Older demon

You have asked where can the current list improve? I would add another dimension of whom we may lose as out of contract players at seasons end. I was concerned when so many older players came on the list and worried that the coach was topping up to win some extra games and shore up his contract after a shocking first year. We have Tynan, Taggert, Strauss, Kent, Barry, Fitzpatrick and Davis who we have no idea if they can play as we haven't seen much of them for a variety of reasons so it is time to see if they can play. I would go smaller with our line ups as there are too many tales and by that I mean players who take contested marks. I think goodvibes has the skeleton of the team but I think we need to outsource. If Neeld really had read the book "Moneyball" he would have targeted clearance specialists and known ball winners. Rodan, Byrnes, Pederson and Gillies do not fit into that category and I reckon the FD just took whoever was available. I can see big improvement in Gawn and his 2nd efforts are sensational. Michael Evans has been worth the wait he will run and Hogan will be the most anticipated arrival next year.

This early in the week we need to see who comes up and who is injured. Tom Mac needs to go back to casey to find some form and confidence, Rodan and Blease may be good at VFL but they don't cut it at AFL especially against an elite Carlton midfield. Jordy fumbled and just seems off the pace and is a atagger only, so that is 4 out and Davey may need a full game at casey after 2 weeks as sub. That makes 5 out

The interim CEO Jackson was appointed after the club spoke to the AFL. Be under no illusion the first person to read Jackson's report will be Andrew Demetriou as he assesses just how big a basket case MFC is. Remember Vlad stated that he thought MFC had chosen wisely in appointing an interim CEO of Jackson's stature after the club asked the AFL for assistance. The AFL are concerned for the club and competition, and despite what people want, rebuilding again was dumb and very poor strategy. The majority of the supporter base have had enough and Don knows it. The club has gone from declaring that Neeld would take this group forward and make them tougher they never dreamed that we would go so far backwards so quickly. Quote from Neeld "I didn't see it coming" The board may have given Neeld a 3 year mandate but I doubt the AFL will. Another disastrous season and bottom 2 finish this year will have the AFL wanting some action, as Vlad has said they cannot afford to have MFC fall behind the expansion clubs. The MFC brand is being trashed and that perception has to change, so heads will roll and it is usually the coaches that goes first.

Lets look at what we have and forget those who left. Whose idea was it to recruit Pederson, Byrnes and Rodan they contributed NOTHING? Whose idea was it to make Jack Trengove captain, the kid is struggling big time? Tommy Mac is being isolated down back by opposition clubs and has a horrible 2 weeks and Bleese and Mckenzie may as well not have been there. The footy dept has a lot to answer for and for Neeld to say he thought a 5 goal loss was OK makes me sick. They had nearly 40 shots at goal God help us if they had kicked straight

Did someone mention Icebergs? Last nights 7.30 report was a confirmation of a John Sylvester report in the weekend Age that drugs, supplements etc are rife in all sports in Australia and that extends to the AFL. We are talking about highly competitive sportsmen looking for an edge and a way to extend their careers. We have been kidding ourselves that our sports people and athletes are squeaky clean. Why were MFC so pleased to get David Misson? Because his track record at other clubs was to get players, AFL ready. Do I think Essendon were the only club with cutting edge supplements NO and all the other clubs that have employed the "Weapon" Dank or Dr Bates will come under scrutiny. The question is will there be any clubs that haven't nibbled at it. Charters was at pains to say that he helped Hird get an extra year out of his career but that Hird wouldn't resort to cheating. Other players have asked to join the Dank program as they want that edge, didn't Dunne ask to come on board? This supplement stuff is out there and has been for a while and we are now only getting to see the tip of the Iceberg. Very interesting now that the anti-obesity drug is officially on the banned list as has been since 2011..the brown stuff is about to hit the fan

What he doesn't tell us is the status of Dunne and Joel Mac so we really don't know how prepared they are and whether they need a run at Casey. Yesterday Viney looked to be struggling with that ankle and may be rested. Easy to forget that Toumpas and Sellar didn't get a game at all on the weekend.

On a serious note, D's played well with Clarke of because we finally got some run and given Brisbane are quick I think Mckenzie to tag Rich, Blease for pace and Strauss so Jack can go up forward with Jetta, Viney and Clarke missing

Oh I wish we could bring Hogan in!!!

Time to start again. Football dept is gone, Neeld, Craig, Mahoney and anyone else (McLardy) who knew will not survive the wrath of Vlad. The AFL will do the clean out the board could never do and it will all be done in 1 fell swoop

The point is that under bailey we still managed to win 8 and a half games and play attractive football. Why not tread slowly in a new club and build the fitness base and take 3 years to weed out the slackers. Bailey deliberately didn't over train as he had a list of 18 year olds whose bodies it was deemed would not stand the rigors and adjustments were made. Luke Ball when he first started at St Kilda developed OP when Grant Thomas insisted he do a full pre season, note Jack Trengove was so fatigued last year he could hardly run. Don't overlook why the fitness base was low, as that was part of the longer term plan. Why did MN sack the leadership group, why install 2 rookie captains, why sack all the coaches (except Royal ) and the leadership group then ignore or discard all the footy intellect accumulated and start afresh? It was arrogant, naive and in retrospect a massive error to rebuild again. If it was just about fitness I could accept the changes but it is also about man management, management style, game plan and vision. Look at what Ken Hinkley has done at Port and how he achieved it. They too were not fit enough but all their out of contract players have stayed on. MN does it by the numbers and is so full of himself he casts of those who don't do it his way and for that he will pay the price.

Jamar is so out of form it isn't funny and never contributed much around the ground. It is more noticeable with Martin not there, and Sellar and Pederson are not the answer as backup ruck man. Given our weakness in midfield the lack of a class running ruck who contributes to general play taking marks, kicking goals etc then it is no surprise we get smashed. Gawn is untried but the ruck stocks look mighty thin at the moment

Or maybe it is about rebuilding the confidence of a group of young men whose ability and ego has been trashed. To be booed off and trashed by your own supporters is something the younger men may not have encountered. Jimmy Toumpas was inconsolable after round 1, and the way Watts was shamed on the evening was deplorable coaching. The older guys way be able to take it but we have 4 first year players in the team and maybe this is when the old recruits bought in help rebuild the club of field??

What is Eugene Arroca doinf he has heaps of experience with a club struggling to survive?

No I am not the the older brother I just feel old and barracking for the Demons for 57 years will do that to you. Alleged call came after round 1 and cannot name source but rumour arose at launch of another league where one of the coaches works for the AFL (probably said too much). Same night was rumour that AFL would take over admin of Demons within a month unless things improved....they haven't

And why would they want to leave? Not everyone has bought into the MN way and will the club discuss why the players called the AFL player welfare manager in? Neeld has issues with the way he treats the players and this isn't Barwon F.C. or some school. There is a disconnect between the playing group and the coach. Also ask who at the club authorised MN to come in and clean out the previous leadership group, appoint two rookie captains after he had 6 weeks to access the club and then at seasons end clear out 14 players. MN's plans had to be detailed, presented and authorised by the football department and then signed off by the board, there are a few culpable operators in this comedy of errors and all we ask is for someone to take responsibility or did the board abrogate all responsibility and let a rookie coach change everything without any checks and balances? Admit errors and try and fix them. I see NO inclination by MN to concede he made errors or a desire to change his style. A rebuild of a rebuild was always going to be a very risky strategy.

Jamar back to Casey to get some confidence besides his hip will be sore from where Ryder kept using him as a step ladder to win the taps. 3 dropped marks indicate he is at rock bottom. Gillies is a problem as he is a mismatch for covering any resting ruckman Toumpas needs some time at a lower level. What we need Running midfielders, most teams use 10 in their rotations. Watts, McD and Gillies are too slow, we need run not mark and kick Another marking forward to work with Clarke. I will also defend Sylvia as I watched him thru the binoculars and he ran and put in but so often his leads were ignored and when he and Jones were in the middle was the only time we won some clearances.

Correct! But we would have to cop it as we (the board) have put ourselves in this position. Rebuilding after Bailey was a very bad idea. Did Essendon throw everyone out after Knights? No. Did Adelaide throw every player and strategy out after Craig? No. So why did and overly confident, arrogant rookie coach think he could do so? Well the board gave him a mandate, he executed and the results are plain to see.

The worst thing a coach can hear is that "He has the complete faith and trust of the board" so be very worried if the AFL say they trust the board and CEO. I applaud Rohan Connolly for his statement today that the board made a huge error asking/expecting a rookie coach to come in and change the culture. What were they thinking? That is passing the buck, getting someone else to do your dirty work. I have written to Don and said that I thought it was a seriously bad idea to rebuild on the rebuild and got no reply. Sydney and North would never bottom out as their assessment of the market was that their clubs would not survive that strategy. In my opinion Don and the board had no right to go back to scratch after we did the same under Bailey and expect the members to cop it. For that reason alone the board should be held accountable for trashing our brand and the current strategy with the FD and existing coach. To answer the question why should the AFL take over, well because the current board got it wrong and shows no indication that they know how to right the ship. Rebuild of a rebuild isn't working, bottoming out is a poor strategy and has not yielded any success. What is our 5 year plan or god help us the 10 year plan? We owe the AFL 500K, and from the number of posters on here and Facebook who are sending their memberships back, cancelling their auto renew and walking away only the most drastic of action will avert a total disaster. See how many turn up on Saturday.

Will the AFL move in as administrator of the club and clear the decks if we continue to embarrass ourselves and tarnish the brand? We owe them $500K, membership is floundering and we appear to lack a clear direction and ability to improve. Top that off with the coach for now has decided to ignore all the comments and stick to his plan because he is always right. Be afraid.....

Neeld has an unshakeable belief in himself and his coaching and that it is his way or the highway . That is why he didn't see it coming. He is hurting our brand BIG TIME and we cannot afford him 4 years to build his master plan . West Coast sacked ken Judge because he was hurting their multi million dollar brand so it isn't just about on field performance. Pity the President is in New Zealand this week and a long way from the heat. Winning changes culture and perception and gets the press of your back but I fear we don't have a game plan that can do that

The video was a carefully prepared edited, polished by the club product. I doubt it represents reality. Neeld came in and asserted his way on the club and now has the playing list he picked. The issue is "What if he is wrong" what if in his arrogance that he cannot see what is bleeding obvious to many of us, that the game style isn't working. What if alienating the leadership group last year was wrong? What if installing 2 young rookie captains was wrong? What if recruiting 5 cast off's was wrong (ask Michael Voss)? The group last year couldn't buy in or play his game style and this group doesn't appear to be able to either. He is quoted as saying "I didn't see this coming" well there are many who said they could. He has put processes in place that he assumes once ticked off will make us a better team. He crosses the T's dots the I's and has his elite training program but the disconnect is, can he take a group of men and make them play good football. The current answer is after 4 wins NO. Is he prepared to change? Does he have the smarts and insights to try something different? Can he turn around a lost group? Does he have a plan B? These are the questions that will be asked in the next month but given that he is single minded,pig headed, often angry and always thinks he is right, I doubt it.

Isn't Kevin Sheedy out of a job at the end of the year????? While you are all still laughing just remember Junior Mac has been his assistant for 2 years now and may well want to return to MFC in a coaching capacity

First of all it was wrong for the club to decide under Neeld that it would strip things back and throw all the Bailey years out with the bathwater and start again. Clubs like Sydney and North knew they could not afford to bottom out and get high draft pocks yet here they are diligently making subtle changes to their list and getting better. In retrospect Hawthorn is the only team that has really bottomed out got high draft picks and done that successfully. The club is paying a heavy price as supporters and sponsors have had enough and are proving exactly what Sydney and North feared, if you stay down too long you become irrelevant and just cannot get up of the canvas. As much as I dislike Neeld, all show and no substance who talks the talk but doesn't walk the walk, I cannot see any value in sacking him unless there is a Dennis Pagan like coach waiting in the wings to pick up the pieces as North did all those years ago pre season. The admin made a mistake, the wrong coach was selected, the strategy was high risk and has failed and the club has slipped back lower than pre Bailey all easy in hindsight, so we have to move forward and this year is going to be bad, really bad but wait till years end to make change at all levels! I would suggest a coach for the future though.. Junior McDonald, currently learning about the caper under Sheedy, in his second year as an assistant coach and a tough uncompromising leader who should never have been treated with such disrespect by the club.

Get some run in the team, yesterday too top heavy and slow. Midfielders must pick up 20 quality possessions so that excludes Mckenzie, Rodan and Tapscott and tell Jamar to hit it to our blokes not his feet. Runners of the back flanks Watts, Tommy Mac and Dunne is too big and slow. Select 2 tall backs and a make the ruckman runs back and fill the hole, rest of the backline must be runners who can run 10 kick it 60 and hit a target (preferably left footers like malceski or birchall)

To the President (and I am one of your fickle supporters whose letter you didn't respond to) Today the staff of the MFC disgraced their club and jumper, DO SOMETHING, DON"T THINK DO! It was embarassing and a disastrous way to start the season as you have effectively killed off all hope.