PaulRB

If he's a good player we should change his name to "Hank"...

That would be having your cake and eating it too... Bailey is blamed for dunn and Jones (who I quite like) while not being given the credit for Bail and Mackenzie... can't have it both ways.

So it boils down to your belief that Fev is unable to overcome his flawed history and will repeat his past negative behavior the MFC culture is too delicate to cope with a bad Fev MFC should not take risks to win footy games now MFC will win a Premiership without taking a risk As a counter I believe that Fev is can overcome his flawed history and will perform well for his third team as he seeks redemption if the MFC culture continues to be mollycoddled it will never mature into the winning culture we all want MFC should be able to chew gum and walk at the same time, i.e. aspire to win footy games now and build a premiership team MFC will not win a Premiership via a risk adverse, accountants approach to micro-managed performance graphs, player development and statistics. Both viewpints are valid, I'll just get more entertainment and fun out of seeing Fev run out for the MFC next year against the Blues...

Liam and Sylvia to break a dour defensive struggle open in the third, comfortable win.

Given Fev is available at a discount next year, is playing in our reserves where we can have a very close look at him (i.e. have our players and coaches train and play with him) and given our forward line lacks a big FF with presence and impact it would be derelict of the MFC not to seriously explore how we could bring him onto our list (while ensuring we can sack him if he stuffs up, on or off the field). Last time I looked footy club are about fielding the best team to win games of footy, now. Given we can bring Fev on while still building the mythical A-team to dominate in 2013+ we should. Have we simply replaced tanking to get draft picks, with losing in the name of development? Maybe the club preference to build and develop for the glory years to come, at the expense of wining games today, is confusing the team and fans..? Good and proven match winning players are not often on the market. Its a sad acknowledgement of the limitations of the MFC culture, coaches and playing group to argue they couldn't manage Fev, and delusional to say he wouldn't add ALOT ot our forward line if fit and focused.

I don't know about you Rhino but I don't mind a cheap scrotum tickle every now and then. Would easily beat what we've been served up this year so far...

It's only poison when you are unaware or unwilling to see what he is/is not... He comes with baggage and won't be captain. The club consists of adults... the poison line implies we're asking the devil into hang out with a bunch of 12 year old children...

I'm not suggesting Fev is a fast track to a flag. However, as a fan i want to be entertained and to enjoy watching Melb play the next 59 games prior to the magic of 2014. If Fev helps us knock off the Blues , Dons, Pies or Hawks in the next couple of years then fantastic. If he stops Dunn getting a run too bad. Come on Melb toss us fans a bone while we wait another 3 years...

Have to say that my resistance to Fev joining the MFC in 2012 is diminishing by the week...

I think Tappy works well on a back flank as when we have it in the forward line and the Saint are flooded back he ends up with the ball just outside 50... and BANG.

I'm not proposing we raise the white flag and go skiing. Simply noting that it is always darkest before the dawn, and the endless navel gazing angst and search for someone to blame on this site is tiresome. The pain and humiliation of this year (and the past three) will reap rewards in years to come, as young players harden up fast, and players unable to move forward are ditched. Hope we beat the Saints Carn the Dees.

Bored sifting through the numerous threads about why we are not playing well, who is playing badly or coaching badly, how much our injuries and inexperience have cost us and how spineless the red and blue world really is... yawn. So figured I'd play the optimist and raise the prospect that things will get better after the next month from hell. It's gonna suck if we lose to the Blues, Pies, Dons and Saints but the process of separating the wheat from the chaff at the MFC will occur during the next month with Round 13 offering a turning point... In Round 13 we play Freo at the G with likely inclusion in the team by that match being: Trengove, Jamar, Scully, Mackenzie, Bail, Rivers. No small inclusions. Also, over the next month we shall see what a bunch of our untried players have to offer; Gawn, Blease, Cook, Evans, Howe, etc... and we may even find another Gem or two. And if we can re-boot by Rd 13 there are 8 winnable games on the way home to enjoy...

Just as well the snow's come in early this year...

I think Thompsons semi-retirement back to assistant coach has probably caught the eye of a few elderly premiership coaches who don't want to be the head coach again but would love to be involved... and ... we have no idea what they were talking about.

I like the way we're set up at the moment. The centre 12 players (HB C HF Foll) all solid, magic or evolving... with some class in both the bookend lines. Reckon we should be able to duke it out for three quarters and break it open in the final term. Melb by 35. Tackle harder Carn the Demons.

Given he was charged on the back of an Adelaide medical report I would think an updated report that downgrades the severity of the concussion (i.e. Dangerfield is now ok to play this weekend), should help.

A great thing about both of these two is their aggression at the player as well as the ball. For example, Tapscott's bump(s) even when the ball is out, and the tackle JT put on Dangerfield that sent him off... Bringing some well needed steel to our team. love it.

Probably dawned on him the load he has to lift at Melb...

Part of the painful transition we are in involves the emergence of a new generation of young players prepared to throw themselves in harder when the going gets tougher. These will be the players who will provide the hard core of a team than can push for a flag by dragging and inspiring their team mates to lift. Jacks effort against the tide on Thursday night was a glimpse of what he may do in years to come. I hope he brings his angry pills on Sunday, we need him to. Carn the Dees

We all are suffering bruised egos from last thursday, and all agree it was not acceptable. But to make a decision about Baileys tenure while suffering the bruised ego will lead people to roll out things like Bailey win loss record as "justification", when in fact his poor win loss is a direct result of him being committed to the rebuild. This angry search for a scape goat to hold all the blame is making me ill. 22 men play the game, one (of several) men coach it, fans have honed in on Bailey. I think they are misguided. To me the blame for last thursday lies directly at the feet of the senior playing group not the coach. A position Jimmy stated in the Age today,:Bailey OK but skipper needs to lift.

I still believe that Bailey is the coach that will guide Melbourne to their next premiership. While the various critiques of our game plan or its absence are valid, a recent look at the past two premiership coaches shows that they both deviated from the norm in developing a new game plan (different to the successful teams at the time). Both Malthouse and Thompson had to wear the flack of poor performances while their respective teams matured to the point they could effectively implement their new game plan. Both Clubs had to show faith in their coaches during these periods and not succumb to the "beating drums" of the short term needs of some supporters. A key strength Bailey has is his unflappable self belief and his consistent building of a team that will one day (soon hopefully) be able to implement it successfully. For supporters to erode and hassle the MFC admin to abandon and sack Bailey, his game plan, etc... is only going to set us back. When Bailey came we desperately needed to rejuvinate our playing list, he has done this successfully, at the expense of his own win-loss record. With a new list we needed to blood kids and build their bodies, game time and experience, he is doing this, often at the expense of his own win-loss record (i.e. Junior and Bruce decisions). The next step is to pull the pieces, players, tactics, etc together into a rigid disciplined gameplan that suits the strengths of this new team, he is doing this. According to Schwab this phase of transformation is not expected to be complete till then end of next year. According to Viney we have to focus on teaching the new kids the fundamentals (body position, awareness, etc...) prior to focusing on game tactics... Last Thursday resulted from a combination of the ups and downs of the process Bailey was employed to undertake, and a failing of senior players to perform at the level they should. Bailey will guide Melbourne to their next premiership. Great clubs support their coaches to do the jobs they were hired to do. They don't flinch, dither and look for easy outs when the going gets tough.

I'd suggest no change. Bailey puts it onto the playing group (from Thursday's fiasco) to redeem themselves. Bailey should also let them know that if players, that underperformed against WC, are again crap Vs Adelaide that they will be dropped for a month (at least) and having to sweat blood to get back in the side.

Spot on. Hear hear Go Dees

Watching Judd tonight makes me realise how desperate we are at Melbourne for some of our kids to become a champion that can change the direction of a game and lift his team to a higher performance level..

Unfortunately the only cure for a soft team are bitter humiliation like the two we've suffered so far this year. The Hustler school of character development requires it. Best thing about the latest fiasco was watching Jack Watts step up a notch in my book. Unfortunately if was well off-set by others dropping notches left right and centre.