Swooper Northey

Nomination or not, he'll be a beauty. One of the rare shining lights this year. It was nice to see someone else leading the charge in the midfield early in the game last night, other than Jonesy.

This is by far the worst season that I can recall, and like many on this forum, I've sat through some rubbish over the years. What makes 2013 worse than other low performing years is the sense of hopelessness that has surrounded it. The rebuild of the rebuild failed. Neeld was a disaster and took us backwards at an unprecedented rate. Our administration has been horrific. And although we've now got Peter Jackson in place, there is so much uncertainty surrounding the future. No coach, head of footy, president, back of jumper sponsor...and midfield. Everywhere you look there are major problems. What makes it even worse is that we've become a laughing stock. A smug business reporter in the Herald Sun during the week even used us as her punch line. For crying out loud, this is the Melbourne Football Club! We need to start commanding respect again, on and off the field. We're a long way from that right now. To the footy gods, please let the tide turn in 2014. The weary Demonland faithful deserve a break!

A low act. He should be rubbed out for the rest of the year. An absolute turd.

Still irks me that we didn't grab the Westpac Centre when it was available. Collingwood should never have got there before us. I always thought the Old Scotch Oval outside the Tennis Centre would have been great with a base including offices and social facilities built into the Tennis Centre itself. But given that ground gets used for so many activities, I doubt it will ever happen.

No doubt players can improve their kicking. I remember Robbo was an erratic kick when he started and became one of our most reliable players in front of goal. Even Schwarta was average very early in his career and improved so much that by 1994 he was kicking them out of his backside.

My view is that Schwab was trying to do too many things, rather than focus on the fundamentals of building a really strong club underpinned by a rock solid footy department. He had us dealing with China (...which went nowhere), Casey, was considering a Docklands base, was busy designing blazers, botching our colours and drawing new emblems. The club was spread thin, it had its fingers in too many pies, and in doing so I'm not convinced we've had the expertise in our administration to really win over the people in the Casey precinct. I'd be interested to know whether PJ thinks there's continued merit in pursuing that strategy? If the club continues to perform as badly as it is today, the strategy will be futile.

Although Casey has been a competitive outfit since the alignment (...and Melbourne has not helped by failing to make players available when VFL finals came round), I'm still not sold on the partnership, or the community strategy surrounding it. Although on paper it makes sense to harness a growth corridor, I'm not confident we've got the administrative expertise to make it a productive and worthwhile initiative. It certainly hasn't resulted in a surge of membership or support.

Weren't we trying to lure Bank of Melbourne a couple of years ago? They're not short of dough...

For me the sad part is that my care factor has slipped to about zero. The emotional energy is drained after so long putting up with this garbage. It's now over to the club to show us why we should care again.

No more excuses please. Let's see some action. The season is dead and buried. We need to see some positive moves from the club soon to generate even the slimmest ray of hope for 2014. Without that, membership, sponsorship and other corporate support will hit an all time low. At this point, you can understand players resisting signing. We have no president, coach and head of football. And the one person who handles himself with any sense of professionalism, Peter Jackson is a temporary appointment. A complete and utter mess.

It's a shame, not just for the club, but those that work for Opel here in Australia. Seems amazing that they'd pull the pin so quickly when they've been building new dealerships and investing heavily in promoting their brand around the country. Surely they knew when they entered the Aussie market that it would be a long term play to build brand awareness and consideration?

Had a lost, we would have been accused to tanking for a priority pick...

I'll take it. The players need to get a taste for winning again. They've been so used to doom and gloom in recent years - this is what it's all about, irrespective of the final margin. Nice to be on Demonland after a match and not talking about a loss.

I hope so Jack. Time he and his velvet jacket disappeared.

I hear Graeme Gellie's out of the running too...

Plenty to like about Kent. Speed, aggression and a decent left foot. Under the right coaching and leadership he could become a terrific little player for the MFC over the long haul. One of the few good news stories in 2013.

There's surely scope to adopt a quality red jumper for so-called 'clash' games. Gold Coast have worn their all red kit against the clubs we supposedly clash with including Essendon, St.Kilda, Port, the Dogs and West Coast - clubs that we wear white against. Isn't that enough reason to ditch the white 'surrender special'? We could wear one of the red designs (with white shorts) referenced in the post below from 2011 - there's a number of good designs there. Just scroll past the white versions at the beginning. http://demonland.com/forums/index.php?/topic/21766-clash-jumper-2011/

I agree that it absolutely defied logic to wear the clash jumper against St.Kilda, but the royal blue should never, ever return to the MFC. It characterised another shocking period in our history, and highlighted another example of weak administration when we caved in to the league and abandoned our traditional navy for a colour that was 'meant' to look better on colour TV. It didn't. Throughout all the years that we wore that jumper, we didn't play in a single final. Ironically it was the year that we reverted to navy that success returned. If we need a clash jumper, we need to look at something with a red base, that looks strong. If the Dogs can do it, surely we can too?

Continues to defy logic wearing the clash jumper against St.Kilda. It is an even greater clash than if we wore our traditional jumper.

Disagree Ralph. Think Port, Essendon, West Coast, Brisbane, Carlton, Gold Coast, Fremantle, Hawthorn, Collingwood. Not many positives coming from those matches.

Neil Craig is an asset and I think with a restructure underway, PJ will find the most suitable and clearly defined role for him heading into the future. I agree that taking charge of a development program could be a great fit. We have been so badly lacking in that area, that if he were dedicated to development full time, he could make a huge difference.

Found this concept on the net - Costa's Sports Logos. Not a bad effort. Cleaner than our current logo. http://i229.photobucket.com/albums/ee104/mdjcsmith/non-balls/demons-1.jpg

He can release the hand brake on instinct and flair. Neeld turned our players into dour robots who didn't dare try and take the game on. Encouraging our players to be bold, challenge their opponent and run would be a start.

Maybe he could pay him out from the loan he had with the club! It was at a nice low interest rate...

Choco should have been seriously considered post Bailey. He had all the attributes that we needed when we decided to go down the Neeld path. I'd be happy to see him in charge. Aside from his toughness and tactical nous, I think he'd bring some spark, spirit and even some fun to the place which has been so badly lacking. I don't think he'd talk about attempted tackles or 'competitive quarters'. He certainly wouldn't be wheeling out the 'it is what it is' line!