Mark Neeld to coach.... thoughts??

[roostersgal4eva]

I really don't know what to think... :S

Be positive - this is a great combo for Melbourne

 

[DJ DEMONS]

Ok Neeld and Craig combo with Viney development coach. Hopefully get rid of that forward coach whatever or whoever he is and offer Barry Hall a forward coach role and lets see what happens in 2012.

Im believing again.....

 

[Stabby McGee]

shit yeah Neil Craig
we may see a bulky Cale Morton yet

Hahaha

That would make 'em miracle workers.

I like it. I've been keeping an eye on the coaches on offer since that bloody horrible game against WCE and Neeld's name just kept popping up with good things said about him. Craig to get them fit and keep them there, and Neeld to motivate them and give them the right tactics.

Welcome to the club.

 

[CM Sean]

Be positive - this is a great combo for Melbourne

I hope so!

 

[relapse]

Ok Neeld and Craig combo with Viney development coach. Hopefully get rid of that forward coach whatever or whoever he is and offer Barry Hall a forward coach role and lets see what happens in 2012.

Im believing again.....

I'm not sure how happy Viney will be knowing that he has to work with Neil Craig again. It was widely rumoured that Craig was apparently the reason why Viney quit his senior assistant role with us at the end of 2010.

 

[Ando727]

That’s why I would have appointed someone with senior AFL coaching experience, something I don’t think we have done since John Northey. Someone who has form and a record and performance we can judge. Letting someone experiment with his theories has to be risky.

Even Northey was borderline in that respect: one season at the Swans, 6 wins, 16 losses, sacked at seasons end. Hardly a proven senior coach. We have a documented history with not snaring strong coaches. God I hope this is about to change. I like the idea of the Craig/Neeld duo - it takes a little bit of the riskiness out of it having both of them.

 

[Ando727]

I'm not sure how happy Viney will be knowing that he has to work with Neil Craig again. It was widely rumoured that Craig was apparently the reason why Viney quit his senior assistant role with us at the end of 2010.

Hmmm, hope it doesn't endanger the selection of Jack Viney as a father/son pick.

 

[roostersgal4eva]

Well I've have seen so many rumors not to be true this last month so take it with a grain of Salt. SHOULD be Neeld's call who he has as assistants - I hope they ask what say did Neeld for Craig's move

 

[CowboyFromHell]

Pretty pumped by all this. Craig will be perfect for the role under Neeld and the players will now have no option but to play hard and play as well as they can all the time or suffer the consequences.

From this I'm looking forward to seeing guys like Morton and Maric get a second chance under new coaches to see if we can get the best out of them and their obvious talents.

Also think that the assistant coaches will go as well and you won't hear any complaints from me.

 

[roostersgal4eva]

I'm looking forward to what Neeld / Craig can do with Watts...

 

[Petterd4Brownlow]

I'm looking forward to what Neeld / Craig can do with Watts...

Hold your horses big fella it's not certain yet.

But if it does happen... I'm already frothing at the gash, as long as these two don't waste our priorities from the Scully deal this season and actually put some guts into our currently gutless side (barring a few players ofc).

Quoting a great Demon 'Let your Demon out!'

 

[LeverPuller]

I'm already frothing at the gash

they have creams for that you know

 

[roostersgal4eva]

Hold your horses big fella it's not certain yet.

But if it does happen... I'm already frothing at the gash, as long as these two don't waste our priorities from the Scully deal this season and actually put some guts into our currently gutless side (barring a few players ofc).

Quoting a great Demon 'Let your Demon out!'

I'm just saying

If I could steal any player to plonk him in the Lions team - it's Jack Watts...add the conditioning side to him and WOWEE

Question without notice...would of Neeld be consulted re Craig???

 

[Sylvia Saint]

Pretty happy with the Neeld-Craig appointment if true (Neeld's a definite).

To be perfectly honest, Ross Lyon was my #1 preference but given he has gone to Freo (and the questionable way he went about it), that wasn't going to eventuate. Maybe for the best!

Malthouse obviously would have been a good choice too, but again, that wasn't going to happen.

Neeld is very highly rated in footy circles and it's nice knowing we trumped a few other clubs around us for his services. A rare MFC win! As for Craig, he doesn't strike me as a great motivator but he is a very intelligent man and has the much vaunted "experience" everyone seems to be obsessed with. He did have some on-field success with Adelaide in the mid-noughties too, that shouldn't be forgotten.

Well done MFC. I'm not going to start talking about Neeld as some sort of messiah (I have a long memory - we did the same with DB back in 07), but I think he's a good appointment.

 

[Petterd4Brownlow]

I'm just saying

If I could steal any player to plonk him in the Lions team - it's Jack Watts...add the conditioning side to him and WOWEE

lol you're an idiot, any player in the AFL and you're choosing Watts. Like yeah he has a tonne of potential and all but seriously any player I could name at least 15 players off the top of my head that are better for Brissy and I will save you the embarrassment but my god. You've gone bonkers mate.

 

[Geddy Lee]

I'm not sure how happy Viney will be knowing that he has to work with Neil Craig again. It was widely rumoured that Craig was apparently the reason why Viney quit his senior assistant role with us at the end of 2010.

We've seen how much truth 'wide rumours' have in the last few days.

 

[CowboyFromHell]

lol you're an idiot, any player in the AFL and you're choosing Watts. Like yeah he has a tonne of potential and all but seriously any player I could name at least 15 players off the top of my head that are better for Brissy and I will save you the embarrassment but my god. You've gone bonkers mate.

Don't worry roosters, he wants his "skull crushing" mate Toby to coach us, run the water, play in the guts and give everyone rub downs. He's not all that bright.

Hopefully Neeld plays him where he belongs - in the F50. Guys like Lucas Cook and Tom McDonald should also thrive under a new coach. Things are looking far more rosy than they were a month ago.

 

[Rohan25]

Hey guys, congratulations on the appointment, you've got an absolute gem in M. Neeld, don't worry about that. I don't know if you're interested but I copied some excerpts from Peter Ryan's book, Side by Side, where he narrated his observations from spending every day of the 2009 season in the inner sanctum at Collingwood. That year, Neeld was responsible for the defensive group. I found a few passages about Neeld and put them here for you to look at.

This first one is a general introduction of Neeld and his philosophies:

(Neeld) suspects Collingwood noticed that teams he coached played with a heavy emphasis on defence. So the club asked him in for a chat.

He is mild mannered but there is a tough streak running through him. In 2003 when coaching Ocean Grove in his fourth consecutive Grand Final, he kept the opposition, the undefeated Geelong Amateurs out on the ground after half time waiting for his mob to run out. Torrential rain bucketed down but he kept the team locked away…..It worked. Ocean Grove went on to win the flag, it’s fourth in succession under Neeld.

Perhaps it’s the mix of teaching and larrikinism that gives Neeld a presence in front of the group. Every time he stands to speak, he keeps his message concise, making the point, explaining why an action is necessary and then provides an example.

The opportunity Malthouse has presented him to coach one of the pre-season games is wonderful, but Neeld is not surprised. He’s come to expect the gradual allocation of responsibility from the coach. “It’s interesting,” he says “I think I can coach in my own right, but my role of assistant coach is just that. My job at Collingwood is to make Mick Malthouse as good a coach as possible from a defensive perspective.”

After a pre-season mishap with a player showing poor discipline/awareness:

Neeld is furious as he enters the assistant coaches’ room. During the season’s first scratch match held that morning, a player has aggressively crashed into a teammate, risking serious injury to himself and the other player in the marking contest. Everyone knows who is the more valuable player of the two and Neeld is not happy.
“It’s bloody stupidity.”

This comes from the box on the night Neeld was given control of the team for the first pre-season match against West Coast.

Neeld has switched on. He is loud and assertive….His personality, normally friendly and polite, has changed in an instant. He fires questions at his workmates on the bench and in the box. He has so much information to process as he seeks to give Collingwood an advantage or deny the opposition one.

The chatter is constant, and seemingly random but Neeld is making sense of it all. The idea is not so much understanding the matchups as forcing a mismatch, reinforcing hard and fast rules, and knowing that the players are following the teams structures.

Neeld yells to Walsh on the bench to make the change: “Walshy, for ****s sake, lets be smart. Davis is on the kid Swift, get him to full-forward and tell Jack to get out of his road. He can play high.”


(later)


Neeld booms: “Walshy, get to Cooky. Relentless, disciplined footy, efficient tackles only we need.” The sentence has a touch of Yoda speak about it, but it is perfectly understood at ground level.

....A high kick goes forward, leaving the smaller Davis in a two-on-one situation. "Not high to 'Maj'," Neeld thinks out loud.

Davis spoils, grabs the ball off the ground, swivels and kicks the goal. "Oh 'Maj', outstanding," says Neeld as the only roar for the night goes up in the box. A pat on the back is sent to Davis...

Eventually the siren goes…..The phone rings, Neeld answers. He knows it’s the coach.
“Yeah Mick,” he says
“Congratulations, good job, well done,” says Malthouse.
“Thanks mate.”

During a meeting of the defensive group in the chapter entitled "The back six":

Neeld watched on. He enjoyed the fact the group was hard on each other. Creating such a dynamic was not an overnight process. In his second year in the job, Neeld had identified each players role.

Establishing the team within a team had taken time. Neeld’s first task was to ensure the basic principles – such as limiting the oppositions one-on-one contests – were understood…His second job was for each player to take each opposition goal to heart. It didn’t matter whether it was a forwards fault, or a midfielders lapse that had…led to a goal, the back six’s mindset was to refuse to let scores happen.

“Find a way” was a favourite of Neelds, defining the defender’s only ally when all looked lost.
This meant at times, being nasty, whacking the forward as you ran beside him, always making body contact, staying goal-side, being desperate, playing, literally, as though your life depended on it. Most of all, it meant helping your mates when they needed it….

Neeld ran the meetings like an expert facilitator, throwing in an observation when required, or backing a speakers view if it was needed, or softening a hard-edged opinion when warranted.

During the semi-final against Adelaide at the MCG:

Collingwood was charging and the box was like a fizzed-up glass of lemonade. The atmosphere however was annoying Neeld and he felt compelled to take charge.
“Boys, don’t barrack, c’mon,” he said….
Neeld would calmly tell Malthouse changes that were occurring on the field, and suggested others to take place……

(later)

Neeld is calmly asking Malthouse whether he is comfortable with the match-ups in the back half, then telling Gavin Brown to remind the defenders not to let anything over the back.

And after the same match:

Neeld immediately poured some reality into the room. “We finished in the top 4 so making the preliminary final is where we should be. If we hadn’t, it would have been a ****ing disaster,” he said. His tone, as always, is very measured. He is congratulating the players, but ensuring they do not get carried away with the circumstances of victory.

There were some tactical matters to recognise before Neeld moved onto the positives. The players in front of him had found a way to stay on the ground when they had nothing left….Neeld saved his best for Maxwell. “Somehow you found a way to make a centre clearance when there were 29 people around you.”

That year (2009), Maxwell, Heath Shaw, and O'Brien finished 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively in the Best and Fairest voting. I was there that night and noticed how much credit each of those three players gave to Neeld in their speeches for inspiring their career best performances that year.

He's had a really good grounding at the Pies, and perhaps the best endorsement is hearing people at the club regularly comment on how in sync he is with Mick Malthouse, that their coaching philosophies are so incredibly similar.

 

[roostersgal4eva]

I have not gone bonkers - I'm looking at someone who has the potential to be either the gun CHB we are missing or Browny's replacement when he retires and is going to be a star for years not a short period. I think I would know what we need thanks

Make no mistake about watts - he will be a star

Oh god I do sound like a Melboune supporter and I gone off topic need facebook therapy and STAT. I'm just too nice for my own good

 

[Klyntonius]

I must admit I was underwhelmed to hear that Mark Neeld would be our next coach. Not really that I doubt he can coach, I guess I just built myself up into getting excited about some of the other options that had been bandied about. Having been able to digest it for the last couple of hours and with the further news/talk of Neil Craig also joining in a mentoring or directorial role then I really think this is a perfectly cromulent appointment to be really positive about. We're gonna be alright.

 

[Sylvia Saint]

Great insight Rohan25, cheers.

I'm officially sold.

 

[whelan=legend]

Really good insight in that post Rohan, thanks for that.

I remember reading a thread much earlier this year (before we were coachless) asking which were the assistant coaches in the AFL that were poised to step in to a coaching role. The most popular answer was Neeld, so I am not surprised with this decision.

Very exciting if the Neeld - Craig combo is fact

 

[Tulip]

I'm not sure how happy Viney will be knowing that he has to work with Neil Craig again. It was widely rumoured that Craig was apparently the reason why Viney quit his senior assistant role with us at the end of 2010.

Or maybe he decided to come home, back to the club where he's an icon and where his son will play.

 

[RandB]

Thanks Rohan, I hung off every word there.

Slowly but surely Dees supporters will all learn what makes M Neeld tick as a football man over time. I get the sense that sometimes when assistants move to another club as a senior coach it can go to their heads a little.

With Neeld I have a calm sense of assurity that he matured beyond that phase a while ago and is on top of his game but only time will tell I suppose.

 

[Stabby McGee]

Thanks Rohan, I hung off every word there.

Slowly but surely Dees supporters will all learn what makes M Neeld tick as a football man over time. I get the sense that sometimes when assistants move to another club as a senior coach it can go to their heads a little.

With Neeld I have a calm sense of assurity that he matured beyond that phase a while ago and is on top of his game but only time will tell I suppose.

Yeah, thanks Ro.

I get the feeling that his time as Ocean Grove coach should keep him grounded as he's done it before, albeit on a smaller stage.