What the...

[IceTemple]

Why have we turned so pathetic? What is happening down at the club? Where are the players minds?

I am so ashamed and frustrated. We are gone this year big time. All you optimists can go away because every week you will keep saying that there is still time. Well I disagree! Our time is up for this year!!

Time to dump Mercs, Misiti and give Hird a serious rest for a week or two to get fully fit.

Give some younger guys a go in the middle to learn how to man up and tackle and get the ball and kick to the forwards and support their team-mates and...

But this will not happen. Instead Sheeds will dump the young players to bring in other young players and none of them will get confidence or experience. Better to punish those who don't do anything wrong rather than punish those who get paid more to play better.

 

[carn_the_nmfc]

I can't wait until next friday.

Pity that the bombers are on a losing streak. Injuries have hit you guys hard, just like they did at Hawthorn last year.

 

[Chiz]

Originally posted by IceTemple

Time to dump Mercs, Misiti and give Hird a serious rest for a week or two to get fully fit.

Definately. If they're not making any impact, they need to go.


Injuries have hit you guys hard, just like they did at Hawthorn last year.[/QUOTE]

Injuries have hit us hard, just as they do every year.

Surely Brisbane are due for one of those injuring ridden years, but we always get them

 

[go team]

it's plain as day, and i'm sad to admit this...
no fletcher, hird, rioli, cupido, ramanaskas, no essendon...

 

[Slax]

Essendon would have to have the slowest midfield in the league. The biggest culprit is Joe Misiti. He's past it and has to face the fact that the younger brigade are no longer tagging him but running of him because they know he can't keep up. He needs to find something quickly if he wants another season.

 

[Dan26]

Originally posted by Slax
Essendon would have to have the slowest midfield in the league. The biggest culprit is Joe Misiti. He's past it and has to face the fact that the younger brigade are no longer tagging him but running of him because they know he can't keep up. He needs to find something quickly if he wants another season.

Leg speed is not important. Remember Greg Williams? How often is at foot race, anyway? And if you do lead someone in the race to the ball, you have to bend down to pick it up, and you will get tackled. In addition, most of the time players aren't sprinting. They are briskly jogging. Robert Harvey is one of the great midfielders of all time, because he works hard, but he is a slow as treakle.

Leg speed mean jack sh*t. It's decision making and quick ball movement which makes players look quicker than they are.

 

[M29]

No Richo, No Essendon.

 

[mantis]

Our backline is farked without Fletcher, time the club started recruiting & training backmen, the ones they are using at the moment are pathetic, Jacobs & Bolton, should not play in defence.

 

[M29]

Originally posted by goaldrush
I can't wait until next friday.

Yeah, neither can I.

Are you soft c*cks going to bend over again, or are you going to make a contest this time. Bring the Vas just in case.

 

[Dan26]

I don't think there was anything particulaly wrong with the backline today. Richmond only scored 11 goals in perfect conditions. Our backline was the only good thing about us last year, and it is acceptable this year.

The problem today was everywhere else.

 

[Slax]

Originally posted by Dan26
Leg speed is not important. Remember Greg Williams? How often is at foot race, anyway? And if you do lead someone in the race to the ball, you have to bend down to pick it up, and you will get tackled. In addition, most of the time players aren't sprinting. They are briskly jogging. Robert Harvey is one of the great midfielders of all time, because he works hard, but he is a slow as treakle.

Leg speed mean jack sh*t. It's decision making and quick ball movement which makes players look quicker than they are.

Leg Speed of one player does mean F*ck all but the problem with Essendon at the moment is that NO-ONE in the side that played today in the midfield has any speed. In the current game you need to be able to run a lot more (partially because skill level is down and players can't read the play) than in previous years. Without any run in the midfield opposition teams will chip the ball in the middle of the park then go long when the leads open up.

Essendon are in trouble and will have no impact come the end of September.

 

[dave_27]

Am I the only one who is noticing that Hille being started in the ruck is the main reason why teams are getting a start on us in the first quater.

Also why wasn't Lucas played off half back and Welsh started on the ground?

Has the coaching staff lost it or something.

 

[Bomber Spirit]

Originally posted by M29
No Richo, No Essendon.

M29, you've hit the nail on the head with that post. And that's a damning indictment on both clubs.

 

[Stealth bomber]

Misiti - A man who has done a lot in his 200 games for the club, but he is clearly nowhere near the player he used to be.

Peverill - I worry that he has become one-dimensional as a player and the opposition seems to have figured out how to deal with him.

Mercuri - showing glimpses but glimpses aren't enough for a guy making the money he makes.

Reynolds - how does he keep getting a game?

Bannister - was unlucky to get dropped in previous weeks, but today looked like a boy among men.

Winderlich - probably wasn't ready yet.

What the hell do we do now? Throw Bullen and Richards and Walsh into the side and see what happens?

 

[Essendon Fan]

100% pure crap

We played ****en ****house,
was an absoulte shocker...I payed $17+ for that rubbish?
Still,I will continue to support the Bombers...but I am not going to call them the MIGHTY Bombers,because if Carlton and Richmond can beat us....we need help...dont forget the others teams who beat us

We cant reply on the other players who are out,
it's just not good enough...
Go Dons rd 8 maybe?

 

[IceTemple]

I thought our backline was alright today considering they were getting hammered. Not even Fletch can do anything about that!

The problem is the midfield. Having Rama & Rioli back will be great but neither of these guys are in & under players in the middle. This is, and has been for a while, our weakspot. Sheeds needs to attack this problem at draft time this year in a vigorous way.

Put Ces in the ruck at the start of the game and then rotate with Hille. Give Hille time and confidence to own that role.

Lloyd was accused of being soft today (at BT) but let's not have too much of a go at him as the delivery left something to be desired. You cannot be expected to both contest the mark and crumb that spillage and kick the goal when you have two-three players tackling you!

Cupido has proved his worth by missing this week! He has been a great foil for Lloyd. Now we need Harvs to stand up and Rioli to play off the packs as well.

 

[windyhill]

Originally posted by goaldrush
I can't wait until next friday.

Me either, is dwarf throwing still legal ?

 

[mantis]

Originally posted by IceTemple
I thought our backline was alright today considering they were getting hammered

Sorry, but that sentence doesn't make sense, our backline was a shambles, Bolton & Jacobs are useless in defence.

Let's face it, no Fletcher, no defence, the club has to start addressing that problem.

 

[go team]

i thought the setence made alot of sense...
the richmond fowards were getting a constant supply of football, the ball was being kicked into the foward 50 time and time again, thus the backline was hammered... did i get it right?

who was bolton on?

 

[IceTemple]

Mantis you are saying that Bolton & Jacob are hopeless in the bl. Bolton I haven't seen enough of to comment but Jacobs is different.

Last year most people were impressed by his exploits in the bl - commentators & Don supporters - so what has changed this year? The whole team is playing like crap and I personnally think the main fault is with our lack of midfield.

Sure our backline is better with Fletch but I still do not think that would have made any difference yesterday.

 

[Pevers-Legend]

Time To go through some of the team:

1. M Johno - great use of him today Krakouer is killing us and where is our best back pocket? In the f**king forward line. Sheedy you are a D!!khead!!

2. Mercuri - what a joke. Retire now.

5. Hird - what a joke. Fed up with him getting injured in games. Completely deflating for the team. Get fit or get lost.

6. Wellman - no comment yet.

7. Solly - fantastic game cause he tried!!!! Amazing if you put in you get results.

skip down to who I really want to talk about

19. Hille what a f!!king pansie!!! He did not try today and if we don;t drop him, we are gutless. He was beyond pathetic. He didn;t try. I saw 4 or 5 occasions where he gave up when he was 5 metres from the ball.

skip down to

K Sheedy. What a wan ker. He can;t coach. No more crap about his past, he can;t coach, the players are flat, Essendon deserve what they get. If people don;t see how poorly he coaches, then they should remove their heads from his ar se. Pathetic.

 

[mongrelpunt]

Big Questions need to be asked of some players:

1. Mark Mercuri - As much as I hate to say it, its time for Mark to go back to Bendigo and let him dominate at VFL level - let him get near the ball to regain confidence to play footy again. After a couple of big games in the 2's, bring him back up to the seniors where he knows he can play.

2. Damien Peverill - agree with what Stealthy said- he's becoming 1 dimensional and his opponents are exploiting his lack of leg speed (like much of the team). Maybe a key defensive role could see him play a little better.

3. Joe Misiti - this burns me to say this, but he's costing the team. His opponent is too fast for him, and continuasly runs off him. Granted he's been a little crook, but I believe his days as a ball winning midfielder are over. He has a great kick for goal, so maybe a small forward role could be his only saviour.

4. David Hille - Hasn't come on like we all thought when Fish retired. He might have kicked 4 against the Dogs, but I reckon I could have kicked 4 that night - he was in the right places every time. Maybe Jason Lay**** needs some senior time in the next few games, as Hille costs us a player at some stages, either in the ruck or up forward when Ces comes on.

5 - Joel Reynolds - the kid tries his guts out, but he still hasn't grasped the idea of AFL footy yet. I reckon its because he hasn't got a set position yet, so leave him on a wing where he can take a big mark and pump the ball forward - he's still too small for a midfielder yet.

6 - Paul Barnard - he's not a forward. He might have kicked 4 in the 2000 grand final, but he's struggled as a forward ever since. He is sometimes too agressive where he gives away stupid free kicks, but maybe use his agression off a wing or half back flank to win the ball. He still has a role in the team if he can apply himself better.
------------------------------

Having said all that, I reckon the team needs an inclusion of youth and pace:

* Leave Cory McGrath in the team - he tried his guts out against Freo and still got dropped.
* Park Shane Harvey at Lloydy's feet - at least he's bring it to ground for Harvs to crumb it.
* Jason Lay**** needs some game time now
* It could also be worth a punt on Jobe Watson or Marc Bullen for some ball winning ability, or James Davies for some added pace.

Its not panic stations yet, but the injury bug is certaintly striking when its not wanted.

 

[peejay]

Originally posted by Dan26
I don't think there was anything particulaly wrong with the backline today. Richmond only scored 11 goals in perfect conditions. Our backline was the only good thing about us last year, and it is acceptable this year.

The problem today was everywhere else.

Fletcher was a loss (obviously), but the Richmond kicking for goal was below par after 17.5, 18.7 and 8.9 in the last three games.

Also the midget forward line may have even caused problems with fletcher in.

Yes i think your backline is worse than you think.

 

[Stealth bomber]

Don't fool yourself....

...Speed kills.

And I'm not talking about cars on the road either.

You know, maybe we need to put this slogan back on our jumper, because we have to be about the slowest damn playing list in the AFL anymore.

What has happened to our pace? What has happened to our run off the back line? True, injuries are hurting, but even when fit we have a definite lack of real speed it seems.

 

[go team]

i can't believe people want to send mercuri back to bendigo?

when the rest of the team were taking air swings whilst trying to kick a football, he layed a hand in half of the goals we kicked on the weekend.... mercs played a super 15 minutes of football in the second quarter...

another thing i wanna raise - Pevers-Legend: do you seriously thing Hille wasn't trying out there? Everytime he puts in a bad game people come on Big Footy and cry "David hasn't come on like we expected." We are what, six, seven weeks into the season? The kid hasn't had the football background alot of other players have. Playing regularly in the seniors for three or four weeks isn't gonna make him a superstar. Sending him back to the reserves isn't gonna do anything either. Give the poor kid some time.