When in the 2002-2007 period did you just think we were never going to emerge from being so bad? When do you think we just couldn't slip any further? When did our great club hit absolute rock-bottom in your eyes?

For me it was the final game at Princes Park in 2005. To not even really be able to raise a whimper in a farewell to our magnificent home ground... well, I thought that was as bad as it got. To see Kouta then raise the ball at the end of the game in a meek sort of triumphant gesture (he had to do it... so I'm not knocking him personally, but after we'd just got pumped like that it hurt!) showed the depths that the mighty Blues had slumped to. I have that narrowly ahead of efforts like:

Fev at fullback against the Saints
Watching Pagan's final game at the Gabba (that one had a silver lining though)
The Smorgon Presidency (I'm sure he loved the club... but I thought it would go to its knees under his leadership)
Hearing that opposition players didn't want to come and play for Carlton anymore

So when was the worst of it all for you?

Cain Ackland......

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when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth

Feelgood Hit of the Winter - GHRP-2, GHRP-6, CJC-1295, AOD-9604, Humanofort and Hexarelin

that game against the saints was pretty horrible where fev was at fullback

corey mckernan running around for us and winning a B&F was pretty horrible

i dont wanna think much about those bleak years any longer

horrible times

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*(grow - fun - gah)

Yeah but whatabout your whataboutism.

The worst time was at the end of 2006 just before trade week. We had 2 more years of Pagan's contract and Thornton and Russell asked to be traded, that was rock bottom. At the same time it was when things began to turn for the better when we retained them both.

That first spoon still hurts.

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Richard Pratt - A Carlton legend.

who care's.

its all about 2009 and beyond

I think the worst time was the night when Pagan survived the axe and Mitchell was hung out to dry by the Smorgon lead board.
A shameful and most embarrassing time indeed.

The other time was when Smorgon appeared on The Footy Show begging the AFL for a handout.

gee we've been a rabble eh ?!

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*(grow - fun - gah)

Yeah but whatabout your whataboutism.

- When Smorgon went on The Footy Show and begged supporters to join up, saying that the club was close to insolvent

- When Marcus Rose said we're worse then Fitzroy

- the whole Smorgon vs Lauraine Diggins public mud slinging

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James Hird and Essendon* FC - #FOREVERDRUGCHEATS

Agree on those.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

Damn straight. The penalties were just salt into the wounds.

For a lot of the time I was pretty numb, as we copped so many hits I just started to not feel any pain anymore. But nothing got the bile rising in my throat like our rd22 game against North. As soon as Doctor Edelston won the flowering Carlton raffle and a car, I knew that things couldn't get much worse. A 20 goal hammering later and I was more furious than any time in my life of watching football. It was the only time I could empathise with those guys hurling abuse at the players as they went down the race, and throwing membership cards at them and the like, which hurt even more.

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WADA medical director Dr Alan Vernec describes Essendon* FC drug case as biggest scandal in team sport the world of sport has seen. #WC2WB

#GUILTY

Positive comment?

I was with a mate (a saints fan) & his kid at a St Kilda kids day in Launceston, which just happened to be draft day..absolute low light was hearing Hamill (sure it was him, I've blocked so much out) laughing with some other player about us picking up Mick Martyn...and they picked Goddard

The Smorgon years on and off the field were the worst ever...

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Scott, things aren't as happy as they used to be down here at the unemployment office. Joblessness is no longer just for Philosophy majors - useful people are starting to feel the pinch.

My mum worked for Smorgo many years ago, and when she found out he was running the club she told me that we'd best pack for the Gold Coast because that's where we would end up. Thank Christ sanity prevailed.

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WADA medical director Dr Alan Vernec describes Essendon* FC drug case as biggest scandal in team sport the world of sport has seen. #WC2WB

#GUILTY

this is going to sound strange, but im glad we had this time of gloom.


hang on, keep reading!

I didnt appreciate just how a freakishly consistent and good team we were. i didnt appreciate how good we had it, playing finals just about every single year. I didnt appreciate winning the whole thing in 1995 as we were always thereabouts.

Then came the last 5 years.

Now comes the rebuilding. I now appreciate everything so much more, number 17 is going to be so much sweeter.

and the best part??????

all the people that saw Carlton down and tried to sink in the boot.
"oh they're gone, they'll merge, they'll fold, look at how shit they are, they're worse than fitzroy"

well, we are on our way back. just goes to show, you cant keep the navy blue machine down.

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Back like a raging case of pubic lice

Thats a very good way to look at things.

While no one was happy or comfortable during those years - unremitting gloom and despair, our re emergence and a 17th flag will be all the sweeter after the dark ages we went through.

Theres nothing to be happy about those times - except perhaps a couple of wizzer cups.

Every year was bad, but the worst though for me was the reign of Smorgon generally and the 'poorer than Fitzroy' thing in the paper.

The gleeful waving of the wooden spoons by opposition supporters was bad too.

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My Blue Heaven

Damned right too!

The first spoon was given to me by...(wait for it) a Melbourne supporter!
I kept it, had it engraved and gave it back this year

added "hang on to it and you can give it back to me the next time we get the spoon" ....the expression on their face was priceless, they couldn't believe that I had kept it for so long, and they also knew they would have to hold onto it for a flowering long time to get me back...

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“Every single element of the Club has to be the best in the league, meticulously and methodically, and only by doing this will we be elite and challenge for number 17.”
Greg Lee

The look of total relief on Barnaby French's face when he announced his retirement.

Another time was when I was away for the weekend and we were playing West Coast in Perth on foxtel. I saw a score update and saw we had been pumped by about 80 pts.

Unfortunately I later found out this was only a 3/4 time score, and we finished up losing by about 120 pts.

Another lowlight was knowing we were going to be smacked by the Saints one particular day, so took the family to the zoo so I could totally avoid footy for the day. Think we lost by 100.

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Get comfortable being uncomfortable

The worst for me was the 2005 season.

We finished 11 or something in 2004 and things were looking up. We went in the pre season cup and won and I can still remember thinking that we were on the rise then in 2005 we won another spoon.

Thats the one that hurt the most for me.

But I agree that these next few years are gunna be that much sweeter after what we've been through as a club.

Bring on number 17!!!