La Dee-vina Comedia

Must make sure that masseuse/physio is at the ground doing his thing with Watts just before game time this weekend.

Watching Demonl(andy)'s daily selections for the banner currently holds more interest for me than the Match Committee's team selection on Thursday nights. Not sue if that says more about the team or my state of mind.

Firstly, the Lovett and Milne situations are quite different and parallels should not be drawn. St Kilda was quite clear that Lovett's contract was terminated for a number of matters, not just because of the matter with which he was charged. Secondly, I doubt Milne being charged came as a surprise to him. I don't mean to say that he is guilty or not - I wouldn't know. What I mean is that he will over the last few weeks or months have been involved in the investigation process (either personally or via his lawyer) and would have known from those events that being charged was a possible or even likely outcome. So I don't think Milne's state of mind will be necessarily affected by the legal proceedings on foot - but he might find it difficult to play because of the crowd's reaction. If he plays I hope that our supporters leave him alone. I would not like our brand to be any more tarnished because of poor behaviour by our supporters. And there can be no doubt that the media will beat up any story, particularly if there are pictures, which show our supporters denigrating Milne.

I want my coach to be bullish. What's wrong with that? But I know that's not what you meant to write. So let me give you some advice - you got what you wanted now that Neeld has gone. Do us all a favour and let the issue go.

It's regularly reported that assistant coaches have a clause in their contract which allows it to be broken if they are offered a senior coach position. If Mark Williams wants to be a senior coach again, presumably his contract has this clause in it.

Excellent strategic move by Neeld (assuming he says the right things). He's now looking for a job and this is the best way to advertise his strengths. He knows he's not going to get another senior coaching position, but he would presumably want to show that he's still got what it takes to be an assistant coach. Going on TV on the day he's been sacked shows his strength of character and, if he says the right things, also his strategic skills.

If Moloney believes in karma he should be very, very careful going forward.

I think Liam Pickering manages both Neeld and Clarkson. So, if we want Clarkson (and I'm not necessarily saying we do), Neeld had to go quickly so Pickering doesn't have a conflict of interest trying to protect Neeld's job. With Neeld gone, Pickering is freed up to be able to represent Clarkson.

Of course, Walls might have written something about Terlich and Gawn only to have the sub-editors excise those bits to make space. And the bit about not knowing contracts is OK - what he's really saying is that those players don't cut the mustard which raises questions about the list manager's choices to give those players contracts beyond 2013. On balance, I thought it was OK. Nothing earth shattering for Demonland tragics, but the average Melbourne supporter and many non-Melbourne supporters might find it mildly interesting.

Beverley O'Connor has just tweeted "Former Victorian Treasurer Alan Stockdale steps in as possible Melbourne President". Wonder if he'll take his orders from Jeff Kennett like he did as Treasurer. (Just joking, by the way. I'm sure Stockdale wouldn't be listening to Jeff on how to run the MFC). Given she's a former Vice-President of the club, perhaps we should give her tweet more credence than most other journalists' guesswork. reason for edit: typos

Mind you, a lot of turnovers occurred because players played on perhaps when they shouldn't have. Such as (a) Trengove in front of the members when he slipped after taking a mark and (b) every time the ball was around the centre line and there were no forwards to send it to.

So, $6 mil over 5 years is today's equivalent of 30 pieces of silver?

While we might fit the criteria for a priority pick I still think it's a hard sell. I can see the arguments being put as follows: If the problem is the coach, then we replace the coach and we'll improve without the need for a priority pick. Or... If the problem is not the coach, we'll improve as players come to grips with the coach and his requirements and we'll improve without the need for a priority pick.

I suspect he didn't drop it. He went to dispose of it in the storage rack and missed by a few metres. Mark it down as a clanger.

I don't want Jeff Kennett as Premier, but let's just keep in mind the start of the process to have a casino in Victoria commenced when Joan Kirner was Premier. Feel free to knock Jeff for the things he was responsible for, though.

Hasn't got enough weight. That doesn't mean he can't make a good defender - although I don't see that he's skilled enough yet for that role. Perhaps in time. The real issue is that so many of our players (current and recently departed, such as Watts, Morton, Gysberts, Frawley, Petterd, Strauss, Rivers, Garland) are, or were when they were with us, undersized. They just can't stick a tackle or break one, or hold their ground in marking contests. It's my main gripe with the lack of development during the Bailey years. In my view, Watts has only had two proper pre-seasons. And that doesn't mean Frawley and Garland aren't good players. They are, but they'd be better if they were physically bigger and stronger.

First class revisionism. I'm confident the players looked equally depressed, frustrated, unhappy and confused at times under Bailey as well. That's not to say Neeld is a good coach and should stay (or vice versa). But it's a bit rich to now say the players weren't any of those things under Bailey.

Good. It wasn't just me. Just about everyone else commenting on selection for the next game wants Dunn dropped. And for everyone on here who wants to say he's a good kick, I'll accept that he's a long and reasonably accurate kick for goal. But around the ground his 'up and under' style puts the recipient at risk of being completely crunched...time after time.

Omens. Kiss of Death supports the Demons and then the MCC plays 'Sympathy for the Devil' just prior to game commencement. Unfortunately, omens don't count for anything.

You can pretty much tell the generational differences of Demonlanders on this thread. Anyone who has put any of Neitz, Schwarz, Lyon, Tingay, Jacovitch, Farmer, etc as their best clearly didn't see Flower play, or, at least didn't see him in his prime. My best three of all time: Matthews, Carey, Ablett Sr My best three Demons: Flower, Lyon, Stynes (I'm too young to remember Barassi)

Watts. He's not where we want him to be or as good yet as we'd hoped, but he's a lot better than before Neeld started. Whether he would have been anyway through natural growth is a moot point, though. Ditto Blease. And I'll agree on Garland, Sylvia, Howe and McDonald. And N Jones. And clearly Neeld thinks Dunn is better because he plays him regulalry, although personally, I can't see it. reason for edit: Forgot N Jones

Yesterday I saw that Fitzpatrick can play a bit. He's a long way off and with his decision making reminded me of an early Mark Jamar. But he didn't play well yesterday - just better than his other games and most importantly, showed enough to suggest he might make it one day. Clearly a work in progress.

Pedersen has some flaws, but he's far more creative and certainly much quicker than Sellar. It's like we've upgraded from The Reject Store to KMart when we really need David Jones...to go with Nathan and Matt.

6. Garland 5. N Jones (did he ever have a rest? Seemed he was at every centre bounce) 4. M Jones 3. Pedersen 2. Terlich 1. Jamar Watts was the most impressive when he had the ball. Just didn't have it enough.

And to think people say Melbourne supporters don't have any conviction.