People on this site were all over the play for Boomer at the time.

Old news.

We've won 4 out of the last 6 games and copped the reigning premiers on the rebound and we were competitive for all but 1 quarter and that is not a-typical of young side. If people cant see and sense genuine improvement they are not looking harder enough.

We also had and have an undersized and understrength backline however the forward line is a real worry-we need a CHF very quickly and its a damn shame we had to give up Kennedy. Fisher is a great mark but an ordinary kick and at best fills the 3rd tall option, Cloke is not a CHF and neither is Edwards. Expect a KPP drafted this year.

Yes. We would've lost by 100 pts.

As for chipping the ball, what was wrong with it. It had the desired effect of stemming their run-on as well as us getting a goal back. Surely you can see that. it wasn't disgraceful. At the time it was smart. The alternative was a couple more goals to them, the way they were playing, and none to us. If you can't see that you struggle. It was obvious.

Just to add to the realm of useless stats, take away the 3rd qtr and we lost by 2 goals (I know there was junk time goals).

The strategy by the Match Committee (not just ratts) ,in my believe, should be maintained as it will form the floor by which the absolute minimum will be set. The steps to a more direct, corridoor dominating, side must start from the ability to maintain position and deliever the ball when it suits us not the opposition!! I am confident that this development will continue and within a reasonable period of time this ability to dictate the games terms will be initiated by carlton.

We should not loose sight of who we played last night, this is a team that has taken a reasonable period of time to develop their minimum floor and as proven last year, their ability to initiate the games terms of play. (Geelongs minimum floor, gave them ability to win games, when they were put to the test, games against freo, swans, and brisbane)

Their skills at times were simply perfect, players were ready and able to run into nominated positions, with the confidence that their team mate will execute the preceeding play. This is proactive, confident football something that the promising top four sides posses.

As unbearable it is watch out team loose, we should keep the faith and hope that the development continues.

Go Blues.

Spot on.

On Cloke, like his brother who went from the ruck to CHF and did so well, I think Cam as well can make a good fist of it too. Strong mark, great mobility, covers ground well, reads the play well, works very hard, he may just be better suited to the role than you think.

Lets hope youre right, he does look a lot better with some weight off, looks more mobile.

well said - just watched the replay and didnt think we were as bad as many have made out on here (surprise surprise given the amount of wrist slashing post losses). Atm we just arent big/strong enough to compete with mature bodies - particularly if they choose to play a more physical game style.

Also lets not forget who we were missing - we dont have the depth to cover such injuries atm.

Turn it up! We finally played a real side. Pagan would have lost by more than a 100. I went to the game and they tried their guts out. They're missing a few, but so were geelong. Did you expect us to pump 'em? Who would you have put in the backline or done differently?

Ratten's coaching has been mediocre. He often employs tactics and selects players that will benefit the team short term at the cost of long term success. The chipping was admirable but it does nothing to overcome the sides weakness in playing through the corridor and breaking the lines. Last night Russel, Grigg, Wiggins, Bentick rarely took the game on. These guys have to add run to their game for us to improve. Thats where I would rather have Pfeiffer in for Bentick and play Edwards for Wiggins as a Hit Up forward. Armfield looks like he can run the lines. Will Ratten Coach that out of him? This forum does not put Ratten under any where near the scrutiny that was applied to Pagan. I think it is only reasonable to expect the same level of critique and not look at him through rose coloured glasses.

So you reckon the game plan that Knights is employing at Essendon* will be a long term winner....

Well why didn't Pagan try something similar?? Pagan would of turned it around , you don't need to be wizard to work that one out. But IMO Ratten will make it happen earlier.


I can assure you that i personally have looked at some games this year and thought that not only did we lose the game, but we were outcoached.
The Crows Game specifically. But last nights coaching performance was not that Ratten got beaten. It was the playing group that were beaten.

And i for one was very critical of Pagan and his game plan .

Had this been a Pagan coached team last night we would of been lucky to even get to 8 goals not 12, and sure we may have love by 10 goals plus. But we would have had no Pros...

As for Murphy going, i'm sure the Kangas Crew would be the only ones believing this. After all it was Pagans influence that got him over the line.

But don't kid yourself Murph is going no where. And if by some strange twist it happens, i'd be looking at Wells, Firrito, Petrie and there second rounder.... Not Going to happen....

Ratten > Pagan

_________________
I know a little secret. And i'm not sharing.

Compared to Pagan who benched players as soon as they made a mistake. Ratten has stated that he doesn't mind if the players make a mistake and encourages them to try things. At least he has introduced new blood compared to Pagan who really took short term fixes to new level (Mick Martin).

If you look at all the players that have been introduced this year (Browne, Armfield, Kruezer, Pieffer etc) they have adapted to seniors standard from the start.

From my point of view this year is a development year. A thread like this pops up after we have a loss or Ratten's coaching gets questioned. Like we give players time to develop I am prepared to give Ratts at least a year before putting the blow torch to him.

Pagan's coaching/game plan if he had one was the same from the mid 90s. IMHO Ratts is still developing his game plan. I think with the injuries we have to key defence personnel it is hard to play 4 quarters of attacking footy. I thought the slow down late in the second quarter worked to our advantage and if he is to develop tempo footy this is the time to try it when we are still developing as a side.

"Quality young player in wanted by other team shock"


I like chocolate

People werent bagging Pagan after 10 games into his first season as coach.

Of course it didn't look good last night, but we did try to take them on in the 3rd, and kept being caught holding the ball. Its just a young side which is getting better. If people think that is the same rhetoric thats been used for the past 6 years, thats totally wrong. If its seen that 8 wins is what most people expect this year, what do people expect from us against the best side in the comp?

quick, call the scribes - surely it must be the 1st time such a thing has ever happened

_________________
Ecclesiastes 1:4, "One generation passes away, and another generation comes: but The Blues abide forever."

Wow!
Some of you are rapt we didnt get done by 100 points.
We would have if it wernt tfor Juddy...

If only Pagan had Judd....

You cant compare us to teams that lost by 100 points... you must look at whats ahead of us to be a good side..

_________________
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.

Absolutely spot on.

I went to the game expecting to lose but interested to see how we would go about it. I was disappointed but the fundamental difference in the sides was that Geelong are a much more mature and experienced side.

That means:
- they are physically bigger
- more confident in their own abilities
- more confident in their teammates' abilities

That's not even considering the fact that they are full of All Australian players with freakish abilities (that Johnson handball over his shoulder was ridiculous!). Their awareness of what's around them is what got me thinking though. Is it because:
a) they have recruited unbelievably aware players
b) they have trained their players so well that they know exactly where their teammates will be based on structures
c) just have better talk and communication on the ground?

The fact that they have achieved team success and they all seem confident of their place and role in the team means they play the most unselfish brand of football I have seen. It's something to aspire to for our boys.

Hopefully when our boys reach that 23-27 age group they will play in a similar manner.

_________________
Don't blame it on the sunshine, don't blame it on the moonlight, don't blame it on the good times, blame it on the WIGGINS!

I commented to my brother last night, that this time last year with Pagan at the helm - things would have been so so so different.

The boys of last year would have walked onto the ground and played from the first bounce like a team that was already 12 goals down - so we that mentally screwed.

We would have capitulated the lead to Geelong by halfway thru the 1st Q, been 8-10 goals down at half time and probably had of lost by 110+ points.

We were simply beaten by a better team that was kicked into action like a beehive being hit with a baseball bat. The played a similar, fkawkess style to that of the Pies last week - and we couldn't match them... and as the papers have suggested the win is more of a reference to Geelong's skill, rather than an indictment on ours.

Not just to you synbad but to all others who have been ranting - if we had played well and were properly coached, what margin would you have expected? - and what margin will you be expecting for the port game?

For some reason, I'm expecting the generic - we need to see signs of improvement rather than any definitive statements. I'll preempt such responses by saying that I've seen plenty of gradual improvement throughout this season and signs of progress by our youngsters. If you cant, perhaps its because you refuse to do so (ie have unrealistic expectations)

FFS whats wrong with some of you guys? Maybe the ones complaining most loudest are the ones who have got ahead of themselves not unlike some of the cocky carlton supporting talkback callers I heard after the Cwood game. Pagan did not leave us in good shape and for someone who built his career on coaching youngsters thats even more baffling that some of young blokes arent more advanced

Ratten is starting from scratch again and is a rookie coach, we've played so damn good footy this year, yes he may have been outcoached but frankly you'd expect that from a multi-year expeienced premiership winning coach like Thompson. There will be games like Geelong but they will be fewer and fewer in the next couple of seasons because we have the foundations of a good side.

Clarkson had an ordinary first season and a bit too and it took Thompson years to build a decent Cats side.

Its simply not relevant what would have happened if Pagan was coaching.