Mega Thread The Mark Neeld Mega-Thread

[pazza]

I was under the impression the meeting began at 12pm, and the press was at 2?

Nah widely reported that Neeld first and then Craig get their turns this afternoon. Could be well after 3 before anyone walks out.

 

[Forward Press]

I find it surprising that an official media outlet of the AFL is allowed (by the AFL) to take such a sensationalist angle on some stories.

Normally the AFL is so conservative and defensive with its PR - witness how hard it clamps down on players, coaches, etc. saying the wrong thing on twitter, blogs, etc. - that I've always expected the AFL to play it purely vanilla with media coverage.

It does seem incongruous to me to have an official media outlet of the AFL openly speculating about the potential imminent demise of a senior coach.

The opinion pieces have this disclaimer at the bottom:

 

[ANGEL DARK]

Are you actually this dumb or am I being trolled?

Your the one not making sense so i would think your the dum one in this conversation

 

[LouisCK]

Your the one not making sense so i would think your the dum one in this conversation

Ok well trolled my pr0n loving friend.

Anyway, interesting stat from those negative nelly's at demonland.com

Neeld has had 6 losses over 90 points. 4 of them this year

Bailey had 4 losses over 90 points in 4 years (incl 186)

 

[Sprout]

It's short sighted, cookie cutter crap like this that has got your club into trouble in the first place.

Have a look at Rendell's work, and tell me how many top 10's Adelaide has had during his time there? Picking the right first rounder isn't the answer.... spotting talent at mid to low draft is. You need solid contributors who will give you 150 honest games more than you need speculative picks on kids who havent finished developing yet. Go find some mature bodies who can do a job - there's plenty running around at state league level.

Regarding Sheedy... you need a marquee coach. Surround him with good people and let him drag the club back from the brink with his profile.

That's precisely what has been done. Jones and Terlich are ready made, mature bodied players who have already proven their worth at this stage of the season.

Drafting and recruitment wise I think we're on a much better wicket. When you look at a player like Dean Kent, the early signs are that he will be a genuine find for where he went in the draft. Toumpas is really the only youngster to show real glimpses of his talent, but he's recovering from two hip operations so we can afford him some slack. Rodan, Gillies and Pedersen still have big question marks, but long term, the nucleus is being constructed. It is the ghosts of past drafts that continue to haunt - Bail, Nicholson, McKenzie, Tapscott, Dunn etc. Blease and Strauss have talent to burn but have been plagued through injury.

I don't think anyone, least of all Neeld, expected his approach to be so devastating to competitiveness in the short term. It's all very well to profess to be working towards long term goals, but you can't be complete dross whilst waiting for players to accumulate games experience. Somehow he needed to make the Moloney and Rivers relationships work, not understating the challenges that come with Beamer. His failure to do so is just one piece of the puzzle.

Sheedy is well and truly done. If we need a spruiker then he might be considered.

 

[cymarak]

The opinion pieces have this disclaimer at the bottom:

View attachment 20014

If, for example, Joel Selwood published something on his blog written by a friend and slamming the umpires, and added a disclaimer at the bottom that 'the views in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Joel Selwood', I doubt the AFL would accept that loophole.

 

[LouisCK]

That's precisely what has been done. Jones and Terlich are ready made, mature bodied players who have already proven their worth at this stage of the season.

Drafting and recruitment wise I think we're on a much better wicket. When you look at a player like Dean Kent, the early signs are that he will be a genuine find for where he went in the draft. Toumpas is really the only youngster to show real glimpses of his talent, but he's recovering from two hip operations so we can afford him some slack. Rodan, Gillies and Pedersen still have big question marks, but long term, the nucleus is being constructed. It is the ghosts of past drafts that continue to haunt - Bail, Nicholson, McKenzie, Tapscott, Dunn etc. Blease and Strauss have talent to burn but have been plagued through injury.

I don't think anyone, least of all Neeld, expected his approach to be so devastating to competitiveness in the short term. It's all very well to profess to be working towards long term goals, but you can't be complete dross whilst waiting for players to accumulate games experience. Somehow he needed to make the Moloney and Rivers relationships work, not understating the challenges that come with Beamer. His failure to do so is just one piece of the puzzle.

Sheedy is well and truly done. If we need a spruiker then he might be considered.

Its alright mate, not worth replying to interstate fans who know about as much about the MFC as they do about their forefather's breeding habits.

 

[Forward Press]

If, for example, Joel Selwood published something on his blog written by a friend and slamming the umpires, and added a disclaimer at the bottom that 'the views in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Joel Selwood', I doubt the AFL would accept that loophole.

That's different, though. The AFL has its own guidelines for getting players and coaches to toe the party line when it comes to things like making racist remarks and bagging umpires. The media have a different standard and are not directly answerable to the AFL like players and coaches.

We both know the media love to generate stories even if there may not be one at all. Mark Neeld's job being under threat at today's board meeting is a lot more interesting, and generates more page views and sells more papers. There were loads of articles in 2010 about Woosha being sacked on afl.com.au. You deal with it and take those articles for what they are.

 

[ziad]

If, for example, Joel Selwood published something on his blog written by a friend and slamming the umpires, and added a disclaimer at the bottom that 'the views in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Joel Selwood', I doubt the AFL would accept that loophole.

Joel can stand up for himself. Melbourne are a charity case and are heavily protected by the AFL.

My guess, no change to the coaching staff but a restructuring. Probably a large hand out from the AFL as well.

 

[ANGEL DARK]

Ok well trolled my pr0n loving friend.

Anyway, interesting stat from those negative nelly's at demonland.com

Neeld has had 6 losses over 90 points. 4 of them this year

Bailey had 4 losses over 90 points in 4 years (incl 186)

Whats that stat got to do with anything we are talking about? Mate seriously your deluded. I wont waste my time with you anymore

 

[Spanish_Fly]

So who replaces him? You can't just have another caretaker coach? IMO go after Mark Williams, David King or go for current Port Melbourne coach Gary Ayres?

I would stay away from King, there are hundreds of blokes with good football brains out there but senior coaching is 80% man/group management which most people get better at over time (some are naturals) For this reason I would go an experienced coach. I quite like Gary Ayres as an option, the question there is if he is up to speed with all the advances in training technologies and methodologies, but surely a well credentialed assistant with the right skill set could be brought in to compliment him in this area. I wouldn't be averse to Brett Ratten either, performed generally pretty well and is from a winning background. The other option for me would be Matty Knights, although that is a bit riskier. Came in at a very difficult time at Essendon and turned the list around and Hird is now riding off a lot of Matty's good work. Has since gone to a great club at Geelong and would have learnt a lot there. He is a strong willed guy but I believe would get the mix better between hard nosed and softer approach.

 

[LouisCK]

Whats that stat got to do with anything we are talking about? Mate seriously your deluded. I wont waste my time with you anymore

"We" are not talking about anything. You are trolling.

 

[Zach Package]

think it's fairly obvious to all concerned that all off field stuff aside, bailey is a better coach than neeld

 

[TubbsFarquhar]

think it's fairly obvious to all concerned that all off field stuff aside, bailey is a better coach than neeld

They never should've sacked Bailey after that infamous loss. Sure it was the second biggest defeat ever but at least the Demons were competitive for a fair amount of 2010-11 under Bailey and they just simply overreacted. They recorded 96 and 80 point wins against us, Freo and the Swans in that period and Melbourne have shown nothing under Neeld. One must wonder where they would be if Bailey was still there.

 

[Balance]

Were there players from 2011 that they never should have gotten rid of? Other than Tom Scully?

 

[00Stinger]

They never should've sacked Bailey after that infamous loss. Sure it was the second biggest defeat ever but at least the Demons were competitive for a fair amount of 2010-11 under Bailey and they just simply overreacted. They recorded 96 and 80 point wins against us, Freo and the Swans in that period and Melbourne have shown nothing under Neeld. One must wonder where they would be if Bailey was still there.

Spot on, knee jerk reaction, should have had one more year to show progress

 

[Geddy Lee]

They never should've sacked Bailey after that infamous loss. Sure it was the second biggest defeat ever but at least the Demons were competitive for a fair amount of 2010-11 under Bailey and they just simply overreacted. They recorded 96 and 80 point wins against us, Freo and the Swans in that period and Melbourne have shown nothing under Neeld. One must wonder where they would be if Bailey was still there.

We were not competitive. We were either on or off. We could only beat interstate teams at the G. These performances flattered Bailey.

 

[Crawb]

We were not competitive. We were either on or off. We could only beat interstate teams at the G. These performances flattered Bailey.

Still gone massively backwards!

 

[LouisCK]

Were there players from 2011 that they never should have gotten rid of? Other than Tom Scully?

This is just wrong.

Firstly, we didn't get rid of Tom Scully. Secondly, Scully leaving was a massive positive for us.

 

[Forward Press]

We were not competitive. We were either on or off. We could only beat interstate teams at the G. These performances flattered Bailey.

But now you're getting thumped by interstate teams at the G.

Bailey had yo-yo performances but I'm sure you'd prefer that as a base to improve upon rather than Neeld's current situation of a Melbourne side that has only beaten one non-expansion side in nearly one and a half years - and now, worryingly, looks to have been overtaken by one of those expansion sides.

 

[pickettline]

Even if the Demons were able to carry out the coach's instructions what would the game plan look like?Certainly not a Pagan's paddock,not a Clarko's cluster nor a defensive game ala John Longmire or Ross Lyon style.I struggle to detect a game style each time I watch,it just seems to be a "get ball and get rid of it as quick as possible" style.Not sure what the club can do but maybe a firm direction to aim for is the answer.Another rebuild is going to take a number of years,can the club afford to wait?

 

[TubbsFarquhar]

We were not competitive. We were either on or off. We could only beat interstate teams at the G. These performances flattered Bailey.

You were still a young, developing side so inconsistency was expected but I thought you were heading in the right direction. Bailey should've been given one more year.

 

[Geddy Lee]

Still gone massively backwards!

I'm sorry, where did I say we had not gone backwards?

 

[cymarak]

That's different, though. The AFL has its own guidelines for getting players and coaches to toe the party line when it comes to things like making racist remarks and bagging umpires. The media have a different standard and are not directly answerable to the AFL like players and coaches.

What I was getting at is that the AFL would consider Joel responsible for the content he published, even if he didn't write it himself - he deemed it worthy of publishing, so it has his public endorsement to a certain degree.

Following this logic, if the AFL publishes an article on its own website, it can be presumed to publicly endorse (or at the very least condone) the article. The AFL owns its website and so it chooses - indirectly at least - what gets published. Even if it doesn't 100% agree with the views in the article, it obviously believes the article has merit for publication.

IMO, the disclaimers are only there on the AFL articles to enable the AFL to get the website hits from controversial / speculative / gossip articles without having to officially appear to endorse / condone the views in those articles.

 

[LouisCK]

Still gone massively backwards!

Our drafting looks a lot better, I'll give Neeld that. He's had one real year of recruiting and we ended up with:

Hogan, Toumpas, Viney, Kent, M.Jones, Terlich, Barry

They all look pretty good so far, except Barry who we haven't seen much of. We also got Dawes, Pederson, Rodan, Byrnes, Gillies and I'd say only Dawes has really shown anything (but then surely we weren't expecting the others to be world beaters anyway, and we gave up basically nothing for them).