Neeld told the media on Saturday that the club's plan of building from the bottom up would take between three to five years to complete.
"There's no short term fix, it's a long term fix. We're doing exactly what everyone said the football club needed to do two to three years ago," he said.
When asked on radio station 3AW whether it was a shock to the players to hear Neeld say that putting the Demons back on track was a five-year job, Melbourne's Mitch Clark said what he thought.
"Maybe a little bit to be honest," Clark said.
Clark added that the quick turnaround other clubs had managed in recent years gave him hope Melbourne could do the same.
"Hopefully we can improve quite quickly," Clark said.
Clark also said that he enjoyed playing under Neeld and the absence of a few top players was hurting the Demons' performance.
The Demons' co-captain Jack Grimes told radio station Triple M the players did not read too much into timelines.
"I don't think as players you think of a timeline at all. You look at what teams can do from year to year and the changes that they can make," Grimes said.
"As a player you know what you can do over one summer or over half a season or whatever it may be to improve."
Grimes has only played in 14 wins and two draws in his 59-game career.
