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Cheats never prosper (except in the AFL)

It's hard to imagine now just how bad things were. I'll even admit there was a (brief) moment where I would've welcomed a move to the Gold Coast with the AFL's money, because I was certain we would die otherwise.

Pagan's time was well and truly over, and the money we (by we I mean Jack) spent on him was obscene, the final act of the "Old Carlton". But the problems we had extended way beyond him, and it's hard to say if anyone could've done better.

BTW, like most hun articles about us, don't read the comments. Apparently the penalties were "too soft"

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WADA medical director Dr Alan Vernec describes Essendon* FC drug case as biggest scandal in team sport the world of sport has seen. #WC2WB

#GUILTY

Yeh, I read it. They would have loved us to go under

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Cheats never prosper (except in the AFL)

Say what you like about Pagan, but everything in that article is 100%

We were so AWFUL.

I still think theres some disunity in the admin and possibly the coaching. Too many roosters in the hen house.

On the bright side, maybe the players will get something from it for this weeks game.

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I hope Essendon* folds.

It's probably 100 per cent correct but his response to having no jam in the time was to recruit hacks. Surely draftees / rookies would've been cheaper. I think Denis probably accounts for the off field suffering and predicament but still takes no position of why we were so shit for so long - and that was because we recruited badly in my opinion.

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This might sound extreme in the context of alleged sexual assault, drunken violence and a drug trafficking charge...

If you think people are out to get you, you go for quick fixes to keep them at bay. I's natural behaviour.

I'm not an apologist for Pagan, but i'm pretty certain we would have endured similar lean times no matter who coached.

Pagan thought he was joining an AFL Bull, but the reality it was more like stinking carcass waiting to be cut down.

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I hope Essendon* folds.

Still took home his massive pay cheque every week - for producing the worst side in our clubs history

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If you allow the Government to change the Laws in an emergency
They will create an Emergency to change the Laws

That's free enterprise for ya SB!

He had a contract and took his money. What did you expect him to do? Give it back to a busted arse club, run by nuff nuffs half of whom hoped you'd be hit by a truck?

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I hope Essendon* folds.

I was never one to subscribe to this "Pagan was rubbish" theory. The team at the time were utter crap, the club was in a hole, we had a moron for president, infighting, bugger-all money to work with, shotty facilities...the place was just a mess. I remember thinking at the time of what I would do if the club folded, I considered not following the AFL again.

The league themselves need to count their lucky stars that Carlton never went under...they'd be losing so much money these days. I think deep down all opposition supporters felt a bit relieved that Carlton never folded either; there'd be no such thing as the "Big Four" or marquee clashes each season against the Tigers, Bombers, and Collingwood. As much as I hate those three clubs (and it's a damn lot) I'd be disappointed if any of them went under and there'd be no such thing anymore as giving them a hiding and letting their moron fans know all about it.

Pagan worked with what he had, and it wasn't a lot. It would be interesting to see what things would be like for him as a coach these days if he were in charge.

Very glad I can say I was a member all through those times and I still showed up every week. It makes me enjoy these times and the next few years even more.

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Premierships: 1869, 1871, 1873, 1874, 1875, 1877, 1887, 1906, 1907, 1908, 1914, 1915, 1938, 1945, 1947, 1968, 1970, 1972, 1979, 1981, 1982, 1987, 1995.

"GIBBS."

No-one would have done any better at the time.

Pagan was handed the worst of poison chalices.

His pay cheque was probably seen by him as compensation for having his reputation trashed.

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And so while others miserably pledge themselves to the pursuit of ambition and brief power, I will be stretched out in the shade, singing.

So... he had a lot on his plate?

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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.

Even more than some......

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And so while others miserably pledge themselves to the pursuit of ambition and brief power, I will be stretched out in the shade, singing.

Blames no money for his lack of success at the Blues then says money didn't matter at North. We still haven't full recovered from the damage Pagan did to Carlton.

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

Well no one could do worse.

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

One f-up led to another which led to another and so on.

Selfishness, pig-headedness and incompetence was our MO during the last decade and some would argue still infests certain areas of the club today.

Or Collins
or Elliot
or Smorgan
or Sticks
or the AFL
Or Player managers
or Fev
or the recruiters
or the rest of the hacks

.......have I left anyone out?

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I hope Essendon* folds.

Without the 'damage' Pagan did, we wouldn't have Murphy, GIBBS, or Kreuzer.

In the long run, that's a bigger positive than the negatives of what went on onfield and off.

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And so while others miserably pledge themselves to the pursuit of ambition and brief power, I will be stretched out in the shade, singing.

Even you could have coached us to get those players and we would have a couple of million dollars less debt as well.

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

.....and you could have been Prez and CEO and not flower it up as badly as some of our "professional" administrators.

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I hope Essendon* folds.

Possibly, but if I were a professional coach, I wouldn't have thought twice about taking the pay as payment for the crap I'd have to endure.

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And so while others miserably pledge themselves to the pursuit of ambition and brief power, I will be stretched out in the shade, singing.