La Dee-vina Comedia

Wish he was list manager solely so we could see the headline "Lamb chops Dunn"

Bailey used to put Green back as a "spare man" in defence when the opposition had a run on. Which means he did it often. He was OK in that role, but it didn't mean he was accountable for a specific forward. I think Bailey damaged him by being indecisive as to whether Green was a forward, wingman or occasional defender. Now I suspect his age has slowed him down so that his best and possibly only option is as a forward.

Only one for Davey so far in 2012

There have been many multiple father/son selections in the past including Rhyce and Heath Shaw, three Clokes and Nathan and Gary Ablett.

I'm not sure what you are suggesting here (that Tom is not Tiger's biological son?) I'm pretty sure Tom was his biological son but with a different surname because it's either his mother's or his step-father's.

We don't know why Davey didn't play at Casey. Maybe his knee was a bit sore (which wouldn't make him a sensible emergency - unless there was no intention of playing him or anyone else and therefore an injured player was picked as an emergency to ensure fit players got real game time with Casey). Maybe the club decided after his week from hell his mind wasn't right to play with anyone last week (my preferred theory, by the way). Maybe he's over his physical and mental problems and now has his mind and his body right so he's ready to play. At least, I hope so.

To compare him with someone today? I'd suggest he plays like Dale Thomas - not quite as good and not quite as big (but all players are bigger, ie, more muscular, today) but he played in a similar role and style.

On the negative side - that's a very long list. On the plus side - no soft tissue injuries (except maybe Moloney and Cook?)

"A house divided against itself cannot stand" - Abraham Lincoln (and George Costanza). Something for all Demon supporters, and players, to remember.

Just to clarify,"it was only ever about Mifsud breaking a player's confidence and misinterpreting what he had been told. How he misinterpreted it and what exactly he misintepreted we'll never know, and quite frankly, I don't want to know. Let's just get on with playing footy.

While you're technically correct, I wonder whether you are being too complimentary. I'd say ours is the second weakest behind GWS. I think Gold Coast is way ahead of us, not just because of Ablett, though he's a big reason for them being ahead of us. Anyone prepared to nominate a team, other than GWS, which has a midfield worse than ours? By the way, I could live with a poor midfield if it was because the focus had been on developing key position forwards and defenders as I think getting good midfielders is easier to achieve. But I'm afraid that we haven't done that, or at least not successfully (yet). Essendon, on the other hand, has done exactly that and mainly while under the control of the maligned Matthew Knights.

I agree. And you could add St Kilda to your list. When Lyon took over the Saints initially when backwards before going so far forward they were one crooked bounce away from winning a flag. We appear to have gone backwards (I say "appear" because it's a bit early to judge for a variety of reasons) but from a worse starting point than did St Kilda under Lyon.

I think Davey should return this week. I have a view (completely based on supposition without any evidence) that he was left out of the team because he wasn't emotionally ready to play following a variety of stressful incidents including: Jurrah's problems (given the statements regularly made that Davey is a mentor to our other indigenous players) the Neeld/Mifsud brouhaha the passing of Jim Stynes If he'd been dropped for form reasons I think he would have played at Casey. If I'm right, a week without further distractions (although I believe he may have met Mifsud today) may have him ready to perform. In which case I'd bring him in. The others I'd bring in (if fit) are Martin and Moloney plus Morton. My outs would be Sellar (if Martin returns), Dunn, Bennell and Joel MacDonald. I'd play Davey forward most of the game but give him a few minutes each quarter in the centre just to add some pace and variety. I'd swap Morton for Joel Mac. I'd also play Bail in the backline and move Bartram to a run with role on Cotchin. I'm also tempted to bring in Tapscott for McKenzie, but I'm not sure whether Tapscott has enough match fitness yet.

I suspect St Kilda supporters could generate a bigger list than this one without even trying too hard. And Richmond supporters, starting with lack of finals footy. In short, all clubs have dark days. It's how you deal with these things that matter. In my view, MFC has dealt with most of them very well. I'm not ashamed, my heart beats true.

Would be so much better if it were because we'd won a game of football, though.

I was going to write, "And on a lighter note, at least we won't have to see those cringeworthy Jack Watts ads on TV any more". But I'm not so sure. I wonder whether Melbourne FC can stop the former sponsor who must not be named from using that ad now. Any lawyers out there with a view?

Let's hope the unreality continues and we beat the Eagles

The frustration of having our game on 3UZ or 3DB only to get a sentence of commentary before they crossed to the races at Manangatang or wherever. And while on radio, Jack Dyer's mangled English ("Mark Lee's arms go up like giant testicles', or something like that)

On a practical implementation point, I wonder whether we'll be playing in jumpers without the former sponsor's name this weekend. I would have thought it would be hard to do, particularly with tomorrow being a public holiday.

players lying down on a tarpaulin in dressing gowns at three-quarter time picket fence at the MCG without sponsorship but with team support banners tied on instead hand knitted footy socks and jumpers (I only had the socks, thanks to my paternal grandmother. Would have been better from my maternal grandfather - he ran a knitting business!)

On a completely different point, I'm not on Facebook and have never used it (in other words, I'm over 50). But does Facebook have any responsibilities for having allowed this type of information to be published? I know this is likely to lead to the freedom of speech argument, so before that's raised, let's remember that (i) we don't operate in this country under the American constitution and (ii) the right to freedom of speech is already qualified with restrictions associated with safety (you can't yell "fire" in a theatre when there isn't a fire), you can't defame people and you can't incite violence or racial hatred.

I think I've worked out who you are. You're the ghost of Neville "Peace in our time" Chamberlain.

Actually, Bailey played him as a mid, as a defensive forward, as an attacking forward, in defence and in the ruck. Dunn has been unable to find a spot to claim as his own so will more than likely end his own career.

A couple of points: I'm impressed with most Demonlanders and their moral compass. Anyone who believes "the sponsor who must not be named" should be kept on for the money presumably doesn't belong to a minority group. I'd suggest anyone who thinks keeping the money is more important than taking an ethical stand might have thought living in Germany in 1933-45 was really great because their economy improved. Now is the very best time for a new sponsor to sign up. The massive publicity from stepping in and "taking over" the sponsorship would be gold for any company. If it hasn't already done so, the MFC should engage a company which specialises in corporate reputation to help them with these various problems. It doesn't matter whether the ills are self-inflicted or not. Managing the club's reputation takes effort and careful management.

I'm optimistic. In Bailey's first year after Round 1 we were required to play teams above us on the ladder every single week for the rest of the year. I am confident this year that we'll play at least one team and possibly more below us on the ladder.