MMs post-match comments

[AbsoluteTallant]

Hello all

Apologies if this is out of place, this is my first post to this board as I've just signed up after being a big FTO fan.

My key concern right atm is Mick Malthouse (MM). His comments after the Brisbane match - something to the effect of 'I cenrtainly don't want to be involved in a team that won't improve" - really gives me very big concerns. Does anyone else feel the same way?

In my view, MMs comments are tantamount to saying "I'm higher and mightier than Collingwood and I'm only sticking around if we win more, regardless of how hard the players try".

We have this year got record membership (despite our home ground being a construction zone) and we are better off win/loss at this stage of the season than for a long time. We've got the nucleus of a good team for years to come and who starts murmering about jumping off ship after one loss? The bloody coach, MM!

Am I reading too much or is MM putting way too much pressure on our boys? That may sound like a strange statement as you can't put any more pressure on than the widespread expectation that we are a flag prospect but I think there's merit to it. MM should be guiding the boys through as he did last year with the hope that they can achieve as much as possible. To _expect_ us to beat Brisbane - the super side the AFL has manufactured (in more ways than one) with 5 new(ish) players haivng had only a few games under their belt, having lost Tarkyn and Dickhead Davis... what world is MM living in?

Here's a simple reality (as I see it) check for MM: he tolerates average players and expects them to perform miracles if they adhere to his game plan.

You cannot expect the likes of Paul 'can't kick' Licuria (sorry everyone, it's true) and others to genuinely compete against the talent and experience Brisbane have been given/drafted. Here's a simple fact: Brisbane have 3 Brownlow medalists, only one was recruited legitimately through the draft (Black).

Even with dodgy hamstrings and groins, Akermanis can sweep the ball out of any pack on their half forward line and dob a goal on either foot without blinking an eye. Which Collingwood player can do that? Certainly not Didak. When the footy is in his hands, his right foot might as well be amputated. Leon is close but how can he do this when he's still relatively small in build and goddam MM keeps him on the bench!

Who at Collingwood can stop a small fast opposition forward? We haven't had a back pocket for all of MM's reign and he continues to recruit medium sized running half back types such as Lokan (a Lonie clone). Shaw is the same - looks pretty good running out of defense away from his opponent, is a decent enough spoil but when the ball comes to ground level or an opponent is quickly bursting towards goal with the crumbs from a marking duel, who is there to lay a tackle? Ben Johnson was tried there last year and failed (no one tackle does not make a career).


Why does MM spit the dummy and raise the possibility of leaving the whole club in the lurch when it's arguably his coaching that needs the most improvement?

Someone please help me make sense of this.

[TRELOS]

i agree...i also thought it was a bit wierd MM saying that, i dont think it'd mean alot but ive never heard MM say that before

[Hiya-and-Higher]

What I certainly agree about is that we have a number of excellent players just starting their career. Watching the Brissy game our best were the experienced guys, and it goes to show what a few years in football is worth in a tough contest. We have lots of improvement to come, not least those 'professional' decision moments where you stop goals being scored by anticipation and keeping youreyes on the ball. Brissy has hardly a weakness as proven by 2 premierships and yet we are in the same league without having too many flashy superstar players.

MM has done a great job and I think you should take his comments as a response to the media not as his ambition. He IS creating a dynasty. He HAS taken us to a grand final. He HAS improved our list. He HAS game plans and tactics and philosophies that will keep us at the top. What he is saying to the players is that every second counts in a game of football. You can't have 5 minute loss of concentration. That's where Brisbane wins...they push and push until you lose 5 minutes of your game plan and then they score 2 or 3 goals and its over.

MM is telling our players that as professionals they will need to learn to concentrate totally while the game is on. They are learning. When we win you see the flair our guys have. When we lose we look like all losers...not quite good enough.

As for Didak. I think he is a superstar in the making.

[Banksy]

I for one don't agree with your opinions on mm.We need to be on the improve at all times.
Go back to the grand final....we let our guard down for 5 mins and we lost,on Thursday night against Brisbane we let our guard down for 12 mins approx and we lost...plus our shots on goals were hopeless.
All MM is trying to do at Collingwood is to create a culture which hates losing,and second best is not good enough and the playing list needs to be fully aware of this.
Plus we have shown were capable of reaching the grand final,therefore were good enough to win a premiership.
So let's all get behind Mick...after all he's coached 451 games for 2 flags and he's even played in a premiership side...i for one don't doubt his methods on coaching.

[JLC]

I think MM wants to make it clear that coming second isnt good enough. Last year he was proud of us reaching the grand final as we did better than people expected and we gave it our all.

However now i think he believes we are ready to win a premiership and wants to mane it clear to the players that 2 or 3 goal losses are no longer good enough.

MM is raising the bar for the players and i hope the players respond to the challenge.

MM is a brilliant coach and thinker and i think in the long run he will be proven right

jlc

[AbsoluteTallant]

Hi Banksy, JLC

I think maybe you've both slightly missed my point. Well maybe I had a few points I agree that MM gives our club respect and a good media presence and such. He has also obviously been very good thus far in managing players in terms of being a father figure and such.

I have never agreed his coaching in terms of match day moves, is particularly great. Now that we've lost Dean Laidley, I wonder if he's struggling a bit more. If we take a long term point of view, is there an argument that MM is a good coach with good cattle but an average coach with average cattle? At Footscray what did MM achieve? At West Coast MM came in when the players the AFL gave them to setup in '87 had just started to mature and were guns. Hence two flags (and one loss to Hawthorn in '91). Geelong weren't great competition either. Then as the Weagles players aged, where did he get them? I find it hard to accept a stat such as that bandied about stating MM got the Weagles into the finals 10 years in a row. Making the finals is nothing unless you are a contender.

However I never said that MM's concept that we have to improve is questionable. I said that his statement that if we don't improve he'll jump ship (not in those words) was a worry.

I also think Didak is a champion in the making, but that making should include developing his right foot (as well as his set shot accuracy).

I disagree that we are a genuine Premiership side. I think if we're lucky we could pick one up but losing Dickhead Davis and Tarkyn is a real concern.

- Holland is languishing
- Molloy did bugger all against Brisbane even with some form coming into the match.
- McGough is a in and under plodder with below par kicking skills
- Roach didn't come through
- Davidson's done his knee
- Schackleton's not even in the Willie seniors
- Licuria's a below par kick and is currently unfit due to his knees
- Cole is another runner who so far hasn't hit targets by foot
- Johnson is a below par kick
- Kinnear is gone at the end of the year
- Richards ?
- Swan ?
- Nixon ?
- Mullins ?
- King ?

To be a genuine Premeriship contender, we need to recruit more decent players, which unfortunately will take more years... and I just want to be sure MM is willing to stay around for that.

In a equal world, Brisbane would never have been given 2 Brownlow medalists and a host of other free players and would not have extra thousands to keep all their players. They wouldn't be able to play Lynch on drugs etc...

Unfortunately in 2003 they can.

[JLC]

Well i don't think there are many better teams in the AFL than Collingwood ESPECIALLY when the grand final is played in Melbourne. What team playing in melbourne is better than Collingwood ??

Molloy has one bad game and you are all over him ?? Havnt you watched the first three games that we played ??

I also think you need to give those younger players a chance to develop. Its still early days for Cole and co. By year end i think Cole will be playing senior football regularly and making a contribution.

Under Malthouse we have advanced four games each year and risen up the ladder and earnt the respect of other teams. You have also dwelled only on the negative recruits. How about talking about Clement, Williams and Lokan who all have been or appear to be good recruits

Many other clubs would love to have Malthouse as a coach!!!

Also please note before Malthouses' arrival not many people wanted to take over as Collingwood coach as we were the laughing stock of the AFL. Damian Dumb turned us down. I would be thankful that a person of the Malthouse calibre accepted the job and has given a great deal to the club.

jlc

[MissMagpie_20]

Well i reckon MMM has done everything he can to prove hes in it for the long haul. The comments after the game were more than likely just pissed off comments due to the dissapointment of losing. I wouldnt worry.

[Nicholas]

overreaction his words were a spur to the boys. He has already proved himself with the Pies bringing us near the head of the ladder. Remember Brisbane had newies like Brennan as well. He is trying to suggest that we lost the game not that they will be invincible against us. Cool it.

[AbsoluteTallant]

Hi Assasin

Don't value MM? I suppose you have the right to summarise my statements in that way but I think I did express that I think he has given value in at least three ways:

- media presence
- respect in the football community
- nurturing players

I just question his tactical nous.

I stand by my comments on Licuria, he's a horrible kick. He has publicly admitted his kicking is a weakness and if you can tell me he's got a better opposite foot than any of Brisbane's quality midfielders with a straight face, I'd be surprised. Pathetic comment? Nah just honest and realistic I reckon. I'm not saying he hasn't tried very hard to improve his kicking, he may have. I'm not saying that his bad history with knee injuries hasn't perhaps contributed to this deficiency but fact is (as I see it ) he has an non standard kicking action and rarely hits a target.

I find it amazing that so many people think that to criticise one of our players is unacceptable.

On this and other bulletin boards, many people seem to have a very defensive approach to the club. They don't want to read anything negative. They don't want to allow anything that critcises the current state of the club. I don't know why. Does everyone think that to criticise the club will bring it down? I disagree with that concept. The club is bigger than everyone. There will be a Collingwood minus Eddie, there will be a Collingwood minus Mick and minus Bucks however what the current management does now will influence the future. The current crop is still enjoying the benefits of the previous regime in Tarrant, Bucks, Rocca, Judkins, new MCG Social Club...

Each management team must be critically monitored or we will end up once again on our knees like Carlton is now and like we were in the 80s.



Hmm, how did I get onto that when I started talking about MM?

[AbsoluteTallant]

Hi Nicholas, MissMagpie_20, JLC, others

Thanks for the comments. I still have some concerns that MM is a little off whack at the moment but thanks for clearing this up. I hope you are all correct and that MM's comments were only a barb at the players to spur them on and that this psychological tactic works. I hope he is focused on the deficiencies of the side and that he has a whole bunch of plans and options to counteract them.

Don't forget though, it was MM himself that said he and most of the club were not switched on against Carlton (I think it was Carlton) and that he was too reactionary in terms of making moves etc...

Remembering that background I suppose maybe everyone can see my where my concern comes from?

Anyway, time will tell... Go Pies!

[AbsoluteTallant]

Hi JLC

Re Molloy... Yes he has been pretty good in the early games. No I'm not 'all over him' after Brisbane. It's funny though how people don't take criticism of Molloy well though. Really everyone was pasting Tazza towards the end of last year and {Pebbles has had millions of critics over his time, not to mention how much Bucks is analysed, but one critical mention of Molloy and you'll always get at least one fan offside. Why? Has he ever dominated in a final for us? Has he ever won a game off his own boot for us? Is he a decent kick? Did he play one good game last year?

Anyway, all the best to Jarrad I say, for sure. We need him with Dick Davis gone. He's got to fill in the 3rd or 4th tall in the forward line role.

But hey, the guy is going on what 27? In the prime of his career, and he failed when it counted most on a ground he's very familiar with against his old side in a big match? Yeah sure I'm going to be critical

Once again though, good luck Jarrad. Any player who can make me eat my own words is fine by me

[Piepark]

I think what Mick Malthouse was trying to say to the players (and any supporters who claim we are 'unlucky') on Thursday night is get that thought out of head !! In an indirect way he is making no more excuses for being beaten by a team twice through some sort of bad luck approach to football. Bad kicking is bad football. Not being accountable for your opponent is bad football. Not sticking to a game plan is bad football. Hitting the post is bad football. None of these things are excuses or luck, they are reality !! 2002 was a good year for us, not a great year, we had a chance to win the flag, we didn't. As much about bad football on the day as Brisbane's good football. It was not bad luck last year that Leon didn't get a stat, or Tarrant kicked into the man on the mark, or Didak didn't play well. We are an excellent and well lead club from Eddie down to Malthouse. Lets not look back on our era under Malthouse in 10 years time and say exactly what he says. Collingwood were a good but unlucky side. That was the attitude with Hafey (and I love what Tommy did for the pies), and what Geelong went through during '89, '92, '94 and '95. We have to seize the moment now and every opportunity we get when we play in big matches and in finals. If we dont' history will repeat on our club what has broken so many supporters hearts since 1958. Thank god we have a coach who finally realises the history Collingwood has suffered and is trying to prevent it from happening again !! If that means he threatens, delists or forces change, then I for one will back him 100%. Take the chance pies, you may only get one shot at it !!! Go Pies !!!

[AbsoluteTallant]

Hi Tessa

Thanks heaps for the welcome back. I must say it's dificult for me to be involved in these boards because it seems I haven't got very popular views.

Anyway, I signed up this year to be a Social Club member for the first time, along with my sister. I was very sad to see FTO go. I just went to view the site and got a DNS error thing. I had to search Google's cache to find the "we've killed off the site" message!

I hope you're right that MM still knows what he's doing and that this is yet another mind game. I find it incredible that Bucks may have copped a pasting. He didn't play to his best, in fact most of the games this year he's been off the boil, but I don't think his play was responsible for our loss. Maybe MM was having a go at him wrt his Captaincy duties?

[AbsoluteTallant]

Hi JLC

Regarding your comments about Cole. I think no doubt he will be a good player but the reference I made was to where, what position.

I have a pretty solid belief that if we are to win the flag this or next year we have to find a tough as nails small defender, get our small forwads back into form and find more quality in the midfield.

Richie Cole-ngwood looks like a forward running wingman/midfielder or half back. This is not a bad thing for us long term, but short term I'm not sure another player of this type will solve the problems I feel exist.

Last year we struggled all year for a back pocket, using Johnson there who quite obviously failed (one tackle doesn't make a career, he got toweled in that match). Interestingly this year Johnson has been moved up the ground and is looking a bit better in this role. Maybe he could be a tagger of some description.

Pidaks is looking good as our small forward but Leon is not being given a chance. Nobody can gets stats on the bench.

So the question is, who can we find as a small defender? I was hoping that the addition of Woewodin would give us enough flexibility to throw Burnsy back into defense, but Woey is (arguably) bludging on a wing instead of getting into the middle and filling the role Burnsy plays in there.

Freezer has had a late start and he can be ok defensively but again he can also do good things up the ground.

I didn't mention Lokan because I don't think he solves the problem. Sure he's another Lonie type - midsized attacking half back who likes to try and break the lines by carrying the ball. - but we need a small defender or another midfield option.

I have to say that Thursday was a reality check. Personally it proved that our only midfielders comparable to Brisbane's are Bucks, Burns and maybe Cheesy O'Bree. I suppose Woewodin has the quality but he needs to display more of a dominating ability before I can conisider him up there with Brisbane's midfielders.

Anyone disagree? ha haha, no doubt someone will