So if the Leading Teams guys and girls ask the right questions, we should be ship shape heading forward, yes?

He did look clueless, out there, though. He just looked speechless a lot of the time and that's not a good sign. He should have been livid but with a lot of negative energy and a lot to say. He looked like he thought that they were playing crap but was buggered if he knew what to do about it.

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Just because I'm offended, doesn't mean I'm wrong.

IMO i can't see us sacking Ratten not until about round 8 next year if we are 2 -6 and just lost to Essendon* again....At 4-4 he is on notice. But at 5-3 he'll be fine and so too will we.

He does deserve to see the year out ( even though he does fustrate me ). This year might be a slow starter and i still think we might just sneak into September action. However next year with a full year behind him with no Fev.The forward set up must be established the game plan more obvious and there will be no excuses for a slow start.

If we do not make the finals as a serious contender in 2011 the Wallace Year, as i like to call it, then in 2012 we will have a new coach.... Mark Williams is the rumour i'll start...

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I know a little secret. And i'm not sharing.

Did the players kick the ball out on the full as many times as Ratten instructed? If not he should be sacked, he's clearly lost the players.

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"I had to eat"

Hmm, but maybe had Ratten not underplayed the significance of playing Essendon*, esp after not having beaten them for years, maybe the players would have been more fired up? Dons played like a team who were fired up to avoid being 3 and 0.

As for the Qn - would love to sack him but not unless we can get Malthouse or Roos.

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It's a small world, but I wouldn't want to paint it

Just Ratten ???

What about those responsible for our list which mostly comprises of players with poor foot skills, lack of footy smarts, poor first contact with the ball and lack of running instinct ???

Look our problems still stem back friom the Elliott days ... that is why we don't have many talented and revered 27 - 31 year olds ... we lack mature men playing for us ... we have carved out careers for players that were non deserving.

Anyone around in the 70', 80's and 90's would know that a Houlihan would not have lasted more than 4 seasons.

There is poor fabric to this squad.

Coach is partly if not largely responsible for recruiting players who cannot kick and for poor skills of players

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It's a small world, but I wouldn't want to paint it

You know what is frustrating is we have had more higher draft picks than any other team in recent years...we have the best player (debatable) in the league...yet we continue to stagnant and IMO will slide as the year rolls on....waiting until 2012 to decide on Ratts's ability to coach would be far too long IMO...looking at our upcoming games at worst we will be 1 and 8 by round nine and at best maybe 3 and 6....in either case we would still need to win between 10 and 12 games to make the eight from there out of 13 games remaining....it would seem unlikely to me...some very important weeks coming up for both coaching staff and club...

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"Truth, for the tyrants, is the most terrible and cruel of all bindings; it is like an incandescent iron falling across their chests. And it is even more agonizing than hot iron, for that only burns the flesh, while truth burns its way into the soul"     — Lauro Aguirre

Agree in parts but with Houla,are you saying that in the 70's80's and 90's we never had one silky skilled player who liked to recieve and deliver rather than get and deliver? Just a little over the top with Houla. And i think he has improved some what in that area... be it a little...

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I know a little secret. And i'm not sharing.

you're kidding. right?

8 years isn't long enough to sort out our shit????

I fear we are the new Richmond. self fulfilling mediocrity on repeat cycle

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Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son.

Agree. Can't understand supporters talking about sacking a coach after a bad loss. We made the finals last year for god sakes.

It's only round 2. A bit premature don't you think? It's a ridiculous thread and should be locked.

Ah if only it was that simple.....


Be a good place to start though.

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"our electorate seeks less to be informed and more to be validated." Sad times.

Well, there is someone to blame for poor performances or is there? We can't blame the recruiters because if we do that effectively means we have been wasting years developing the wrong players and it means that we'd need a miracle to get our selections back. You can't blame the coach because he's a wise senior who needs to be respected, especially if he's a past champion of the club. I know! let's blame the players! Wait a second - you can't really blame the players because that means...

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Just because I'm offended, doesn't mean I'm wrong.

No. Not yet

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Yes, we had many players that received BUT to stay on a list in the decades I mentioned you had to be regular and reliable.
Just doing enough would never have got you passed 4 years at the club. It is because our list mangement has been so poor since the mid 90's that a Houlihan has been able to stay on that long. Not trying to single out Houlihan just pointing out how poor our list management has been for so long. A good top four side would have traded a Houlihan while he had currency.

He has to go but probably not until the end of the season as there are no other options. He has no game plan and that is why the players are inconsistent and don't play with any conviction - they have no idea what they are supposed to be doing. We should have beat Brisbane in the final last year but Ratten did not know how to structure the team and set them up to shut the game down. Last week, he failed at it again and let Jonathon Brown destroy us in the last quarter. Too often he is a deer caught in headlights. We have the talent but not the coach to harness it. Ratten names the line up and that's about it - then they run out there like Little League moving around the ground without any structure. Sometimes the natural talent clicks and we see what the players are capable of. But ultimately the inconsistency is a coaching issue. I think the club should do everything it can to get Paul Roos - a proven coach and fantastic at getting the most out of his list - but unfortunately, so long as Kernahan and Ratten's other mates are in charge of the club, then nothing rational will be done to get our club back to where it belongs. Very disappointing situation to be in...

SHIT THREAD

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I support the Navy Blues whatever happens!

Not kidding you.

Why do we not have any revered players on our list aged 27 to 31 ... you lnow "revered" ... highly respected in the football community ... the type that lead so that others can follow. This would mean being drafted anywhere between say 1997 to 2001. Have a look at our drafting / trading record during that time and get back to me.

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"The ability to speak doesn't make you intelligent." Qui-Gon Jinn 15-05-2005

"there’s more chance of me becoming the full forward for the [Western Bulldogs] than there is of any change in the Labor Party." Julia Gillard 18-05-2010

Shit post

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Why are the Blues such a frustrating side!??!?!