Having just watched the Essendon* V Carlton game. I experienced something which I hadn't for many years. Usually when I watch a game on TV or in person (I am a member by the way) I am very vocal and in my supporting for the Blues and against their opposition I nearly lose my voice. Coming into this game after last week and the effort we put in against Port in the first round I gave us absolutely no chance as I have seen the way that we have played in not only this year but in years previous. Tonight at no point did I get even remotely animated. There was no yelling or excessive cheering for the team which I would normally do even while watching the game on tv, as I did tonight. As far as I am concerned there would have been no point. We were almost at no point in the game and without wanting to sound like a doomsayer it is becoming clearer week by week that you can write off the season. Yes I know it is only round three but this team year after year shows little if any signs of improvement. Here are some of the recurring themes:

You have only a handful of consistent players who try week in, week out. The rest seem to think it is acceptable to only try every now and then and that somehow mediocrity should be the new acceptable standard at the club.

For as long as I can remember, going back to when we had some of our greats such as Kouta, Kernahan etc.. the players in this team by and large seem to have no concept of consistently manning up. We have had several defensive coaches and if it is their responsibility then they are clearly falling down in their duties.

Since getting rid of Fevola (which was something the club had to do) there has been no consistent forward. Yes having Fevola made us one dimensional and he carried a lot of the weight of our goal kicking but since then the club has consistently tried unsuccessfully to use stop gap measures to replace that key forward such as Hampson, Casboult, Waite, Betts, Garlett, Yarran... the list goes on. All of these have had varying degrees of success but none have solved the problem.

Once again there was poor drafting. There were several opportunities to fill the gap of this position that anyone who had even more than a passing interest in the club would have seen as obvious. The club could easily have tried more aggressively to draft forwards that still have plenty of football in them such as Cloke (yes he is currently out of form), Chapman and Goddard. Instead they chose to draft yet another midfielder. What a wise choice.

In nearly every game I have seen as long as I can remember the club has shown themselves to be incapable of playing four quarter football. When you consistently go to sleep for at least a quarter against any teams other than the rubbish ones, then you will lose or come close to it.

There are many other things which I would go on about that are wrong with the club, such as the way they treat existing members who have been loyal to them for many years but clearly the club doesn't read the message boards or listen to the opinions of their supporters so what is the point.

I will always be a Carlton supporter and I will never follow any other team but one the last thing I want to say is that the Carlton teams from the last two and a bit decades seem to have no idea of the history and of the spirit of the club that they represent. The club has consistently been one of the best teams in VFL/AFL history and this is not based on poor drafting, apathetic efforts, tolerating mediocrity and not learning from your mistakes. If we continue on the path that we are on we will stay being a rubbish team, like so many others that have decades between premierships and who seem to have no premiership year in sight.

THIS IS NOT THE CARLTON THAT I KNOW AND LOVE.

It all corresponds with Sticks the administrator (with the culture that allows him everything he wants)
Now i wont say changing sticks will change anything..... because im of the strong belief the fumigation needs to begin.
id save nothing..... not even the portrait of pratt on the boardroom wall...
all trace of this culture needs to be eradicated
outside of that we have no hope


welcome to the new age... the new age.... mediocrity then shit!!!

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Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Geoffrey Edelsten pool and cafe (or whatever it's f%^&ing called). Says it all about this club.

yeah,,, not just one but both of those things....

couldnt be the alex jesaulenko pool.. he doesnt have money
couldnt be the flying doormat cafe.. he doesnt have money

perce jones is closing his doors.. he doesnt know where he is going from here...
thank god newton didnt try to involve him in some get rich quick schemes...
instead of those board guys trying to appease players... would be nicer if they helped ex players .. especially 4 times premiership players out in hard times

even we did our small bit....

we never forgot perce....

the people running the club have i reckon...

id like to see those kinds of programs put into place

about time we became a real club ... with real people

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Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

I felt the same way at the game. I couldn't muster the emotional effort to get angry, it's a feeling of complete resignation going to games now.

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Audere est Facere