Dees battling on and off field as the names are different, but the plot is familiar

THE question about whether coach Mark Neeld should go is not the only question hovering above this footy club.

Demons humbled again

AS expected, the question centred on the senior coach.

Should Mark Neeld go?

Melbourne's hierarchy converged on radio yesterday and all of them - Neil Craig, Don McLardy and Cameron Schwab - voiced their support for Neeld.

The support was critical, Schwab said.

The same was said in the weeks before Terry Wallace was sacked as Richmond coach in 2009.

The names are different, but the plot is familiar.

There's an expectation of improvement; the players are behind the coach; they are battered on the field in Round 1; the pressure goes up a notch; they lose again; talkback radio is violent; the management fronts the media and supports the coach while stressing that the road ahead is difficult.

It is Chaos 101.

If, in a fortnight's time, the Demons are still producing demoralising and shameful efforts on the field, the question will be asked again.

And if they lose again, it will be asked again.

Eventually, the club will need to act.

Clearly, the question about the coach is not the only question hovering above this footy club.

Chairman McLardy said yesterday the performance on the field was not the fault of the office-holders off the field, or a reflection on them.

That's baloney.

Firstly, and most critically, good clubs share the responsibility. You win together and you lose together.

Secondly, there has been a stench around this football club since 2007.

Perhaps we are seeing the results of tanking, an acceptance of defeat by the players that could stem from decisions which made a loss appear not only acceptable, but even desirable.

As we stand, Melbourne is the basket case of 2013.

And the Greater Western Sydney game in Round 4 is looming as the line in the sand.