Collingwood - you have lost your soul

[bally12]

Ok I'm going to lay it on straight. We are a boring boring team to watch play footy. We play a mechanical game-style with players' heads filled with complicated instructions of where to stand, and what to do with the ball once we get it. We play a zone defence until we get the ball and the opposition man us up, then kick it sideways to someone who invariably stops and props and scans and then goes sideways again or down-the-line.
It gets better. We even do this when we are behind and time is running out. The guy taking the kick-in will go sideways 15m to the pocket, squeezing him in and forcing a down-the line kick to the half-back flank.
We are truly a horribly coached side. We play scared, without any ambition, boldness, or instinctiveness. Evan under Malthouse's conservative boundary-style football, he gave Goldy the license to bomb torps from the kick-in.
When we do actually get out to a lead, we act like we were super lucky to get in that position and defend whateer measly lead we have. How many teams have we beaten by over 10goals in Buckley's time?

Do you really want to go to the freezing stands of the MCG and watch this tripe? I don't care if we haven't got the best players. I want our team to have a f#cking go. Have a swing mate, run in numbers and create chaos. Don't be in fear of making a mistake. So what you make a mistake, and turn it over and we lose the match. So you had a go, took it to them, and for a moment the fans were on the edge of their seats.
How many times have I seen we are scared to kick it to a one-on-one contest in the middle. Yes, if our guy is not good enough then he'll lose the contest and we'll cop it on the rebound. Well then it's up you, the kicker to put it to his advantage. I don't care if it's taking a chance in the corridor. If you are not good enough to make the kick then p#ss off and let someone play that at least has the confidence of making the kick.

I've watched Chris Mayne play in a Grand Final for Fremantle where he was nearly best-on in the first half. He looked dangerous in the air and on the ground. What is this mark, stop, prop business that he does now every time he gets the ball. It can only be under instruction. Scharenberg was the same. Half our team is the same.
I'm sick of it. Our club wasn't borne out of timidness. We were not supposed to succeed. We had sh#t against us, literally. Collingwood stunk of sewage in the old days, and every corner was struggle street. And yet out of that the most famous club in the land was born. Do you think that came about because we were ultra-cautious?

We have truly lost our identity. Buckley, you have to go mate. And I'm half-inclined to say take all your South Australian buddies with you. Take Grundy, Noble, Madgen, Sanderson and p#ss off the lot of you. We can lose, but not like this.
Sanderson you are a failed coach and best mates with the head coach. It's a joke surely.
Bring in some smart people that can actually see our deficiencies from a bigger-picture view, and don't get mired in the detail like Buckley.
Grundy, don't pretend you are a club-man when you took us to the cleaners with your contract. Don't worry about not tapping it to any of our players, you can't even handball it to them. You may not be the dumbest player but you are up there.
The other 2 don't have the talent to take us anywhere except the bottom of the table. I'm also sick of seeing players stuck on their non-preferred side and instead of using that side they will go for an inside-out kick or handball with their dominant side. Pathetic for so called AFL standard players.
Have you seen Noble or Madgen kick on their left? No you haven't, for a reason. Noble got tossed aside by Green in a one-on-one marking contest like he was a toothpick. He also handballed it backwards 15m to roughly no-one in our back half and we copped the sealing goal when we were 10points down in the last. He can get it 50 times, it doesn't matter. Same with Madgen. Yeh it's harsh, but do you reckon Leigh Mathews would have them in his side? NFW. They will be first-picked in Buckley's side next week.

Amidst all this, we have 4-year listed players like Murphy that Bucks hasn't even given a go yet. FFS. Give the guy some games. There should be no one on our list in their 4th year without having been given a solid run in the seniors. Even Malthouse would place more faith in the youngsters and give them huge responsibility in big games. There's some truth in the saying...cometh the hour cometh the man. The psychology of entrusting a kid as a coach and giving him your full support can make the player. It's not all about numbers, and statistics Bucks. That's actually my biggest critcism of Buckley, the boring selections week after week. That and the fact that he has even publicly stated he doesn't teach the skills of the game, and that the players coming into the system should already have the skills. There you have it folks, a coach that doesn't teach skills and you wonder why we can't hit the side of a barn door.

Yep we are a shambles, and I'm actually glad this situation is being seen and reported on in the light that it deserves. See Micheal Gleason's article in TheAge today. We can only hope that the right people are appointed and this club finds itself again.

[Rd10.1998_11.1#36]

[Big T]

Bally 12, Matthew's did have Shane kerrison...