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Hey everyone, give Mark Neeld a break

Roar Pro
31st May, 2013
23

There is no two ways about it, Melbourne is a rabble. But is it fair to blame Mark Neeld for ultimately taking over a ship on the verge of sinking and trying to not just keep it afloat, but make it go anywhere?

Quite simply, no. A year and a half is far to early to judge Neeld’s success at the Melbourne Football Club.

This is a list that is undoubtedly behind GWS and Gold Coast, that has had a culture of losing, and probably has been miscoached and mismanaged for years before he took the helm.

Yet despite being told to ‘restart the club’ and ‘completely change direction’, Neeld is under increasing pressure to be sacked just one and a half years into this rejuvenation, with heavyweights such as Gerard Healy lifting the already tense situation to boiling point.

What people must remember is that unlike the Gold Coast or GWS Melbourne has had no benefit of an extended salary cap or an array of high draft picks (although Melbourne has butchered more than a few over the years, well before Neeld was there).

Neeld was not given a completely new team to set in the direction that he pleased. He had to take a team stuck in a cycle of under-performing, losing and not seeming to care, and turn that team around.

Melbourne should be about on par with GWS and about a year behind Gold Coast’s journey when you consider the list he has had to work with and rearrange. That’s more or less exactly where they are.

Those such as Damian Barratt who have described his recruitment in last year’s trade period as “scatter gun” may not be quite on the money either.

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What Neeld has done is take players from successful clubs and/or good cultures (Bynres, Dawes, Pederson, Gillies etc) and, while not expecting them to be walk up starts, has put players in place who have experienced the work ethic, drive and passion that is required to win.

That leadership, not just out on the ground but also in training, cannot be underestimated.

Let’s not forget that Neeld is also a man who has forged his career from coaching at country footy to get where he is now, and in the process was ‘the master’ Mick Malthouse’s right hand man during Collingwood’s 2009-2011 years of premiership contention (in front of other current AFL coaches such as Scott Watters and Nathan Buckley).

Malthouse personally recommended Neeld for the job, and unless Paul Roos is available the board should not even consider sacking Neeld until his contract his up.

Even if it is eventually realised Neeld is not the man to take the club forward, there is no question he has already done the majority of tough, ugly work in turning it around.

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