Thehardtackler

Trengove is a genuine competitor like Grimes. Like Grimes, he is underdone because of injury. Remember back to his sling tackle on Dangerfield. This is a guy who can and will go hard at the footy! Tapscott on the other hand is finished for the MFC unless he performs soon! He will be delisted or traded without improvement!. There are a good 6-7 other players who will probably be looking for another club by the end of the year without some serious put in during matches and training.

It starts in the head. Sylvia is from Bendigo, which has a reputation for producing tough, uncompromising players, what happened with him? Jack Watts needs to be moved into the forward line and receive some tutoring from Mitch Clark on how to attack the ball. We need to only play midfielders like Jack Viney, Trengove and Magner who are willing to attack the ball and the game and who are prepared to chase and tackle. Our back line needs Grimes, McDonald and any other player that is prepared to work their guts out to keep the opposition scoreless. Colin Garland, James Frawley and Daniel Nicholson need to be sent back to the VFL to learn how to gain intensity and in Nicholson and Garland's case to improve their woeful kicking. Every player needs to be prepared to defend his playing mates when any physical intimidation is applied and it should be answered with strength and unity to show that the Melbourne FC stand for something. Every player should aim to be as feared as Byron Pickett was when they take to the oval on match day.

There is something sick at Melbourne in the playing group. Dean Bailey's son used to always tell us when we taught him that the Melbourne players ignored the game plan and directives from the coach. Those players who were there under Bailey are a major part of the problem, with the exception of professionals like Nathan Jones.

To be fair to James Magner he is one of the few players who actually puts in when he does play. His tweeted response is understandable as he is not the sharpest tool in the shed, but he should have been upgraded to the main list and unlike some of the other players he does have a family to support. I sympathise with him but he should not bite when fans have a crack at the team. If the opposition bags him then that is a different matter, but we all want better Melbourne performances on the field.

Run a competition where a different die hard member gets to go into the room every week and deliver the pre-game talk and the after match spray if we play insipid football. I feel that would be certain to motivate the players!

There are several changes that I would make. Out: Rodan, Gillies, Sellar, Tapscott, Byrnes and Dunn In: Evans (has talent) if not him then Kent, Dawes, McDonald, Davey, Jetta and Terlich It was interesting to note that after spraying Pedersen and letting him know that Dawes would take his place if he did not perform, then he took a mark and kicked a goal. The players need more of that kind of pressure from the supporters, even if it is not 'Dees' like behaviour.

I still think that we could stop the rot and improve overnight if Brian Royal was sacked as midfield coach. If you watch the games, our midfield is clueless. I would get Cameron Ling in or bring back James MacDonald and you would see differences straight away.

There are obviously a lot of Melbourne supporters who don't attend many matches. I have heard Melbourne booed off many times over the last few years, particularly at the Etihad. Brent Moloney left the club, in my opinion because last year when we lost to North Melbourne, a supporter threw a scarf in his face and told him he was no longer required at the club, and that is a pleasant way of expressing what he said. I was one of two supporters that dished it to the players at the interchange bench at the end of the match. Unfortunately there are too many 'soft' supporters who accept performances like the one we had today and I believe that the players pick up on that vibe and do not feel enough concerted pressure to really perform on the big stage. Do you really believe that Collingwood or West Coast would accept that drivel today without getting into the ear of the players and the coaches. If you are not a Demons supporter that requires players to play to a certain standard then I believe that you are better off taking your loyalties to another club, the same also applies to the players, the coaches and the administrators.

I spoke to David Schwarz (The Ox) on the way out of the ground. He said that today's third quarter was the worst performance that he had ever seen by a Melbourne team. He agreed that our midfield is a real problem and admits that there are very real question marks over Brian Royal's tenure as he is simply not implementing Mark Neeld's game plan in that area. He told me to 'keep the faith' and I asked him if he would please take a coaching role at the club. What do people think?

She makes Brian Taylor look good and he is pretty average!

Pedersen and Sellar could be pretty potent on Sunday. Pedersen's best game for the Roos appears to be have been against Port Adelaide in 2011, maybe he likes playing them. Sellar may continue with his good form and kick a bag.

Essendon. They have to be the most aggressive, one eyed lot ever!

Small point, but won't Port Adelaide have at least 4 new players in their team? This would mean that they have to gel come game day as well.

A mature midfielder like Dale Thomas is a must in order for Melbourne to start winning more games again. We desperately need his X factor.

Does not matter what Neeld can sell and to whom if the players are not buying in!

Fitzpatrick is an abysmal footballer and I cannot see Neeld giving him another contract unless he has an amazing season. Sylvia may well leave this year and I am not convinced that we cannot replace him reasonably easily in the free agency period (get the feeling he wants the easy option like Rivers in order to gain a premiership). Troy Davis needs to play in order to avoid getting the chop and he must make an effort to force his way into the best 22. Joel MacDonald will leave at the end of the year and I am pretty sure that Tom Gillies will be more a serviceable player than him. Aaron Davey really needs a good season or he will retire but I think that he will continue to work at the club in an off field role. There may be a couple of other departures. For me, Tynan must play soon or he is in danger of not having his contract renewed. Michael Evans must get game time this year as he looks to be an excellent kick inside 50 and he breaks lines, although he may not receive a contract renewal if Neeld doesn't rate him (such are the quirks of Football). Max Gawn could also be at risk of being delisted if he does not get over all of these injuries. He is a good player but you cannot afford to be injured all the time in the modern game.

There were One or two glimpses to suggest that Michael Evans may cement a spot in the midfield this year. Magner played poorly but may be better at the G. Colin Garland may well be replaced by Gillies or Sellar if he does not improve his disposal by foot. Hogan was a hero and Toumpas could be our midfield superstar in a few years. Watts looked impressive and has finally become a man. Dawes did create a goal and just needs to find some confidence. Rodan looked lively and so did Byrnes. Davey looked fitter than he has done for ages but needs a confidence boost. I also liked what I saw of Dean Kent. Strauss may not have played but is an intelligent player and will slip into our back line during the main season.

$20 from every member this year would more than pay the fine. Maybe we could all chip this in Round 1.

I do not think that the vast majority of fans accept this fine and the charges against Connolly and Bailey. We can and will make our feelings known this Friday at Etihad and AFL House should be targeted for protests by Melbourne fans.

Spoke to several coaching staff and players at the AGM. Paul Satterley particularly impressed me. He said that Jimmy Toumpas and Jack Viney would possibly improve enough by the end of the year to negate the need to target a player like Daisy Thomas in theTrade Period. He said we probably only needed one more premiership player from another club in Trade Week to help us push towards a future premiership. He also suggested that we might be more interested in a player like Buddy Franklin in trade week. Maybe we are only going for one big name in the Trade Week at the end of the year and we will use the draft for the remainder of our requirements. Anyway it will be interesting to see how the year unfolds and the AGM was impressive at every level.

Neeld and Brown will definitely put an offer to Dale Thomas, we would be crazy not to. Nathan Van Berlo will probably not leave Adelaide but we should offer him big money and see what happens. Xavier Ellis may be worth a look but the rest are either fanciful or not what we require I think. The other one worth making an offer on might be Adam Selwood.

Too many soft options here. We have been the hunted for too long and a song that would fit in with our recent media profile and really psyche up the players running out is Megadeth's 'Public Enemy No. 1'. I am afraid any less than Thrash Metal is just not making a loud and tough enough statement.

Trengove was clearly injured. He is a great player and will be every bit the player that poor troubled soul Martin is.

I liked Emma Quayle's Justin Sherman piece today. We should put him on a basic contract with the offer of increasing payments every year if he behaves himself, trains hard and plays well. He would be an excellent opposite number to Blease.

Michael Evans if he gets some games, which I think he will in the second half of the season when other midfielders are rested.