Blue Vain wrote:
JohnM wrote:
Blue Vain wrote:
JohnM wrote:
i've got no idea.
But I'm not sure how this works. Ratten was as honest and blue collar and grunty a footballer as you can get, yet as coach he created a team of soft, flakey downhill skiers who shat themselves every time the spotlight was put onto them.
Did you see our finals match against West Coast in 2011 John?
We had the hardest road trip in the game with less than our full complement of players and missed a prelim by less than a kick.
Yes we had a poor year in 2012 which correlated with our injuries IMO but to suggest the players shat themselves every time the spolight was put onto them is wrong IMO.
I stand corrected. Should've said 'almost every time'.
I just don't buy this idea that teams play in a mirror-image of the way their coach played.
I agree that players dont play in the mirror image of their coaches but your ascertain that we shat ourselves when under the spotlight is completely misguided IMO.
The spotlight is applied at its greatest when you are playing the best with the most at stake. Thats finals football.
No one could possibly say we havent given everything when competing in finals.
In 2011, we obliterated Essendon* and played a sensational game against the Eagles. Our effort in 2010 against the Swans was full of merit as well.
If we want to be critical of Ratten, thats fine but lets be fair about it. To suggest he " created a team of soft, flakey downhill skiers who shat themselves every time the spotlight was put onto them" cannot be justified IMHO.
I may be unfairly critical, but I remember a team that lost finals to Brisbane, Sydney and West Coast in winnable games. Yes, we smashed Essendon*, who didn't bring a finals game at all... They were 2 games shy of 7th and quite frankly didn't belong. that's 1 from 4. I also remember a team that got up for the big games, but consistently crumbled when they needed to consolidate their good work by beating teams they probably should have in mid season.
In short, my recollection of Ratten's team was of one that was unreliable and fragile - the opposite of Ratten as a player. Honestly BV, did you go to the footy any time in the last 4 years confident that Carlton would grind out a solid, professional win? Personally, I had no idea what I was going to get... Boiled lollies or chocolates.
While I don't disagree entirely we lost finals away to interstate teams above us on the ladder by a grand combined total of 15pts when underdog. The West Coast game when we were well undermanned and lost possibly because of a bad umpiring non-decision in the last 30 seconds. If you want to use finals performances to make your point then you're barking up the wrong tree there. You can spin anything to suit an argument. Generally speaking you have some good points but I wouldn't use finals as an example.
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