jimcor

I agree but I can see no point in sacking him before the end of the season unless there is someone outstanding available who is prepared to take the job on. If the Board doesn't allow him a full season to see if he can get the job done, It's going to be even harder to find someone decent to take over. We will be judged by how we respond to adversity. At least, I think we need to wait for our new acting CEO to pass judgement otherwise what's the point of him being there?

I agree. Like Sylvia, he seemed to do very little prior to 3/4 time but did well in that last quarter. Was Sylvia playing in the midfield prior to that? It was only at the beginning of the 4th that I noticed him at the centre bounce and boy, did he have some impact after that.I thought we had some pretty consistent putter-innerers throughout the game including both of the Jones boys. Matt Jones has been a great find.

There was another example of his courage earlier in the game where he set an example that others should follow. He was in 'hot pursuit' of a GWS player with the ball and one of the other GWS players decided to try and bump him out of the way. Instead of changing his angle to reduce the impact, Jetta just dropped his shoulder and went right through him. If only, we could teach that attitude.

Must have been official as he was on the train with the mascot and Dees staff.

It was great to see someone play with some intent. I have waited for a while to see someone play with the commitment of Byron Pickett and it's about time we had someone who could frighten the opposition players. A brief suspension is well worth the price if it causes the opposition to look over their shoulders in the future. The only thing I was disappointed with was the lack of support from the other players.

I like him as we'll but in my opinion the crucial things for a Senior Coach are: 1/- Win games, or 2/- show that you know how to win games and are working towards that result So far, not so good. Ultimately, the Senior coach is paid a fair amount of money to select, develop and lead the coaching group and the playing group. Winning is not everything but, unless it's visible on the horizon, Neeld will be held accountable.

Maybe I am ridiculously naive but I was expecting some signs of improvement by now. I know everyone says that the squad (particularly the midfield) is not up to scratch but bad players just do not get this far without either demonstrating that they have what it takes or have the potential to develop it. I've gone along (and will continue to go along) to the first two games and it makes no sense to me to see players not consistently trying hard enough or not making the 2nd and 3rd efforts that other teams' players are making. I cannot believe that the remaining players are no longer fit enough to put in a concerted effort for less than 10 minutes. I hear (and believe)players like Mitch and Col Garland say that they want to play for Neeld so why is it that so many of our players seem incapable & incompetent. Neeld needs to demonstrate quickly that he can get a team to play to their potential - win or lose. Without that effort, his days have to be numbered. And if he goes, his replacement will need to clear out any players that talk the talk but are unwilling or unable to walk the walk. I sincerely hope that we show something on Saturday and that supporters, players, coaches & officials can start enjoying footy again. Ps would like to understand and be informed about the reasons for the dropping of Blease & Watts. Makes no sense to me.

I agree. None of our defenders covered themselves in glory tonight but Gillies was unbelievably poor. McDonald had a shocker but that was less of a surprise (given his lack of game time)than Gillies' absolute buther's job. Garland did a couple of OK things and may be coming good again....hopefully. All in all, a really bad night. Please don't put us on TV..it's embarrassing at the moment.

Without doubt, everyone is sick of going to the footy and coming away with less hope than we started off with. However, there is simply no alternative that I can see. This is the best game in the world and part of that is the incredible level of mindless support that it engenders. We've made our choice and we have to live with it......regardless of the rubbish that those passing through the MFC consistently dish up to us. We live in hope because sometimes that's all we have...at least as far as the MFC is concerned. Hmmmmmmm, Essendon, eh? Maybe their withdrawal symptoms will kick in.

OK so, he we are again. Prior to yesterday, I was the least optimistic I have been over the last 10 years going in to a new season based primarily on our pre-season performances. At the back of my mind was the though that if, unlike other seasons, I expected the worst, I couldn't possibly be disappointed and that if I expected the worst, maybe I would be pleasantly surprised. Wrong on both counts..... I am terribly disappointed and I wasn't pleasantly surprised!! We have yet to turn the corner and, in fact, plateauing would be greatly welcomed. We're actually playing worse. At least Toumpas looked annoyed with himself at not being able to make a significant contribution. Other, more experienced players didn't seem that bothered. For me, the bottom line is still that the responsibility lies with the coaching panel (not just Neeld) in that they are not able to either describe the strategy in simple enough terms for the players to understand or execute it OR the coaches are unable to vary the approach when the strategy isn't working. They really have just one more year to show that they know what they are doing or they'll need to be moved on. They also must bear some responsibility for the way Garland & Frawley are playing. What's going on there? At least Joel Mc has heart & courage and his disposals are no worse that those two! As an aside, Jack Watts performance was truly poor. I noticed that he wasn't at training on Thursday and wonder if he was ill??

Slightly off topic but does anyone know why JW wasn't at training this morning?

Good point. Jones is a great example of player development and JW has much more natural talent to work with. Whether he's a 'marquee' player or not is irrelevant to me. Like most of our recent first round picks (particularly under Prendergast), they were chosen for their talent, application and their potential for development and JW satisfied all 3 criteria for MFC and most of the commentators. He will be an absolute champion - at MFC or elsewhere if we don't get it right.

I agree. In the first few games, he seemed to offer nothing but by the end of the season, I thought his improved performances and his ability to contribute consistently down back put him in our best 22. While Frawley & Garland (who I think are more naturally gifted players) struggled with consistency, Sellars put in week after week. Who knows, he might just turn out to continue to get better and eventually justify his original drafting by Craig. Regardless, good pick up for the Dees by Craig & Neeld

In or out of competition, mixing with criminals presents some dangers....as you now seem to accept. If players sign a contract that, because of their ability to affect results, requires them not to take illegal drugs, then that's what they have committed to. The argument about whether one drug is less harmful than another is a separate discussion. At the moment, certain drugs are proscribed and that means they are (by definition) only sold by criminals. Players need to stay away from criminals.

Apology accepted.

You make a lot of sense, rjay. Also, I think there was a lot of concern that Bennie & Gardiner (?) at WCE were linked with a high-profile, 'alleged' criminal identity from Perth. I suspect that these 'identities' like to be associated with high-profile sportsmen (see also Morans & Carlton) and it is blindingly obvious to me that these friendships would be problematic.

Thanks Autocol. I bow to your greater knowledge of drug-dealing however I've just googled 'link between illicit drugs & match fixing' and the first item is an article by Roy Masters in The Age on 18 Feb which includes the statement; " But the important thing is to make codes, clubs & players aware criminals want to enter their sports and use drugs as a path to match-fixing" This is from the head of the Australian Crime commission, John Lawler. So that's at least two of us who are concerned!

For me, a significant issue is the link between illicit drugs, organised crime & game-fixing. The fact that criminals are involved both in the supply of illegal drugs and game-fixing, opens drug users up to blackmail. Is it feasible that pressure might be put onto a player buying illegal drugs to influence the result of a game? The answer, I think, is self-evident I.e. 'yes it is'.

Is it disloyal to agree that heads should roll for the incredible record of incompetence that preceded MN's arrival? The more I think about it, the more I think that individuals should be held accountable for the grief they've put supporters through. If Connoly, Schwab and Bailey don't have the sense to keep their mouths shut then they deserve to be pilloried. Further, if they (and others)have been found to have mismanaged the club & the playing group to such an extent that we were where we were, they don't deserve our support. It's not the club's fault, it's the individual's and they are the ones who, if they've done the wrong thing, should carry the can. We might have turned the corner now but the sooner we clear out the deadwood in the administration (as has been done in the playing group) the better. By the way, I'm not saying that MN has proven himself yet, just that he seems to be a man of integrity with sufficient guts to see a tough job through to the end. Good on him for that at least.

Bater was one of my favourite players during the dark times over the last 10 years. I feel he has been poorly coached and deserved much better in the way of reciprocal loyalty and attitude. Other, more-favored players like Sylvia, Moloney & Morton were given endless opportunities for little return whereas Matty Bates was never given a sustained opportunity to cement himself in the team. Another sad end to a bright beginning. Having said that, I'm glad we didn't trade him last year as that woud have been an even bigger disappointment. I wish him well for the future.

No brainier. Must keep - even if Rivers stays. Before I die, I would love to see the back line play behind a competent midfield and forward line. We might all be surprised by how well they would do.

I agree with Mike Sheahan. The Essendon game would have been a highlight if it had been followed up by improving performances. The fact that we got to the end of the season and looked no better than we did at Round 1 is a huge disappointment. Of course, the improvers (Jones, McDonald, Grimes, ????)must be acknowledged but the fact that virtually everyone else stood still or went backwards was monumentally disappointing. I said at the beginning of the season that MN had to be given the opportunity to show what he could do OVER TIME. 2013 must be exponentially better otherwise the peanut gallery (me included) will start asking for change - again. I am getting sick of it.

I guess the danger in raising the bar is that when expectations are shown to be unrealistic, it's depressing. I cannot imagine that anyone would have predicted what a disappointing season 2012 would turn out to be. Having said that, MN has a fair bit to prove given that he has not shown that he can get a decent result from what some have said is an 'ordinary' group of players.......and I'm still not convinced that the list is all that ordinary! So, having failed to tick that box so far, the next indicator will be his ability to help recruit the missing links. I.e. Selling the future success of the MFC to players that we need. In my view, if we do not see the team performance turnaround in 2013, MN would be right to feel vulnerable.

So, almost one season in and we should be in a better position to judge where we have got to. Let me say first of all that this isn’t a call for heads to roll, it’s more a genuine question or two. . What I’m having difficulty understanding is how a vast majority of this squad can fail so spectacularly after being talked up so strongly by many commentators, coaches, ex-coaches, etc over the last couple of years? How can this same group of players have impressed these experts and then failed to deliver so completely? How can it be that this well-thought-of group was not only bereft of stamina, speed and basic footy skills but they also seem to have spent a full season showing little overall improvement? How can this be? I'm not blind to some of the good news stories such as Jones, McDonald & bits and pieces from some others but the failure is pretty monumental. Can it be wholesale poor recruitment, so many succumbed to injury or is it an inexperienced (?) coaching team also not performing to expectations? I honest still can't understand how it all went so wrong this season? Ps last week and this week were such poor performances and showed almost nothing to give us hope. Having said that, I can’t wait for 2013 - how dumb is that?

Ps I would also keep Bate over Dunn regardless of Dunn's last few weeks. His pointless posturing is just laughable.