FIND out what’s being said about the club in the major daily newspapers on Wednesday, August 24, 2011

Herald Sun

Green and Sylvia likely to stay
By Glenn McFarlane

CARETAKER coach Todd Viney is confident soon-to-be out of contract Demons Brad Green and Colin Sylvia will stay at Melbourne.  In defending his decision to use skipper Green as the substitute against Richmond on Sunday, Viney said there was "nothing sinister" about the choice. "We will sit down at the end of the year and we will work out where he wants to go and what he wants to do, but I presume he will be at the club next year," Viney said yesterday. He said Green was the substitute as there had been doubt on him after he missed the previous week with back spasms. "He took it fantastically well and came on and could have won us the game," Viney said. He said Sylvia had been best on ground. "His future I see at the Melbourne Football Club," he said.

Kindergarten cop warning
By Mark Stevens

MELBOURNE made the first formal step in its hunt for a coach yesterday as club great David Schwarz warned the successful candidate faced a massive challenge. Schwarz said the Demons' determination to play youth had left a list low on experience and leadership, leaving Dean Bailey's replacement facing a role akin to kindergarten cop. "They were happy to play these kids. Now they've realised, 'Gee, we've got a kindergarten here . . . no secondary leaders to take it to the next level'," Schwarz said. "It's a huge issue and one thing that needs to be addressed. "Whoever steps in has got a hell of a big job in front of them." Schwarz said the team was "bereft of leadership". "No matter which way you try and spin it, you can't spin the leadership point. There's no leaders there," he said.

Lyon heads Demon coach hunt
By Herald Sun

GARRY Lyon will chair a five-man sub-committee charged with finding Melbourne's next coach. The Demons announced the committee members today after they were approved by the club board last night. They are Lyon, president Jim Stynes, vice presidents Don McLardy and Guy Jalland and chief executive Cameron Schwab.  Recruitment company Drake, a club sponsor, will be providing key expertise at the panel’s request throughout the process.

The Age

He’s Dee man
By Jon Pierik and Martin Boulton

ROBERT Walls, the man who helped install Ross Lyon as coach of St Kilda, believes it might be time for a change at the Saints. Lyon is contracted until the end of the 2012 season, but it's understood he has an out clause that would allow him to walk early. There is growing speculation Lyon and Hawthorn counterpart Alastair Clarkson have been offered five-year deals by Melbourne, with the Demons determined, at least initially, to land a seasoned coach with strong defensive philosophies. Another veteran mentor, Rodney Eade, yesterday became the short-priced favourite to take over the vacant Adelaide coaching job, despite his manager insisting he had not met the Crows. Online betting agency sportsbet.com.au slashed the odds on the former Bulldogs coach from $3.50 to $2, while Crows caretaker Mark Bickley drifted from $2.50 to $4. The Saints, Lyon and his management have held preliminary discussions about a contract extension, although it's understood serious negotiations will not begin until Lyon and the Saints' new head of football, Chris Pelchen, formulate a future plan. This will involve determining just how much of a rebuild the playing list requires.

Better? Maybe, but Dees disappoint Viney
By Jesse Hogan

WINS against Gold Coast and Port Adelaide in the final fortnight of the home-and-away season would ensure Melbourne improves its win-loss ratio for the third season in a row. But any suggestion of the club improving this season jars with caretaker coach Todd Viney. The Demons' weekend loss to Richmond snuffed out the possibility of finals, although qualification for the finals would have been futile based on their record against top-eight teams: one-and-a-half wins from 11 matches. Finishing on ten-and-a-half wins, thanks to victories against the Suns at the MCG on Sunday and against the Power at Adelaide Oval a week later, would be the club's best points result since 2006. Viney nevertheless indicated the underlying theme of its season review would be regret, irrespective of how its players performed against the league's bottom two teams. "We've been really disappointed in the season to date," he said. "Regardless of whether we win the next two, I think we [will] have been disappointed in our season. "We've lost a coach [Dean Bailey], so regardless of the next two weeks, it's been a disappointing season."