Find out what’s being said about the club in the major daily newspapers on Friday, August 5, 2011
Herald Sun
I’m not copping it: Garry Lyon
By Michael Warner
MELBOURNE powerbroker Garry Lyon last night launched a stinging attack on Jeff Kennett, calling the Hawthorn president a bully. Speaking about Lyon's return to Melbourne yesterday, Kennett said: "Now you've got Mr Lyons (sic), who thinks he's the saviour, turning the whole issue into a Garry Lyons (sic) issue, which I find extraordinary." Lyon, however, said he would not put up with such remarks. "If you frame a market about who is going to shoot their mouth off first about this sort of stuff then Jeff would be $1.01," Lyon said on Channel 9. "Why he feels the need to stick his nose in to other clubs is beyond me. He's got some bully tendencies, Jeff, and he's got a footy club that he's inherited from a man called Ian Dicker who did an outstanding job. "I reckon there's a hell of a lot (of people) at Hawthorn that are going to take a deep sigh of relief when he leaves at the end of the year. "He gets personal about it in relation to me, he reckons I'm huffing, puffing, strutting around and saying, 'I'm the king', (but) nothing is further from the truth, so he's either ignorant, ill-informed or he's lying about it. '"I'm not copping that from Jeff Kennett."
Tank probe not the answer
By Mike Sheahan
AN inquiry into so-called tanking - match manipulation is the more appropriate term - would serve no purpose. Anyone who doesn't believe half a dozen clubs have been happier to lose than win at various times during the past 10 years isn't going to be swayed by any official verdict to that effect. All an inquiry would do would be to confirm what 99 per cent of the football world has suspected in recent years, while sullying the reputations of good people motivated at the time by nothing more sinister than taking advantage of a loophole on behalf of their clubs. People who believed they simply were availing themselves of rewards for losing, i.e., priority picks in the next national draft, with no thought of financial benefit. Big names, too, with many of them still in the game. The system lent itself to manipulation, to exploitation, and manipulated and exploited it was. Departing Melbourne coach Dean Bailey put "tanking" back on the agenda on Monday when he said: "I had no hesitation at all in the first two years in ensuring the club was well placed for draft picks." Tanking has been a simmering issue for several years.
The Age
I don’t give a f**k: Lyon accuses of Kennett of being a bully
By The Age
Melbourne great Garry Lyon has returned fire at Hawthorn's Jeff Kennett, saying the AFL club president has "bully tendencies". Earlier yesterday, Kennett criticised Lyon for agreeing to help the embattled Demons only for the next few months. Kennett told 3AW that there was little point in Lyon doing the job for three months, comparing Lyon's commitment unfavourably with Hawthorn's football director on the board, Jason Dunstall. ''If Garry's now saying I'll come in and help for three or four months, you're not going to turn around a ship which is in as much trouble as Melbourne in a few months,'' Kennett said. ''He's either got to make a commitment to get in there and help and do it as Jason has, for three to six years, or he ought to just butt out.''
Operation clean-up
By Jake Niall
GARRY Lyon has admitted that Melbourne is in ''a bit of a mess'' and he was stepping in as an interim consultant to the board partly because no one else had put their hand up to heal fractured relationships at the club. Lyon also called Jeff Kennett a bully and told him to mind his own business after the Hawthorn president said the former Melbourne captain should take a full-time role or ''just butt out''. While Kennett yesterday criticised Lyon for not committing to his club role for a longer term, Lyon said he didn't believe his media employment and a permanent role with a football club were compatible, saying he didn't care what others thought about his temporary role, which was about assisting Stynes and the club in ''unique circumstances''. Lyon will be a key player in Melbourne's search for a senior coach, who he believes should be a ''ferocious competitor'', and has already started the process of looking for the man who will be the club's next football director in lieu of his gravely ill friend and president Jim Stynes. Having accepted Stynes's wish that he become an adviser to the club board on football - filling the breach created by Stynes's illness - Lyon said he had already spoken to one potential candidate for the board position, and would speak to several more. Lyon said ensuring the Demons had ''unity and trust'' was paramount. Divisions at Melbourne became plain following the sacking of Dean Bailey on Sunday. Lyon will attend Melbourne training today.
Schwab accuses Bailey
Tank probe not the answer
By Mike Sheahan
AN inquiry into so-called tanking - match manipulation is the more appropriate term - would serve no purpose. Anyone who doesn't believe half a dozen clubs have been happier to lose than win at various times during the past 10 years isn't going to be swayed by any official verdict to that effect. All an inquiry would do would be to confirm what 99 per cent of the football world has suspected in recent years, while sullying the reputations of good people motivated at the time by nothing more sinister than taking advantage of a loophole on behalf of their clubs. People who believed they simply were availing themselves of rewards for losing, i.e., priority picks in the next national draft, with no thought of financial benefit. Big names, too, with many of them still in the game. The system lent itself to manipulation, to exploitation, and manipulated and exploited it was. Departing Melbourne coach Dean Bailey put "tanking" back on the agenda on Monday when he said: "I had no hesitation at all in the first two years in ensuring the club was well placed for draft picks." Tanking has been a simmering issue for several years.
The Age
I don’t give a f**k: Lyon accuses of Kennett of being a bully
By The Age
Melbourne great Garry Lyon has returned fire at Hawthorn's Jeff Kennett, saying the AFL club president has "bully tendencies". Earlier yesterday, Kennett criticised Lyon for agreeing to help the embattled Demons only for the next few months. Kennett told 3AW that there was little point in Lyon doing the job for three months, comparing Lyon's commitment unfavourably with Hawthorn's football director on the board, Jason Dunstall. ''If Garry's now saying I'll come in and help for three or four months, you're not going to turn around a ship which is in as much trouble as Melbourne in a few months,'' Kennett said. ''He's either got to make a commitment to get in there and help and do it as Jason has, for three to six years, or he ought to just butt out.''
Operation clean-up
By Jake Niall
GARRY Lyon has admitted that Melbourne is in ''a bit of a mess'' and he was stepping in as an interim consultant to the board partly because no one else had put their hand up to heal fractured relationships at the club. Lyon also called Jeff Kennett a bully and told him to mind his own business after the Hawthorn president said the former Melbourne captain should take a full-time role or ''just butt out''. While Kennett yesterday criticised Lyon for not committing to his club role for a longer term, Lyon said he didn't believe his media employment and a permanent role with a football club were compatible, saying he didn't care what others thought about his temporary role, which was about assisting Stynes and the club in ''unique circumstances''. Lyon will be a key player in Melbourne's search for a senior coach, who he believes should be a ''ferocious competitor'', and has already started the process of looking for the man who will be the club's next football director in lieu of his gravely ill friend and president Jim Stynes. Having accepted Stynes's wish that he become an adviser to the club board on football - filling the breach created by Stynes's illness - Lyon said he had already spoken to one potential candidate for the board position, and would speak to several more. Lyon said ensuring the Demons had ''unity and trust'' was paramount. Divisions at Melbourne became plain following the sacking of Dean Bailey on Sunday. Lyon will attend Melbourne training today.
Schwab accuses Bailey
By Caroline Wilson
BELEAGUERED Melbourne chief executive Cameron Schwab told fellow club chiefs that sacked coach Dean Bailey undermined him, creating divisions between the club's executive and players, and hurt his relationship with the board. It was a grave Schwab who attended the two-day meeting of all 18 AFL clubs outside Melbourne this week. The talks broke up late yesterday with the clubs no closer to learning of their financial position for 2012 coming from the league's $1.25 billion broadcast rights deal. Schwab is understood to have had little or no communication with Melbourne directors since Sunday night when gravely ill president Jim Stynes and his deputy Don McLardy pushed to reverse the decision to sack the CEO. It has also emerged that Schwab called Geelong chief executive Brian Cook last Saturday morning to excuse himself from Cook's table at the official pre-game function at Skilled Stadium.
Players told of developing roles
By Jon Pierik
MELBOURNE players were told by coach Dean Bailey at the start of the 2009 season they would be played out of position to aid their development, although whether that was the real reason for the manoeuvring has been privately questioned by some. One former Melbourne player, who did not wish to be named, last night said: ''We were told that whole year they [coaches] would be developing players in different roles, so when it came to positions … you could play forward, middle and back,'' he said. ''We trusted the coaching staff to do it. I suppose no one will ever know the truth. The players will never know the truth. You do what the coach says and hope everything goes well.'' Bailey, axed this week, could be queried on more than a dozen tactical and positional changes in two matches if an investigation into tanking was launched by the AFL. AFL operations manager Adrian Anderson said an inquiry would only be instigated if ''more information came to hand'', having been assured nothing untoward had happened when he questioned Bailey by phone this week.
Stynes fight lifts family
By Maris Beck
MELBOURNE Football Club president Jim Stynes was described by his sister last night as ''an inspiration to us all'', after he was re-admitted to hospital for treatment of a stomach tumour. ''He's going to keep going until he doesn't,'' Sharon Stynes told Channel Nine. ''But it won't be because he didn't try.'' Stynes, 45, is undergoing tests at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, after being admitted on Wednesday.
Axed Sylvia’s future in doubt
By Martin Boulton
THE future of Melbourne midfielder Colin Sylvia has been thrown into further doubt after the Demons last night dumped the 25-year-old from the side to play Carlton tomorrow at the MCG. Caretaker coach Todd Viney made four unforced changes and lost All-Australian ruckman Mark Jamar with a foot injury, but Sylvia's omission could be a major fork in the road in his contract negotiations with the club. Out of contract at the end of the season and believed to be seeking significantly enhanced terms to extend his eight years at the club, Sylvia could find himself fighting to regain his spot in the side as Viney seeks on-field redemption in the wake of a tumultuous week. Sylvia has played 119 games, including all 17 this season, and finished fifth in best and fairest voting last season and equal fifth the previous year. Already reeling from last week's 186-point loss to Geelong and the aftermath that cost coach Dean Bailey his job, the Demons face uncertainty about the future of star midfielder Tom Scully and Sylvia's axing places a big question mark over the former No. 3 draft pick. The highly rated Sylvia has averaged just under 20 disposals and five tackles this season. Contract negotiations between Sylvia's management company Stride and the club are scheduled to continue.
Demons boys' club will rue Bailey sacking
By Robert Walls
THE decision to sack Dean Bailey with five games to go was a massive overreaction from the Melbourne board. Small-time thinking failed to take into account the big picture. Sure, the 186-point defeat to Geelong was humiliating, but so too was the 16-goal defeat of Adelaide in round seven exhilarating. Young teams will do that. The wins and the losses can be miles apart. Facts need to be looked at. When Bailey was appointed coach in 2007, he took over a team that was ageing and in rapid decline. His brief was to play kids and perform poorly enough to secure the No. 1 draft picks in 2008 (Jack Watts) and 2009 (Tom Scully). This he did, so for anyone to look at his coaching record in those two seasons (three wins in '08 and four in '09) is absurd, because if anyone coached a team with two hands tied behind his back, it was Bailey. Last year was the first time he could be fair dinkum as a coach, and his young charges delivered eight wins and a draw against Collingwood. This year, most thought the Demons would do a little better. They sit on 7½ wins, with games to come against Carlton, West Coast, Richmond, Gold Coast and Port Adelaide. It would be expected they will beat the latter three. If that was the case, 10½ wins is an improvement and an 8-10 finish on the ladder is what most would have expected.
The Australian
Watchdog backs AFL on tanking
By Greg Denham
DESPITE growing concerns about the prevalence of tanking, the AFL yesterday received a welcome endorsement for its stance on the issue. On the same day Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett said Melbourne should have been heavily penalised for abusing the system, the Victorian government's sports betting authority said it was comfortable with the league's position. Acting executive commissioner of the Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation, Max Priestly, said he was satisfied with the AFL's position in safeguarding the integrity of the code at the elite level. "The VCGR is aware of current media speculation about tanking in the AFL arising from comments attributed to the former coach of the Melbourne Football Club, Dean Bailey," Priestly said. "The VCGR is satisfied that the AFL is taking the necessary action to protect the integrity of the events for which it is the sport's controlling body and that sufficient measures are in place to safeguard it." Tanking is a ploy used by clubs to deliberately under-perform to finish in a certain position to gain access to the best selections available via the draft system.
Consultant Lyon to help troubled Demons
By Greg Denham
MELBOURNE powerbroker Garry Lyon, as expected, has replaced seriously ill president Jim Stynes as the embattled Demons' new football director. In a statement from the club yesterday, the Melbourne board has sought Lyon's involvement as a consultant, liaising between the football department and club directors. "Garry's primary purpose will be to act as a liaison between the board and the football department and to make recommendations regarding the football department's current status and future development," the statement said. "Garry will start working with the club immediately. A time frame for how long Garry will be involved has not been determined. Garry will spend time working with the players and staff to gather the information he needs to make these recommendations." Lyon, who was involved in the process that selected Dean Bailey as senior coach at the end of 2007, will also play a prominent role in selecting Melbourne's next full-time coach.
BELEAGUERED Melbourne chief executive Cameron Schwab told fellow club chiefs that sacked coach Dean Bailey undermined him, creating divisions between the club's executive and players, and hurt his relationship with the board. It was a grave Schwab who attended the two-day meeting of all 18 AFL clubs outside Melbourne this week. The talks broke up late yesterday with the clubs no closer to learning of their financial position for 2012 coming from the league's $1.25 billion broadcast rights deal. Schwab is understood to have had little or no communication with Melbourne directors since Sunday night when gravely ill president Jim Stynes and his deputy Don McLardy pushed to reverse the decision to sack the CEO. It has also emerged that Schwab called Geelong chief executive Brian Cook last Saturday morning to excuse himself from Cook's table at the official pre-game function at Skilled Stadium.
Players told of developing roles
By Jon Pierik
MELBOURNE players were told by coach Dean Bailey at the start of the 2009 season they would be played out of position to aid their development, although whether that was the real reason for the manoeuvring has been privately questioned by some. One former Melbourne player, who did not wish to be named, last night said: ''We were told that whole year they [coaches] would be developing players in different roles, so when it came to positions … you could play forward, middle and back,'' he said. ''We trusted the coaching staff to do it. I suppose no one will ever know the truth. The players will never know the truth. You do what the coach says and hope everything goes well.'' Bailey, axed this week, could be queried on more than a dozen tactical and positional changes in two matches if an investigation into tanking was launched by the AFL. AFL operations manager Adrian Anderson said an inquiry would only be instigated if ''more information came to hand'', having been assured nothing untoward had happened when he questioned Bailey by phone this week.
Stynes fight lifts family
By Maris Beck
MELBOURNE Football Club president Jim Stynes was described by his sister last night as ''an inspiration to us all'', after he was re-admitted to hospital for treatment of a stomach tumour. ''He's going to keep going until he doesn't,'' Sharon Stynes told Channel Nine. ''But it won't be because he didn't try.'' Stynes, 45, is undergoing tests at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, after being admitted on Wednesday.
Axed Sylvia’s future in doubt
By Martin Boulton
THE future of Melbourne midfielder Colin Sylvia has been thrown into further doubt after the Demons last night dumped the 25-year-old from the side to play Carlton tomorrow at the MCG. Caretaker coach Todd Viney made four unforced changes and lost All-Australian ruckman Mark Jamar with a foot injury, but Sylvia's omission could be a major fork in the road in his contract negotiations with the club. Out of contract at the end of the season and believed to be seeking significantly enhanced terms to extend his eight years at the club, Sylvia could find himself fighting to regain his spot in the side as Viney seeks on-field redemption in the wake of a tumultuous week. Sylvia has played 119 games, including all 17 this season, and finished fifth in best and fairest voting last season and equal fifth the previous year. Already reeling from last week's 186-point loss to Geelong and the aftermath that cost coach Dean Bailey his job, the Demons face uncertainty about the future of star midfielder Tom Scully and Sylvia's axing places a big question mark over the former No. 3 draft pick. The highly rated Sylvia has averaged just under 20 disposals and five tackles this season. Contract negotiations between Sylvia's management company Stride and the club are scheduled to continue.
Demons boys' club will rue Bailey sacking
By Robert Walls
THE decision to sack Dean Bailey with five games to go was a massive overreaction from the Melbourne board. Small-time thinking failed to take into account the big picture. Sure, the 186-point defeat to Geelong was humiliating, but so too was the 16-goal defeat of Adelaide in round seven exhilarating. Young teams will do that. The wins and the losses can be miles apart. Facts need to be looked at. When Bailey was appointed coach in 2007, he took over a team that was ageing and in rapid decline. His brief was to play kids and perform poorly enough to secure the No. 1 draft picks in 2008 (Jack Watts) and 2009 (Tom Scully). This he did, so for anyone to look at his coaching record in those two seasons (three wins in '08 and four in '09) is absurd, because if anyone coached a team with two hands tied behind his back, it was Bailey. Last year was the first time he could be fair dinkum as a coach, and his young charges delivered eight wins and a draw against Collingwood. This year, most thought the Demons would do a little better. They sit on 7½ wins, with games to come against Carlton, West Coast, Richmond, Gold Coast and Port Adelaide. It would be expected they will beat the latter three. If that was the case, 10½ wins is an improvement and an 8-10 finish on the ladder is what most would have expected.
The Australian
Watchdog backs AFL on tanking
By Greg Denham
DESPITE growing concerns about the prevalence of tanking, the AFL yesterday received a welcome endorsement for its stance on the issue. On the same day Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett said Melbourne should have been heavily penalised for abusing the system, the Victorian government's sports betting authority said it was comfortable with the league's position. Acting executive commissioner of the Victorian Commission for Gambling Regulation, Max Priestly, said he was satisfied with the AFL's position in safeguarding the integrity of the code at the elite level. "The VCGR is aware of current media speculation about tanking in the AFL arising from comments attributed to the former coach of the Melbourne Football Club, Dean Bailey," Priestly said. "The VCGR is satisfied that the AFL is taking the necessary action to protect the integrity of the events for which it is the sport's controlling body and that sufficient measures are in place to safeguard it." Tanking is a ploy used by clubs to deliberately under-perform to finish in a certain position to gain access to the best selections available via the draft system.
Consultant Lyon to help troubled Demons
By Greg Denham
MELBOURNE powerbroker Garry Lyon, as expected, has replaced seriously ill president Jim Stynes as the embattled Demons' new football director. In a statement from the club yesterday, the Melbourne board has sought Lyon's involvement as a consultant, liaising between the football department and club directors. "Garry's primary purpose will be to act as a liaison between the board and the football department and to make recommendations regarding the football department's current status and future development," the statement said. "Garry will start working with the club immediately. A time frame for how long Garry will be involved has not been determined. Garry will spend time working with the players and staff to gather the information he needs to make these recommendations." Lyon, who was involved in the process that selected Dean Bailey as senior coach at the end of 2007, will also play a prominent role in selecting Melbourne's next full-time coach.
