Yep, me too. At the start of the year.

Let's not forget, though, we were 7-4.

After R11 we were playing okay footy (Hawthorn car crash aside) and had the following opponents without having to travel...

North
Fremantle
Brisbane
Bulldogs
Swans

...given we had already beaten Geelong and St Kilda I went in to that run expecting to win at least 3 of those games, with the biggest question marks over the Dockers and Dogs. Instead of 8-8 my expectations were more like 10-6, at worst. What I've learned since then is we're not fair dinkum.

I can accept a week is a long time in football and the form of all teams in the comp can quickly change.

What I can't accept is that during that run we have largely played insipid and soft football.

I don't care if Ratten stays as coach or not, I just want answers as to why the players and coaching staff have been unable to arrest our form slump? Why are we playing so poorly? Why does it appear that the players have no pride in themselves, much less pride for the jumper?

What was it, 42 tackles against the Dogs, and only 12 in the second half. 12! Get real!!!

All I ask is the players have a decent bloody crack. And if the players aren't capable of pulling their fingers out, then the coaching staff need to find a way to make it @#$%&! happen!

This is not a one-off poor performance, but a string of five poor games now. Okay, we beat the Lions, but they were woeful. The point is, there has been ample time for the team to raise its game. And they have failed!

I just want to know why. I don't think that's too much to ask.

Moreover, I want to know why it is that when we're faced with an opponent like the Hawks and Swans that I expect our players to get bullied. Mentally and physically. We have no consistency in hardness at the ball or in the desire to compete at the most basic level.

IT'S NOT 2003-06 AND IT'S NOT @#$%&! GOOD ENOUGH ANYMORE!

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I agree with a lot of what CB has written.
8-8 may have been OK before Rd 1 but we should be at least 2 games better off if not more.
There are no simple solutions and sacking the coach won't magically fix anything but Ratten's position is becoming untenable. We can't accept this sort of football week after week. 1-2 weeks of this crap is hard enough but it has been since the Hawthorn game and if Brisbane had a functioning forward line, they would have rolled us too.
On form we are the 2nd or 3rd worst team in the comp. That is unacceptable.

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T E A M

Sums it up for me. If we lose to even one of West Coast, Essendon* or Richmond and lose all the other games as expected Ratten is toast.

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"We used to sit around and talk about how bad the game plan was." Anthony Koutoufides

I think climate change has a lot to answer for

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NG
S M C , S F L

Thanks!

Read above post before. Been heaps of coaches in the same position this year. Alot of sides could claim to be the 2-3rd worst right now. Sides go through patches. People go on like like we are the only one's. Hawthorn lost 6 straight, look at then now. Things turn around fast in this game both for good and bad.

Agree with CB

What annoys me the most is that you knew were Gawn 10 minutes into the last 2 games

Weak as piss

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Cheats never prosper (except in the AFL)

That's a good post Jim but I think since the StKilda win even our victories have been disappointing. We can point to our wins and losses but most of our wins were against the bottom sides. I've always been of the opinion that we judge Ratten at the end of the season but it's not looking good for him. On form we'll only beat Essendon* and we all know our recent record against them.

This week IMO is a do or die game for our coach's career, fair or not it's a tough gig and he's at a club which demands success. I hope like hell the boys get up for him as he deserves better than the crap they've dished out lately.

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"We used to sit around and talk about how bad the game plan was." Anthony Koutoufides

Bit misleading really Jim. Of the Hawks 6 losses, 3 were ag top 5 sides and only two exceeded 16 points. The only loss we have been close in was ag Freeo who then got done by Richmond and then almost by the Dees in WA. In most of our recent losses we weren't competitive, we were flogged. The idea that each loss is identical because of the 4 points is not valid. There are competitive losses and floggings. There are games where you match the intensity but are found out by talent, then there are games where the players look hopelessly confused or half hearted. Port and Sydney are relatively recent premiers and were playing finals and winning flags while we were gathering high draft picks. The wheel turns and they are on the downward and we should be on the upward. Add to that Port have booted their coach and have no money and not much support. And just going for win loss stats doesn't tell the full story. Sides lose form but if they are consistently soft, if they look to have no idea what they should be doing, if they are indecisive etc, does any of that reflect on the coach, or do we just wait and hope and buy Ratts line that the journos didn't expect us to 8/8 so we have overachieved. I don't think we have stellar talent, but I expect improvement - too many players are going backwards, I expect effort - we are getting little- and I expect some sharpness on match day in the box, and I expect the coach to sound authoratitive, not tell us everything is fine and what is the fuss about.

Big game this weekend playing the bottom side. A final 8 side should flog the Eagles, let's hope we do, but if Ratts thinks everything is rosy at the moment I am not sure we will.

That for me is one of the most disappointing things. Ratts was always one of my favourite players. Gave his all every minute of every game. His love for Carlton can't be bettered by anyone. And he's a genuinely nice guy. The players are more responsible for this garbage than he is but you can't sack 30 players.

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T E A M

Maybe the training load has been stepped up the last 3-4 weeks in an effort to prepare for a finals assault

Remember when the doggies lost those games in this period last year and Aker came out and said it was the heavy training that caused it . Maybe this is why Ratts is so calm cool and collected he knows tha last 6 weeks they will be super fit and ready to unleash on the competition



Nah - I still got nothing

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They will create an Emergency to change the Laws

100% agree.

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I am as mad as hell and I'm not going to take it any more!!!

Those are my feelings exactly. Once we'd secured wins against Geelong, St Kilda & Adelaide, we as supporters had every right to expect us to be at something like 10-6 at this point. We'd gone and pinched three unexpected wins. Now instead of needing 2 wins in the remaining 6 with a tough draw, we need to pull out 4 at a minimum.

Without a doubt every pundit, punter and professional would have looked at the middle section of our fixture and thought we would get on a roll. We didn't. Now everyone is asking why, and we're not getting real answers.

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+1 (this includes you too, Hammer).

do you think Leigh Matthews might be interested? Just get the feeling that his attitude might be what the players need.... a good kick up the bum.

Say no more.....Sticks and Gleeson have to go asap....would even help Ratts IMO...knowing he needs to perform.

The fact is we are no different to many other sides as you can see above. We are having our first bad patch since Ratten took over since 2007. Basically zip to 10 wins to 13 win to 7-4 this year until our bad patch. Won't comdemn anyone on that. Every one of those sides probably have look soft during bad patches, even Hawthorn during their losing streak. They were accused of it. Don't confuse it with a total lack of confidence as that's what looks to happen in bad times. We've gone from being right up there in contested possessions and clearance as well as no.1 in efficiency going into the forward 50, to the bottom end in the last month. Even sides flooding against should've have been a problem given the way handled St.Kilda and Geelong. We have lost form and confidence, not the first side too, and have to find a way of breaking the shackles. One win usually gets the ball rolling again. That way we do ok still this year or go the way of Brisbane, Essendon* and Port.

A few weeks ago we smash the Eagles but out of form, down on confidence, going to Perth suddenly it's no certainty. But then again who's to say, we might lose to the Eagles and beat Geelong in Round 21. Football does that depending on form at the time.

What i'm saying, despite inconsistency over time, the record is pretty damn good. What we need to do is wait to see if this is just another form slump sides have been suffering or something more. People's knee-jerk reactions won't change that. It's only only serves to set themselves up to look like dills if it turns around soon as it often does.

Fair point Jim. Let's hope we find some spark and urgency. The last 6 games will probably tell us where we are at and where we are headed.

Here's a sample ladder over the last five weeks. Mainly inspired by Ratten's comment along the lines that its not like we're a bottom four side. Well, on form, we're very bloody close and can be thankful there's three teams that haven't won a game...

01. Collingwood – 4W 1D – 18pts 155.1%
02. Bulldogs – 4W 1L – 16pts 159.6%
03. Hawthorn – 4W 1L – 16pts 137.0%
04. Adelaide – 4W 1L – 16pts 128.8%
05. St Kilda – 4W 1L – 16pts 112.5%
06. Richmond – 4W 1L – 16pts 109.5%
07. Sydney – 3W 2L – 12pts 121.5%
08. Geelong – 3W 2L – 12pts 119.5%
---------------------------------------------------------
09. North Melbourne – 3W 2L – 12pts 112.6%
10. Fremantle – 3W 2L – 12pts 109.9%
11. Melbourne – 1W 3L 1D – 6pts 83.7%
12. Carlton – 1W 4L – 4pts 81.2%
13. West Coast – 1W 4L – 4pts 69.5%
14. Essendon* – 0W 5L – 0pts 64.9%
15. Port Power – 0W 5L – 0pts 63.2%
16. Brisbane – 0W 5L – 0pts 58.0%

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Has already stated he's finished with Coaching.

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No ones listening till you make a mistake.