The Reverend

You're entitled to be sceptical. Our performance has been poor by any measure. My optimism comes from the fact there seems to be a plan to get specific types of players to fill gaps in our list. I'm sure there will be a big improvement in the midfield, and all over the ground, next year and it will come not just from new players but from a team with better fitness, a better understanding and adherence to a winning game plan along with a much strengthened culture. We are one year into Neeld's reign. He has been putting the pieces in place with the footy department and is now starting to get the right pieces on the game board. It was never going to turn around in one year. Whilst I understand your doubts, I'm just buoyed by the sense of an actual strategy at play in our drafting so far. We've moved away from the kids only policy of the past and seem to be building a team with some bodies that can make us a hard team to play against, instead of being pushed aside like we have in recent years. Let's hope this is the start of something different at the MFC. Go Dees!

Geez Oli - Get over it. These guys know exactly what they're doing. Leave them to it. Go Dees!

Before anybody jumps in here - we only use real smarties. We never use home brand, black and gold or anything from NQR. Must be the real deal.

I'm with you Old Fart. In our house we dress up birthday cakes with multi-coloured smarties. They're cheap, yet very attractive and serve a specific purpose. So let's not just ice the cake, let's put some smarties on it. Won't go astray.

Hmmm? My brain hurts. I'm confident we know what we're doing and I'm not going to lose any sleep over it all. The bottom line is that our list already looks better. From here on it's about icing the cake.

Do you actually support this club? Or do do you just use the forum to spread your bile?

C'mon, no hedging bets on this thread. We're optimistic and we don't have second thoughts. Everything is great at the moment. I can't think of a more exciting time in the history of this club. We are poised for a long period of domination and a return to our rightful place as the pre-eminent team in the competition. Get on board. The future is so bright I'm going out to buy a truckload of sunglasses. Go Dees!

So, Day 2 and we have Viney at 26, Jesse Hogan ready to go in 2014, Dom Barry - an excitement machine from the St Pat's football factory and Shannon Byrne FA. We still have picks 4 & 20 to use. I'm super impressed with the work of the FD so far. Fills me with confidence. Must be dis-heartening for the pessimists though. Still I'm sure they'll find something to whine about. Go Dees!

Hey Demonsterative. What do you think after Day 2? Have we shot ourselves in the other foot? The future looks very bright my friend.

If I could make sense of your response I'd reply, but I can't so let's pretend we never communicated. I'm too busy dreaming of the grand old flag flying high once more to waste my time with perverse, pessimistic, prats.

What's like in that bottomless pit of misery you inhabit?

Where is the optimism? You should change your name to Bitter but Twisted. Give it a rest!

You must be joking. Have you heard any of the news today? It's been a really positive step in the right direction and this is the best you can come up with.

Jack Viney a Demon with pick 26! Reason for optimism! Things are turning around in our favour. Go Dees!

Thanks OD. There's plenty of outlets for the negative Nellies. Come on folks - I'm starting to wonder how many positive Percys there are out there. My grandmother was Nellie and my grandfather was Percy and they lived up to their names.

It's a newspaper story with no reference to Neeld making this offer. Why would you assume it's true, or that Neeld is stupid?

The words are very carefully chosen throughout. I am prepared to put some faith in Mr McLardy.

Sometimes life gets in the way of what's important and you just have to pay attention to the mundane stuff. Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere. You've got to admit though, there is a lot to get excited about at the moment. At this time of the year everything is just coming up roses. What can possibly go wrong? We are re-shaping our list and soon enough we'll start re-shaping bodies and attitudes during pre-season.

Reason to be optimistic: These are good reasons to remain optimistic. Every person at your club is focussed on improvement, and we have pledged to be uncompromising in our desire to get our club back to a position of strength. We will not be taking short cuts, we will be making hard decisions, and we will have high performance expectations of everyone associated with the Melbourne Football Club. Thank you for your continued support - and go Demons! melbournefc.com.au From the president's update. We are on the right track. Get behind the club as they work towards giving us the success we all crave. Go Dees!

Clearly a no-nonsense kind of guy. Why mess with something that works? He's always struck me as a Melbourne supporter type. Perhaps not the modern day type but certainly the 40's/ 50's type.

I guess that makes you a p!ssed pessimist, or p!ssimist.

Howe wins Mark of the Year More to come next year! Get excited!

Whatever gets one through the day I guess. I'd rather have a whisky and stay optimistic than be a sober pessimist. Go Dees!

Reasons to be cheerful: Neil Craig indicates we're on the right track Trade week is nearly here Brock's tweet indicates we may be playing some hard-ball in trade week (not that I'd give too much credence to this guy) It's Grand Final day and we get to see how it should be done by two teams with the sort of culture we need to develop Nathan Jones Brownlow performance We're not getting Travis Cloke - we can spend the money on more reliable stock I am an optimist. It does not seem too much use being anything else. -Winston Churchill My sun sets to rise again. -Robert Browning Think of yourself as on the threshold of unparalleled success. A whole, clear, glorious life lies before you. Achieve! Achieve! -Andrew Carnegie.

Not sure about Rev Crawf but happy to be the evangelist. The Optimist Creed Promise Yourself… To be so strong that nothing can disturb your peace of mind. To talk health, happiness, and prosperity to every person you meet. To make all your friends feel that there is something worthwhile in them. To look at the sunny side of everything and make your optimism come true. To think only of the best, to work only for the best and to expect only the best. To be just as enthusiastic about the success of others as you are about your own. To forget the mistakes of the past and press on to the greater achievements of the future. To wear a cheerful expression at all times and give a smile to every living creature you meet. To give so much time to improving yourself that you have no time to criticize others. To be too large for worry, too noble for anger, too strong for fear, and too happy to permit the presence of trouble. To think well of yourself and to proclaim this fact to the world, not in loud word, but in great deeds. To live in the faith that the whole world is on your side, so long as you are true to the best that is in you. Some words of wisdom. It's a Grand Old Flag! Go Dees.