Mega Thread The Mark Neeld Mega-Thread

[Duritz]

In hindsight, was Bailey an excellent coach?

 

[Major Colvin]

Sorry but people at the club for long periods off time had been questioning the impulsive decisions to sack coaches in the past when they were really not underperforming and secondly when the back room men were having a toxic influence on the club. Danaher who is probably your best coach in the last 30 years was sacked for missing finals. Bailey was sacked on the back of his poor seasons when you were tanking and then makes the list improve drastically yet still goes. If Neeld was a dead man walking at the start of the year then what was the point? Neeld is not responsible for the fact that you have a unch of carless players on your list who are there for money and nothing else and secondly that all your best players are wanting to leave to either expansion clubs or free agency. There is much more going on at Melbourne than Neeld is responsible for.

Because you dont follow the Dees I dont think you have a real grasp behind those decisions, or this one.
1) Daniher was not our best coach in 30 years (Northey probably was) regardless he had 9 years at the helm - marked by inconsistency - concluded with an 0-9? start to a season. (Not simply missing finals as you put it). It was time for a change, which even he recognised hence his resignation.
2) Bailey was sacked on the back of two terrible seasons and two mediocre seasons at the end of which our list was still soft nowhere near being threatening (evidenced by a record defeat to Geelong). His sacking, while impulsive, was warranted on the back of those 4 seasons forgetting the Geelong flogging.
3) Neeld is not responsible for all our problems and I feel for him too. However, we have gone backwards dramatically since he took overand our current position is surely at odds with with anyone's expectations 18 months in. Last year was shit (we could let that slide) this year we are worse - and a lot to do with the players Neeld has brought in and the senior players he has discarded. So he is responsible too and can't wash his hands of our current predicament that easily. Basically, he is not the person to take us forward given these results and there is NO POINT sticking with him for reasons such as (paying out his contract, the media perception that its a rash decision) because it is costing us even more by keeping him on.

 

[GarnerSmash]

Anyone defending neeld should try watching our games.

So I gather the recruitment team, development staff and 90% of the players re getting paid out too?

 

[SHAKESPEARE]

In hindsight, was Bailey an excellent coach?

I thought Bailey had them going beautifully. Then one belting and he's gone. Biggest mistake imo

 

[Bluelegs]

So Neeld is responsible for the poor recruiting of players over the past 4 to 5 years?

No but he is responsible for the efforts and attitudes of the playing group going out on the field. He is responsible for the game plan, he is responsible for the way they train, the way they recover. He came to the club with a list that had won 16 games and two draws over the past two years. He claimed we would be 'the hardest team to play against' the following year we won four games, only one against a non-expansion side. This year he started by lowering expectations, his words were to the effect of 'our training has been elite' and 'we will run games out far better', 'we will win more games this year than we did in 2012' and he hasn't been able to live up to those. Instead we've had 8 games out of 11 in which we've lost by over ten goals. We've had a playing group take the field that has put in an effort for a half, or a quarter, or five minutes. It's the worst Melbourne side I've ever seen, and while it may not be entirely his fault, this club was never going to improve under his coaching.

 

[1990crow]

In hindsight, was Bailey an excellent coach?

Adelaide's 2013 season would suggest YES.

 

[Ron The Bear]

And so he should, what a ridiculous decision to sack him.

Neeld keeps saying Melbourne is a "young side", but Bailey won 7.5 of 17 with significantly younger teams and got sacked! Melbourne would kill for that record now. Obviously it was a complex situation at the club and Melbourne were frequently tagged as "soft" under Bailey, but things have gone drastically backwards since his departure.

|W|L|D|%|AvAge|defeated
\Last 38 games|6|32|0|63.2|23.99|GWS(3),GC(2),Es
\Bailey's last 38|15|21|2|92.1|23.53|Br(3),Ri(3),Ad(2),Es(2),PA(2),Fr,GC,Sy

 

[RuFiO]

So who actually made the call to fire the coach?

Garry Lyon

 

[fairlight_cmi]

Why did they wait until now?! They have had plenty of opportunity after those massive losses...or alternatively to ride it out 'til the end of the year.

Weird.

 

[SHAKESPEARE]

Why did they wait until now?! They have had plenty of opportunity after those massive losses...or alternatively to ride it out 'til the end of the year.

Weird.

Wanted to sort their AFL cash out before cutting the dead wood.

 

[Jade]

Whilst he didn't do himself any favours, poor bastard was seriously thrown under the bus the moment he accepted the senior gig at that broken, derelict, cancerous club.

Unfortunately, he has to go with the rest - the joint needs a serious 'un-melbourning'.

 

[Bluelegs]

So I gather the recruitment team, development staff and 90% of the players re getting paid out too?

Most of the ones from the Bailey era are no longer at the club. If there is one thing that did improve under Neeld its our recruiting department.

So Neeld is to blame for players not trying in games or putting near to no effort at all? You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink

Partly. The players of course take a lot of responsibility for their own performances, but if a coach can't get them to play for them then its a poor coach.

 

[Tulip]

Neeld is handling himself really well here. My respect.

 

[Stromageddon]

Hope GWS can lure Neeld, he's good at developing young talent when not in charge of the list or game plan.

 

[Smoky]

Why did they wait until now?! They have had plenty of opportunity after those massive losses...or alternatively to ride it out 'til the end of the year.

Weird.

They had to wait for the AFL to pay him out with the $3M handout they received on Friday

 

[mfcrox]

Thoughts of OP...

"Here is my chance to break some news and start a mega-thread for 15mins of fame. Must beat someone else to the punch. Must type as quick as possible... avoid using capital letters, avoid using the Space-bar, grammar is unimportant. Smash that Enter button" *Waiting for thread to appear on home-page* "Yes! I beat everyone"

Hahaha

 

[chibbingus]

If what is being reported is true about Melbourne getting a multi-million dollar handout, part of which is to finance the sacking of Neeld, that is an absolute disgrace. The AFL should not be responsible for the mismanagement of this club and given the tanking debacle, this should have been the final straw.

Hopefully the conditions of the bailout are that all players are given the option of continuing their contract at the Demons or going into a draft-style pool, the board is dissolved, the coaches are released from their contracts, and the club is moved to Tassie or Darwin. Fresh start required.

 

[HBF]

Wanted to sort their AFL cash out before cutting the dead wood.

Beat me to it.
Would have been an interesting conversation between Don McClardy & the AFL heavyweights on Friday. Essentially they have asked the AFL for some money so they can pay Neeld out. Amazing!

 

[Milang_Panthers]

People were saying last year 'who would want to coach port Adelaide?' I think a lot more then will want to coach Melbourne in its current state unless a lot of money is offered to someone like Roos

 

[Plugger35]

So Neeld is to blame for players not trying in games or putting near to no effort at all? You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink

The coach is responsible for attitude and effort, Neeld had clearly lost the players, actually I don't think he ever found them to begin with.

Dees have made the right call sacking him, I just wish they did it a week later after we played them.

 

[SHAKESPEARE]

Thoughts of OP...

"Here is my chance to break some news and start a mega-thread for 15mins of fame. Must beat someone else to the punch. Must type as quick as possible... avoid using capital letters, avoid using the Space-bar, grammar is unimportant. Smash that Enter button" *Waiting for thread to appear on home-page* "Yes! I beat everyone"

Hahaha

So? good on him. Althought rookie mistake starting a thread because everyone knows the most likes are gotten with a witty response just after the thread has been started.

I never start big threads...i wait

 

[Page8383]

So who the **** is replacing him!?!?!

All this boring idle chit-chat question asking rubbish. blah blah blah.

Who's in the gun now?!

 

[Bluelegs]

If what is being reported is true about Melbourne getting a multi-million dollar handout, part of which is to finance the sacking of Neeld, that is an absolute disgrace. The AFL should not be responsible for the mismanagement of this club and given the tanking debacle, this should have been the final straw.

Hopefully the conditions of the bailout are that all players are given the option of continuing their contract at the Demons or going into a draft-style pool, the board is dissolved, the coaches are released from their contracts, and the club is moved to Tassie or Darwin. Fresh start required.

That's a very odd, and round about way of saying the Dockers should get Hogan.

 

[BornPort]

He looks pretty relaxed in the press conference.

 

[jacko57]

So who the **** is replacing him!?!?!

All this boring idle chit-chat question asking rubbish. blah blah blah.

Who's in the gun now?!

Howard Sattler?