A lot of angst this pre-season. I've got it. I also kind of think I "get it".

People are seeing clubs like North, Freo and Port unearth some good kids, the established powers chugging along nicely...

Then they look at us and see us playing sketchily, without a focal point or general fluency, and without a bunch of breakout pre-season stars and worry.

They worry that after a decade of pain, we're going to slip up when we want to keep climbing. The gun teams are too strong still, the laggards of last year and the new teams are threatening in the rear-view mirror, and our precious window won't open soon enough, if ever.

Anxiety. Most of us are feeling it.

There is pressure to perform. Ratten and the club will get some leeway due to Fev's departure - expectations are lowered. But we look at our list, look at the competition, and wonder - when will our time come?

We assumed that the last 8 years had some meaning. That there would be redemption. Life doesn't work that way. It's an even comp but it's not a butchers where you take a ticket and wait for your premiership cup. You need to be lucky, and you need to be flowering good.

That's why I'm excited about this year. There are so many unknowns. We could go either way. It's a little scary because we're getting weaned off the bottle of early draft picks and distant hope, which can nourish fantasies. But it's where the rubber meets the road, where illusions get shattered and the fittest survive.

Will Carlton 2010 be Freo 2007 or Hawthorn 2007? Up or down? Are we building to greatness, settling into mediocrity or taking one step back to take two forward?

Flowered if I know. But regardless of how the season unfolds, I hope people on this forum can be tolerant of how others deal with this tension, whether they're unicorn-loving sugercoaters in denial or embittered curmudgeonly prophets of doom (I oscillate wildly between the two )

Absolutely. I love the diversity of opinions here, how one mans attitude can vary so greatly to the next....the more respectfully you can carry out this discussion the better it is because it doesn't get things deleted or the mods angry.

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The problem will be made. for the solution to be sold, to your face before your eyes, tolerance is now the new danger

If we can generate a group of goal kickers like Geelong I'll be happy. Yarran is struggling - still - so that idea is slowly going up in smoke.

But quite frankly no Fev no Carlton. Forget about premierships.. we cant hinge our hopes on Hendo oe Santy for example to kick our goals, its just not fair.

I think it's fair to expect Setanta to deliver this year, he's had 6-7 years in the system and he's what 28? I think he will too BTW. Hendo deserves at least a year to adjust but next year will be his fourth in the system, I'd also expect to see something there too.

Yarran looks to be far from struggling IMO, he looks the most dangerous in our forwardline. Yes there's smoke but that's the trail he leaves behind when he burns his opponents off.

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You want the flame? Give us the marbles!!

a/ Yarran isn't struggling and what do you mean by still? He is a 2nd year player!!

b/ No one is talking flags this year, or the next realistically, so I not sure of your point.

c/ How can you be writing Hendo off?

d/ As for the powers going along well, Cats, Lions and Crows are all 0-2

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Have I run too far to get home?

And here we go again....

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dane's trolling again

Ratten has no excuses.. hes had 51 games to have a gameplan Fev there or not.
Fev could have done a knee at any point... his addiction to playing through Fev (and Judd) is exactly like a junkies addiction.
Its hard to ween yourself off something that makes you feel good... cos the alternative does make u good.. but its painful... so you keep doing what makes you feel good.
Ratts makes all the excuses under the sun that going to Fev more often than not was not his fault... yet as a coach his side went to Fev more often than not.. and he won games.
Now he has to coach its simple.
He has had an opportunity to put his own stamp ... he has gone out and got Juddy.. Hadley..CJ ..Warnock and Brock...
He has a bunch of fantastic young talent at his disposal.. by the way most of them are seasoned now.

Whats he gunna do??

There are no more excuses...lets see if he flutters in the breeze

Its really up to himself and those hes happy enough to surround himself with.

No excuses.
Line in the sand season...

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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.

Well said Synbad......spot on the mark !

I dont disagree with some of your opinions Synbad
I have however not heard Ratten making excuses ?

excuses on why we went to fevola more often than not???

i have... i heard all the stats... and all the waffle...

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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.

Remember we won the NAB Cup twice when we finished on or near the bottom.
This early form means nothing, just getting some game time into the players, and experimenting a little.
I would start to get worried if we haven't won a game by round 5.
We could do a Hawthorn and pinch one this year, but I don't think so.
A finals berth and a win or two, would be very nice.
But it all depends on what injuries, if any, to whom and for how long.

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CFC. EST. JULY 1864: PREMIERS. 1869 1871 1873 1874 1875 1877 1887 1906 1907 1908 1914 1915 1938 1945 1947 1968 1970 1972 1979 1981 1982 1987 1995

i wouldnt give 2 hoots about winning nab games.. but you expect a pattern of play from a team that has to play without half of its gameplan.....

each team youve watched makes it apparent with what theyre doing.. or trying to do... win or lose...

we dont...

we have this confusing bitsa game... where were doing a bit of this and a bit of that.. but nothing well... or looking anything like it will be effective

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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.

Are you talking about the 2 NAB games or longer?

Without Fev we still have the players. We have the talent. And new talent. I keep saying we got Henderson and Lucas in place of Fev. Looking at them perform I reckon we got the better deal which is going to show especially long term.

Against the Lions we kicked 14 goals and had 9 goal kickers. When was the last time we did that? Fantastic. That was what Ratts is talking about when he says he wants the forward line to be unpredictable.

Do we have the overall gameplan? Its up to Ratts.

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"Get ready, Teddy - you're on": Ron Barassi half time 1970 Grand Final

Really good post aramari. Thank you, I enjoyed reading that immensely.

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STURDYISM!!

They were missing their entire midfield in that game and had players go off.

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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.

Why are you making excuses for Michael Voss?

Hehe good one wolf. Answer that and stay fashionable Synbad!

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The problem will be made. for the solution to be sold, to your face before your eyes, tolerance is now the new danger

Synners, without a steady stream of information from more informed people, you've gone from insightful and cryptic poster, to glorified BF loon. Cut the crap and articulate your issue with the Ratten game plan. There's a game plan, and you're well within your rights to label it weak or otherwise, but it's there.

What are your issues without beyond your belief that it's all about "kick it to Judd/Fev". I for one think it's about controlling possession and taking the avenues to score when they present themselves. We defend the corridor, and we err on the side of not using it in possession. Our forward press is more conservative than what it used to be but also more intelligent in terms of who runs forward. When things slow, we are patient with the ball, look to lull the opposition and transition it quickly with a switch or run to open the game up for scoring options. When things are out of hand we slow it down until we are composed and structured to have another dip.

The biggest problem is that a lot of our boys are not used to that style, and we play some very attractive football when we're prepared to pick up the tempo and go more direct with our kicking. Having said that, we need to refine our ability to control possession and combine it with that more free-flowing style; tempo football.

As for forward structures, we honour a lot of other leads now away from Fev & Betts, and it's encouraging to see the ball spread around as there are some pretty decent kicks for goal in the team. This started to become the case last season, and should be in full swing come round 1. I think we'll average around 90 points, perhaps more. The most important thing now is that without Fev ripping long leads, we have players offering short, intelligent leads to our bloke in possession when they're pushed wide. Without a big target (which if we need, will come in the form of Waite or one of ruckmen), we're prepared to eek out quality set shots through short passing.

So what am I seeing? The odd thing I don't like, but generally patience and creative ball movement being instilled into the playing group, and that can only be a good thing.

Your turn.

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29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.

Nice work Jim.

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STURDYISM!!