diesel

Don McLardy, stay the course, back the coach and his FD. If you don't you'll be another a failed MFC President and shown the door.

You set up your post to blame the adminstration and said responsibility starts and ends at the top? The root cause of the problem at Melbourne is the playing group. They either cannot or will not impliment a game plan. they have shown they can do it for parts of games so why should they get let off for not being able to do it for 4 quarters or week in week out? It goes without saying that everyone is accountable but my view is that the admin and coaching stuff ups are behind us so we have to stop looking for problems elsewhere of which there is no evidence. The evidence of our problems is the three hours every week when the players are on the ground. The buck stops there.

What a stupid idea. Seriously. My biggest concern at the moment is players aren't turning up and you want us to go mute? We should be going to the game and expecting to see improvement week in week out. Not turning up is totally soft and indicative of a poor culture.

Precisely, you prove the point why they're not up to it. Defending a coach whoose plan for success was to mine the draft of lightly framed athletes with a game plan that relied on the oppostion not turning up. Players who have reacted to their new coach by being lazy and unccountable and one who has publiclyhad his manager announce he'll be looking elsewhere.

Yeh...lets grab some pitch forks and burn a witch as well. Have you been watching what's happening on field? If we let the tail wag the dog we are a failed organisation.

Get real FFS. The one constant in your scenario is failing players. The 22 who go out and can change the direction of a club by their on field actions (as well as the extras who are sititng in the stands grinning and waving to their friends). You're shooting the messenger. The fact you endorse the sulkiness of the players is cringe worthy to put it mildly.

This simply sums up what is wrong with the bloke. I couldn't care less that he's sorry....because I already know he doesn't mean it.

I was sceptical about the whole free agent thing initially but I think this has merit to even out the comeptition. I doubt players will be as likely to cop the cuts they have been to stay at a succesful team, especially those who have had a flag. There is also no penalty to be born by the club making the offer such as giving up a first round pick which was always a big call for recruiters. One actually has to wonder why the hell this wasn't around when GC and GWS came into being. We might not have had the scenario of GWS preying on draftees?

Yeh, good point . Moloney has already put his hand up to go the other way hasn't he! Sylvia is trade bait.

Surely Melbourne going after Cloke is a ruse or a smoke screen? We have our power forward and plethora of marking forward options albeit that some have flaws or are out of form or injured ATM. Get me a gilt edged running midfielder if were going down the FA road but I'm not sure we will or should. Given these guys are older players they're not going to be jumping into a window with us and that's very demotivating, just what we don't need!

I heard Mooney talking about this guy just before. He said they were no where near it until this guy brought them up to scratch with their fitness. I think if we pele it back the fact we have recruited light framed players and faield to develop them physically is a big part of why we are going so bad right now. Bring back the run yes but need to be able to play contested footy and get the ball first.

We won't get Dylan Grimes and the fact he was a supporter is irrelevant, it's been proved time and time again. Put it down to a missed opportunity and terrible recruiting vision. Hard to believe it would happen with his brother under our noses but this is history now. The rest of your post I have trouble disagreeing with. Moloney has clearly spat the dummy big time at his removal from the leadership group and his shopping himself around last week was the final straw. His mate Colin is a poster boy for the lack of development and laziness that had permeated the club. It would be to the benefit of both to go to clubs with a strong and established leadership environment where they will be forced to fall into line then ours can start fresh under the new Captains.

Understand your point. I'm actually not even sure it's possible to use an even assessment criterea when we look at Bails tenure. Neeld would appear to have all the tools and assistants neccesary to run a successful Football Department, Bails didn't. He didn't even appear to have the ability to request or get it but them's the breaks! He came to the MFC at a time when we were really scrapping the bottom on-field and off.

Can someone remind again why we needed a team in Western Sydney (of which Canbera is apparently a suburb)? I can remember I don't care but I've forgotten why it ever was?

Who has said we aren't going to take games on once the players have mastered the structures they are being taught? I agree with RR, no good being wistful about wins against interstate clubs in April. I want a systems/structures that stand up in September. Once these blokes have got the defensive mindset and fitness they need I'll look forwad to seeing them play attacking football. Attacking football that doesn't result in a goal everytime they turn it over.

I don't think it will happen. I think the approach now is to keep players under the gaze and control of conditioning staff. All things have their use-by date.

Oh please! Someone who is illitetrate maybe? Even PC'ers won't fall for that inference.

There is some good insight into where we are at in this thread. Compulsory reading for all Demons supporters IMO. A legitimate OP as well by RR. Looking back we must agree that in the last 20 years our modest success has been attributable in the main to some very good indvidual performances. Northey was the last coach to get an MFC team to gel and this IMO was because he was uncopmrimising in his approach.....he pointed the finger at Stynes and look what that turned Jim into!

Good post, despite what some are saying. Very easy to look at the scoreboard or listen to a Walls or McClure make s*** up and then get angry and call for heads. There is not one MFC supporter or player who knows what a successful AFL club looks or feels like in this era so pay attention people. Still probably a few half-arsed senior players on the list to be cut loose and some who aren't up to it but I have no doubt that Neeld is the bloke for the job. Yes we are success starved but I am surprised how how many of our supporters are on Neelds back already given what was clearly a basket case and s***storm that came to a head in the secomd half of last year.

I'm always concerned that we don't find fault with everything when things aren't going our way so just keep in mind that players are debriefed on the game during the week by the coaches who are otherwsie pre-occupied on game day so it's not as though they aren't learning anything. In regard to post match nicities I agree, I'm sick of this as well. As part of the orginisation all players on and off filed should be emabarrased by what we are being forced to endure and should be working their hardest to turn it around or they're not fair dinkum and not welcome at the MFC.

Spot on. Do we need a thread for every AFL theorist? There are +500 journos reporting on AFL so pehaps we can have a separate board similar to the locker Room with each commentators rationale for why we're crap?

I could not honestly answer this question (ins) until after the Casey game tommorow but Sylvia and Bail would be certainties to exit and Petterd based on his embarrasing effort tonight should not have got a game.

Robert Walls methodolgy in assessing Dean Bailey's record is garbage. The bailey 'wins' were some of the most odd victories I have ever seen. What I saw were players who only got the job done when they felt like it e.g. Gold Coast twice last year, the Freo comeback early on. Of course amongst these wins were a huge number of totally unaceptable performances.

Hadn't thought about that one. That would work brilliantly....yes?

If you knew who that was you would be working in a clubs recruiting department. How many clubs have got picks wrong....in hindsight? Either way it's a risk. Take him and someone turns out better.....OOOPS! Pass on him and he turns out better.....OOOPS! Ditto!