At what point?

[DudleyDocker]

OK, this year started just like every year - full of hope and promise that this would be the year we start to turn it around. Eight games in and I have to say I think we are further from a premiership now than we were two years ago. We have a new coach, a new game plan but unfortunately we have no new attitude. We are still the noodles - apply heat for two minutes and we go soft. At what point are we going to acknowledge that we can't have a team full of soft, poorly skilled downhill skiers? When was the last time Ballas played a good game on the road? Or anywhere for that matter? Don't get me started on Ibbotson, Duffield, Broughton, Roberton, Van Berlo or Crowley. Surely we have to accept that they are not AFL level players, and probably never will be. Maybe Crozier, Pitt, Sutcliffe, Forster, Walters or some of the other young guys will become great players - we will never know while they continue to play the same old plodders week in week out. Sure, we can strangle the weak teams with crap, boring defence but we will never keep a good attacking team under 8 goals a game and that seems to be about the extent of our scoring prowess. Please Ross, don't subject us to another year of pain and suffering!

 

[Moo]

Memories without a return key?

 

[Chris25]

I didn't see the game today, so when I came on here I assumed we won. There weren't dozens of threads started within 5 minutes of the final siren about how the sky is falling, no one player had their own hate thread started. That can only be a good thing, right?

This is more like it.

 

[IAMJUNGLEMUFFIN]

Haha, I logged on to Bigfooty just to watch the muppets have their meltdowns.

Thread has potential.

P.S. Loved the call on Broughton. One of the best I've seen in a while.

 

[DudleyDocker]

Well, at least I feel better.

 

[E Shed]

Haha, I logged on to Bigfooty just to watch the muppets have their meltdowns.

Thread has potential.

P.S. Loved the call on Broughton. One of the best I've seen in a while.

But it comes & goes doesn't it? The best I'd hoped for today was not to embarrass ourselves & that was dashed in 1.5 Q.
Some days you don't care that much & some days you need to vent depending on the relative importance of footy in your life at that time.
I confess the scales have fallen from my eyes somewhat this year. I got quite excited when we got Lyon & the first 10 minutes of the season were wonderful. Alas it's all downhill since.
We have a middle of the road list & it seems not even Lyon is able to put any spine into the marshmallow mob that seem to get on any plane out of Perth.
We are getting worse as the season goes on, will no doubt get utterly flogged by The Eagles, Crows, Bombers & any of the other genuine contenders.
If someone wants to have a vent about it good for them.

 

[holy diver]

 

[DudleyDocker]

If someone wants to have a vent about it good for them.

Thanks for the hug E Shed, I needed it :\

 

[free at last]

At what point does Lyon scrap this current game plan and try something different?

 

[Nickos66]

Don't scrap the gameplan, fix the errant taps issues at stoppages, for the love of all things pure..

 

[Latro]

At what point does Lyon scrap this current game plan and try something different?

Never.

 

[basashi]

To be honest, when I looked at our fixture at the start of the year, I marked this game as our most certain loss.

I also thought we would lose 4 of the first 5.

What will define our season is this:

• 2 derbies
• Richmond in Melbourne
• Melbourne in Melbourne
• North in Melbourne

Other than that it is a bit of a given that we will win the easy ones at home and lose the hard ones away.

If things go well, we will get booted out in the first week of the finals. If things go very well? Second week. I don't believe we have the team to go further. I hope I am wrong but that is what it seems.

In the bigger picture, I do agree that Pav, Sandi and McPharlin will be gone before Freo plays in a GF. The planets are not aligning.

 

[raffrox]

At what point does Lyon scrap this current game plan and try something different?

I'd suggest it would be less than soft to lose faith in the plan and yourself after one bad game.

Ross doesn't strike me as being soft.

 

[Latro]

Lyon only has the one game plan he will never change.

 

[Moo]

Lyon only has the one game plan he will never change.

What hopefully changes is our personnel and ability to execute it.

 

[BananaOnTheRun]

We need to play four quarter footy with players who have learned the game plan with a complete list including forwards. That won't happen until next year, so I give him until this time 2014.

 

[free at last]

Lyon only has the one game plan he will never change.

Well IMO we're ****ed then.Don't ask me what Lyon should do then cause I've got know ****ing idea.There is one thing, at this years draft,draft a couple of key forwards and some hard nose inside mids.This might help our plight.

 

[scon]

Also Harvey and Bond didn't recruit for a Lyon gameplan.
The Lyon-Freo brand is currently hard to take and can't yet be described as a good defensive style because it was so simple to score against and produced so many average player performances.

 

[Stronzo]

We need to play four quarter footy with players who have learned the game plan with a complete list including forwards. That won't happen until next year, so I give him until this time 2014.

I'm with you B.

I'm sure we would've all had a more sedate view of how the season would unfold at the start of the year, but with a few wins (albeit non-convincing wins) expectations have risen, and when the team fails to meet those expectations we get pissed off.

Still early days with the coach working out who goes where and what is needed to make the team perform consistently and grasp what they each must do.

Anyway, I'm over it. The Hawks are a good side, we're an average side.

Next week we play an injured decent side, so I hope we can kick the shit out of them and pass this crappy feeling of losing onto them. We're overdue for a derby win.

 

[Lach72]

I'm wondering what the carnage would've been today with a more conventional set up.
We got so badly spanked in the middle, if we played with no loose man and played an attacking style, would we have been better off?

Mundy and Barlow have both lost pace due to injury. We're not getting first hands to the ball, Hill had a down day after a good start to the season.

Maybe we counteract it by bringing better ball users in, with pace and/or elite skills to assist around the wings/flanks, and a guy like Lower to provide midfield grunt.
If we go with Mayne and Ballantyne up front, I'd be prepared to move De Boer out for Crozier.
Sonny in. Can play high half forward.
Sutcliffe or Sheridan on to a wing.

 

[TheTaco]

I think what's annoying more than anything else is in the first round against Geelong we looked really structured around clearances: we were in position to make a contest and often get first hands to the ball and generally our first hand ball out was clean.

We looked organised around stoppages despite not having our first choice team out there.

While the players effort should certainly take a wrap from this game (we looked so flat in the first half I thought we may fall asleep on the field), it's the complete lack of structure since round 1 in our clearance work that has really given me the sh#ts. With Sandilands' dominance we should at least be breaking even there despite lacking a quality in and under mid and taking into account Barlow and Mundy's lack of conditioning.

We look flat-footed and thoroughly confused.

 

[Ysaye]

Well IMO we're ****ed then.Don't ask me what Lyon should do then cause I've got know ****ing idea.There is one thing, at this years draft,draft a couple of key forwards and some hard nose inside mids.This might help our plight.

Gee there is a lot of negativity -at least they have a plan and they seem to stick to it.

Whilst I don't think the players are that good at pulling off (skillwise) the game plan enough to be dangerous against the heavily talented sides like Hawthorn, Collingwood etc. I reckon that is exactly this approach and style that will mean that we will be able to hold up against the "mediocre" sides like Richmond in Melbourne. And it is these kinds of wins that will get us just into the eight this year, and maybe further in future years.

 

[Kickett Punches Read]

At what point does Lyon scrap this current game plan and try something different?

See this is not the problem. You can't get blood from wood, you can't rub turds into diamonds. Everyone has bagged me for the last couple of weeks, but maybe you are. Is starting to realize... The gameplan is solid And proven... Our list is rubbish. So many on here seem to completely overrate players.... Personally only hill Sheridan crozier and Fyfe... With maybe Clarke should be definite stays at the club because they have. Class and youth everyone else should be under the microscope at years end

 

[Harry Reems]

What's the point of Sandi winning 41 hit outs if they go directly to an opposition player?

This has been going on all year. David Mundy used to read his taps like a book and was once our clearance machine. But he is sadly lacking match fitness and is Micky Barlow, although he is getting better with each game.

Ballas is not the answer in the guts. I think that is where Lachie Neale,Tendai Mzungu, Stephen Hill and Greg Broughton should play.

Just someone who can get their hands on the stinkin' thing and get it into the forward 50. Even if there is no one down there to mark it.

 

[free at last]

See this is not the problem. You can't get blood from wood, you can't rub turds into diamonds. Everyone has bagged me for the last couple of weeks, but maybe you are. Is starting to realize... The gameplan is solid And proven... Our list is rubbish. So many on here seem to completely overrate players.... Personally only hill Sheridan crozier and Fyfe... With maybe Clarke should be definite stays at the club because they have. Class and youth everyone else should be under the microscope at years end

Pretty much agree with who you've suggested.

Ross's game plan, that I'm not to sure about.
The game has evolved since 2009-2010.
This +1 stuff is utter crap,Jonno would be a big fan of it ,I'm sure.