well the worst thing is they have snatched hope away from us.
8 years ago we had hope... we dont have hope now
but theyre gunna fix it .. oh yeah theyre gunna fix things....

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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.

And I'm guessing one of these things will happen:

• board members don't lower themselves looking at things like forums where lowlife like members may express their opinions. After all, what would someone who is only a member know?

• board members will read these forums anonymously but don't think any of the criticisms voiced here are valid. What the hell would we know?! Don't you know how hard it is being a board member for a few hours a month?!

• board members will accept that the club has been in a rut, but nothing will be done because it's all too hard, the factions control the board and nothing they do at board level will ever have an effect

• board members know what's going on, but they've got it good on a bloated inefficient board, and are happy to play overgrown fanboi at the club.

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And so while others miserably pledge themselves to the pursuit of ambition and brief power, I will be stretched out in the shade, singing.

A tragedy that there will be no challenge.

A 'sliding doors' moment...

couldn't even break 70k at the G vs Collingwood on a Friday blockbuster in our 150th year !!

delusional board of directors

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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.

tell the truth we are miles away(always have been) last year we didnt make the finals and out of the two games we played i would refer to the syd game yet NOTHING CHANGED.

* Board members have empowered The YCP Think Tank to fix the problem (provided someone in the public presses the "SUBMIT IDEA" button on their website)

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Vice President, International Extreme Sarcasm Society (IESS)

AFL house would be very concerned about the 68k at the G for a block buster on a Friday Night.

and there was a bit riding on the game, during the week, lots of publicity

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Vice President, International Extreme Sarcasm Society (IESS)

Not often you'll hear me say this, but Robbo and Whateley summed it up on 360 a few weeks ago when they said "this is a club which lies to it's fans".

Unfortunately Gerard and Mark didn't make the further link that this is a club which lies to itself.

As you repeatedly say Synners, there's no honesty or integrity.

All clubs lie to their fans (see Bombers)

the game is a big business now.

In big business boards lie to their shareholders for as long as they can, and for as long as they can get away with it....

Profit rules in business

and in this game, profit AND flags rule - and they lie about both of these when things go pear shape

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Vice President, International Extreme Sarcasm Society (IESS)

Lets see some ethical investment

thats because the clubs think of us as idiots...

i mean some people are idiots.. but you need to come out and talk truth sometime ..
a decade of lies and deceit and still be crap will end up being the boy that cried wolf

noone will believe them...

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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.

..funnily enough there is a separate share register that lists socially responsible companies....

and one for environmentally responsible companies...

In fact one year on my super return, the socially responsible stocks outperformed the rest of the market. Generally they perform about the same.

Blues havent been ticking many boxes lately...,

I dont know what they stand for anymore

ONLY THE YCP THINK TANK KNOWS LADIES AND GENTLEMEN

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Vice President, International Extreme Sarcasm Society (IESS)

Sorry but I disagree. Sure not every detail about the running of clubs is shared openly with fans but the good clubs (Geelong, Hawthorn, Sydney, Collingwood etc) listen to their fans. They understand that treating their most important stakeholder ethically and with respect is paramount. This is what we lack and unless it changes fast a generation of fans will be lost.

you're kidding right?

You think that you can select some clubs that have won flags over the past decade and assume that they listen to their fans?

The opposite is true - once a club wins a flag they can get away with almost anything with respect to their fans. Increase membership fees, prices of merchandise, pass any resolutions they wish, give bonuses to staff etc...

And remember, at collingwood not ALL members can vote at AGMs - you need to be a special member to do that.

In the case of the Kangaroos, you cant even attend an AGM unless you are a shareholder because that club is a publicly listed company.

At carlton, we have it in our constitution that ALL members can attend and vote at AGMs.

The problem at Carlton amongst its membership is ignorance and apathy.

We get what we deserve at the blues

If members think that the problems at the blues are largely due to the Board, its direction and its decisions, then its the members FAULT - its their board.

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Vice President, International Extreme Sarcasm Society (IESS)

Who said anything about voting rights? We were specifically talking about lying to fans. Geelong, for instance changed their mind earlier this year after proposing to charge non members to attend training.

It's not about voting rights it's about treating your most valuable commodity with respect. I can't think of one club apart from ours which is so hopelessly out of touch with what their supporters want. Even Brisbane which was looking an absolute basket case last year has settled its off field issues fairly quickly.

...the club has ALWAYS been run this way - ALWAYS, right back to George Harris when he head hunted Barrassi. (and you can go back further to see similar power structures)

Why are you complaining of lack of respect to members now?

Because we are losing? And losing for a long time now?

(what has happened however is that the game has changed around us at a rapid rate, and we havent adapted to keep up. We appear to be incompetent and dinosaurious in our movement from one season to the next - what does everybody expect??? We dont set trends now - we are reactive, boring, riskless and pathetic)

NEVER FEAR LADEIS AND GENTLEMEN WE HAVE THE "SUBMIT IDEA" BUTTON ON THE WEBSITE OF THE::

]YCP THINK TANK

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Vice President, International Extreme Sarcasm Society (IESS)

I'm not sure those capitals are appropriate Cretylus or add anything to your debate.

Look I'm sorry, but as I see it you are changing your words and your argument.

From where many of us sit this club has consistently lied to us about the state of our list and where we are placed in terms of a premiership. Ratts telling us we were top 4 in 2012 and Mick telling us this year we are 11 o'clock on the premiership clock are two examples. The President telling us two premierships were possible by 2015 is another.

My original point was the club lies to us... I wasn't explicit in saying it was to that matter, but it's what I meant. I personally rarely see the formidable modern clubs such as Geelong and Hawthorn make that error. Even strugglers such as St Kilda now seem committed to telling us where their list is at.

As far as the club always treating us like this, you are probably right. But I'd argue it is something they need to change for the reasons you ironically point out - ie keeping with the times.

They don't lie to us about 'where are at' - they actually believe it to be true at the time. They are analytically inept. They make judgements about where we will be based on relying on luck - just like fans do. "If we get a full season out of Waite, Carrazzo and Jamison" - well if Santa is actually real.....

They bet we can get 4 good seasons out of a guy who hasn't played for two years. They delude themselves about their own capacity to turn this around. They are not unusual in that regard - many individuals do. That's why the structures Synbad talks about are so important. I've seen this in my own company and a terrifically functioning Board is working really well with Management to develop an exciting future for us. All ideas are welcome but they follow months of strategic work. Who are our competitors? Both now and what will they be like in the future? What are our advantages like against theirs? What do we stand for? What really is our brand? What's our product and who is going to buy it? This is a subscription business - footy - which means people need to KEEP buying it. What's our value proposition to the fans?

At my company we (Board + Management) ask ourselves "how do we know?" "What if we are wrong?" It's all very robust. And it's incredibly effective. I've seen no evidence of it at Carlton for years. Decades even.

Lack of clear analytical thinking. Lack of strategy. Lack of standing for anything.

And we put plodders in charge. You have to understand - to GET advantages you need a leader who can inspire. Be a thought leader. You need someone strong so as to get big deals done in your favour.

You can love or loathe Eddie. But he IS those things. And their club has thrived as a result. All power to them. Rather than loathe them, learn from them.

Then work out how to go ahead of them.