pantaloons

There were two surprising points in that article: one, that it said we are to turn ver as many as 10 players this offseason (I wouldn't put a ceiling on it); and two, that nine clubs are interested in Cook, presumably mistaking him for a chef.

Unless a deranged Melbourne supporter kidnaps Mick Malthouse a la Clark Griswold and cons him into coaching Melbourne, then Neeld is our man for the time being. He has to be given the opportunity to shape and coach the list the way he wants to. You wouldn't have a shepherd lead swine, so why have Neeld coach a list that won't follow him? We have been absolute toilet matter for the last six years, we can't be precious about players departing with the exception of about 7-8 of them. Chop the list up I say. Now is the time. If we make 15 changes this offseason, it's not like it's going to cost us the 2013 premiership. If he makes radical list changes then good - he can hopefully turn around the festering, diseased culture around the place. We've hitched our wagon to Neeld, and with that comes an understanding that we have to allow him to have some control over the list. He needs to be able to see a chunk of this through.

We did sack Bailey at the beginning of August though, before any other club gave their coach the chop. Won three premierships. You did ask! Congrats! Welcome to the world of no sleep. At least it puts footy into perspective.

Sorry! I should have put it in the 'I can't wait for' thread! Carry on.

He kicked 76 in 2000, which at the time was the most goals ever kicked in a single season by an indigenous player. And yes - his best football by far was in a Melbourne guernsey. Unfortunately we didn't see 12-13 seasons of it. His MFC career highlight reel would make some serious viewing.

I'm very much looking forward to MFC 2012: The Musical, starring Dieter Brummer as Jack Watts, Rutger Hauer as Mark Neeld, Bert Newton as Don McLardy, Rick Moranis as Mike Sheahan and why you little as himself. Featuring beloved classics like 'I just can't wait to be competitive', 'Big Melbourne supporters don't cry', 'Hello, draft picks 3 and 4', 'Nic Naitanui: Superstar', and 'How do you solve a problem like Barry Prendergast?', MFC 2012: The Musical is a heart-warming spectacular that will charm children and adults alike. All proceeds from ticket sales to go to the 100% Melbourne fund.

At least Richmond paid a good whack of that in his first year at the Dees.

While the thought of him playing for an Adelaide club makes me want to chunder, I'm not shattered. Once his court date was scheduled for March, there was little chance we could offer him another contract if we're being honest with ourselves. You can't give a guy another 1-2 years on the list if there's a decent chance he'll be spending that time in the slammer. We might as well get all of this malarkey over and done with in one year while we're desensitised.

Everyone should have received the annual members survey via email last week if they get the club email updates. Can I suggest that people use that as a forum to strongly and constructively offer their ideas? I think a lot of the frustration on Demonland comes not only out of supporting an inept club but from a feeling of voicelessness and helplessness. A survey isn't going to solve everything but it's a good chance to communicate with the club.

Melbourne supporters are too accepting of cannibalism.

Once Bennell's knee exploded I think that pretty much erased any remaining doubt about what to do with him. And Jetta just doesn't do anywhere near enough to earn another contract if we are a fair dinkum football club. Doesn't have any particularly standout attribute and doesn't get enough of the ball at all.

Neeld might as well quit now if we do that. He needs serious improvement in 2013 if he's going to see out his contract and spending his two prized draft picks on kidlets who won't see the light of day until 2014 would be career suicide. Whether it's best for us long term is another matter, but I just can't see Neeld allowing it to happen and fair enough too.

I was going to post in detail, but then I realsed you left off two of the first to go: Bennell and Jetta. The general thrust of your thread is right though - there needs to be a great many list changes.

There's no satisfaction with a disgraceful season like we've just had, but tonight is not the night for me to lose my noodle with our ineptitude. It's actually a night of relief that it's over, that we can clear out some NQRs and look forward to some stellar trading and drafting.

Having listened to his commentary the last couple of years, he could legitimately claim insanity and get away with it.

Closure. I don't have foxtel and didn't see this one so I missed the magic unfold. But now our real business for 2012 begins. I really can't muster any angst about tonight's performance - all it does is sew up picks 3 and 4.

Do you own Gray's Sports Almanac? Bring on the off-season I say.

This thread isn't about Neeld-bashing. But for the record, Malthouse took over a previously poor Footscray team and had them 11 points off a Grand Final in his second year. At West Coast, he presided over their first two flags. at collingwood, he took over the worst list in the comp and in just his third year had the club in a Grand Final with the likes of Steven McKee, Rupert Betheras, Glenn Freeborn, Carl Steinfort and Ryan Lonie in the team. He backed up with another GF the next year, and understanding where the list was, executed list management strategies perfectly to get Thomas and Pendlebury and off they go to a flag. So he's had success with good sides with three flags, and done very well with mediocre ones. We often excuse our performance by saying that we can't polish a turd. Well in 2002-03, Mick not only polished a turd but fashioned one into an award-winning banquet. Most will acknowledge him as one of the greatest coaches of the modern era, but even if the worst case scenario is true - that he stumbled into good situations and was lucky to win three flags - I'll take some of that 'luck' at Melbourne.

Short of implanting a device inside Barry Prendergast whereby he receives an electric shock every time Jack Darling collects a possession, there is nothing we can do now except learn from our mistakes.

I'm not going to read 14 pages of this, but Watts v NicNat is the least of our drafting concerns from 2001-2010.

It just reinforces that while we are an AFL club, we aren't playing the same game much of the time. At the end of last year, two great coaches finished at their clubs at a time when Melbourne was looking for a new coach, and clearly screaming out for a high-quality, respected established coach. Freo nabbed theirs through one of the great stealth jobs of all-time, while Mick sat out the year. Great sporting clubs of the world are able to sustain their greatness in no small part due to continued great, bold decision-making. I don't deny it would have been difficult to snare Malthouse or Lyon. Of course it would have been. It's just a sad reminder that we're unable to play the game at the highest level off-field.

It's amazing and archaic that we don't have sign-and-trades in the AFL. Embarrassing.

The CBS coverage is actually my favourite. As a KC fan, I love the AFC coverage on CBS. I also find the commentary more insightful, and usually as soon as a flag is thrown their commentators are right onto it and know what it's for, whereas flags squally take the Fox commentary team by complete surprise and if it's against a lineman or someone out of picture you're left waiting for the call. Small thing, I know, but I like the coverage on CBS. Oh, and their music s awesome! I set the recorder for all the games, and wake up around 5am so I can watch a couple hours and fast forward through the ads and some stoppages. Works a treat.

Glorious. My earliest football memory is listening to the end of that game as an eight year old with my friend who had converted me to the MFC two years earlier, and the two of us jumping on my bed like a trampoline after the hawthorn result came through. I put an 'IT'S THE DEMONS' poster from the newspaper on the wall in my room the next day, which stayed there for years. I listened to the elimination final on the radio and then attended the next two. I still rank the 1987 prelim as one of the worst moments of a pretty charmed life. It was impossible not to get swept up in the romance of the final months of the 1987 season. I was always going to be hooked after that September.

Totally agree, and I was thinking this on the night. Maybe we should play footage of Gary Buckenara's goal in the 1987 prelim at half time every home game to rev the crowd up? As for the song, the most offensive thing about it is the tune itself. Not only is it a blatant rip-off of the theme of 1980s computer game classic Captain Cosmo's Cosmic Adventures, but it's an all-round farce of a tune and musical production.