn't mean we should get rid of it.

St Kilda have precedent with this as they sacked Lovett after he was charged with rape. Tough position the Saints are in now, coming up a hapless team who's just sacked their coach, they're expected to win and anything less will be an embarrassment, and now this. I'm just shocked this is back, especially after the footy show made light of it just a few weeks ago and he just spoke about the jibes hurting him and his family. Well it's definitely not going away now.

I knew when I heard he'd signed that 2 year contract it was purely a pay out for him taking the tanking fall. Also had a feeling that might not be coming back to the club anyway. God I go back to that year and I remember thinking, "just take the priority pick out of contention, then there is no temptation and we can get on with playing footy". That direction we took is the reason we are where we are. Sickens me that somehow Carlton managed to avoid that karma.

To get Paul Roos would be an enormous coup. What he would do for the team would be amazing, but what he would do for the club with member/supporter moral would be something else. It would surely bring back a few that have jumped off in the last 3 years. We need some positive energy at the club, I can't actually remember the last time we had any.

I agree with pretty much all your points. But I also think it's pretty safe to say that while on the surface the board has sacked Neeld, Peter Jackson has been the one that pulled the trigger. That's not to say that the board didn't want it but he was the one that was always going to decide when and how it happened. When I heard about it yesterday (I got a text from my brother) I too was very surprised by the time of it. Why on this side of the bye after he's had a week off (which there is no such thing as a senior coach)? He went on his break thinking he was senior coach and came back thinking it until 8am yesterday morning, for me I thought that was wrong. I also felt if they were going to pull the trigger it would've been better to do it straight after the bye, now the players preparation for this weeks game has been really disrupted, a game that is not outside the realm of winning. The only justification I can see is that they went to the AFL with the plan to sack Neeld and they needed permission and the cash to pay him out. I said it earlier in the year that if you were an experienced coach looking to take on the role you wouldn't want anything less than total guarantee of 5 years, and as you pointed out why is it fair that they get all that time when Mark isn't given his 3 years? I too will look forward to a total board overhaul, they are 100x more culpable than Neeld IMO.

You know I feel that this was the big mistake as well. I feel a lot of the players would've seen Neeld come in and say who is this guy to tell us the club culture is no good. If you get Paul Roos, Ross Lyon, Clarko, Choco etc coming in and saying the same thing and do sweeping changes the would fall into line because they know that they've got the runs on the board. I'm not ecstatic about Neeld getting the chop, in fact I would've preferred them to give him until the end of the year with an ongoing review, but what's done is done and I can't see anything less than an experienced coach getting us back on track. The only positive for me on this was that the board was able to keep the decision under wraps for the whole weekend, must be a new MFC record.

Or we will be playing teams at our vague level, and the structures and training regimes put in are starting to show fruit. Honestly I think Craig will just try to relieve the pressure, I think a lot of the players were afraid to make mistakes and therefor didn't back themselves. As many have go back to basics and keep it simple. And play the players that deserve to play, ones that have shown form at Casey and consistent effort.

A champ does not act like a petty child. Don't get me wrong I was a big fan of his when he was a Demon, but his conduct while Neeld was around and this tweet proves Neelds point that he was exactly the toxic type who we needed to move on from. Have a beer and a quiet chuckle, that's the classy thing to do.