Well I'm someone who expected us to do as well or better than last year. Getting rid of Fev was to me a positive, we had skilful small forwards who would be much better in '10, we could play Kruz up forward as a marking option now that Warnock was fit, Mclean would add some grunt to the midfield etc.

Okay, that didn't all come together, but either way up until we played Hawthorn I was pretty happy. Sure we still made plenty of skill errors, but the work rate, the sheer amount of ball we were sending into the forward line ensured victory more often than not . But on that day against the Hawks you could see something drain out of the players, was it confidence? Was it that they had been playing above themselves and could no longer sustain that level of effort? Whatever the cause I said to my wife that day "we're gone" if only I'd been wrong.

Who knows what the rest of the season holds. But when a side is playing as insipidly as we are at present, after having beaten the best teams in the league, you can expect supporters to be baying for the coaches blood. I don't know the answer but Rats certainly isn't helping himself with his responses to the media of late, there has to be a lot of soul searching done at the end of this season.

We got found out as frauds by the Hawks and now can no longer look any other team in the eye.

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This might sound extreme in the context of alleged sexual assault, drunken violence and a drug trafficking charge...

Anyone watch Melbournse effort yesterday?
OK. They were very ordinary in the first half. Questions need to be asked why. But the effort they put in after half time is what is expected from anyone who pulls on a jumper.

Lets not even go into game plans, structures, zones and tactics. The effort that is being put in by our players is pitiful.
Blocking is non existent. Positioning off the ball is all wrong, and a willingness to hit the contest and run back is just not there.

Forget stats Ratten, why can the team come out against Geelong and play hard, contested footy with the hearts and balls, then play 5-6 games where they dont even bother breaking a sweat?

Thats what i want to know.

I went to the Bombers game on Saturday and was laughing at how they were strolling around not trying. They clearly couldn't give a toss about knight or his game plan. There is no doubt hes lost his players. No doubt at all. No respect for the jumper and totally selfish.

I stopped laughing when i saw the exact same game from our guys yesterday.

Something is wrong.

Frauds is too harsh a term IMO, but that game certainly knocked us around mentally.

You can argue that our centre line should be the best in the league. However, very few of them can lay a tackle. It's as though they think it is not their role to do so.
There are too few players who can take an overhead mark - especially in a pack.
Delivery into forward line is hit or miss. Forwards don't often enough provide a lead.
Is it the players' fault or the coaching squad?

It's true that we don't have a player who can take a pack mark......in fact; we have trouble taking any kind of mark.....except; occasionally little Eddie shames his taller team mates by marking in the forward line.

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No ones listening till you make a mistake.

There is no doubt will need to make a big play for a power forward in the off season.

I am a little concerned we will give too much away but the necessity is too great to ignore.

No doubt?

Will this power forward make us more consistent? Will he make our players more desperate? Will he stop the players from being handbags?

No, that has to come from the playing group. When they play with spirit we've seen they have the talent and the current team structure is effective.

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You have got to be joking right.... name one team sport where a target man in the forward line is not required.

Absolutely no doubt we need an aerialist in the forward line to at least drag the best defender away from the action and create space.

Curling?

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STURDYISM!!

Go see a hairdresser I can not help you.

What a peculiar post...

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STURDYISM!!

Betts should take marks, he is after all our CHF, albeit the smallest CHF in the AFL

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Cheats never prosper (except in the AFL)

You'll never get anywhere on this site talking sense.............

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No ones listening till you make a mistake.

IMO our early draft pick are fine the problem seem to be our later picks say around pick 20 onwards. If they are poor picks or not i dont know. One problem could be our coaches are not capable of improving them or just wont give them a go when they deserve to. The pies for example reward them you play 2 averge games in there ones you get dropped. At carlton we have had players play 4 or 5 even 6 very averge games and still get selected till they start dropping these type of players and giving these later draft picks ago at it we aint going to improve.

best in the league?

other than Judd and Murph, name me our other genuine midfielders?

wheres the 'fab four' most of you got sucked into believing existed.

Well Amare, Bosh, and Boozer have all signed; but David Lee is still available.

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I AM DISENFRANCHISED

Those comments by Ratts are an embarrassment to the club. If we use that philosophy, then Ess in 93 and Haw in 08 far exceeded their expectations after the prelim and didn't need to try and win the GF. Imagine hearing Clarko or Sheeds telling the media during GF week, "Hey guys, its all great, even if we lose the GF, you guys didn't think we'd come this far anyway"

I used to love Ratts, I really did, but those comments embarrass and offend carlton supporters. Your pathetic excuses and excruciating use of statistics to paper over your ineptitude demonstrate the fact that you cannot coach an AFL side. Someone show Ratten the flowering door at season's end!!!!

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If I want your opinion, I'll give it to you!

As much as Ratts public stand was/is irritating (especially with the stats and media predictions), he has probably been giving them a massive bake behind closed doors for the last month or so. Its very naive to think how a coach talks to the media is how he talks to the players.

There is not fighting spirit amongst the supporters of the club. Noone is interested in supporting and encouraging the team to dig deep and fight their way out of the pickle they have got themselves in. All we get is a bunch of pissy fans scared sh1tless of hard work who just want to take the easy and most predictable option of calling for the coaches head. That will give them at least a year of dreaming things are on the up until the next coach loses 3 in a row and loses the players then it all starts again.

I can see why Ratts and Swann are sick of it and are throwing out some facts about how we are on par with what everyone said we would do. As for the "stats", WHo really cares what Ratts says in a press conference. If you are looking for answers there you must not have a fan of footy for long. All coaches waffle on. Watch Malthouse after a loss. He will make the headlines the next day about some issue totally not related to the game he just lost. He will talk about the war or philosophy, Pagan was a classic, Sheedy was over the top, Roos puts on a show, Worsfold scares people. Clarkson punches on. Anything but give answers.

Lets get behind the club and see if we cannot give the team a lift over the next month.