Mind you Pagan's words at the end of the article seem to be a little hollow. He calls it believing in a "dream" that suggests to me that he sees it as something that is not really real, but rather something that if he believes hard enough will occur.

I think that's the wrong school of psychology for mine. I hope the other people in power around the club have more faith.

"As a coach you have got to believe in the dream and I certainly believe in our players."

"...he is the future of the Carlton Football Club"

can i just make a comment he says that we have become stronger, and i can tell from going down to training that we have bulked up with players like Fev,Houlihan, Walker, Waite, Fish and livo have got very big but yet on the website and in the two newspapers reviews for the season, not one player has put on any kilos, it is all the same to last year?

when are they going to upate the profiles on the cfc site?!!

CARLTON Anxious to provide hope to supporters without adding to the pressures lumped on every No. 1 draft pick, Denis Pagan yesterday described Marc Murphy as the future of Carlton. Blues fans will get their first glimpse of Murphy when he makes his debut against Melbourne on Sunday evening. Naturally, last year's wooden spooners would be delighted if Murphy's influence in his first season approaches that of the previous No. 1, Richmond's Brett Deledio. While confident that Murphy has the maturity to cope beneath the spotlight that shines so brightly on top draft picks, Pagan expressed hope rather than expectation that Murphy could emulate Deledio's 22-game season, after which the young Tiger was anointed the competition's Rising Star. "We're not going to say he's going to play every game, but he's certainly ready to go on Sunday night," said Pagan, who is also expected to introduce former Brisbane Lions ruckman Dylan McLaren for his first game for the club. Pagan would not divulge whether Murphy, the son of former Fitzroy star John Murphy, would be thrown straight into the midfield or eased in off the bench.

Having listened to some audio of Pagan's comments, he didn't say he was the next Deledio though, Synbad. I'm not sure that he even mentioned Deledio, as I can't remember what he said precisely. But he certainly wasn't saying he will be the Rising Star, nor that he will be head and shoulders above the other draftees this year, nor that he is as good as Deledio. Not every No. 1 draft pick plays every game, and some don't play much if at all like Luke Ball.

He didn't even say that Murphy would play every game - as you can see from the above excerpts, he doubted it, and merely pointed out that he is ready to go now.

I don't know whether Pagan made a point of mentioning Murphy. I would think he was responding to media questions. Inevitably, Murphy will be compared for better or worse to Deledio, Cooney, and Ball as well as any other of the most recent crop of draftees who does well this year. I'm sure that some of the stuff in the articles says more about the thoughts of the scribes writing the stories and their desire to draw these comparisons than Pagan's. If Pagan had stonewalled them, that would have been the story right there.

He did say that he is the future for us. This might be spun a number of ways, but I took it to mean that he isn't the present but the hope is he will continue to develop into an influential player.

And Kouta had shared the limelight in his interview with one of the papers in which he remarked on Murphy and his attitude and ability. I don't think this was a cat we could keep in the bag.

But why should we have tried? He IS a much needed boost to our hopes. Even if Pagan hadn't talked about him, Carlton fans would still be carefully scrutinising his game. Membership is down, and what is wrong in putting out a bit of positive info regarding our future?