La Dee-vina Comedia

I was trying to be discrete. I meant Carlton's most recent Senior Coach who was previously the senior coach at three other clubs and holds the record for most senior games coached.

Ideally, yes. But I'm suspicious that Carlton's most recently departed coach might have operated that way.

Nasher, is Demonland working properly? Looks like two posts have been merged into one here. I'm not sure whether CityDee wrote the the first bit which is highly critical and dismissive of Toumpas or whether he wrote the last half which takes an alternate view.

Given Essendon's propensity to fail to keep records and other such stuff there must be a real chance there'll be confusion in their paperwork we'll end up with Carlisle instead of Melksham.

I look forward to reading next season's training reports about our new training technique of crawling over broken glass. What could possibly go wrong?

I don't disagree regarding Martin. But the comment I was responding to was about "most of our players" not "all of our players", so I can be magnanimous in allowing you that one.

Not sure about "fire sale". Perhaps getting "nothing for most of our players" was what those players were worth at the time...and why Neeld moved them on. It constantly amazes me that people want to blame Neeld for everything.

Clearly my mind has moved early into the silly season. It took me so long to work out who 'hb' might be that I'd thought of a pencil before I finally realised you meant Harley Bennell...didn't you?

If we can do this, forget football. We're going to make a fortune farming.

You're quite right. I should have added a third group for you and me. Anyone else who wants to join our group is welcome...but they have to declare their position - that it's a pure list management decision with no bearing on the suitability of the coach - now, not after a player recruited in the last two years is cut.

It will be particularly interesting to see if any of the players who move on were recruited under the Roos regime. If any are, I expect posters to be equally split between (1) those who call it an admission of failure and a reason why we should get rid of Paul Roos and (2) those who call it a courageous decision and why we are so lucky to have Paul Roos.

If we're resorting to knee jerk decisions based on the last few weeks' performances, we haven't improved off field at all. I've never been a great fan of Paul Roos's on field coaching. I think his game style is still "too 2005" when 10 years later the rest of the AFL has moved on. However, I am a great supporter of his off field work. Introducing professional player development, talent spotting and personal growth are the things I believe he's introduced which have been lacking for decades. I'd be very surprised if such a considered approach is thrown out the window now. There may well be a large number of changes at the end of the year - but I'd be willing to suggest those decisions have been planned over the course of the last three years, not the last couple of weeks.

How many?

I'm not sure what you mean by a "Roos-type recruit" but I'm not convinced there's a lot of value in recruiting players who can't get games at their current clubs. None of Riley, Michie or Newton have set the world on fire. Surely the players we get should be ahead of the ones we've tried over and over again. If Bail and Matt Jones are getting games ahead of these players, were they worth selecting in the first place?

I think you've missed the point. Channel 7 doesn't want 2.10 Saturday games. That's why there are so few of them. The public complains about the non-traditional timeslots...and then don't turn up when a game with two Victorian teams is played at the MCG in the 2.10 pm Saturday slot.

Indeed. But it doesn't change the facts. However, because it was a Collingwood home game, I'm quite happy to blame them for the poor attendance.

Irrespective of the circumstances and the fact that it was a Collingwood home game, that attendance is a major disappointment given the AFL gave the game a traditional 2.10 pm Saturday timeslot. Supporters of both clubs just played into the hands of the AFL and particularly Channel 7 who we know prefer timeslots which fit in with their schedule. Can't blame the AFL for giving Channel 7 what they want when supporters don't turn up to what's meant to be the premium daytime slot.

I think it's important that we make sure potential recruits and their managers (1) read the Jake Niall article and (2) are prevented from watching yesterday's game.

Picket, I see you've changed your modus operandi. Now quoting and criticising others for attacking Toumpas. Clever, but your strategy has been noticed.

I think Luke Hodge is a unique talent. That makes Toumpas one of 791 players who don't resemble Luke Hodge.

Sounds generically like the name of a 1950s footballer. That must make him a good choice.

Well done Praha, but I've got to ask...your post is all of three words. What exactly did you have to edit?

If it was anyone else other than BBO, I wouldn't have to check. But surely you're not referring to Karmichael, are you?

Unfortunately, I think Cross has reached the end of a sterling playing career. His reading of the play gets him to the right position to intercept but he can't tag any more because he can't keep up and his disposal has significantly deteriorated. To keep him as a player because of his professional training standards is unnecessary. If he's that important in that role he can join the coaching panel.

OK, so if you genuinely think all 13 players you listed should be off the list, how would you propose we replace them? I'm no expert, but reports suggest that this year's draft may not go very deep. Let's just argue, for the moment, that we can get 5 players in via trades and free agency. That still leaves 8 spots to fill. Are you certain that whoever you think is the last name on your list is of less value going forward than the eighth choice we'd have through the draft process? And, by the way, I've been following Melbourne since the mid-1960s. Of course I've got a serious mental deficiency.