The heart beats true

I'm glad you don't take delight in being right because I'm still waiting for you to apologise for the ENDLESS 'I Believe in Neeld' threads that you started in 2012 only to go very soft on him after about 20 minutes of 2013. http://demonland.com/forums/index.php?/topic/30189-everyone-stand-up-and-applaud-mark-neeld/ 'I'm backing him in come hell or high water.' You are a trooper.

Why is Caro so angry all the time? God I'm glad I don't have to spend any time with her. She'd be miserable about everything.

We need a football personality as president and I reckon Sugar would do us proud. In fairness to Don he's doing the role for Jim but since the big fella passed the club hasn't been able to look ahead. Hopefully this takes us forward. The CEO role is different and I hope we can get someone the AFL loves as it honesty makes life a hundred times easier.

You can say what you want about Schwab (and I wanted him gone 2 years ago) but he is literally taking responsibility for a lot here and should be applauded for what he's doing right now to present a unified front. Today is the start of a bright future for us.

Here's why that won't be a problem Longsuffering. If anyone thinks they can take cheap shots at our players for their own pathetic reasons will have to eyeball me (and dare I say 50 others) and explain how they are entitled to personally attack our team. It's one thing to express disappointment at Round 1, but another entirely to just literally beat a dead horse as some kind of way to forget the disappointments in their own lives. The media has turned on them already (360 last night was scathing of the degenerates after the siren on Saturday night) so a lot of the spotlight they wanted has faded. I sincerely doubt that they care enough to turn up at 9:45 on a Friday morning anyways. Most of them wouldn't be home from their paper rounds by then. No one should be afraid to show up. That atmosphere is going to be great. Just a bunch of supporters going to training to get behind the boys. Should be a blast.

Hi Mark, Thanks for taking your time away from our elite training to answer some questions. Just wondering what you think about the beards? (Oh, and can you take home a few of your personal items each day until Rnd. 4, just to get a head start?) Regards Teflon Schwabby

Nice work WW! Keep it up, and let me know if you need a hand.

Those Essendon supporters that took sad joy in our poor performance on Saturday night did so with the knowledge that what's to come for them is far worse and far more frightening than just a poor team playing poorly. They run the risk of not being able to literally field a team. Thier players will run from their club and leave them far worse off than we are now. They'll look back on Saturday night and remember how far they've fallen, and we'll offer them words of support and kindness, not because we won't want to rub it in, but because we are better quality people with more care for the game.

Guys, Does anyone know how I can find the team that took the field at Skilled for '186'? Would be interested to compare the talent we've lost versus what we've brought in for '148'.

In all seriousness I hope Jack walks. He's become a whipping boy for morons with no sense of just how hard the current game is in a team like ours. He's a smart young guy that could achieve a lot in life and I worry about the emotional impact of having 50,000 people abuse you for their own entertainment. I think Neeld better have a good reason for subbing him off aside from form. You can't say in the pregame 'there are no mistakes' and then back out of that plan an hour later and sacrifice the confidence of a guy under enormous pressure. Talk about mixed messages. That's the kind of stuff that makes players lose confidence in a coach, and in themselves.

Good on ya Mitch. I reckon a lot of the vitriol aimed at the players as they came off this week wasn't from Melbourne fans but from people who don't really understand what it is about our game that makes it great. It's one thing to let players know you're dissapoontment and an entirely different thing to try and destroy the self belief and worth of another human being. Those people ought to be ashamed of themselves. I also think opposition fans love to hate on Jack Watts simply because they don't know enough about the sport to know who our better players are. I've noticed it a lot against teams that have fair weather supporters that only go because they know they'll win. Hang in there mate. In a couple of years time when Jesse Hogan is monstering The Bombers and kicking bags of goals, and Jack Viney wins the Brownlow I'll buy you a beer and we can laugh about how far we've come. I reckon you'll be just old enough to enjoy a cold one by then Go the Dees!

Appreciate the answer, and feel like I should add that I wanted Schwab gone 18 months ago and have never changed my opinion on him. However, there is no proof that the administration isn't actually doing ok on off field issues. The AFL cant give us players and that's the real issue today. That why I don't think they can step in. I think it sets a really strange precedent for them and they might rather operate from the shadows. IMHO I hope they knife Schwab from the shadows so that the club keeps some integrity in the process and then we get some ironic but needed draft priority picks to use on 3 experienced midfielders.

I'd love to be a Geelong supporter. They don't ever think they can't win, and it scares the crap out of the opposition. Today has been a strangely simple eye opener. Footy is basically 4 things - kicking, handball, tackling, running. Unfortunately we aren't good at any of those things currently. Our kicking and running are really, really bad when you watch any of the top 10 sides.

I'm still waiting for you to enlighten us all on what you want the AFL to actually do?

Agreed. If you are out then what do you care?

This seems delusional. Here's why: Coaching structure: Only based on one opinion, and if that opinion is the AFL'a it may be positive and attacking and great to watch, but not sustainable and defensive enough to make us successful long term. Demetriou accused Roos of being ugly and they went on to win the flag. Sustainable business: We actually are. The members wiped the debt to get us here which is incredibly frustrating given our pathetic on field efforts. Before the $500k fine we were on track for a profit in 2013. Member based control: This is one of those theoretical ones, like arguing about voting in a democratic system. Theoretically we are in a member based system. If we don't feel like we are then the argument is we should get more involved at AGM's. I like your sentiment and passion mate but the business side of the club is where we are strongest (compared to on field). The only control the AFL has on field for clubs is through the draft and structures (player payments, secondary payments). Can't see them rushing to help us there given our history.

I actually respect Whately as I don't think he's sensationalistic. His points are valid about Schwab but I think we have to hold firm for the time being. It's obvious that the plan isn't working but changing 2 games in only makes it more difficult to get the quality to the club we need. I know it sucks and believe me I know it's going to hurt. I hate sitting at the ground while we get laughed at but a new CEO won't improve our midfield this year, but come the end of the year he needs to go.

Some valid points but Petterd turned the ball over a lot on Friday night, Moloney still points too much instead of playing defensively (quintessential down hill skier), and we all know Rivers is a genuine competitor who was entitled to leave after a career of getting flogged.

Right. I'm in! I had some BS work drama pop up last week so couldn't go to Fridays session, but the players need confidence and to feel like its worth it. If we can get 200 people to commit to going we can also get the press there to report on a positive story - real genuine supporters doing what they can to stick by the club. And this is regardless of how some feel about the admin or the player development. The fact of the matter is that the club needs somone to defend it and in 10 years time we'll be the ones left with it, long after the players have retired and the coaches and admin moved on.

I think Grimesy has really stood up the last few weeks. Him and Jones make me proud to be a Demon.

RR, you still haven't answered what the AFL will actually do when they take over? Bake sale? Handball drills? We are only a mess on the field. The AFL doesn't have a gun midfield training at a secret location waiting for a club to be bad enough to warrant them. But please, enlighten me with what the league will do?

Players who we need: Howe Nate Jones Matt Jones Viney Clark Grimes Frawley On the fence: Trengove Tom Mac Not ready: Toumpas

Seriously, if you are out then don't come on here spouting your melodramatic crap. It's like threatening to always leave someone. Either stay or go, but don't keep saying 'I'm out' after every loss. It's boring. And, I'm in. Not because I'm better then you, or more foolish, or more determined. It's because I realised last night watching our players getting torn to shreds by weak Essendon supporters with no real love for the spirit of the game that for me the MFC is a part of why I love the footy. I'll take the bad, and demand that they get better, because that's a part of being a lover of the game.

Right! Sorry. It was actually a pretty bad film. Thank god for other forms of entertainment. Game of Thrones is saving my soul right now,

Lets just see what happens when the investigation into Essendon is over. They won't care about last night then. Don't give up. We'll be ok, but we need to tell the guys that do give their all that we appreciate them. Jones, Viney, Clark and Howe need to know we want them to be Demons forever.