By William Thomson from backpagelead.com.au

Melbourne supporters have gone 'feral', abandoning decorum and patience following this disastrous start to the season.


The club has been bullish about its future for years and dragged its faithful along for a journey built on what appears to be false hope. Supporters can't help but feel made the fool and the tipping point has been reached. When Mark Neeld uttered the words 'rebuilding the rebuild', that was enough to warrant giving up.



The past two weeks have seen supporters clamber towards the player's race in their hundreds at the end of the game, leaning over the fence to hurl abuse at a group of players that have shown largely nothing in season 2013. The oldest club in the land has an identify far removed from booing players, and in some ways is a refreshing reminder of just how much they care. If anything, Melbourne fans have been accused of being dispassionate.



Plenty of clubs in the past have endured lean periods and heavy losses, but the manner in which Melbourne has made failure a characteristic is truly unique.



For supporters, the agony is made worse by the difficulty in apportioning blame as the media throws up a multitude of explanations from the board to the boot studder.



History's losers have seldom been as complex as Melbourne. More often than not, a club's shortcomings are as simple as blaming the coach or waiting for a list to develop.



Melbourne's rot is deeply ingrained and there is an argument to assign equal amounts of blame to all facets of the club.



The administration and board has done a terrific job in eradicating debt and at least ensuring some financial stability, but CEO Cameron Schwab has been divisive - from my perspective as a fan - and was at one point sacked before being re-hired. There is undoubtedly a level of incompetence at the top level that is filtering through the halls at AAMI Park.



In being pushed to resign on Tuesday afternoon, Schwab became the club's first casualty from this disastrous start to the year.



The recruiting department is also in the firing line, with so much resting on choices at the draft table. Melbourne has had myriad top picks, but its misses are more famous than those it picked.



The club has responded to this, appointing Collingwood's recruiting second in charge, Jason Taylor, who has taken up his post this year.



In a chicken and the egg scenario, perhaps it's the football department's inability to develop players. Would Jack Watts or Colin Sylvia play with such despondency at Collingwood?



As for Mark Neeld, he can't be expected to last much longer if this form continues. To sack the coach would be to come full circle and mark a rebuilding of yet another rebuild. However, with the board allowing a first time coach 'cart-blanche' to fix the culture of the football club, his ruthlessness has perhaps gone too far.



The players look despondent and the game-plan flawed. The incessant long kicking isn't working and the midfield is a revolving door. Players that are indeed talented appear stifled by the game plan that simply doesn't allow for easy ball, while opposition midfielders become SuperCoach heroes.



Never has a Melbourne side played so loose on its opponent, and despite claiming not to be playing a zone, defenders are guarding space and not an opponent.



Either the coach has lost the players, or the players have no understanding. Melbourne supporters would be happy if their team played man-on-man.



Neeld's opening remarks of wanting to coach the 'hardest team in the AFL' are now laughable, and have been replaced by talks of rebuilding again and educating players.



What message do you send when the focus is continually on development and rebuilding? What mind-set do you create among players when you're told continuously and publicly you're not good enough? The focus on winning has been long gone from Melbourne.



The players are getting much of the vitriol, and perhaps they deserve it. The lack of urgency is astounding from supposed professionals that are paid a king's ransom to play the game. To watch Geelong captain Joel Selwood's appetite for the contest is like watching another sport in comparison. To think Melbourne players are entitled the same portion of the salary cap is theft.



There is a lack of care and accountability from Melbourne players that is so evident by their effort alone. It's a fundamental that talent plays no part in, yet supporters haven't even been afforded that so far. To see such laziness suggests something rotten within.



To go cup in hand to the AFL for administrative assistance would be an embarrassment, but perhaps a necessity. The club has merely flickered since 1965, where on the night before round 13 a courier delivered a termination notice to the game's greatest coach - the curse of Norm Smith lives on.



Melbourne fans will either grit their teeth or give up. Again, there is no quick fix. Again, they will be called upon for patience. They can hardly bear to hear it.