Coaching the Melbourne Football Club was never going to be a straightforward job.

But Mark Neeld is entitled to have hoped for a little less stress at the start of his rookie year.

Melbourne has faced a string of crises, disasters and tragedies in the past month.

Like the others, the latest incident concerning fictitious allegations of racist behaviour against Neeld is out of his control.

Melbourne’s start to the 2012 season has come against the background of the death of the club’s most loved figure, Jim Stynes.

The death of the Demons hero came only two weeks before a season-opener so many in football were hoping would reveal a new depth of spirit in a team that had endured a dismal past five years.

But they meekly handed victory to Brisbane, prompting their new coach to voice some home truths about the performance, something for which he was both praised and criticised.

Melbourne have also had to deal with Liam Jurrah’s alleged involvement in a serious assault in Alice Springs that stemmed from a dispute between rival indigenous clans.

Jurrah has been charged and is waiting for the legal process to unfold.

His club, meanwhile, is left wondering about the playing future of one of its most talented players.

Neeld also lost star player Colin Sylvia who suffered multiple spinal fractures in a pre-season game and is likely to be out for six weeks.

Even for a seasoned coach, it would have been a fiendishly difficult initiation.

But Neeld has handled it remarkably well.

The frankness he displayed following the loss to Brisbane was reflected under heavy questioning on Wednesday over the now disproved racist incident.

“There have been three or four issues and I don’t know being an assistant coach prepares you for so many of these things straight away,” Neeld said.

“You’ve just got to do what you’ve got to do.”

After that, the frank and open attitude seems to become confused with loyalty to the game’s bosses.

The AFL says it knows who instigated the false claim that Neeld had treated indigenous players differently to their teammates.

But Neeld says he has “absolutely no idea” who it is and isn’t worried that the AFL won’t tell him.

He also says he has no problem with the handling of the matter by the AFL, whose senior official Jason Mifsud mentioned the lie to his close friend and former St Kilda coach Grant Thomas who, in turn, published it in an online column.