I will fight thou the keyboard warrior with thy keyboard mikkey???

Pratt never saved the cllub ....... he merely passed through it and gave it a spike.

His legacy is what we have today... chaos via a boys club

Respect to Pratt for helping out when he did... but "save"? get a grip.....

The club has outlived Pratt and will outlive us all...

_________________
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.

Pratt didn't save it, but rather ensured it didn't completely go to shit during the Smorgon era, of which he was notably absent from.

_________________
BLUES 2010: PAV AND JUDD = FLAGS. DOING IT FOR THE LOVE OF DICK PRATT.

HAVE YOU SIGNED UP FOR TALKINGCARLTON SUPERCOACH 2009 YET?

Deriding Pratt is really delusional. No matter if he was "past it" regarding the way the AFL works, he attracted Judd, got rid of a mediocre CEO, increased corporate dollars enormously including the famous fund raiser at his place, initiated the new facilities etc. The club was nearly "gone" under the "leadership" of Smorgon. Pratt was like a defibrillator. I wonder what had happened without him. No competent staff, heavy weight board members or top players wanted to join us before he came to the club. He was far from perfect, but he stopped the slide.

_________________
TC suffers from the social media illness - the death of respect and constructive discourse by keyboard.

Yeah...was a bit of a delayed reaction but here we are now!

_________________
“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace turns into a circus.”
Turkish Proverb

+1

The fact of the matter is that in 2007 Carlton was deciding whether or not to hand the keys back to the AFL. We were a financial basket case.

Pratt reversed that regardless of how people try to spin it.

Regards Cazzesman

_________________
Ricky Gervais - “Everyone has the right to hold whatever beliefs they want. And everyone else has the right to find those beliefs f***ing ridiculous.”

I dont have a problem with keyboard warriors as such - you know that - only when they are totally unreasonable. I am very surprised you too diminish Pratt's importance.

Have you forgotten the situation at the end of the Smorgon era? Talk to Greg Lee, Stephen and others who were there. Revenue stuffed, Pagan, empty corporate functions, no established players wanting a bar of us, weak CEO, terrible facilities, no money for basic things etc. Pratt made a huge difference. He was far from perfect but he provided CPR. Really disappointed you guys don't want to admit this.

_________________
TC suffers from the social media illness - the death of respect and constructive discourse by keyboard.

And he lifted our membership

_________________
I need some new conspiracy theories; all my others have come true.

FWIW I'm glad for what Pratt did and glad for the fact that he couldn't do everything.

The last thing any club needs is to be beholden to a single vested interest.

Pratt gave the club a major shot in the arm but it needed a culture change and that takes a generation.

Hopefully we're halfway there.

_________________
“When a clown moves into a palace, he doesn't become a king. The palace turns into a circus.”
Turkish Proverb

Where was he when Smorgon was president?

_________________
BLUES 2010: PAV AND JUDD = FLAGS. DOING IT FOR THE LOVE OF DICK PRATT.

HAVE YOU SIGNED UP FOR TALKINGCARLTON SUPERCOACH 2009 YET?

This is the first time in a long time I am close to being angry. I spend a bit of time around the club and functions in the period 05 - 07. Basket case, rabble, smoking ruin are kind words to describe the club at the time. I remember sitting next to Smorgon at a function for a whole B&F or whatever it was and nearly cried when I came home. We were stuffed. I was told by insiders at the time about the real financial position and I was sure we would be run by the AFL very soon. I remember how there were feverish efforts to get a heavy weight to come in and help - nobody wanted to touch us.
Pratt was the white knight. He did some very important things and he gave back the believe. He did not fix everything - of course not. He was not there for a long time and his health and the accc witch hunt quickly sidetracked him. But where would we be if not for him?
No way would we now attract 2 heavy wights to the Board without the rescue job he started. Bruce M is the other person who has been very important, but without Pratt we would be dead.

_________________
TC suffers from the social media illness - the death of respect and constructive discourse by keyboard.

Where was anyone? Nobody wanted to touch us at the time because they believed we were too far gone to be rescued. Pratt was old and only did it because JE begged him. Kudos to JE (who I greatly dislike) for doing so.

_________________
TC suffers from the social media illness - the death of respect and constructive discourse by keyboard.

Great post Mikkey.
We owe him our thanks, and he has mine.

_________________
That’s not a political statement — it’s a harsh reality, and we must act,” she said. “He is a clear and present danger to the things that keep us strong and free. I support impeachment.”

So you're saying that Pratt's sabbatical from the club post-axing of John Elliott till the end of Graeme Smorgon's reign as President was more to do with how we were performing as a club on/off field, rather than personal vendettas relating to his relationship with the Smorgons and axe to grind at his mate Big Jack being ousted from power?

_________________
BLUES 2010: PAV AND JUDD = FLAGS. DOING IT FOR THE LOVE OF DICK PRATT.

HAVE YOU SIGNED UP FOR TALKINGCARLTON SUPERCOACH 2009 YET?

He had been away for a number of years. At the time JE and Sticks went to Pratt it was close to "last call" and I am sure the survival of the club was the issue. Remember nobody wanted to touch us under Smorgon and even after he was ousted by the members. Mitchell and others were asked at the time. I am sure Pratt saw himself as "retired" from the club no matter what the relationships.

_________________
TC suffers from the social media illness - the death of respect and constructive discourse by keyboard.

Biding his time waiting for us to hit rock bottom.

Whatever he was up to he got us back on track when he chose to. We have to thank him for that.

FFS AFAIK Pratt had only been social club director years before. At the time the club was in trouble he was 70+. He was not biding his time. He was retired. When he came to the club he was President for only 500 days, a large portion of this sidetracked by his health and ACCC. Try to look at his achievements from this angle.

IMHO there should be a statue of him in front of the club. Based on a number of conversations at the time with "insiders" I am sure that without him we would have been forced to hand in the keys.

_________________
TC suffers from the social media illness - the death of respect and constructive discourse by keyboard.

All true, and you could probably argue that several payments made in the final years of the Elliott regime kept this from happening sooner.

But in that time he chose to stay away from the club we ended up with a debt to the AFL on our ledger, as well as a seven figure amount in interest to the NAB and Westpac that could have been prevented had he acted sooner. Also somewhat hypocritical, if the rumours about why he was against Fahour joining the board in the first place.

By waiting as long as he did, he may have earnt the plaudits of being the saviour, but also made the job far harder than it needed to be on the basis of politics and power.

_________________
BLUES 2010: PAV AND JUDD = FLAGS. DOING IT FOR THE LOVE OF DICK PRATT.

HAVE YOU SIGNED UP FOR TALKINGCARLTON SUPERCOACH 2009 YET?

See my post above. You are making some claims you cant document. He was not waiting he was retired. Only came because he was begged and told that the club was going to fold. AFAIK Pratt/Visy were still contributing during the Collins / Smorgon years. Mentioning some outlandish rumour that Pratt was against Fahour because of some muslim thing is just a rumour and highly defamatory. You and others are just making things up. Are you anti semitic?

_________________
TC suffers from the social media illness - the death of respect and constructive discourse by keyboard.

lets all go to the cemetary and piss on some graves

_________________
*(grow - fun - gah)

Yeah but whatabout your whataboutism.