Jaded No More

He was barely going the last few weeks. I reckon he is still really struggling with his knee so it's good that we are resting him.

Because it's super fun to kick us while we're down. The hypocrites having a whinge about this should all look at their own backyard. Buddy? Daisy? Kruezer? How did these guys come about? And let's not even mention West Coast. From wooden spooners to top 4 finalists. Absolute joke. Make no mistake, we were RUBBISH (still are) and we engineered one game to try and secure two top picks, and in a cruel twist of fate we might get robbed of one of these picks by the biggest packs of cheats yet.

This has to be one of the worst weeks in the history of our club, with Taylor Walker being the absolute cherry on the cake of dog poo. I feel like crying.

Brad Green has to pull something massive out of his backside this week because he is LUCKY to have survived, and is only getting a game because he has the captain tag. I'm hoping that our need to make a statement will pull us through because I can't sit through a big loss to Carlton after the shite week we've already had.

For the first time probably ever, I completely agree with Kennett's comments. We don't need a knight on a white horse to sweep in and out. You either want to stick around in a formal role, or don't get involved at all. Nothing will change with Jim's health in 6 weeks (unfortunately), so Gary will want to quite quickly find a very very good replacement for himself or else Jim will just want to come back to take the reins. It's all just too easy for Lyon.

Heartbreaking

Clearly the biggest issue facing the club right now

This would all be so interesting if it wasn't happening to our club. As it is, it's just damn depressing. I don't think it hurts pushing our players to perform, but pushing them against each other is just dumb. Seriously, WTF is going on at our club and why are we the only club that seems eternally fractured, or at the very least, publically fractured?!

Happy to let the players choose their own leadership group, with one condition, all leaders must be 24 years of age or under (Moloney excepted).

Agreed. But I'll be there. God knows why. I hate this club right now, but I'm a sucker for pain (and also I've been promised alcohol afterwards)

Hey, I do my bit for this club every single year. I take no blame for this, and as I sat there and watched the game, disgusted, it was the players who let this club down and threw it into turmoil. It wasn't how much Schwab is doing, it wasn't how little Connolly is doing, and it wasn't matchday tactics by Bailey. A club does not lose by 31 goals because of administrative flaws, it loses by 31 goals because the players out on the field have no pride and don't give a sh!t!

Finally got some time to watch the media conference, and it was good viewing. God I hope Viney cracked some skulls (no pun!) in that meeting with the players today. Anything less than an amazingly brave, contested, hard effort on the weekend would be an effing disgrace. Like Viney said, we need the leaders of this club to stand up. Saturday will show us who our real leaders us, because last weekend the only players I could call leaders were McKenzie, Watts and Trengove, which is not good enough.

Todd Viney said it best today, and I hope that we can end all TS related discussion until a decision is made after I paraphrase him... The Melbourne Football Club will not end if Tom Scully goes. Now MOVE ON!

The players are 99.9% to blame for what has happened to our club this week. I do not give a crap who they don't like, whether they miss Junior or whether their Nan is sick. Enough with these excuses. If Mckenzie can put his balls on the line in the face of a massive defeat then it absolutely stinks that our senior leadership team cannot. In life and in work you encounter people you dislike and managers who don't always do the right thing, and sometimes it is a real issue that needs resolving (as the case may be here). But only petulant unprofessional halfwits use these sorts of issues as an excuse to perform badly and embarrass their organization so much that it leads to people losing their jobs and risking their failing health. It just blows my mind that in all this mess the players seems to have gotten off most lightly. It's because of this soft attitude towards our playing list that we find ourselves with the record of both the first and second heaviest defeats in AFL history.

Why? Because the boys are all mates and former players of the club? Connolly, Viney and Stynes haven't delivered us onfield success (not that it's Jim's job though!) yet, and Lyon still won't commit to anything long term. Let's be honest, he's only stepping in because he feels guilty and wants to help his friend (which is great and noble). It has nothing to do with the club. If he was that passionate and that concerned about our club he'd put his balls on the line and commit to us long term. He doesn't want to get his hands dirty, he doesn't want to go home and worry about the politics of the club, and that is totally his choice, but lets stop building him up as someone who is going to save our club.

It's sickening and worrying that once again this club seems to be falling apart at the seams. When will all this pathetic infighting end?

Lyon is not, never has been, and never will be our saviour. He isn't keen and it's pathetic to grovel. Move on.

Pathetic. If you can't support us, just shut the hell up. Kicking the club while it's down is about as brave as most of his football acts on the field in the twilight of his career.

There is no doubt that Bailey's time was up, however that thing that keeps coming back to me is that our entire leadership group, with the exception of Grimes, will now be operating under a third coach in as many season. It's always the coach that suffers and ultimately falls on his sword after terrible performances, but the leadership group is pretty much the one constant this club has had in over 5 seasons. Worrying, isn't it?

Doesn't strike me as that sort of guy. He has always gone about his job with the utmost dignity and humility, even in the face of staunch criticism.

I completely agree with you on the last point, and I'm not in any way pointing the fingers at Green alone. He was one of many many players yesterday who were utter crap and disgraced themselves. I'm a big Green fan, and I supported him in becoming a captain but he has been terrible this year, as has the rest of the leadership group, and as you said, his post game reaction in the media has been pathetic. At least Rivers seemed sincere in his hurt, as did Trengove.

Agreed. A man with two young kids is out of a job tonight and has been humiliated because of how our players went about their job yesterday. It is a sad day for the club. I don't think Bailey deserved this sort of ending, although I agree that he had to go. He deserved to leave at the end of the year, with some respect. Regardless of whether or not he is a good coach, he did a lot right for us and was willing to put his own ego and coaching record for the good of our list. Thanks for all of your hard work Dean and good luck in the future. You leave our list in a far far better state than you found it, that's for sure!

Agreed. There are bigger issues here than just the coach. I feel sorry for Bailey who put his balls on the line and his career progression on hold to develop our list (and tank games). He always had the club's best interest at heart and put our list development ahead of his own coaching record. The players have let him down badly, and even though he is ultimately responsible for motivating and directing them, he was put in a horrible position yesterday when about 18 of his players decided not to turn up.

Rubbish. He would have been well prepared for the media attention today. He was asked if he thought the players let Bailey down and he said "yeah a bit I suppose". A bit? Mate you lost by 31 goals! It made my eyes bleed and it should make your heart bleed too!

Glad it wasn't just me who wanted to puke at the TV. WTF is wrong with Green? He seems to not give a flying f*$% about this club, or what transpired yesterday. It's embarrassing. At least Rivers seems sincerely shattered in his media conference full of fluff and company lines.