Jaded No More

Leave him in Sandy FFS! They dropped Valenti, who ok, wasn't setting the world on fire but who at least chased, tackled and put his body on the line, and rewarded Yze with a game. It's like the Daniher 'back your senior players at all costs' era all over again. Hopefully this was Bailey's way of saying "here's your chance to prove you can change". He hasn't. He's done.

Yeah, good luck with that! Here's a radical idea, since Garland, Warnock and Frawley are showing a bit and starting to really settle down and work together, why not try Rivers up forward? He can mark, he can kick and he can read the play better than anyone else at the club. At the very least he can lead to the right area and create some space for the other forwards. Newton is not someone we can rely on IMO.

Did you enjoy Yze's game today? I was really hoping something would change in him after his long absence from senior footy, but I guess a leopard doesn't change his spots. You gotta hand it to him though, the man sure does know how to get those free kicks working for him!

Nobody speak about this like it is career ending, please. It's bad enough we had to farewell Neita in a car, this better not happen with Robbo too! This season is just a massive pile of crap

That long sleeve jumper made him look like a pregnant midget.

I'm sure one of my fellow mods will delete this thread, and I'm sure many posters will go on the attack and abuse you because you really do sound like a broken record on this issue, however it's very difficult to disagree. He is having a terrible season. His disposal is really below-standard now, and his decision making is poor. What annoys me most though, is that he has been given the role of co-captaining the club, when there are a handful of players more worthy of the job. Having said all that, he is hardly the only senior player who is struggling. Our biggest mistake is holding onto players for far too long, and not knowing when to cut our losses. Now we're stuck with players on big money, who do very little.

Today was insipid. Our senior players, with the exception of poor old James McDonald should be ashamed of themselves. Week in week out they give us nothing. White, Bruce, Yze (typically getting his goals from frees and refusing to man-up the whole match), even Green had a poor game today. They just do not put in consistently, and they cost us. Once again McLean is left on his own to win the clearances, and we get smashed. Nobody was putting the pressure on the ball carrier, manning-up was a foreign concept, and we reverted back to the Neale Daniher days of just bombing it long to absolutely nobody! Once more we got out-tackled, and out-marked. I know it's easy to blame Bailey when we're playing such poor football, but last week's match against Hawthorn (and our game against Geelong) proved that his game style is the way to go and that we are capable of playing well against the best teams in the league. The challenge is to get our players to have the same level of commitment week in, week out. Daniher couldn't do it, let's see whether Bailey can, or alternatively whether he weeds out the main offenders. Paul Johnson & Colin Garland (again!) are the only two players who made the game worth watching. With apologies to Junior and Brock who continue to battle on their own.

That is not at all what I was implying. I know you're a fan of McLean, because I know how much you love hard working midfielders who win the contested ball consistently and have good disposal. I was simply continuing the discussion and raising my views as to why I think he still has what it takes to be elite. You don't pull equal numbers to Judd in terms of possessions at 20 if you don't have what it takes to be elite. Speaking of Black, I did a quick search and it turns out that McLean is pulling equal stats to what Black was in his 5th season. Now obviously stats are not the whole story, but it's interesting none the less. But as if I would dare argue with you!

His lack of pace is not so much of an issue when he is able to get first hands on the ball, it's when we're getting smashed through the middle that he looks slow. However he was never recruited for his pace, so it's not as if we're discovering anything new here. When other players start to take some heat off him (and Jones), he'll look a fair bit faster. As for lack of awareness, I think that when a player such as McLean whos disposal is above average, and whos understanding of where to kick is generally pretty spot on, is not presented with enough opportunities up the field, he prefers to hold up the footy than to kick and turn it over. When players are presenting forward of the ball, like they were against the Hawks, he usually hits them on the chest. When we play like a bunch of deers caught in headlights is when he looks very slow and gets caught from behind. If he had Judd's pace he would be... well... Judd. Sadly that will just never happen, but IMO it will not stop him from being an elite midfielder. Pace is simply a buzz word going around in football at the moment. The ability to win the contested ball CONSISTENTLY has always been a requirement for top midfielders, and that will never change.

Just rang Ticketmaster and there are plenty of general admin tickets available according to the person I spoke to. So I'm not sure where you got your information from?

Jonathan Brown's troubled contract negotiations are on the front cover of The Age sports' section. So forget Kerr, get me Jonathan Brown!!!

Hey, he's getting you first-hand information, don't complain But yes, people should really stop stalking footballers on Facebook... bit creepy!

Interchange will hopefully be: Dunn, Sylvia, Wheatley and PJ. Wheatley has to play, he has been in great form this year. PJ will definitely play as the back-up ruckman. That really only leaves 2 spaces and so you would think we'd stick to the youth policy and go with Dunn/ Sylvia/ Bode/ CJ. Davey missing the two matches this year I'm actually keen to win (Saints and Pies) is devastating. He was just returning to form too!

You're right, I wasn't refering to you. If it takes you two hours to get to the MCG I consider you almost to be a country member. I fully understand that people's lives get in the way of their dedication to the club, and that's completely normal, but there are plenty of Melbourne supporters who can go to games easily, can afford to buy a membership, and yet they choose not to because of some of the weak reasons posted above by MrMoose. These are the people who frustrate me to no end!

I'll go see Melbourne play no matter what day the game is on, however Friday night is excellent for students who work (and do all their assignments ) on weekends. On families and working people it can be hard though, especially if you do not work in the city and you have to rush to the game. Saturday night is also good, however you're eliminating a lot of kids that way, and in-turn their parents too. At the end of the day everyone has a particular preference for a particular need. We can't please everyone, but a better balance between Saturday and Sunday, Night and Day games would help us a lot. Personally playing mostly on the same day is great for me, as I can schedule my roster around it, but Sunday is traditionally family day so if you are not blessed with a family of Melbourne fanatics, or you have kids who play sports, it can be very difficult juggling. My poor imaginary kids will never have a social life if we keep playing Sunday games

Poor kid got killed by the umpires. Bloody Mark Williams is the biggest diver since Matthew Lloyd. He took a beauty right in front of us in the last quarter. Cheating toolbag! :angry: Frawley does have to be a little more accountable. Offensively he can be quite good, but so was Daniel Ward... <_<

I still think that the midfield engine is ultimately the most important thing to a team, which is why McLean probably shades Bate at the moment. However Bate is incredibly important to us structurally. He and Miller leading up the ground is really helping the game plan and moving the ball quickly and with purpose. Bate's chase and tackle on Sunday was a thing of beauty. He was timid and at times lazy when he first started, but he has really grown up and matured and his work-rate is terrific at the moment. He made every contest on Sunday and his disposal was spot on. This is precisely what we should expect from someone of his talents. With Bate coming on nicely, and Garland, Frawley and even Warnock showing promising signs, we can finally start to assemble something that resembles a decent spine... something we haven't had since the Neitz/Ox/Gary era. Now all we need is a FF, and no Newton is no FF. Edit: I wish Bate would kick for goal when he's 60m out. He needs to practice those long shots at goal, because too much sharing around usually ends up in complete failure.

Including driving from home to the train station, roughly 40 minutes, sometimes 30. Just depends on which train we take.

I hear what you're saying about Green, and maybe you're right, but can we not achieve the same result up forward by playing Sylvia out of the goal square? At least he'd give the Saints' defenders a physical contest, plus he is a better overhead mark. I just cannot justify bringing in someone who is past his use by date when we have younger options available. And although Dutchy was very productive on Sunday, I still can't see any benefit in playing him for the long term. It's not as if winning games is the key here.

It was a disappointing turnout, and those who stayed home when they could have easily made it to the match, because they thought we'd get smashed, really need to rethink their status as Melbourne supporters. Sunday was just a great game of football, not just because of the way we played or because we got to farewell Neita. I actually lost my voice and have yet to regain it... got out of doing a uni presentation which is great At the end of the day we just don't have a strong enough or large enough supporter group and we have to go find new members, be it in Casey or on Mars. We cannot rely on the majority of people who classify themselves as Melbourne 'supporters' because the truth is they are not really supporting the club in any meaningful way.

I really REALLY want to like him, but I get extremely irritated with players who play like millionaires but can't get the basics right. Still, he's got plenty of time to improve all that... and at least he's quick

Once again I raise the question to those advocating Yze's return, who will he replace up forward? Even if Robbo doesn't pull up this week, Yze and Robbo are completely different players and I would suggest we need to possibly look at playing Green at FF as a marking target. Yze is in direct competition with Aussie as far as I'm concerned. I know who I rather have playing.

Clever use of Buckley by Bailey. Playing him in defence, making him accountable for his man. Still takes on too many opponents, still can't hit targets consistently enough.

Dutchy > Franklin. Better kick for goal too!

That's spot on IMO. Wouldn't mind Dunn instead of Sylvia, but that's just a small change. Jamar is good in the ruck and he did get EIGHT disposals yesterday, but too many fumbles at this level are costly. I feel for him because he works hard in the ruck and even gets a few clearances himself, but he has to start believing that he can play the game at this level, or he will never establish himself. Mind you he is getting better, which is encouraging. Wheatley, if fit, is also an automatic selection.