Jaded No More

Dude, baby steps. We are 10 down... Points that is, not goals. I'll take that and run. Seriously. Good to see a simple game plan and man on man. I can live with one loose man in defense. We are also taking the game on. We don't seem so terrified to try. I don't care if we stuff up, at least we are trying. What a foreign concept this has been to us lately. My standouts so far: Nathan Jones- amazing. Looks like he said "[censored] you all I will play alone in the midfield" Clark- never ever has anyone been so good at turning dog [censored] into pure gold Sylvia- I'm shocked. Davey- see above Matt Jones- loving him. Great work ethic. Good speed. Terlich- good work by him. Not afraid to take it on. Backline is disappointing, especially Frawley. But whoever said McDonald is a joke, should give himself an uppercut. Now lets at least maintain this effort in the second half, and I'll be happy. Good day to be at the G so far.

Watts is number one on the list of players who could use a run with Casey. Why drop him then give him a week off? Unless he's carrying an injury, it's dumb player management of a player screaming for confidence and touch.

I fear if I'm drunk while watching us lose I myself will lose my [censored] and turn into a sobbing mess. Nobody needs to see that. Melbourne supporters have suffered enough!

I'm going alone too. Getting used to that now. At least I have a bottle of wine in the fridge waiting for me post match. I'd say Go Dees, but I feel it sounds ironic. Go Jack Viney?!

No, because he leads by example on and off the field. This is not a knock on Jones, but Grimes has been in the leadership group since his second year at the club. That says something. I thought he's been one of our best in a dismal start to the season.

Anyone who doubts that Grimes is the right man for the captaincy is an idiot. End of discussion. Well done Grimesy. Now lets sign Frawley and be done with it.

Don't mind Watts going to Casey to get some touch. He is terribly low on confidence! How the fudge Sylvia continues to cruise through life I am not sure. At least Gillies is gone. To hopefully be forgotten. Happy to see Bail, Jetta and Evans. They are all triers.

Great work everyone. Unfortunately I have to work, and there is no way I could get away (even though I'm just 5 mins down the road from Gosch's paddock!).

I'd love Ratten back as midfield coach. Always rated him and our midfield was very good under him. Never quite understood Mahoney's credentials to be footy manager. He was a pretty ordinary line coach IMHO. Losing Wells was a big blow and our backline is yet to recover. Instead of poaching D grade oldies from other clubs this off season, lets focus on poaching some opposition assistants.

I don't mind it. We clearly can't turn our fortunes around in one week but the most glaring and most easily fixable problem we have is confidence. Getting the group together to believe in each other again and work together is a good start. Hell, it can't hurt us anymore than we are already hurting. Just wish when my work sucked and I wanted to stab everyone that they would pay for a getaway. Bastards won't even pay for flu shots!

I don't think the club sacked CS because they were looking for a scapegoat. If he really was doing a great job and was well liked, then it would have been much easier to sack a Neil Craig for example. You don't sack a good CEO in response to bad on field performance. It makes no sense... Unless said CEO is consistently involving himself in footy matters and putting noises out of joints. I'm not usually one to believe baseless rumours, but where there is so much smoke, there is a fire burning somewhere. Who knows what impact this will have in both the short and long term, and only time will tell. I certainly don't expect a finals campaign now.

We sell it and use the money to buy a game plan?

Now lets see if he really was the cause of all our problems or just another scapegoat. We are shooting them one by one until we find the problem. Lets hope we finally hit the jackpot. Also slightly disappointed no live beard action.

Watts is gonna shave his beard live. Stay tunes.

I don't want the AFL to step in, but it is painfully obvious that our incompetent management are letting their ego get in the way of acting in the best interest of the club, in which case what other option do we have?

Gary Lyon is like a prostitute, he [censored] you, and takes no accountability for the STDs. He chose Neeld and now he wants someone else to do something. Well gees, I wish you stayed out two years ago.

Anyone who works in a high pressure, high stress industry, knows the value of taking time off to recharge. Burning out is a very real issue for a lot of people and its important to have a work life balance, which most of us don't seem to have. But when work is bad, it's especially important. So I for one am glad they are taking time off.

That guy is me, only male, older and with red hair. Poor thing. We all feel it. I know I was holding back tears and alcoholism watching us. Years of therapy and victories are required to fix our shattered souls.

I want him to shut up and get on with it. Too much talking this week.

You people need to get better friends. Not even my Essendon friends stuck the boot in this week. What's the point? It's not like we are to blame and your friends should know you are hurting.

But the issue here isn't Dunn. He is a terrible player and we all know that. But he didn't play on Saturday so obviously the issues apply to everyone on the list not just Dunn.

Read it. Want to punch myself in the face as it would be less painful than reading anymore of this spin. How can you offer no solutions and expect people to stick by this club? Only the seriously desperate and mentally insane, like me, would keep turning up to watch this crap.

On the one hand, I agree. She can't be totally privvy to what goes on inside the club and she, like any mum, is trying to defend her son. However, her actions of going on radio and publicly abusing the club screams of extreme measures by a desperate person. Her son didn't even play on Saturday and she would have no interest in lying and getting her son into hot water. It's obvious that something is not right. To lose the way we are, goes way beyond ability or lack thereof. If Neeld got rid of all those who didn't tow the line, but kept Dunn (who is not even a good player!), then he must feel that Dunn has some valid issues. As do many of his teammates obviously. Whoever is responsible for pissing our players right off to the point where it is impacting their performance to such extreme levels, needs to go immediately. But apparently the club is happy to keep turning a blind eye while the rest of us are bleeding.

186 was an utter disgrace, a disaster from which there was no return. 186 also happened against one of the greatest teams of the modern era, on their home turf, amidst off field drama. Saturday night was on our ground, against a team we've beaten the past two years, with minimal injuries, with everything to prove, and with Mitch Clark. 148 was worse than 186, and it will be a coach killer just like 186 was, but the killing will be slower, and the damage may be greater.

There is so much to feel heartbroken over right now, and Watts is up there near the top of the list. He is struggling, he is scared of the footy, and scared of making a mistake, and scared of not doing well, and in turn that plays with his mind and makes him play worse. He is out of form, and he has inherent issues with his physical application that have to be resolved, but he is also a human being. He has done nothing wrong to anyone, and more than that, he has always been professional and represented the club well off the field, so why then do supporters feel the need to wish him constant failure? He needs a kick up the butt, and he needs to be dropped to find some touch, and he needs a coach who plays him where he naturally should play (half forward flank) and support him, rather than tossing him around like a rag doll. And most of all, he needs pathetic scumbags to stop booing him at every turn. He may never become a successful footballer, but he didn't ask to be a number one pick, and he will leave this game 10 years from now with a whole lot more dignity that some of our supporters will.