Macca

In many ways I agree with your post. It's impossible to get this many draft picks wrong. Many of our picks were taken close enough to where they were meant to be taken. The recruiters all had Morton at 3 or 4. Watts at 1 or 2. Trengove at 1 or 2. Etc etc. There is still hope for a couple of our high pick draftees but we need to start seeing evidence soon enough. Paul Roos has stated on a few occasions that a club has 3-5 years to develop an 18yo. He reckons once they get to 21-23 that's it. The player at that later age remains at that 'developed' level for the rest of his career. I took it as a general comment as there are always exceptions to the rule.

One things for sure - we can't blame Cameron Schwab for today's shellacking. Unless the players are mentally scarred from his 'Whiteboard Wednesdays' or his 'meddling' in 2011. Of course, Cameron 'Polarised the supporter group' but I'm still looking for a logical explanation on how this can make the team perform poorly. Maybe it was the sight of CS at Friday mornings training - that must be it

Kobe reckons he made a move and it just went pop. Calf muscles and Achilles tendon injuries are the domain of the older athlete. Story of the Lakers year really. You'll almost certainly be playing OKC if you make the playoffs. Utah and the Lakers both won today but LA are possibly going to have to beat the Spurs and Houston to make it anyway.

Just for the record, you had us finishing 6th last season. And if you were expecting the Team to finish 6th last season, it stands to reason that your expectations might have been that we'd do even better this season. "Worst list in footy" ... your words in post #41 in this thread. How does the worst list in footy (last year) finish 6th? Please explain Season Prediction

DL, I don't rate the bloke as a coach, many others do. I'm not going to post any more on the subject. I've said my bit and it's up to others to argue it out.

Time to move on from this conversation. I'll let you have the last word.

Don't call fellow posters 'Morons'. There is no need to get personal. You should know better.

I hope you weren't referring to me, Chook. You know the rules of this site?

We need a new Coach. Craig if he wants to or Rawlings to step in as the interim coach. If Neeld can't get our team up for the contest then it's time to try someone else. Probably a good bloke and all that but he can't coach. In fact, he has no idea.

Better effort but we really should be in front. The Eagles are not playing that well. Fundamental defensive errors are gifting them too many goals. The game is up for grabs but we need to go harder at the ball and our forwards have to get to the front position on every occasion. Why doesn't Bail wear some protective head gear? We're still not playing through the hot spot enough but I guess old habits die hard. Creating a stoppage in the forward line is all well and good if you're a good team and are good at clearances. It's like turning the ball over if you're a poor team. We need to be more daring if we're going to win this game. Some positive signs though and a much improved effort.

KC will probably go with the popular pick in Luke Joeckel. With Andy Reid and Alex Smith on board, they could be a team to look out for. Did I read somewhere that the 49ers have 13 picks in the first 6 rounds of the draft ? As if they're not strong enough already! ... NFL Mock Draft 2013: Most Likely Scenarios for Every First Round Pick

Now that was a great version. Time for our team to blow off the cobwebs. Here's a couple of tracks from Marilyn Manson that might help them. The first track (No Reflection) was released last year whilst the 2nd song (Sweet Dreams) was released in 1995 Macca 12.7

Put him on the wing now. How's that? 5 x 10's ... like shelling peas. We had some very good players in his time at the club even though Robbie only played in one Finals series. Fowler, Alves, Hardeman, Wells, Moore, Wilson, Healy, Johnson and Big Carl all had standout years for the club in Robbie's time. Still a bit baffling though. Wells for a long time was a tremendous player for us. Greg was my favourite player until Robbie took over. Hardeman as well. In that time we always seemed to have 4 or 5 really good players. They used to play well seemingly most of the time (win or lose) Back then we lacked really good key forwards and forward flankers and not enough good backmen. Alves, Wells and Flower was an excellent centreline for a few years.

The Lakers win out and they make it. 3 games, all at home. Warriors, Spurs, Rockets. Utah have Minnesota home and away then are at Memphis. Magic said today that the Lakers will beat the Spurs if they meet them in the 1st round. Although to make the playoffs LA might have to defeat the Spurs in their 2nd last game (which could cause the Spurs to finish in the 2 seed). Anyway, big call. Bill Simmons chimed in with his usual cutting humour. Something about the Lakers lack of defence. One week and we're into it. Can't wait really, playoffs in the NBA are just great. The Knicks have been on a fine run but it's looking like a match-up with the Celtics in the 1st round. That would be a classic series. .

All I know right now is that our division is gonna be an absolute bunfight. The Red Sox have started with a few wins. Yep, good start by Oakland (now 7-2) . The Braves have started well.(8-1) Washington might do ok. There are so many in with a chance.

No need to apologise at all, Moonshadow. If we can stay within 6 goals of the Eagles at the finish, then we will have probably played a lot better. For everyone's sake we need that to happen. Even an honourable loss might have to do. A win would be great but realistically, it's a big ask. Let's hope they all had a good chat in Sorrento and nutted things out. If they can find some common ground and come to a consensus then things could change for the better. Even if the team just went handball happy and only used the corridor. Just change it up. Do something different.

My post was not in direct opposition to your post. It may have come across that way. I was simply adding to your point about expectations and how many might be thinking that we maybe had low expectations when he took over. I've been reading a few posts saying things along the lines of "What did you expect, we were supposed to be this bad" and in my opinion that's an incorrect comment. The 2 links to last years polls were to highlight not to you, but to others who were reading the post. I did see your point Moonshadow but sometimes I'll quote someone because it can be used as a reference point. In other words you say something, then I say something which is along similar lines but really quite different. I understand your support for the coach and that's fair enough. I view things differently and you have to accept that as well. A coach should never be beyond criticism in my eyes. Same goes for the players as a whole, the Administration or the Board. What's wrong with holding all of them to account? Tell you what, if Neeld starts getting the team playing good football and we start winning games, I'll be one of the first to say well done. I don't ever mind being wrong. It's just opinions, Neeld will coach away, never knowing that this conversation took place. It's like having a chat in the pub. Edit : I will give Neeld some real credit if he can get this team into the Finals. That's a consistent opinion I've always had with any coaches, of any club, in any sport.

Over 81% of 'landers were expecting (on average) 5 and a half wins in the 1st half of the season last year ... The First Half Draw Over 71% of 'landers were predicted a finish between 6th and 13th for last season. That converts to about 12 wins on average ... Season Prediction Of course we've all lowered our expectations now, but it's hard to argue with the expectations (and the numbers) before the start of last season. There weren't that many predicting doom and gloom and they were definitely in the minority. The large majority were expecting a lot better. The numbers don't lie.

And isn't it Dank that doesn't blink much at all? What a weird combo. To blink or not to blink. ...

Well we've got Redleg running for President/Chairman (got my vote) Coach - pantaloons CEO - Biffen or stuie You and I can take care of the barrels for the pleasant Sunday arvo's and Bob's ya Uncle.

He posts here regularly. I was being a little flippant although pantaloons did put up his hand to coach the team a few days ago. You obviously missed that post.

pantaloons

I've often wondered what might have happened if we'd won that round 22 game in 1996 vs the Hawks. Remembering that the Hawks would have missed the finals if they hadn't have won the game against us by 1pt. I know that they hadn't voted on the merger proposal yet and them making the finals might have given their voting members more hope to stay as a non merged club (you'd think so anyway) Had we already voted in favour of the merger before that game? 1 point might have changed history ... 1996 Season

For a $400,000 a year and up to 1 million+, you would have an endless queue. There are about 100+ assistants in the system - most of whom would give their eye teeth for a shot at the top job. Any prospective coach would know what the rules of engagement are. They're not forced to do it. It's not a knock on Mark Neeld, it's any head coach, anytime, anywhere. .

I don't doubt that you may be right but ... Right now, if we take Don on face value, there will not be any more changes at the club this season. The 'resignation' of Cameron Schwab is according to Don, the only change we will see at the MFC. That's it. At the end of the press conference Don said, "No, Mark Neeld's not on notice at all" If we continue to play the way we do, it's time to (once again) buckle up for the long haul. A new CEO is going to need a fair bit of time to turn this ship around.