The higher we finish in the home and away the tougher the odds to win a final.

^ Yeah and if we win those finals people will still be saying we haven't beaten anyone good!

1.5 wins better than last year....may not appear to be a great improvement.

Double that difference by year end and make it 3 wins better than last year and we have 14 wins.......would have got us 4th place last year. That means only 5.5 wins from the remaining 11 games.

Rubbish on so many levels.

The climb up the ladder with all the i's dotted and all the t's crossed is all the proof you need that Ratts has done a top job. He has worked just as hard on improving himself as he has on the team and we look set to strike in the near future.

Two Cents looks like another who is going to go down the Richardson path to soften the blow of being wrong about Ratts. I doubt anyone will buy that spin though.

Nothing against Richardson either. Looks like he is doing a great job under Ratts. Credit to those at the club in Icke, Swann and Sticks for re structuring the coaching team and their roles.

Like Malthouse said this year...something along the lines of....

[I don't care who you are as the coach, if you don't have the players to win games, you will not. People talk about the Collingwood players as no manes and giving me all the credit. Don't believe that, the players in the team are very very good players]

Wasn't it Ratts who wanted some new blood to replace Lappin and Teague?
Wasn't it Ratts who wanted to bring in coaches from Geelong and Collingwood to work through the tactics of successful sides?

I think the heat is on more than ever to succeed (at least a finals win) because the word on the street is that Carlton have the team to be a genuine contender for the 2011 flag.

I find it hard to believe that it takes a coach 4 years to show his true capabilities. Year 2 to 3 are good indicators. When senior players like Scotland say 'Ratten is improving but Brown and Richo have made a big difference', it just further confirms.

I agree with you on credit to Icke and Swan for ringing in the changes.

Richardson was assistant at Essendon* last year when they failed badly.
Teague who you called a numpty is at west coast this year where they have improved out of sight.

Whats with the '4 years to show' bizzo? Hasnt he taken us up the ladder with a team of kids and got us performing better and better each year as the players and he have matured?

I find it hard to believe that it takes a coach 4 years to show his true capabilities.

I thought you would be aware that Richardson was sidelined at Essendon*, as he and Knights never saw eye to eye. Richo wanted them to add a defensive side to their game plan which Kinight disagreed on.

Having seen a bit of Teague coaching, I reckon he has lot to improve but then you think he is the next Paul Roos ? Guess by the same token Lappin must be a super coach too, given how well Pies are doing.