Melbourne couldn’t afford $1.5 million payout if it decided to part ways with coach Simon Goodwin

Simon Goodwin says he was employed to lead Melbourne to its next premiership and he still believes he can do that despite the Demons’ form slump and a blast from president Glen Bartlett. And while Goodwin said he wouldn’t be making any excuses for the 51-point smashing by Port, forward Tom McDonald has paid the price for his poor output and been dropped for Wednesday’s clash with Adelaide. Bartlett was livid after the Demons managed just one goal in a half against Port, calling the effort “insipid” and “disgraceful”. Goodwin, who is contracted until the end of 2022, said he agreed with the club boss, who has thrown his support behind the coach to turn things around. “I think when the chairman speaks you’ve got to listen,” Goodwin said. “Glen was speaking of an emotion that supported what I thought and what our supporters thought. “I’ve spoken to Glen at length and he’s had nothing but support for myself. I was employed to lead this footy club with a clear strategy, to lead us to our next premiership, and I’m still very confident we are going to be able to do that. ’If that puts pressure on me, those comments, I have to accept that. I know where we are at. I want to thrive under this pressure.” Despite slumping to a 3-5 record, Goodwin was adamant Melbourne’s season was “well and truly alive” ahead of a must-win clash against the winless Crows. “What we are looking for right now is for people to thrive. We’re looking for staff, for coaches, for players who really welcome this opportunity. There is no better opportunity to deal with pressure,” he said. “As a club that’s where we have placed ourselves, on our own doing, and we are the ones who will get ourselves out of it. “We’ve got an incredibly proud group. We made some progression, we regressed badly, and we get a chance to do something about it.” Goodwin confirmed skipper Max Gawn was “fine” and would play the Crows, but forward McDonald, who has kicked just four goals in six games, wouldn’t. Goodwin said the Demons had scrapped the idea of playing three tall forwards, as they did last week, and McDonald wasn’t performing well enough to keep his spot. “We’ve got to work with Tom to get him back to his best,” Goodwin said, ruling out returning McDonald to defence. “We need him to play like a big man, compete aerially and at ground level, and we are going to keep working with him. Tom would be disappointed with his output in recent times, and we need to get him to his best. Aaron Vandenberg will return after having surgery on his cheekbone, and Goodwin said Melbourne would take 29 players to Adelaide for back-to-back games against the Crows and North Melbourne. CLAUSE THAT KEEPS GOODWIN SAFE - Michael Warner, Sam Landsberger A form reversal is not the only factor that will guarantee Melbourne coach Simon Goodwin keeps his job. A recent memo to all 18 clubs stipulated that football department termination payments would be excluded from the 2020 soft cap – subject to AFL approval. Rival clubs believe there is no way the league would allow the Demons to pay out Goodwin’s contract in the current economic crisis – even if the club wanted to move on him. Goodwin is contracted until the end of 2022 under a four-year extension signed off by club president Glen Bartlett and chief executive Gary Pert after the club’s 2018 preliminary final run. A potential payout for Goodwin would top $1.5 million. The termination clause for this season is aimed at assisting clubs push under next year’s $6.3 million football department soft cap. Clubs are being forced to heavily reduce costs and staffing numbers to save tens of millions of dollars across the competition. If the Demons board decided Goodwin was not their man it would have to pitch a case for special approval before the season’s end. Bartlett heaped pressure on Goodwin after Thursday night’s loss to Port Adelaide at the Gabba, labelling it “soft as butter” and “insipid”. “It was disgraceful. When you pull on a Melbourne jumper, we don’t give them out in Weeties packets,” Bartlett said. “You have to show respect for the jumper and the fans, and apart from a few blokes last night, it was an insipid performance. It wasn’t Melbourne-like and it won’t be tolerated going forward. “The coach and the footy guys need to address it. I am sure they had a tough review but we just can’t serve up that kind of rubbish for our fans and supporters and for footy in general.” Asked if his comments were a reflection on Goodwin, Bartlett said: “Well, we just keep to the program. “The immediate thing now is we don’t panic. We react. It’s an emotional game but that was not acceptable at any level … I can’t even put into words how I feel. “The players understand what it means when you wear the Melbourne jumper and we have done a lot even over the last few weeks on that. “They completely trashed it last night and they need to address it and they need to take ownership of it. I can’t play full forward. Perty can’t play centre half back. “There is no excuse for anything but results.” Melbourne play the winless Adelaide Crows at the Adelaide Oval on Wednesday night. DEES MUST HEED PRESIDENT’S WARNING — Sam Landsberger Melbourne captain Max Gawn and his underperforming teammates need to heed president Glen Bartlett’s warning, according to AFL great Matthew Lloyd. Bartlett delivered a scathing assessment of Melbourne’s Round 9 loss to Port Adelaide in Saturday’s Herald Sun and while Lloyd said pre-game addresses from former Essendon boss Peter Jackson weren’t well-received during his playing days, the goalkicking champion said it was time the Demons shook things up. “We had probably three times in my career our CEO, Peter Jackson, say, ‘Guys can I speak to you before this game’,” Lloyd said on 3AW. “And it’s 15 minutes before the game and he’s giving us a talk about how important it is, how our last few weeks weren’t good enough and how we need you to win. “We didn’t like it as players. We are fully aware of how big this game is. “Yet sitting where I’m sitting now I’d actually say to Max Gawn, ‘Actually, Max, have a listen to what he’s actually said and say what’s wrong about it?’ “Is there pride in this jumper at the moment? Have you got respect? Whether you liked it or not he’s probably fed up, he’s disappointed, he’s supported you guys for a long time but you’re actually not doing the job out on the ground. “It’s come a time at Melbourne where maybe trying something different isn’t a bad thing.”