The heart beats true

Jimmy T puts way too much pressure on himself to be successful at a club like ours. He'd be learning in the VFL at a good club and he'd need to consistently get 35+ possessions a game to break into the seniors. He got a contract extension without even playing a preseason game for us. Says it all really.

I've watched a lot of footy today, and this is so far below an AFL standard game it's embarrassing. Looks like its back to us being the most boring team to watch. My only real question is how the hell did the club expect us to be competitive with no midfield at all? We aren't missing anyone from our best midfield. This is it.

They'll get off now. They asked ASADA and they were told it wasn't banned. Hence the confidence of the Bombers. Dank has known this the whole time but didn't like the way his name was dragged through the mud so quickly and the way Essendon distanced themselves too quickly. He let this all play out so that the club wore damage too. Will make for a great 2 part mini series starring Stephen Curry as Gerald Whately one day.

The real issue is the AFL has now set a precedent that states if you knowingly rort the salary cap you only get 11 weeks. If Tippett went to a Melbourne club he would have been handed 2 years, and he should of. He knowingly broke a fundamental rule designed to ensure the competition is as fair as possible. It's pathetic discipline from the AFL.

Best performance of the year IMO. We had a few opportunities to go into our shells and didn't. We fought out the game and played with both heart and flair. Love the hard work of Dawes, Watts and Fitzy up forward. The boys looked excited to get it to them. Get Clark and Hogan up there and it could be very scary. I really enjoyed my day at the footy today. For the first time in a long time I was proud to be a demons supporter. I feel like a few potential coaches could have looked on today and been very excited about where we are heading. Throw in a recruited A grade experienced midfielder, Viney and a pick 2 midfielder and improvement will come at great speed. The boys need to do that 3 more times and I reckon quality coaches and players will be knocking on the door.

If its a straight swap for Cam Pedersen then let's get it done.

After 186 Schwab wanted to be proven right. He got someone that did that. Foolishly it cost him his job. He should be remembered as the mastermind of all this. Neeld made mistakes, but he was encouraged to make them. As Martin Ferguson said 'a coach is like a cook, he has to make something with the indigents available' (or words to that effect). If you tell people they aren't any good that's exactly what you'll get. I'm firmly in the camp that Cameron Schwab is the worst thing to happen to our club since Simon Eishold forgot how to kick. He oversaw tanking (both the plan and the lack of defence) and Neeld's confidence shredding hard man charade. Lets see what the industry thinks of him. I bet he'll never work in it again. Neeld will be at a club next year.

Reading between the lines here, but this is my take on what I'm hearing from the players post Neeld: 'You can't come in with the bravado of Malthouse, because you're not him, and you don't have his premiership credentials.' I don't blame Neeld either. He was given a mandate from Schwab. He did his job. The fault lies with CS and the board for backing a 'wipe the slate clean' mentality versus a 'build with what you have' concept. Probably the worst time in the history of the game to try that approach given the compromised drafts and the introduction of free agency.

Anyone see Jack's snippet on 360 tonight? Apparently the full interview will be on during the Swans game. His body language and turn of phrase regarding Neeld was fascinating. He speaks very well too. Could be anything as a player. I'm excited for him. I reckon he's about to understand what he's capable of.

"At the end of the day, coaches are like cooks. They are given a list of human ingredients of all different types, and their task is to whip up something from them." Exactly Martin. Neeld could have learnt a lot from that.

This is where the footy departments 'elevating standards' policy looks hypocritical. On one hand a coach comes in and tells us we aren't AFL standard and we are a long way behind other clubs BUT then fills the list with players who have proven at other clubs they aren't AFL standard. So all that exercise did was fill the playing group with no confidence and the surround them with spuds. It says a lot about the belief in our culture at the club that Byrnes got moved right into the leadership group. What about proving your value and meeting our standards? Nope, we clearly don't have any.

Read between the lines folks. 4 days after needing a coach the AFL starts to talk about the priority pick. We will get one as long as the incoming coach is named Eade, Roos or Williams and they ask for it. It's a marketing tool to entice a coach, and to start selling hope. It not only proves that the AFL is essentially running the club now, but also that they want us to succeed. If you don't think we warrant the pick then you haven't been sitting in the cold the last 12 weeks watching us play pitiful football. We should be lobbying for 3 priority picks. Who cares what the other clubs think. It's not called 'show friends' it's called 'show BUSINESS'.

Trengove. Where is his career going? Is painfully slow and can't kick more than 30 metres. If he's injured then for his own pride and the sake of the supporters we need to know. If he's not then he's got to be nervous about a new coach. If he loses the captaincy and we get 2-3 experienced mids he will struggle to get a game.

Insert moon boot is the new blazer gag (again)

If you follow the case and the handling of it by some members of the police force it's a disgrace that its taken so long to get to this point. One things for sure, I bet the AFL Is delighted this has come up a week before Women's round. Ouch.

In 2014 - Respect: Freo (it works independent of talent, which is remarkably difficult in a competition built on elite talent). Enjoy: Geelong, and recently The Suns.

Didn't Derm make the comment about The Storm boys finding us in the spa messing about instead of icing, that was proved to be untrue? Take his comments with a grain of salt.

Does Roos actually work for the Swans now? If not, and if he doesn't want the gig, we should go after him to be on the committee. He's a smart guy and he would coax out the right people and show we are finally on the right track.

Disgraceful. Glad he's not at the club anymore. Rejoicing in other people's downfall in this manner is childish and shows why he'll never be what he wants to be - well respected by the industry.

Regardless of the level of truth in some of the more subjective points made by Caro can we finally all agree that Schwab was an absolute disgrace as a CEO (Connolly contract), and maybe, just maybe, the players were right to want him gone back in 2011? The club backed the wrong man and now every supporter at our footy club has to watch the worst Melbourne team in 30 years get flogged every week. Good Times.

Beat me to it Gonzo!

What a frigging joke! One line sums up the whole article: 'Without knowing contract situations, I would release these players...' Thats basically admitting that you did no research (contract info is very easy to attain). He just picked up a footy record and went through and went 'he's ok', 'don't rate him' etc. What a hack. If I was the editor of The Age I'd be pretty insulted by the lack of effort put into this.

I didn't get any hope back. I'm just bored and pretty tired of the club right now. The club waffled on about getting to the game and supporting the club and then repaid the favour with 20 minutes of competitive footy followed by 100 minutes of no leadership, no coaching, and no plan. The most combative thing that happened all day was words from McLardy whose all of a sudden looking like a careerist in a job that doesn't even pay. The footy club is a long way from being able to compete and based on Neelds comments about senior players in the presser he's going to go youth. Remember when we last did that? I do. It ended with a sacked coach and a club full of kids with no work rate and no idea what it takes to be successful. The French phrase 'deja vu' is far too eloquent and poetic for the crap state of affairs our supporters have been exposed too this year.

Best player I've ever seen is an Ablett, but I'm trying to figure out which one. Snr was a true freak, where I think Jnr has some freakish abilities with an awe inspiring work rate. I played junior footy with Brent. He is a classic example of recruiters wanting to see something in a player that simply wasn't there. I know for a fact that he would have been dropped from the under 18's if not for the demand of recruiters to keep playing him. 10 weeks later he became a number 4 draft pick (as a 17 year old back when clubs took as many kids as possible that looked like they could play basketball). It makes me realise that some recruiting is about momentum and potential as opposed to genuine desire and talent.

It's called Golden Age Thinking, and it's very popular amongst socially conservative politicians. Gotta love that our 'Golden Age' was finishing 14th.