Geelong boss Chris Scott says it’s unseemly to discuss AFL club Melbourne’s next coach as his assistant Matthew Knights gets linked to the job.
Knights, the former Essendon coach, has emerged as a chance to replace Neeld should Melbourne’s board change their tune on the beleaguered coach.
The board on Monday night backed Neeld to continue, but speculation continues about prospective Demon coaches.
Scott believes his assistant Knights could again be a head coach.
“I think he’s capable of it, there is no doubt about that,” Scott told reporters on Tuesday.
Scott has spoken to Knights about any move by Melbourne.
“We have had a really brief conversation about it and he hasn’t spoken to anyone at Melbourne,” Scott said.
The Cats coach then said the speculation surrounding Neeld was disrespectful.
“I shouldn’t be commenting on that situation – to be fair to Matthew Knights and to be fair to Mark Neeld as well,” Scott said.
“I understand you guys in the media need to ask those questions.
“But I think it’s really disrespectful for people within the AFL industry, particularly coaches, to be talking about potential replacements for really capable people who are in a job and contracted.”
Scott has previously praised the input of Knights, who was Essendon coach from 2008-2010.
Meanwhile, Geelong can’t put a timeframe on the return of veteran Paul Chapman after a setback in his recovery from a hamstring injury.
The triple premiership player hasn’t played since round four and Scott concedes he’s not sure when Chapman will return.
“Unfortunately he did have a little bit of a setback with his hamstring last week so we’re going to be extremely conservative with him,” Scott said.
“He will take at least another few weeks to rehab that and then there will be a period where he needs to get some match fitness back.
“It’s really hard to determine a return date for him. Suffice to say, it’s going to be quite a while.”
The Cats will rest forward Steven Motlop (knee soreness) for this weekend’s match against Greater Western Sydney.
“He has got some patella tendonitis that we need to manage,” Scott said.
“He’ll take the chance to have two weeks off with the bye next week as well, and hopefully get him back feeling a bit better.”
