If we can get Farrad to play 100 games, we'll get first dibs on his son .

_________________
end of message

How can you possibly tell with Hughes? Give any old mug the draft picks we've had of late and they would have likely given us some half decent players. It might not be Hughes fault but I certainly wouldn't give us a pass mark. I bet your logic goes something like this - "other clubs are doing better than us with worse lists so it can't possibly have anything to do with recruiting".

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

I think we're all agreed that the whole Club needs a shakeup.

Since Ratts took over from Pagan with 6 games to play in 2007;

the Team has finished 15th-11th and 7th.

so we ideally have to at least match last years finish of 7th at the very worst;

otherwise; we are really going backwards.....or is it downwards?

The AFL Record said of Brett Ratten preseason 2010....

''Ratten was renowned for his courage and skill....he was uncompromising

and fiercely committed to team success....traits the Blues hope will be transferred to the

crop of exciting youngsters he has on his list''

_________________
No ones listening till you make a mistake.

If we put in a shocking start again this week after all thats been said about the Club and its players, it will be the 8th week in a row that we've done so.
If this Friday night the players arent able to repsond after their very character has been publicly questioned by the coach, supporters and the media, then we might as well wrap up season 2010 this week.. Effectively anoher display ala the one vs the Filth will in no uncertain terms show that no matter what or how hard Ratts is trying, the players arent responding to him anymore..
A belting again this week, and even worse a loss to Richmond next week also, the continued calls for Ratten's head will be deafening (and in my opinon more then justified) and those who are currently defending him would be fast running out of excuses.....

_________________
James Hird and Essendon* FC - #FOREVERDRUGCHEATS

If this Friday night the players arent able to repsond possitively after their very characters have been publicly questioned by the coach, supporters and the media, then we might as well wrap up season 2010 there and then.. Effectively anoher display ala the one vs the Filth will in no uncertain terms show that no matter what or how hard Ratts is trying, the players arent responding to him anymore..
For me, its not only just the fact that we're losing more often then not now... I could overlook that if a clear gameplan was on display and the players played to instruction and played like they gave a toss. Its the lack of spirit, lack of belief, lack of hardness at the ball, and lack of skill that all of us are finding hard to stomach.
I havent seen such disspirited performances week in week out from a Carlton team since the last few weeks of Pagan's tenure... and we all know what happened to him.
A belting again this week, and even worse a loss to Richmond next week also, the continued calls for Ratten's head will be deafening (and in my opinon more then justified) and those who are currently defending him would be fast running out of excuses....

_________________
James Hird and Essendon* FC - #FOREVERDRUGCHEATS

Its not a matter of defending Ratten. I don't even think he should be under the pump ... He has done ok considering that this team is bunch of hacks. A coach is not going to change the fundamental skill level of a player and you can tell one of these players a hundred times to kick the ball and the next thing you know they handball into trouble. They are soft as butter.

Its the players ... face up to it ... stop shifting the blame. They are just not up to AFL standard. We need to load up on on recruiting resources. We have been very bad at this for a long long long time.

Changing coaches won't help and if we do sack Ratten we will have the same problem in 2014 and it will be the same people saying the same thing ... just like they have done at Richmond .. the cycle is perpetuated.

Start putting the blame where it really belongs.

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

Ok......thern explain how these ''hacks'' were the players the media wrote up as slick and exciting and so good to watch earlier in the season?

We ran the ball in waves and backed each other, and even kicked the ball with precision to each other.

Yes.....these are those same players who are hopeless ATM.

Lets see what happens this week.

_________________
No ones listening till you make a mistake.

Brett Ratten = Rafa Benitez
Those who follow the English Premier League will understand this comparison.

_________________
James Hird and Essendon* FC - #FOREVERDRUGCHEATS

Slick and exciting when they are not under pressure ... otherwise hacks.

Rewind ... start again ... and this time do it better. Replacing the coach is laughable. He is not the immediate problem ... he may be a problem but so far has done ok with a bunch of soft footballers.

Forget tactics ... have a good look at the skills our players have been displaying ... pathetic!

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

and what would you do with the players. Let them show a bit with the new coach in the honeymoon period and then watch them lose interest. Cop a spray from the new coach. Then watch them turn on him because they dont like his gameplan. THen we can all turn on the new coach because he lost the players.

I am over the players. They sh1t me.

At last ... someone who sees the light.

How could anyone blame tactics when we have a team full of ordinary players ... most of which can't even kick a ball when they are under pressure. I am so fired up ... sick of all this crapola about Ratten ... put the blame where it really lies ..

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

Finally we have a winner.

Its about the players, always has been, always will be !!!

Only players win games and only players can shirk the contest. Ratts whether you like him or not has apologised for the players far more than he should have and making excuses for them to the football world because he has tried to protect them and their fragile ego/confidence.

If the players have what it takes to become the team we want them to be it's about time that they take the responsibility and put their hand up to repay the coach and supporters and be first to the contest, put their head over the ball, support their team mate with blocks or tackles, run hard to give a player under pressure an option and make tackles stick.

None of these things have anything to do with coaching - they are prerequisites and are the basic skills of being an AFL player. If they can't do that, then I will be calling for Gibbs, Murphs, Jamos, Hoops and however else's head rather than Ratts. Like I said before it's all about the players.

Yes and No

In any workplace - if your staff are not performing??

Players are to blame but the coach/manager needs to take responsibility for their non performance.

It is the coach's job to get the best out of the players. This is not happening.
It is the coach's job to have a clear, defined game plan. This is not evident.
It is the coach's job to take a collection of players, and to mould them into the best possible 'team', so that they work with and for each other. This is not happening.

We have players with immense skill and ability, who are not performing as they should. Gibbs and Murphy are the obvious ones, number 1 draft picks who, while they may be picking up possessions, are simply not having an influence over games. It is the coach's job to get the best out of these players. Of course, the players are not immune to criticism, and they should be copping their fair whack, but at the end of the day, if the coach cannot get the best out of his players, if he cannot motivate them, if he cannot implement a clear, defined game plan based on the players he has, then he is not the right person for the job.

Look at Malthouse and Roos, look at what they were / are able to achieve with a list of players that were / are not stars. Roos won a Premiership, Malthouse may very well this year. They have absolutely defined game plans that the whole football world understands. When a player comes into the team, he knows exactly what his role is. And the coaches are able to get the absolute best out of their players week-in, week-out.

We are so far away from that it is laughable.

_________________
Mens sana in corpore sano.

Bring back the laurel wreath logo!!!

Excuse me

PS: I won the Champions League, Ratts has won nothing.

I reckon the club would be better off if Sticks Swan Icke and the board fronted the players as a group and told them that their efforts are unexeptable and wont be tollerated.
Tell them if they are not in for the long hall they should put their hands up for a trade. Tell them the last person they are going to blame for our current form is the coach. Remind them that most have already seen off one coach and this time its them that are going to be under the microscope. Tell them if they put a massive effort, do the basics as best they can and follow instructions to tee it will soon be evident if the coach is capable or not and it isnt for them to sook about.

I think it would be great for the club if the players then turned their radios on in their cars on the way home and heard Blues supporters on talkback saying they are sick of supporting players putting in such poor effort. Supporters talking about how they believe if the players want it bad enough they will work hard, harder than they ever have to lift the club out of a slump.

The option of taking the easy route and pandering to the players and sacking another coach because he lost the players is just such a soft option that will further set a terrible example on how to fight through adversity. You think our culture is bad now. Watch it after the players get another coach sacked.

that's a bit of an insult to Rafa...the guy won a champions league whilst with Liverpool...

_________________
"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

Yeah, but if Ratten goes because the players aren't responding and going in hard enough, it'll be the same reason that Pagg's went


Seems to be a growing trend that the players are falling in to, and the blame is being placed on the coach

I've said all year that I would hold my judgement till seasons end on ratts future as our coach....... But geez he's making it tough on me by giving the players a day off after possibly the worst performence of the past 3 years!



What the he'll is he thinking????

_________________
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit"
- Aristotle

Perhaps the players have been training more than we realise...or he's just at a wits end!