Wells 11

Actually I think its the exact opposite. We have the highest retention year to year of existing members of any club in the comp. The STORY about us is where fickle but its just not what I see. Not just that but whenever I get to talk to a dee, or run into one that I didnt previously know...there's immediate rapport. Although of all the clubs we're the only one where the supporters get bagged constantly along with the players. Something about all the bashing makes me MORE passionate.......I want them all to eat there words. Of course I may have to wait...and wait....and wait...and.......well theres nothing I can do about it anyway. Im a dee. If ether ever was a choice it got made 40 years ago.

You may be right about Neeld. But it may also be true that he came into the club at a time when he just couldn't cosy up to a whole bunch of players he quickly knew he was going to need to axe. We can tell yet..... but we did know that the place was a train wreck when he walked into it. A mix of years of low spend on football department and coaches, poor management of experienced players and our band of so called " young guns" turning out to be more like water pistols....paper ones. Its possible that Wellingham wants to keep playing finals and that Dawes doesnt want to be replaced by Hogan in 2 years time. Its possible...who knows yet. I just dont think we can sacrifice Neeld too soon. We need to give him at least a full year with more of his own picked list and less of the toxic remains of the Schwab/ Bailey fall out and the limited Bailey game plan/ body type. Whatever the rights and wrongs of Neelds style Im sure plenty other coaches have issues. He might look a lot better if we win 10 or 11 next year. We have to wait and see.

Its been a looong year of this type of feeling. Today I feel good about the club and the way they're going and I just want to enjoy that for a while. Wait until we're on a losing streak next year and then we can get back into all of this. If its true Neeld wont last long....but Viney and Hogan will.

Good post. Ive been fence sitting on this ... because I can see the importance of winning NOW. If we don't start to create that momentum and begin to be seen as a positive club on the brink of success, we'll be stuffed this time next year and players will leave that we need. But you tipped me over. It's the wrong year to give up pick 4 and I just cant stomach doing that for Dawes and Wellingham. It's like giving up real hope and settling for mediocrity and Wellingham doesn't even want to come! Plus, If Collingwood picked up Hogan with that pick, I might swallow my own foot in frustration ...

I dont like it. I'm not sure too many of the folk on this site would either. But I CAN see the thinking. Pick 4 could be potentially a gun ... or potentially a Morton. We need experience and muscle to develop the kids in our side around, and we need that now. Many on this site are always (rightly) banging on about culture and developing the talent. Well, this is one of the possible ways to do it. Not only that but I'm sure MN has one eye on his coaching life. If we were to win only 3/4 games in 2013 his tenure may well be cut short and he's not going to let that happen without a fight. Bailey showed what happens when you bet it all on kids and cant get the runs aren't on the board. To be clear I don't want to lose pick 4 on two middle of the road players. I don't want to get Wellingham here when he's clearly said he wants to play somewhere else (perhaps hearing word of this deal?) But I do see the thinking behind it and while I would grit my teeth I could live with it ... I think.

I really cant see the attraction in Dawes. For mine he's only ok because cloke is so good. Hope its not Neeld being collingwood obsessed.

No need to respond. btw I loved Greg Parke.....horrible shot for goal though (I remember painfully filling in the points section of the old b&w footy record next to his name). but he was a huge mark and I had his autograph as a kid

Thanks for the update...enjoyed that. So glad we've got Craig. He's almost the only one at any level of the club that Ive got real confidence in at the moment. When he talks people listen and in a town where there's 7000 footy experts thats a tag not easily won. I dont believe him about Viney though....and hope he's just playing the game. We'll see when it counts I guess.

He's had a lot of back issues...which can ruin a career not to mention life after football as well. Im sure the medicos would check this out well and truly before pursuing? What we DONT need is another injured player who cant develop.

Thanks nudge...keep the updates happening.

Im not sure it would be this black and white ( pardon the pun) . For a start we have two perhaps three high picks ( depending on Viney) this year well before the pies. He may be asked his impression on the picks we are leaning to as they wouldn't be around at collingwoods pick anyway. Or, if we were deciding between 2 or 3 players in a late pick, he may also be asked his opinion. I dont think there's too much untoward in any of that and it would be naive to think we wouldnt be interested in his thoughts. Also, I may just add that this is the rod COLLINGWOOD created for itself by making him stay another year as assistant. We shouldnt have to be TOO careful in this situation. We need to be respectful...but not overly so.

You're saying we're not in the bottom 3 we're in the bottom 6?... Im relieved lol. Point being that unless we spend big time on the football department and do it NOW we can forget about on field success...if no success we can forget about memberships...and in turn forget about big sponsorships. We've put all those new coaches in place now, I just hope its being backed up with the technology. Id hate to read in a few years time how we wasted another batch of prime picks by being ill prepared to train them well.

Outside of "that " kick but looking at that old footage...made me remember how good Warren Dean was. Looked like some kinda cross between Gary lyon and Robbie flower to me. Had a huge final series in 87. Did his knee the next year I think and only played about 30 games. Could have really been a player. Just too many tragedies at that time wasn't there.

Would be a brilliant idea..the benefits would be many. Not the least of which would be to give the club a geographical location (outside of the MCG) and hopefully a new supporter base which we need. The docklands is getting more and more populated. Hope Elliot doesn't come in and kill it...it didnt sound like he was behind it did it.

We cant just point at Bailey.....its handy to do so, but we just didnt spend enough money on the football department when he was around. Whether through necessity or stupidity we'll never know now..but we didnt have enough experience in our fitness coaching ranks and Its bitten us on the arse big time. We fell, what looks now like a massive step behind, so lets hope with the increase of experience and personnel we've turned it around.

But thats the problem....they look AND play like schoolboys. The way they play will take some time to sort out and Im hopeful we're in a process. But we CAN actually control not looking like total gits right now. I genuinely love the new logo but I really hate the blazer. Can we scrap it PLEASE. Love a poll on this...someone at the club has to hear what we think about it.

love your work!

I also share your concerns....and am happy you give them voice. I have a pit in my stomach when I think about whats going on. I also know we have no choice now but to suck it up and see which direction it goes for a while longer. Even if your right and half the list leave because they cant stand Neeld, then the others are right too......we may well be better off with a full reinvention.

Whether you're right or wrong it doesn't matter right now. Despite a horrible year , Im not a Pro Neeld type or an anti Neeld type...for now. As yet it cant be shown conclusively that Neeld has" lost the playing group" or is just an ultra disciplinarian demanding levels of it previously undemanded. With this pretty large unknown it would be stupidity beyond even us to move on Neeld now.....and if we did we would be the laughing stock of the competition. Deservedly. He needs at LEAST this year to sort out what exactly is true. If, as you say, we continue to go backwards then I doubt he will last the entire year.

Hate to bring this back to a tired old topic but couldnt help but notice this. Caddy..""It was a tough decision to make as I have many great mates and know that the club is on the right path to future success." club ..."we appreciate the transparency and professionalism Josh has displayed whilst making this extremely difficult decision," This is exactly what Scully DIDN'T do for us....and why we got sh@t on by the media over it.

Another thought about Neeld. Theres a new interchange rule coming next year...either 2 and 2subs or 3 and 1 with limited rotations. Either way its going to mean more game time per player and a greater emphasis on running fitness. Maybe Im looking for a spark in the darkness of 2012, but perhaps he spent this year getting ready for that. They trained HARD between games this year, possibly putting more emphasis on building fitness than winning games and weeding out the players who couldnt cope with it early. This in a year where Neeld had a chance to do that without losing his job. I went to a meeting with the coaches and members mid season and Leigh brown said he's NEVER seen a group train harder over a prolonged period of time. Big statement from an Collingwood player and I wondered at the time WHY would they be jepordising the match day performance? Maybe Neeld and Craig have predicted the way the game is going to go and put all their eggs in that basket? Admittedly Im grabbing at straws but worth a thought.

I hope so. It definitely takes us out of the mind set of " just wait a few years for the highly rated kids to come on" and more in the mind set of "lets cut our losses and start again with a new tougher blueprint" Maybe its the best way to go....it sure didnt look like the first way was bearing fruit.

Without knowing the real inside info re why he's out of favour I think we have to back a new coach and the players he wants and doesn't. Having put Neeld in we cant be half arsed in our support. His risking big and putting a LOT of noses out of joint. While that may be a good thing it may also also be someone who's just not a good leader and is hard for people to follow. Time will tell. If he doesn't work the results will be catastrophic....or should I say simply a continuation of current catastrohpe. It is a disturbing thought though to think that if Moloney was playing for say an Essendon and was an available free agent we'd be mad about him wouldnt we? Won a B&F last year...19 brownlow votes. Big body, mature age...had trouble with a new coaching regime but so called clearance specialist. I just hope in our eagerness to cut off the "dead wood" that we are able unearth some real talent with players that don't seem to dislike the coach.

Somehow the whole tanking story has been turned into the "inquiry into Melbourne tanking" so whichever way this goes now we've been seriously tarred. Amazing really when you consider that went before us. The media witch hunt this year has been at least as hard to stomach as our on field performances. By way of contrast, if anyone didnt notice, WB lost 11 staright at the end of the year ... and almost no one even whispered their name. No one doubts their coach's credibility, his game plan, his relationships with his players ... or wonders about their "culture", their CEO or their brand. We're definitely the team everyone likes to dump on. I think the only thing thats going to shut everybody up or at least change the tenor of the stories coming at us is to start winning. I'm just not sure when that's ever going to happen!

........except this.