The two AFL expansion clubs are proven coach killers and Melbourne’s Mark Neeld could well be the latest victim.
The Demons stumbled backwards into more gloom on Sunday blowing several weeks of AFL improvement with a terrible performance against Gold Coast.
The Sun’s 10-goal win on Sunday at the MCG is the first time they have won in Victoria.
It could also be the tipping point as the pressure builds at Melbourne.
Port Adelaide coach Matthew Primus was sacked after their loss to Greater Western Sydney last year and Brett Ratten’s fate at Carlton was sealed a few weeks later when Gold Coast beat them.
But new Melbourne interim chief executive Peter Jackson has backed Neeld, saying the coach needs time to prove himself after a tumultuous 18 months off the field for the club.
And Neeld himself remains defiant.
“There’s a future there for the footy club, absolutely no question,” he said.
“Everyone knows in the 18 months since we’ve been here, you jot down some of the things that have happened at the footy club, it’s been a life experience for all of us.
“We’re still here, we’re up for it – absolutely up for it.”
But Neeld also conceded after the 16.18 (114) to 7.12 (54) loss that his young side became uncompetitive as Gold Coast kicked five goals to none in the first term.
“We’d made some ground over the last three or four weeks in a number of areas of our game,” he said.
“We thought we’d made some progress – a couple of steps back today.
“We weren’t competitive in the game for long enough.
Before the game, Jackson said a string of off-field problems had made it impossible to judge how well the second-year senior coach was performing.
Since Neeld took over. the Demons’ beloved president Jim Stynes has died and the club has been the subject of a drawn out AFL investigation into tanking allegations.
Jackson’s predecessor Cameron Schwab lost his job last month and Melbourne were also drawn into the AFL’s supplements crisis.
Also on Sunday, Jackson revealed the club was facing a financial hit of more than $1.5 million this year.
“I’ve been very clear already – I think everybody in the club needs a chance with some ‘clean air’,” Jackson told 3AW.
“What the club has been through, just in the last 20 months … I defy anybody to be able to withstand all of that.
“I just want to try and give some people some direction if I can and some space to show what they have.
“That applies as equally to the head coach … (as) anybody.”
Neeld said there is too much of a gap between the best and worst of his young team.
“It’s a bit of a rollercoaster, you go up and down,” he said.
“But clearly at the moment, the bit on the way down is probably just a bit low.”
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