I don't hear too many more ex-coaches endorsing Ratten though.

You bring that up a lot but it isn't something i look at when trying to make up my mind on the coaching future of Ratts.

It means nothing to me.

Ratts took over a basket case. He got some early picks but as we see with other clubs who were in the same boat at the time the early picks doesn't get you into the 8 alone.
Those picks/players came in with Fev, Stevo, Houla and Whitnal as the guys to look to. How is that for leadership ! Not a lot of hope there. Ratts phased them out and replaced them with Judd alone. A move in the right direction but hardly enough leadership. He has had to mould Carrazzo, Simpson and Scotland into leaders and that takes time.

The fact that he got us into finals after 3 years is a miracle. Look at the team that played Brisbane in 2009 final and you will see what i am talking about.
The team that played the swans the next year was a slight improvement but hardly one that demanded finals wins.

I look at this year and last. That was when realistically we should be making a difference. After the final loss to the eagles with a side well below full strength id say the blues were right where they should have been. To go any further would have taken a miracle similar to the hawks in 2008.

This year has been debated to death and there are plenty of arguments both sides on whether Ratts is to continue but sprouting " we have won one final in five years " does nothing for the argument in my opinion. I see it as a simple statement that lacks any depth and i hope those at the club work a bit harder when deciding on the clubs future than just pointing to that statistic.

Eade has, so to has Thompson.

Not doubting that perhaps they may privately feel the same way, but considering they are still involved with other clubs they would be wary of any criticism that they make on any rivals.

For all those endorsing that Parkin and Walls' opinion weighs over everyone elses due to the fact they are 'Premiership coaches', isn't it therefore effectively saying that it would be a no-brainer to replace a coach that's won 1 final, with one that has won 3 flags?,

..or that we now take everything that Kevin Sheedy's says as fact due to him being a 4 time Premiership coach?

For all those endorsing that Parkin and Walls' opinion weighs over everyone elses due to the fact they are 'Premiership coaches', isn't it therefore effectively saying that it would be a no-brainer to replace a coach that's won 1 final, with one that has won 3 flags?

... as for Malthouse. Eddie Maguire hates Carlton more than any other club. Surely there's a red flag on him endorsing MM for the CFC job? Eddie is also on the record saying the game has passed MM by, and the decision to replace him was an easy one.

So you are saying that Malthouse is a bad decision, because Mcguire was talking him up as a logical fit for Carlton and we should never believe what he says due to his hatred of us, but in the same sentence quoting him on the fact that he also stated that he is past it as a coach as evidence for your reasoning?

You don't take the word as gospel, but you gotta do due diligence to look into it. If the rumours are true and Malthouse has the job should Ratten fall over in the final rounds of 2012, I question if due diligence has taken place in such a short time frame.

When is the last time a Carlton board did due diligence on a coach?
Come to think of it when is the first time a Carlton did due diligence on a coach.

Not at all. One comment arouses suspicion; when an enemy offers you an apple it doesn't mean you eat it.

The other was a general comment. MM was sacked from his last posting with allegations that the game has past him by. It's not significant who made the allegation, is it?

What if Geelong had sacked him, and collins said it?

You don't take the word as gospel, but you gotta do due diligence to look into it. If the rumours are true and Malthouse has the job should Ratten fall over in the final rounds of 2012, I question if due diligence has taken place in such a short time frame.

No, not at all. Not saying he can't coach, I wouldn't know one bit. Maguire put a pretty big motzaball out there when he said the game is changing and MM was too stubborn to change with it.

When we signed Pagan it became apparent he was in it for the money, when he shoulda been retiring. I'd hate to hire MM only to find out he's in it to prove Eddie wrong, when he should be retiring.

If the game has passed by a coach that led his team to 1st & 2nd n his final two years, what does it say about a coach that won 1 final in 5 years?

Winning one final in 5 years sounds terrible but like most arguments people are throwing around at the moment it doesn't tell the full story. The 3 finals we lost we're all by less than a goal, interstate, against favoured opponents. It's not like we were Essendon* getting smashed repeatedly in the 1st week of the finals. In fact due to the random nature of games decided by such small margins you could easily argue that we've simply been unluckly to lose 3 finals in the manner we did. A goal here, a free kick there and instead of one final in 5 years we've won 3. Would a couple of random events going our way resulting in wins make Ratten a better coach? Of course not but a few random events going against us resulting in losses doesn't necessarily make him a shit coach either.