Young Dee

Is there any other cases where a team has gone so far backwards? 8 wins - sounds like a fairy tale! I think it was just mistake after mistake that killed us - first it was the tanking, then cutting senior players, poor development and then getting Neeld as coach. The combination just killed all confidence and faith in the club for both supporters and players. We really need to retrace our steps - learn from our mistakes: find some on field leadership (trade/free agency), address our development issue and get the right coach. Hopefully that will bring some life back to the club (we were such an upbeat club under Bailey - with that Geelong style gameplan - remember that game against Sydney?)

Who would have guessed we would ever be in that situation again? We were supposed to have won a premiership last year from memory - how did it go so wrong?

If we want to have any hope of improving as a club we need to get rid of all our spuds: Pederson, Gilles, Nicholson, Rodan etc. etc. There are some that should probably go before Pederson but if there is enough talent to bring in we need to get rid of him. (If a club is willing to pick him up for say pick 88 could we trade him? - even though he is on a contract?). And also is that 3 years after the end of this year or 2?

Yer - he probably will go home (if we get Boyd) because there will be no mids to get the ball into the forward line! If we ever want to be a good football side we cant think like that - we need to start backing ourselves and start making the right choices

You say "there would be mids at other picks" - as if to say we already have pick 1? And it says nothing in the article about not trading pick 1 if we get it (which I hope we do!). If we do get Boyd then the we will need to trade one of our forwards (Watts or Fitzy) and I doubt we will get a whole lot of trade value for them. In doing so we would also be further delaying the our improvement curve (so if you want Boyd you better be ready to sit back and relax for 4 or 5 years). I think its an absolute no brainier - if we get pick 1 trade it for a good mid or 2 (as the pick would have very high trade value with teams looking for a key forward)

Essendon will look very silly if he does stand down tomorrow - so I am guessing not just yet.....(maybe in 2 days time?)

Oh my god .... I just walked past a cafe and saw Hogan having a coffee with Kevin Sheedy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (everyone panic) ......not, you can close the thread now

I love Garland but Captain? Jones should probably be captain (considering Mitch Clark and Dawes can't get on the pitch) - although something tells me that he lacks that on field leadership (maybe a bit reserved) but he definitely leads by example. We just don't have a clear cut captain on the list - maybe we could look at that come Free Agency/Trade period (a Dal Santo type?). It would be great if we could snare a good mid and true leader in one swipe!

We need to bring in guaranteed talent - no more Pedersens or Byrnes

Is it too early to put Hogan on the Demonland banner?

I think its time to get over the whole Scully thing. I for one was furious when he left but as some have said we did very well out of it and to be honest I don't really blame him for his actions. Most people in Scullys position at that age would have done the same thing - the chance to play for a great up and coming club and also be set for life. He didn't seem to have many friends at Melbourne and this was a chance to start fresh - I would have made the same choice if I was in his shoes and wasn't a Demon fan. Many here portray him as heartless but I have heard his parents where relying on his income which would have made it difficult not to accept their offer. Time to move on.

I believe that if they thought he was finished they wouldn't say he was a chance to return before the end of the season. And I think your over exaggerating a bit - injury reports are there to inform the supporters and sometimes injuries take longer than expected. (similar to building a house on a budget - your almost never going to go under budget but its quite possible you will go over budget).

Funny how everyone somehow knew that Mitch was on his death bed but this (above) is exactly what Misso and others have been telling us all along. The mind does funny things

Of course they can its just a matter of finding an example

I don't think we can really judge any of our forwards until we actualy have a midfield. You can't expect him to play great when the ball hardly comes down there and when it does it comes very slowly and with poor delivery. We need to get the ball through the midfield quicker so the defenders don't have so much time. With a strong midfield and Clark, Dawes, Hogan, Watts and Fitzy at his side he will be getting the 3rd or 4th defender. As for Nicholson, Byrnes and Davey - we will never be a good team when one of them is playing for us.

Agreed - it would only result in them losing their confidence and drive (like the rest of the team) Taggert and Barry are not ready, Blease and Toumpas should still be at VFL. But we need to find out if Davis, Strauss and Tynan are up to it. (Jetta is doomed).

Part of me says that's not such a bad thing. Yes it would be nice to see another club wither and die for a change ........ but then again it would be really sad to see an AFL club be destroyed just because of the actions of a couple [censored]. How about the AFL just make Essendon hand Melbourne all their draft picks, give us Jobe, Heppell, Zaharakis, Davey and Stanton and we will call it even. I bet Peter Jackson is sighing a breath of relief for no longer being at Essendon!

CLASSIC...... I thought it was supposed to last a thousand years?If only he had a few more years he could have created his master race of Peptidians.

I have heard that Hird is no longer part of the herd!

If he did have any knowledge of this he probably would not have commented otherwise he would look a bit silly if he resigns 12 hours later but then look at Neeld....

Yer I wasn't taking a stab at you but if I had a nickel for every time Caro opened her mouth......Ooo its so much fun being an outsider and imaging Bomerland in absolute meltdown (bet they have a million sack...... threads)

Waterboy ...maybe? As long as he doesn't tamper with the drinks

..........its a rumour until proven otherwise

.....you should have just crossed out Pedersen all together Ultimately I would like to see Strauss, Dawes, Davis, Blease and Taggert although the latter two probably don't deserve a game. I think we could do without Pedersen, Davey, Byrnes ...... (I could go on but whats the point it wont make any difference)

Agreed - I didn't really think of that