Strafford

Over the next few years we can probably start picking off a few of the Gold Coast and GWS kids. They can't keep them all. Unfortunately every other club will have the same idea.

Hopefully with laughter as well mate. Some reasonable discussion was had despite the questionable material that inspired the thread and a few backhanders thrown, but honestly you just had to giggle towards the end. Sometimes you just have to laugh at yourself.

Is anyone else crying here, or is it just me?

Yep being pitied sucks.

True enough mate. It's tough avoiding pigeonholing people with buzzwords, but...Essentially though it is pretty much down to no-one is really right or wrong, so around and around we go. As you say we need a good win against a good club, just so we can really see progress and it would be a huge shot in the arm for team morale.

Time for a thread on supporter culture I do believe.

Never compromise your principles mate.

Although this is a bit of a generalised mission statement, I am pleased to see you embracing the concept of culture.

I guess we will just have to agree to disagree on the merits of getting rid of both. The problem I have is that I doubt I will ever know if Neeld is a good coach or not, just because due to circumstances beyond his control he didn't have a clear run at it. It is probably too late for him now. He might survive the year, but unless there is drastic improvement he will most likely be cut himself.

I think you are missing my point, the changing isn't the problem it is how we have gone about it. We are probably stuck with Neeld, for various reasons both financial and not to be seen as fickle, but not from any great confidence that he is the man. He may turn it around, miracles do happen.

Mate we keep on making the same mistakes, that is why we have to keep on changing. I really have no idea as to what we do now, but here is what I would have done after 186. Both coach and CEO sacked. Caretaker coach in. After due process hire CEO. New CEO starts process of hiring new coach. At end of season or where possible clear the decks of staff. In conjuction with CEO new coach hires staff. Stay with Green as Captain and minimal changes to leadership group. New coaching regime takes a fresh look at our group for a season...then cuts the hell out of the list, changes leaders appoints new captain etc.

Mate we have been flogged three games in a row. People being a tad upset is not expecting us to be in the finals right now. I actually agree with people about stability and continual turnover is not helpful, but blimey we aren't even close to a competitive team let alone finals. At some stage if it isn't working out you cut your losses.

Personally I think Dermie is in beat up mode, as we really don't have context, but some of the reactions in this thread amaze me. Some genuinely seem to believe that a 94 point loss is a real improvement. Just think about that for a moment. 94 points. What other fanbase would actually see that as real improvement? We have a host of problems. Across all areas of our club. Rightly or wrongly the cull of the playing list will continue, that process has already been put in place and is unstoppable now. Regime change is a bit more of a vexed question just due to the fact that every time you turn over a board you lose backers who will not return to the club. The Coach...In my view it isn't all his fault and some of the decisions he has made, which in hindsight would seem to be regrettable may be down to poor information given to him, but if we continued to be flogged, even by only 94 points, something has to give. Then what do you do with all the new staff? Any new coach will be saddled with staff that aren't his own, because we just couldn't afford to pay them all out. So again it wouldn't really be a fresh start as vestiges of the previous regime will still remain.The whole thing is just a bloody mess.

We did have few problems at centre due to injuries,but many of the sacks were just down to Andy not getting the ball out ontime. He's not very mobile, but I do think he can get better. AJ is just awesome. Which is why our decision not to target him in the first half of our playoff game is just baffling.

Funnily enough we actually won the North as recently as 09, were one and done..again, and then went 4-12 the next season ouch. The other time we won the North under Lewis in 05, first play in the playoffs Palmer goes down with a knee, as did one of our best receivers after completing the reception. How is that for bad luck. Palmer was never really the same after that. Should be fun against your guys. Our pass rush is good, but our pass coverage is a bit suss. What is your offensive line like? Unfortunately Andy is more Alex Smith than a gunslinger like your bloke, but we do have some good young wideouts and Gresh does have his good days so we could click, especially if our line can open a few holes for our backs whomever they might be. I just can't wait for season to be honest. Tougher schedule and all.

I agree with what Carey is saying in principle, just not in specifics. Carlton have for a number of years been pretty good at forward pressure, they also do have some reasonable defensive mids, such as Carrazzo and Robinson. They were also closer to the gameplan that won the Pies a flag a couple of seasons back, so the concepts shouldn't be unfamiliar to them. The big difference is that instead of kicking to Cloke they are kicking to Casboult, Rowe and a resting ruck. They also don't have a versatile player like Brown who was not only second ruck, but could play forward or back. When they tried to play two specialist rucks at Collingwood the system just didn't work as well. As others have pointed out the world has also moved on, just as it did after the Hawks won the flag. The exact same gameplan that Malthouse used before will not work now. It just isn't good enough at retaining possession, without a bit of tweaking. It is just too easy to negate as the opposition knows exactly where you are going for all that it provides certainty for your own players.

Thanks Macca. Sounds like your friend never sleeps. Never really been into the NHL and I lost interest in the NBA after my Australian team folded a number of years ago...I still can't even say their name ...sob. So for me it's just AFL , American football and the EPL which pretty much fills out the year. Yep AFC North is tough, but my hope is that the ageing Ravens and Steelers fall off the cliff, but I thought that about the Ravens last season lol. The Bengals still have a few holes and must improve in a few areas before we are really contenders. Which is why probably losing Smith is so annoying as it limits our options. It is also interesting to notice what sustained failure can do to fanbases. The similarities between Demon and Bengals fans is uncanny. The main Bengals forum , the day before our playoff game against the Texans, started a fairly popular thread on what is your worst memory as a Bengal...I mean come on lol

I know it's probably too much to ask, but any College football fans as well? I really love the traditions and all the buzz around the games. Even my wife enjoys the college game, but not so much the NFL lol Go you Georgia Dawgs lol. Just quietly I think my wife just likes the fact that the dawgs are red and black just like a certain AFL team she loves and because of Georgia's live mascot Uga the bulldog who she calls cute. She calls me cute as well so I'm starting to worry about what she actually means...I think I am still dashing and handsome, but perhaps she thinks of me as ugly and interesting... Yep I know oversharing lol

What's done is done. Toumpas is our guy now and we get behind him. Yes Wines is a great package including leadership and players that can win their own ball are probably a better option for clubs in our position right now, but if we can just avoid ruining him Toumpas will be great player for us in the future, once we can get the ball out to him and are able to use him in the right way

Thanks Cowboy. You are probably right on Austin, but I reckon Allen might still be there. The injury concerns and those forty times will probably drop him. Great hands though.

Whether it was preconceptions from the outside looking in or being fed views on players by those already at the club he probably took a big stick to the place a bit early. He probably just needed to be a bit more conservative in his first year. I'm not saying the list didn't need a shakeup, because it did and still does, but if he had just waited he could have had a clean break from a few blokes rather than have disgruntled guys not buying in for a season.

You will probably see the niners burn a few at various stages in the draft as they move up to take players they like Macca. A few teams are already salivating about moving back and getting picks because they have so many needs. I imagine the niners have already had a few calls from fellow GMs along the lines of don't forget about us as a trade partner lol.

Perhaps you guys take Austin if he is still there? Looks to be able to do a few of the things Percy can, but without the baggage. Although he does seem to be one of the hype players, so he could be long gone. Not a lot of wow factor with the wideouts this draft, but you guys will certainly need to take one at least in the 1st round.

Nice to see some fellow NFL fans. My wife thinks I am a masochist, as I am a Bengal as well as a Demon lol. Although my Bengals have been better of late and not so much the Bungles. Our draft will be heavily influenced by what happens with fatboy Andre Smith. The classic breakout season in a contract year. We might end up reaching for someone perhaps Fluker in the first round. If we had re-signed Smith on reasonable money, which is still possible, but less likely as time goes on, I would have thought thatwe go linebacker, safety, running back first three picks. Not sure what order. Now with us looking at Harrison as a vet FA probably substitute tackle for linebacker.