How do you fix Melbourne?

[davesnothere]

You need to be here...Power have turned...

 

[Achilles Heel]

To The Collective Staff At The Melbourne Football Club:

Don McLardy opens his letter stating that the last two weeks have been trying for the club and it's stakeholders. I contend that the last seven years have been a staggering disappointment.
I, like you, do not believe that the results to date are a true reflection of the quality of our playing list, or the effort and improvement they have shown over a tough and demanding pre-seaThe Melbourne Football Club:

Don McLardy opens his letter stating son campaign. The question must then be asked, where is the problem?
It is clear from watching the performance and body language of the players that they do not care for this football club. The players that actually show a love for the club are few and far between, and this says to me that the club has lost the players.

As a club we need to now make the changes required to rectify the situation, lest we end up going the way of Fitzroy. I am not sure what you are referring to as external pressures, but as a member, I consider myself an internal part of the club, and I count myself among those demanding radical changes.
We have dropped two coaches now in the search for improvement and nothing has changed. We have suffered a huge array of on and off-field issues over the last seven years, including but not limited to: two tanking scandals, the loss of a number one draft pick, two record breaking defeats, failing to develop ANY elite talent despite the amount of first round draft picks the club has had.
It preplexes me and every other Melbourne supporter I have spoken to in the last few days how some on the board are still on the board. It is even more astounding how our CEO, is still in his job after everything the club has been through since his appointment.
I therefore ask the following of the president, the board and the CEO: If you truly love the Melbourne Football Club, then hand in your resignation and give control of the club to AFL administrators.
This is the only way the club can recover from it's dire position. A clean slate is what is needed at this football club, not more politics and blame games. Let the club move on, or be destined to fold like other clubs before us.

Sincerely,
A Melbourne Football Club member.

Great post, is this the letter that was referred to in today's Australian?

Do you think it will do any good?

 

[L_W_P]

Not sure if its been mentioned but wasn't Judd a big Dees fan as a junior?

If the Blues cant do the Visy deal to keep him, Melbourne should drive a dumptruck filled with whatever salary cap space they have for the next 3 years and beg him to help.

Pitch it to him not as a football role, but as a business role. He's there to sort the wheat from the chaff on gameday. Have him walk in the door and call out Sylvia and Watts. Headhunt him with the idea that he could go down in history as a man that started the revival.

At worst he says no and they stay where they are, but imagine if he said yes.....

 

[winty]

I think they desperately need some kind of leadership from their older players. Having a look at their list, and these are the players aged 27 and over currently on their list:

Shannon Byrnes, Aaron Davey, Mark Jamar, Joel McDonald, David Rodan and Colin Sylvia.

None of those names scream out leadership. Byrnes and Rodan were, at best, bit part players at their former clubs, Jamar and Davey have declined rapidly and Sylvia is the poster boy for players who haven't gone anywhere near reaching their potential.

Then you look at an up and coming side at Richmond, and who they have on their list aged 27 and over:

Troy Chaplin, Aaron Edwards, Nathan Foley, Jake King, Ivan Maric, Chris Newman, Shane Tuck and Orren Stephenson.

Chaplin seems to have fitted in seamlessly down back, Foley when he can get on the park is a gun, King is one of those players who plays his guts out week in, week out, Maric had a career best season last year, Newman is a former captain and Shane Tuck is a great support player for the likes of Cotchin and Martin.

It's like chalk and cheese.

 

[ScallyWag1]

They need Garry Lyon to stay well away from whatever decision is made next. How he gets a relatively free pass on all of this scrutiny is beyond me.

 

[slashin_velvet]

Not sure if its been mentioned but wasn't Judd a big Dees fan as a junior?

If the Blues cant do the Visy deal to keep him, Melbourne should drive a dumptruck filled with whatever salary cap space they have for the next 3 years and beg him to help.

Pitch it to him not as a football role, but as a business role. He's there to sort the wheat from the chaff on gameday. Have him walk in the door and call out Sylvia and Watts. Headhunt him with the idea that he could go down in history as a man that started the revival.

At worst he says no and they stay where they are, but imagine if he said yes.....

As a Carlton supporter...and with Buddy as a free agent...I like this idea. (We could use the cap space)

 

[Schulzenfest]

On-field - I would keep trading for experience, personally.

If they go down this path, the key is to trade for good experience. No more fringe players like Byrnes and Rodan. Don't just assume that because somebody is old, they're also mature and a leader. From watching Port for the last 6 years, I can tell you that David Rodan's playing style is the absolute antithesis of what you want your younger players to be learning from.

 

[Jade]

How do you fix Melbourne?

Old Yeller style.

Seriously though, the entire admin at that club needs to go.

 

[Gasometer]

This is the answer.

Will happen in second half of the year.

 

[Shatterpoint]

To be honest Melbourne have some pretty awesome young talent in their squad, but the problem seems to be at the top the running of the club etc. There does not seem to be any direction there, they can easily build a powerful team on the field with the young kids they have, but I don't think they have put much into the development of these young guns.

If I was Melbourne I would start by trading Watts and get a very good 24 - 26 year old gun from another club, I think both Melbourne and Watts could do with a change of scenery. Then they need to get rid of the dead wood, and try and get some tough, mentally willing players into that team to support the young kids and protect them.

Viney is a gun and if they can build around kids like Viney, Trengrove etc I can see them becoming a very good team again, seeing that photo of 5 Essendon players alone in the goal square and only 2 Melbourne players anywhere near them shows where Melbourne is at. I just think Melbourne are emotionally and mentally shot at the moment. As soon as they fall 3 goals behind it seems like they give up, they don't have belief in themselves and that comes from the leadership on the field and off it.

One more thing I am hating this stick the boot in to them going on, I have always hated it when people put the boot into teams when they are at their lowest, it happened with my club Carlton for a very long time and I don't think that's the right thing to do. One more thing much respect to the Melbourne fans, they just have to hang in there, things will get better, it's all a matter of belief.

 

[HFF]

The thing is, if they give themselves over to AFL administrators now what is the benefit gained?

They will have not learnt how to get themselves out of their own shit and will forever rely on others to help them when things get tough.

If the fans are asking for AFL help now because of some poor onfield performance that every club in the last decade has gone through imagine what they would be asking for if they became insolvent?

Their issues are football related not off field related. Not sure how the AFL can help here.

 

[Leather Poisoning]

All this trade talk (eg get rid of watts and bring in a talented 25-26 year old) is missing the reality that nobody would want to go to Melbourne.

The place is a grave yard and they have to create a sense of hope and purpose with their current list before they can start attracting people to the club.

Problems that take a long time to create usually take a long time to fix. The wheels fell off after a respectable 2006. Six full seasons have passed and they've been in the bottom four ever since. They've got great ingredients in terms of talent. What they need is to surround these kids with the right people and systems to get them reaching potential as individuals and a team.

This takes time, and I think the off field trail of disaster that Schwab has left at previous clubs and now this one needs to finish now. Then y out can expect at least three years of off field rebuild.

Hawthorn saw some dark days, and many attribute our surge up the ladder from second last (2004) to premiers (2008) to Clarkson - but the work done by Dunstall and others to get the admin into shape, even while the previous coach was there, set Clarkson in good stead. The great thing was Clarkson was hard nosed and on a mission. Taking pay cuts to make sure he could pull together the coaching team he wanted is a sign of personal sacrifice for greater team gains. These things send more than just a ripple through a club. It's excellent leadership.

Melbourne could do with some of that.

 

[Astro Bomber]

This is a disgrace.

Thats a bit worrying from an Essendon point of view as well

 

[James Palmer]

Thats a bit worrying from an Essendon point of view as well

That is pretty scary to see.

 

[Valve Bounce]

The AFL need to takeover the club like they did to Sydney in the mid 90's,

This would work. Appoint someone like Mathews or Parkin as head coach, tell them their tanking days are over, and relate their salary to performance and achievement. I'm sure players like Watts can be traded to the VFL for better players who are willing to put in a solid effort.

 

[bombermick]

Many keep mentioning all their young talent, but they now have far less than many other clubs, both in terms of top 10 picks and proven results. Collingwood have far more young talent, despite their recent success - without mentioning clubs like Richmond and Essendon.

 

[Mofra]

If I was Melbourne I would start by trading Watts and get a very good 24 - 26 year old gun from another club, I think both Melbourne and Watts could do with a change of scenery.

Who in their right mind would trade a gun in the prime of his career for Watts?

 

[iBeng]

Who in their right mind would trade a gun in the prime of his career for Watts?

Dont even look at Brisbane, we wont fall for that again.

 

[Scotland]

So Port beat 2 bottom 4 teams and all of a sudden they've turned a corner?

Port beat two bottom 4 teams by a combined margin of 135. Last year Port won only 5 games - none by huge margins, and managed to lose to GWS. They were the first team to lose to GC and are so far the only non-expansion team to lose to GWS. They were pretty arse in 2011/12 and I'm sure they'll get a reality check soon when they play tougher sides, but you can see they've improved over the Summer.

Melbourne are the odd one out of the 2012 bottom 5.

GWS pushed Sydney in Rd 1, and Port in Rd 2.
GC knocked of St Kilda in Rd 1, and lost to Sydney in Rd 2.
Port are 2-0 and 2nd on the ladder.
The Dogs surprised everyone smashing Brisbane, but came up short against Freo.

Melbourne... were flogged at home by Port then flogged by even more by Essendon the following week. 0-2 and 33% off 17th.

 

[Valve Bounce]

Here's another idea if the AFL takes over the club. Instead of suspending players for infringements, make them play for Melbourne. And make it conditional that they must get at least 20 disposals before they can return to their own club. Now that would work.

 

[Hoffy95]

Who in their right mind would trade a gun in the prime of his career for Watts?

I though there were some good signs from Watts in the second half against Essendon. Didn't do a lot wrong...

 

[LeverPuller]

On salary stuff, I agree. I can't believe the AFL agreed to a minimum of 95% of the cap being paid every year. At most, Melbourne players are getting 5% less than Hawthorn, Geelong or Collingwood. It's a total joke.

 

[LordLucifer]

The solution to all of this is quite simple and it is completely inappropriate for the AFL to bail them out too.

1. Spill of the board, get a very large list of suitable people to stand for a board role and supply all of the reasons they would do the job well (ie. submit a resume) then let the Melbourne members vote in a new board to oversee the place. There can't be any lobbying or underhanded politics either, the club is not in a position for egos to clog it up even further. Those people who stand must be doing so purely because they want to see the club survive, not for their own personal gain. Every person on the new board is handed a portfolio of responsibility (commensurate with their corporate experience) and they have to get that part of the club operating well in its own right. If they don't, they get the boot and someone else takes over. Accepting mediocrity and having a 'close enough is good enough' mentality just doesn't cut it these days.

2. Realistically assess the administrators of the club (ie. Schwab etc) and clean out the deadwood, bring in some fresh blood to go with the new look board. These admins don't need to have previous football experience, they just need to be good business people who make smart commercially orientated decisions and are then held accountable for them too.

3. Set specific but realistic targets (both short-term & long-term) and bust your boiler to achieve them, if any of these KPI's are not met then turn the place upside down and find out why. Upon finding the reason, either sack the person responsible or adjust the methodology needed to achieve it.

4. With a new marketing team, come up with a 2-3 year plan that keeps the Melbourne members & supporters engaged & loyal because it is going to take some years to turn this thing around.

5. Realistically assess the playing list and trade away anyone who doesn't want to be there or doesn't want to follow Neeld's instructions implicitly. This has to be a heavy-handed cleanout, there are no shortcuts in this area. For any good organisation to prosper, you need structure & discipline so you need all of the playing list to be totally dedicated to training till they puke and playing so hard and fiercely that they are completely exhausted when the final siren sounds.

6. Use the annual allotment of draft picks wisely by drawing up specific criteria that they must have and do not deviate from that (ie. competitive, good disposal etc). By getting the best possible young guys running around, they can build a decent list of genuine talent. It can be done but you need to know the key qualities you are looking for first.

7. Get Matt Rendell to join the club and be their recruiting guru, he has a lot ot offer in that area and would be very keen to erase that dirty slur labelled against him the other year.

 

[Scotland]

Didn't they just re-establish the MCC link?

 

[Scotland]

On salary stuff, I agree. I can't believe the AFL agreed to a minimum of 95% of the cap being paid every year. At most, Melbourne players are getting 5% less than Hawthorn, Geelong or Collingwood. It's a total joke.

The whole reason the minimum cap is there is to try and prevent teams being that bad that they are 0-2 and 28%.

If Melbourne do get to the point that they are as shit as they are now then they should have millions spare in cap space to go and sign Lance Franklin and Gary Ablett and become less shit - that's the theory anyway. In reality it just leads to guys like Mitch Clark and Chris Dawes getting paid a lot more than they are worth because the guys who are actually worth that sort of money to good sides don't want to leave.

I'm not really sure what the solution is. Do you drop the minimum cap to 70 or 80%? Do you allow front/back loaded TPP?