ACTING vice-captain Colin Garland has thrown his full support behind coach Mark Neeld.

Garland said the coach deserved much better than what he was receiving at the moment, but he conceded he was at a loss to why there was no improvement.

“Definitely not, we’re all in it together.”

“I think we all deserve a little bit of criticism.

“At the moment, we’re not performing like we should be, but Mark Neeld wasn’t the one who was missing tackles yesterday or missing basic skills and not marking balls that they should be. He’s not the one that’s making those basic errors.

“Mark is copping a fair bit of criticism because he is the head of the footy department, but he’s not the one who’s doing the basics wrong on the ground.”

Garland said he was gutted and embarrassed.

“I don’t believe this is where we should be at the moment, and with the work that we’ve put in, I don’t believe that this is indicative of where we should be, but it’s a reality at the moment,” he said.

“The only way we’re going to get out of it is if the 22 players who go and play against Richmond stand up for themselves.”

Garland said the mood was flat and, when players arrived at the club on Monday, they were extremely disappointed about their 10 goal loss to the Gold Coast Suns at the MCG on Sunday.

“We thought we were on level footing with them – they’re another young side,” he said.

“It’s going to take 24 to 48 hours to assess what happened in the game.

“We took a big step back yesterday (Sunday),” he said.

Garland spoke passionately about Melbourne, saying he loved the club and would do anything to get it back up the ladder.  

“I’ve been here seven years. I love the club and the club’s given me everything as a person and as a footballer,” he said.

“It gives a lot, and I feel for the supporters.

“I’ve got as many questions as them.”