How do you fix Melbourne?

[Rushed_Behind]

Firstly i believe we start with public transport infrastructure, that should solve some of the traffic problems and also a tunnel from the eastern to the tullamarine freeway would not go astray.

Also a decentralisation policy should be undertaken where large companies set up their headquarters in regional centres like Geelong and Ballarat and a fast train should be built to make travelling to and from these places easier.

The football club I got no idea as smarter men before me have tried and failed.

 

[flamingEMBERS]

Who were they? McDonald's departure was handled wrong but was still the right call - other than that who were these club champions we should have kept on? White? Yze? Bruce? Robertson? Please these guys were all examples of what was wrong with the club that we needed to change (culture) rather than examples to look up to.

McDonald was the big one. Horrible decision.

 

[the harry]

The last draft period was a win. Getting some experienced players that will set the professional standard should ensure that the crop of young kids that are coming through will have exposure to what is actually required. Following a little bit from GWS really, but most would surely agree it's the right move.

You can't just get 40 kids and say go train and win on Saturday.

 

[LordLucifer]

There are a number of areas that the Dees need to get right collectively because they will never achieve success by getting only on or two of the on the positive ledger.

1. Administration
Always seen to be the 'nice guys' without ever having a strong leader (even Jim Stynes was a very calm & polite man) who throws some weight around and makes some noise about the club. Supporting him has to be a handful of ruthless business leader (ie. captains of industry) who are hellbent on taking the club to a much higher level (and not just a little bit, a major quantum leap) by being hard-arse and not copping any shit. If it's a dirty job that needs to be done, then they will roll the sleeves up and do it instead of pussy-footing around it.

Schwab, Connelly et al just have to go, they may have been loyal servants of the club but FFS, we all know that doing the same thing year after year and expecting a different result is the domain of cellar dwellers.

Whoever is in the marketing role needs to be dispensed with immediately too. The club is known as the 'Demons' yet their logo looks like a happy cartoon character that rival Casper The Friendly Ghost. Toughen the thing up and make it something to be feared, sets a real minimum standard from those within to live up to.

Gary Lyon and all of the other ex-players in the media need to be banned from the club for the next 5-years, they are not helping the cause.

Get the "back of house" right and the "front of house" will look after itself.

2. Coaches
Mark Neeld is the right man for the job and the club needs to give him the time & resources to complete the mission. He won't suffer fools gladly and the players should follow his instructions impeccably regardless of how weird they sound, this instils discipline which is a key element for achieving success.

If other highly credentialled assistant coaches come on the market, get them regardless of the cost, keep improving the personnel in the box, it will pay dividends.

3. Players
Get rid of anyone who doesn't want to put their body on the line, they have to get rid of the "bruise-free" tag that is plaguing them right now.

Any player brought to the club on a big contract (Dawes & Clark) need to be told to produce to the level commensurate of their pay otherwise they will be sent packing. Lazy fat-cats on big $$$ don't do anything to inspire those below them which leads to an overall malaise across the playing group.

Bring in some mongrel, some players who aren't afraid to throw their weight around, far too many of the Dees players over thepast 10-15 years have been 'nice' players with good kicking skills and the like but none of them wanted to go in and actually get the cod !!

4. Supporters
Stop going to the snow, stop driving Range Rovers, stop wearing jackets with leather patches on the elbows and stop with the little golf claps. The people who support the club are fickle and far too accepting on mediocre performances. Close enough is just not good enough and the sooner the Dees fans get angry and show it to the players and the coaches, the sooner they will become a genuine force in the AFL.

Overall, the MFC are on the right track but it will take another 10-years to get anywhere doing what they are doing, they need to adopt a complete slash & burn mentality right across the club because their problems are deep rooted into their psyche and will never be fully eradicated without some harsh treatment.

 

[manboob]

Look no further than Geelong. Start at the top and work your way down. It's a long term proposition too - it took bomber 7 years...

 

[Ruse]

Melbourne has suffered on the field from the decisions made off the field by the administration. how Connolly and Schwab still have jobs but Melbourne has sacked multiple coaches amazes me still. Whilst the Jim Stynes era did eliminate debt, everything else that occurred during his time was a complete failure.

If you have a look at successful clubs in the modern era you will notice one thing in common, strong administrations. Geelong, Collingwood, Sydney, Hawthorn, West Coast all have top quality administrations who have consistently made decision whilst sometimes unpopular with fans have helped provide stability tot he club. Just think what would've happened at Geelong had they sacked Thompson in round 5 2007 as fans called for? West Coast fans wanted Worsfold's head only a couple of years ago, but look what happened.
The best example of what a good administration means is Brisbane, during their reign they had stability and leadership, come 2005 the administration changed and look what followed.

Melbourne will never be a contender until it does a clean out of the boardroom. Its not the coach who sets the culture at the club it is the administration and Melbourne's is as bad as any in the competition.

Desk-nerds are the most valuable people in sports.

 

[Slax]

Desk-nerds are the most valuable people in sports.

Then we all should be getting paid truck loads by the clubs

 

[ManOfClay]

Makes complete sense to me why securing guys from successful clubs like Geelong and the Pies was so important to them.

Yep, because getting Brodie Moles, Tim Callan and Nathan Djerrkura from Geelong really helped us. Being from a good club does not mean they'll have a good impact.

Merge with the Dogs. Seriously. Between the 2 clubs there could be a really strong team here that would compete for a flag within 2 or 3 years.

Idiotic.

 

[Footy Smarts]

Yep, because getting Brodie Moles, Tim Callan and Nathan Djerrkura from Geelong really helped us. Being from a good club does not mean they'll have a good impact.

It's a bit different getting premiership players compared to cast-offs who barely got a game.

 

[ManOfClay]

It's a bit different getting premiership players compared to cast-offs who barely got a game.

Alright, Akermanis and Brent Montgomery then. Just because a player has a flag to their name doesn't instantly mean they'll be a massive godsend.

Byrnes got 14 disposals and a goal in a 119 point grand final win (was only marginally more sighted in 2009). What's he going to teach Melbourne? how to sit back and let your teammates do the work while the glory is shared? He's barely got a game over the last few years.

Dawes was lacklustre at best with a gun forward taking all the attention. I think his negatives (lack of marking ability and general slowness) will outweigh his positives (may provide a target until the fifth drop mark for the quarter, after which the midfield decides to kick elsewhere).

 

[gbatman]

Melbourne cut their own throats when they got rid of all their older players a few years back and went overboard with a youth policy. Some of their players are maturing and they have brought in a few established players from other clubs who should serve a good purpose. They need to draft well and keep a good group of older expierenced core players for their young players to play around and they will eventually get there. They finally appear to be doing the right things now. Oh, and they also need to stop wasting draft picks, particularly early ones and they need to stop losing players to other clubs even if they don't overly rate these players, that will help a lot.

 

[Demonic Ascent]

Melbourne cut their own throats when they got rid of all their older players a few years back and went overboard with a youth policy. Some of their players are maturing and they have brought in a few established players from other clubs who should serve a good purpose. They need to draft well and keep a good group of older expierenced core players for their young players to play around and they will eventually get there. They finally appear to be doing the right things now. Oh, and they also need to stop wasting draft picks, particularly early ones and they need to stop losing players to other clubs even if they don't overly rate these players, that will help a lot.

Which older players? Even if we didn't cut White, Yze, McDonald, Robertson etc at the time they wouldn't be around now anyway and would've probably only lasted an extra year than they did.

Our problem is our drafting, our drafting between 2000-2005 was horrific (with the exception of Scott Thompson who left for Adelaide)even worse than our drafting between 2006-2011 leading to the dearth of experienced players we have today. Have a look at who we got out of the 2001 "superdraft" and that will help explain why our senior core is as it is today.

 

[LBJ6]

Byrnes got 14 disposals and a goal in a 119 point grand final win (was only marginally more sighted in 2009). What's he going to teach Melbourne? how to sit back and let your teammates do the work while the glory is shared? He's barely got a game over the last few years.

Wut???

Many Geelong supporters credit his last quarter in the 2009 grand final as one of the main reasons they were able to win.

Do some research before you embarrass yourself son.

 

[ManOfClay]

Wut???

Many Geelong supporters credit his last quarter in the 2009 grand final as one of the main reasons they were able to win.

Do some research before you embarrass yourself son.

Define "many Geelong supporters". That sounds awfully subjective.

 

[LBJ6]

Define "many Geelong supporters". That sounds awfully subjective.

Every Geelong supporter i've spoken to about Byrnes. They've brought it up as easily their best Byrnes related memory.

 

[thejester]

Define "many Geelong supporters". That sounds awfully subjective.

Or you could watch the last quarter. Torched Raph Clarke on the outer flank multiple times.

 

[ManOfClay]

Right. Ok then. Many Geelong supporters I've spoken to about Byrnes have said he's all icing and no cake. That he'd never go well in a side that didn't have better players around him.

 

[ManOfClay]

Or you could watch the last quarter. Torched Raph Clarke on the outer flank multiple times.

Oh, he was playing on Raph Clarke? Almost every player who has played on Clarke has torched him.

 

[LBJ6]

Oh, he was playing on Raph Clarke? Almost every player who has played on Clarke has torched him.

Nice back pedal. You said Byrnes would teach Melbourne "how to sit back and let your teammates do the work while the glory is shared", but most Geelong supporters think they wouldn't have won the 2009 GF without his impact in the last quarter. Back in your box.

 

[NUFC Tiger]

I think the big clean out they needed is well underway and they probably will cull a few more by the end of the season.

While Dimma hasn't got us to finals yet, I would say he has largely helped fix the list to a much healthier state. With that in mind, I think Neeld needs to come up with a game plan that he thinks will get the club where they want to go (I'm sure he has already started putting the foundations in), start playing the young players who can go onto become best 22 players in time or at least solid AFL depth players. I think they also have taken the right path in getting some experience (Brynes, Rodan, Dawes etc) while they may not be world beaters, they bring experience and should help the younger players around them. Other than that, a lot of patience for the developing players and smart list management is probably the key to helping the Demons rise.

 

[thejester]

Byrnes isn't a superstar but he's a cut above guys like Callan and Djerrkura. TBH I'm always wary of stuff like 'he'll set an example' because it's basically unquantifiable, but I think Byrnes is a good acquisition because he's a decent player who adds some stuff Melbourne hasn't currently got. More importantly he's a mature body in his physical prime as a player, which seems to me to be the basic rationale behind the Demons pick ups over the last two seasons. Their drafting over the previous decade has been woeful and it means they just don't have enough senior players. Byrnes, Dawes, Rodan, Clark and some of their mature age rookies lesson that impact a bit.

 

[SunshineBoy]

Peptides.....

 

[lamaros]

Pity that was three and a half years ago...

 

[Sprout]

Peptides.....

So we can end up finishing just one spot above you?

I suppose that would mean we'd finish eighth.

Okay, deal.

 

[SunshineBoy]

So we can end up finishing just one spot above you?

I suppose that would mean we'd finish eighth.

Okay, deal.

Nice comeback....