On Monday night, it was former champion Demon forward and now radio broadcaster David Schwarz, who said he would be surprised if Neeld was coach of Melbourne next year.
Speaking at AAMI Park on Thursday, Neeld said he wasn't hurt by such comments and said he hoped to have a surprise of his own for Schwarz in 2014 by still being coach of the Demons.
"I hope he's surprised," he said. "I'd rather he be surprised, than me."
Schwarz told Fox Footy's Open Mike program on Monday night of his concerns over Neeld's performance as coach of the Demons.
"I can only see what I can see on the field," he said. "And if you could tell me in the first three rounds that the players were playing for the coach, I would be lying."
“Our footy department has been a debacle. There hasn't been anything down in the football department that's worked. Cameron Schwab is probably the first step of many before this club is actually up and going. It's a proud club. I don't want to see my club go down.”
Schwarz has been down at the club to work with some of the younger players and in that capacity Neeld said his input had been welcome.
But he dismissed the remarks from earlier in the week, saying Schwarz was wearing his "media hat."
"'That's 'ignore the noise stuff'. I quite like his show (Schwarz hosts the drive-time show on SEN) but with all due respect, I don't think David has spent much time inside the footy department."
"When he does, he's quite good, particularly with respect to our younger kids," added Neeld.
"But I don't think David's in a position to work full time in our footy department."
Former Essendon chief executive Peter Jackson as CEO with Melbourne on Wednesday in an interim capacity until the end of the season, but he and Neeld have yet to have anything more than an introductory meet and greet.
