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There are two things a football club can do that determine everything about their existence. You either win matches or lose matches, you're off field performance is determined by your onfield success. So whatever board we have is going to have difficult times until we succeed on the football field.
Looking at our last ten years, after '95 Elliott and Parkin's formula for continuing our success was woeful on and off field. As was what our recruiters were able to do with what they had left over.
People may say look at Collingwood's last two seasons and say they failed on the field but succeeded off it, but look at how Eddie used the momentum of two Grand Final apearances to achieve what he wanted off the field. Not to perfection but laying great foundations. Our board tried to do the MCG deal but the AFL wouldn't accept it, while the foundations Elliott left could not have been worse.
Hawthorn have decided to fail in the short term to succeed in the long term, which the media seem to have bought for the present. So they may be an exception to my rule, but we at Carlton are definitely not.
Let's face it, the Melbourne media thrive on our failure and question the board's every move. Perception growingly seems to be our board's greatest concern, when this needs to be balanced with whether they are making the right decisions for our future. Maybe they are trying to balance on field competitiveness with looking to the future, but as Synbad/Blue Vain and many have said, their handling of the Fevola signing then possible trading, was woeful, as was the publicity of the handling of Lance's contract.
Maybe they were sticking to the contract guidelines, but you have to consider whether the $50 000 Lance didn't get on his contract was
$50 000 of bad publicity? To many this may not seem the case now, but if we don't improve on the field soon, which looks likely, for the rest of their career's Lance and Fevola will be seen as the players Carlton could have traded to for benefit in the future. Give the Elliott year's players close to what they want, ie. feed the animals how they are used to being fed but to the young players ( ie. all our list bar five) and players who are recruited to the club say these are our guidelines for future contracts.
Another problem is Denis won't discuss contracts publicly, Collo and the board won't discuss contracts, but Malouf who makes decisions on players under instruction from others does. It's bad business, fair enough Collo can't discuss contracts because of his rep, but someone on the board should be the spokesperson and appear responsible for our contract decsions. Andrew Demetriou speaks for the AFL on big issues, while Ben Buckley and Adrian Anderson both speak for their fields of responsiblity. The people who make the decsions for the club should speak, not our bean counter - it gives the damaging perception - the bean counter is speaking, so it will always be about the beans at Carlton. My problem isn't with Malouf, it's that there is no one on the board seemingly capable to speak publicly on important matters.
Football club finances aren't about making money per se, it's about at least breaking even while maximising on field success, improving the facilites for the players and the members, and improving the status of your brand.
If well qualified fresh business and football blood is not brought onto the Carlton Board in the next year, I'm really of the mind that the Carlton internet communities should develop our own ticket for the board in 2006. It may sound ludicrious to some, but knowing many people, I know, bar Collo - we could match the skills of the current board. We should go to them with this notion in July '06 and say this is what we'll do unless 4 or 5 of you are replaced with better qualified people. I know from the quality of the responses of many people, we understand public relations far and away better than the Carlton board. Apply the pressure on the board to move to get better people involved, if there aren't any willing, well this is a great and monumental problem
The best we can do for '06 promotion, is to forget Fev as the face of Carlton, but promote our team as teams amongst teams - our forward team, our on ball team, our back team and our new generation team. Tell and promote the players as teams within a team and that's how they will play and be publicly percieved. If they play shit, then get on the front foot with the media, show some aggression, say Carlton will always be questioned whatever we do, so well stand as one as Carlton people developing success in the most dynamic form possible. Currently, we are just plasticine in the media's hands, regardless of the information members of the board feed certain prominent journalists.
Having said all this, the most important thing we can do is recruit high standard footballers with exemplary attitudes. Marc Murphy and another with pick 4 in '05 & Mitchell Thorp plus others in '06, are what we will turn this club around. I believe the current board understand this, but they are just weighted down by the experience of three very difficult years and are in a holding pattern until it eventuates - they have to show resolve and innovation or move in younger and more experienced professionals who can.
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