La Dee-vina Comedia

Does that mean the position which reports to the CEO and to which all other football positions report including coach, fitness, development, recruitment, list management (however described), etc?

Is there any reason why a new coach couldn't start straight away? I expect any potential new coach will have some other employment commitments at the moment, such as Football Manager, Assistant Coach or working in the media. And there may be strategic reasons why a new coach doesn't want to start until the end of this season, But if they could negotiate a release from their current employer, is there anything stopping a new coach taking over now?

I agree - but if you're looking for a reason to defend your actions, it would help to use a Federal Government law enforcement agency's own website to muddy the waters.

It's unclear to me whether we're after a new list manager. If Harrington's job was made redundant, that suggests there isn't a list manager's job to be filled. On the other hand, someone has to look after contracts, player payments, etc. However, that article is a pice of dross. No facts to substantiate the argument other than (1) Melbourne has no list manager and (2) Noble is a list manager.

Some possible reasons: (1) lack of appropriate fitness/conditioning for the style of game being played (2) poor skills leading to players being forced to twist and turn more than they should to get a ball (I seem to recall that's how Jamie Bennell did his knee) (3) poor skills leading to players being forced to put their bodies in positions where contact with other players occurs which would not have happened if the ball had been delivered properly (4) and some unavoidable contact issues (such as Jack Grimes' latest injury)

I think this is a far more complex issue than is being reported. The Australian Crime Commission website says that the AOD-9604 is "not currently prohibited" by WADA, and then also says it's not approved for human use. As a minimum, I think there is sufficient confusion that players who were injected or used AOD could claim a misunderstanding.

Perhaps the saddest part about all of this is that a whole lot of young kids were injected with stuff that probably did nothing to help them physically but may cause health problems later in life. I don't agree with many posters on here who seem to take joy in the suffering of Essendon and by extension, their players and those players' families. This whole affair tarnishes what most of us would agree is the best game in the world. I hate drug cheats and those who pressure sporting figures to take them. If it is not already, I'd love to see those who expose sports people unwittingly to such risks, to be subject to criminal sanctions, not just suspensions or fines imposed by sporting organisations or WADA/ASADA.

Dustin or Stefan? Or someone else?

Serious? Drain and plumbing? Match made in heaven.

Agree about his left foot. But can he kick on the right? Does anyone know? (As an aside, I remain astounded at the inability of so many players across the competition to play on both sides. You'd think in a professional competition they would have learned to play on both sides of their bodies as young men, if not in under-age competitions.)

The MRP system is a good idea being damaged by inanity. Mark Evans is reportedly going to make changes to the MRP system. I hope he keeps the basic premise of a points system but recalibrates the points to make more sense. (Note: I haven't seen the Spencer case. My argument is about the scheme in general, not specific cases)

Am I right in recalling that he's also doing an AFL coaching course? (Perhaps that's not quite worded clearly - I mean taking a course which would train him to be an AFL coach in the future).

Surely we'll be a chance with this team. There's 20 players on the ground compared with every one else's 18.

Mind you, on SEN yesterday, Connolly was much kinder to the MFC players. He spent some time questioning why the media gives Jack Watts such a hard time while leaving another #1 draft pick, Kreuzer, alone. He also made it clear that he believes the club has not physically developed players well enough so that Watts is still too under-developed physically to play CHF.

As usual, Demonlandy has done a great banner. In particular, I love the way the sky's colour moves from blue to red from left to right. It seems to give the appearance of foreboding as if the Demon has awoken, he's had enough and is about to wreak havoc on his enemies. Go Dees!

He's not the first Kent to be a man of steel.

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.