MIKE Sheahan says Melbourne needs to be “a lot more competitive” next year, but says it’s too difficult to judge how many wins it can achieve in 2014.

The football media great said there were “so many things that come into the equation” now that the club is being revamped under new coach Paul Roos. 

“[How many] wins? I’m not sure,” Sheahan said.

“Is Mitch Clark going to be right? How good are the young blokes? Will Maxy Gawn go on? The superstar from Casey, [Jesse] Hogan, whether he’s going to have the impact? Gerard Healy talks about him, like he’s Wayne Carey, but he’s a boy and he’s going to take some time.

“If everything unfolds well and the key players stay fit and play to their best, it’ll just be a much, much better effort.

“It’s a bit hard to put wins on it, because you look at it now and you say ‘who is the team of 2013 going to beat in ’14?’ But I would be confident to say that they’ll be 30 per cent better in every area than they were this year.”

Sheahan expects Roos to set up the foundations for Melbourne’s future.

“I’m with Roosy on this one. I don’t think it’s a question of how quickly they climb the ladder. It’s a question of getting the blocks in place,” he said.

“I like the fact that he said that he might only stay two or three years. To me, that was a statement that Roosy is not saying ‘I want to come back and win another premiership and enhance my reputation’.

“He’s saying ‘I want sufficient time to build for the future and put a foundation down and then let a handpicked successor take over’.”

Sheahan added that the appointment of Peter Jackson earlier in the year had already proved to be significant.

“He was able to land Roosy … he’s made the right noises publicly,” he said.

“I think there is a new feeling of optimism throughout the footy club and he comes from a successful footy club at Essendon. Roos has had the success [at the Sydney Swans], so the expectations have grown.

“He (Jackson) will just do what he needs to do. He’s got a good line into AFL House, which is always handy … I think there’s ticks all round at the moment, with one proviso – every footy club is optimistic during the off-season.

“We think that things are in place and we are looking forward to a big improvement, but so are 17 other clubs, who will all be in the same frame of mind, between October and March next year.”

In terms of the upcoming trade period, Sheahan threw up a left-field option in terms of who Melbourne should look at acquiring.  

“I like the idea of getting some good people in. In my view, they don’t have to be big names. I’m a Paul Chapman fan, but he’s not going to fit the Melbourne needs at the moment,” he said.

“I want blokes like Nick Duigan, the Carlton guy. Duigan is an intelligent, committed, brave team player. I would like to see him play at half-back and he’s not going to cost a lot.

“I would be looking for people of that ilk, rather than the big names, because one or two big names isn’t going to take Melbourne from the bottom to the eight.”

In terms of following the red and blue next year, Sheahan, who is a Melbourne supporter, said he was eager to see how the club would fare in round one. 

“I’m looking forward, like most Melbourne supporters [to next year and], I reckon I can guarantee I’ll be at the round one game. I might have a scarf. I might just declare my hand.

“I’ll be really enthusiastic about what might be about to unfold. I don’t mean that in terms of weeks. I mean that in the next two to five years.”

Despite his wealth of knowledge and experience in the football industry, Sheahan said he wouldn’t entertain joining the Demons in an official capacity.

“No. In a practical sense, I was working at the Herald Sun and being as involved as almost anyone else could be in footy and getting well paid for it,” he said.

“When I chose to remove myself from that position, I wanted to get back to the time when you could just come to the footy and you come with hope and expectation.

“You come and have a couple of beers and then you come home and then you move on. I don’t want a full-time involvement again. My Fox Footy role gives me that commitment.”