The elephant in the room

[Bluebear]

Not trolling here but I'm sure Voss had a huge part in getting Fevola to Brisbane knowing of his off-field issues...Can't really expect Fevola to straighten up after all the years Carlton gave him

I knew this was in trouble when I heard Vossy talk about the Vic vs Dreamteam game and how good Fev and Brown looked together that night. Clearly he fell in love with the idea, but lacked Bradshaw next to them, a star studded midfield, and lets face it.....defensive efforts in that game weren't what you'd see in a prelim final.

As others have said, Vossy has made his bed, tried to "buy" a flag for his old mates Power, Black and Brown, and to this point in time it clearly has gone awry.

Will be interesting to see how he works through this from here.

Does he go down the same line this October, or admit it's gone and start the rebuild?
I have suggested in the past that at the end of last year biting the bullet and trading the likes of Power or Black might have been better long term options, to get early picks to grow with Rich.

Is that now gone? Do these guys have currency with The Dogs, Cats, Saints, Hawks, other contenders?

Very bold what Vossy did, so it will be interesting to see how the board and coach react.

 

[Cousin Jed]

I have suggested in the past that at the end of last year biting the bullet and trading the likes of Power or Black might have been better long term options, to get early picks to grow with Rich.

If he tried that, Voss would have been run out of town.

 

[Bluebear]

If he tried that, Voss would have been run out of town.

True. He didn't seem to have an issue trading Bradshaw. Would have thought Power was in a similar phase.

Is he not going to get run out of town anyway?

 

[_hyphy]

Difference with Power and Bradshaw, which many supporters from other clubs continue to ignore, is that Bradshaw's body is battered. Power has missed a handful of games in the past 5 seasons.

 

[chopperduck]

Bradshaw clearly wanted more than what the club was willing to offer. He had a contract on the table long before trade week. I don't think money was the sticking point of it, i think it was contract length. I don't think we would have wanted to do any more than 1 year contracts, Bradshaw wanted 3. So far this season he has missed a fair few games with injury. That is one the club got right.

Not every team wants to trade off all their stars before they get to their used by date to get some draft picks. What good is a bunch of draft picks going to do in the next few drafts anyway. The new clubs have already taken their pick of the top young talent, then they get a massive amount of draft picks to pick the best of the rest. If the club is going to bottom out and start a complete rebuild via the draft, id rather we try hold it off for another 2-3 years until the drafts are back to normal.

 

[The J Dog]

I have suggested in the past that at the end of last year biting the bullet and trading the likes of Power or Black might have been better long term options, to get early picks to grow with Rich.

Is that now gone? Do these guys have currency with The Dogs, Cats, Saints, Hawks, other contenders?

Black turned 31 and Power turned 30 earlier this year. I don't think they have that much trade value to be honest. The teams you mentioned would be looking for younger and/or quicker midfielders. E.g while Luke Ball isn't quick he's just turned 26. Shaun Burgoyne is 27. So they have a few more years to provide returns to the new club. That said, I'm sure the Pies would have been interested in Black if he was available before they committed to Ball.

Besides, these two are the spiritual heart of the club along with Brown, and I think moving them on would have bad consequences on and off the field.

As you would expect, Power and Black aren't as elite as the were earlier in the decade. It's up to others to step up and become the next elite group. We do have some proven young midfield talent - Adcock, Rischitelli, Sherman, Brennan - and others that are younger with potential - Rich, Banfield - but they haven't come together as a midfield unit. The question is why, and how do we get the most out of them?

 

[Stocka]

Laidley would go ok at Lions. He's an experienced coach who has got results.

What results are they? He got his team into the finals? M.Voss has done that as well. I seem to recall that Laidley's finals teams had a history of being smashed most times they made it as well.

Most North Melbourne supporters are well-pleased to be clear of Laidley from what I can tell.

 

[Stocka]

Is he not going to get run out of town anyway?

Unlikely, I would have thought. I can't remember that terms of Voss's contract, but I would wage that Voss is safe at least until the end of next year and that he'd probably make it through the following year as well. Even though I don't like some of the things that appear to be going on, I'd much rather that Voss spend a couple of years at the helm, even if he is unsuccessful, rather than institute a revolving door policy (unless of course Voss turns out to coach like Colonel Kurtz or something...!).

I don't get the feeling that Voss is likely to be sacked and I think it'd be far more likely that he'd fall on his own sword.

Mind you, Voss's spin upon each disaster that befalls the Lions in 2010 (whether it's his fault or not) is starting to remind me a bit of K.Rudd. It would be ironic if Ranga Leppitsch ended up stealing the throne as coach of the Lions!

 

[MacMum]

It would be ironic if Ranga Leppitsch ended up stealing the throne as coach of the Lions!

Now wouldn't that put the cat among the pigeons!!..

 

[western royboy]

Mind you, Voss's spin upon each disaster that befalls the Lions in 2010 (whether it's his fault or not) is starting to remind me a bit of K.Rudd.

I would say that goes for the club as a whole in 2010.

 

[Bluebear]

I don't get the feeling that Voss is likely to be sacked and I think it'd be far more likely that he'd fall on his own sword.

Fair call. My comment was more tongue in cheek.

I can only presume that what he did last October and November had the full backing of the board, so they can hardly turn around and shoot him now.