The Rhino wrote:
Seems strange that amongst all the clambering for Ratts to go, that the position of captain remains largely without discussion on here.
Surely the removal of the on-field leader is as beneficial as removing one of ten coaches?
From my perspective - I think Judd offers very little to the role unless he's able to lead by example and haul in huge numbers/win the game off his own boot. Whilst the term "reluctant president" is often thrown about erroneously, I think Judd is a reluctant captain. Seldom seen giving the big rev up at the 3/4 time huddle, or giving a player a bake when they need to lift, it's not his style. On the other hand, the appraisals of his leadership from when he first came to the club, the setting standards toward professionalism, etc. appear in hindsight to be more of a reflection of where we were coming from, rather than any overnight revolution. "I now don't eat the skin off my chicken" seems a bit silly in hindsight. Then again, If rumour is to be believed, he may still be responsible for the best bit of leadership shown by the club in close to a generation, in taking a stand against retaining Brendan Fevola.
With the great man at the end of his contract next season, and every chance he decides to walk away from it, I think its a fair question to ask, whether in the pursuit of the premiership, whether we lost sight of the bigger picture, and should have had Juddy abdicate the captaincy at the start of this season to prepare the next group of leaders?
Carrazzo, Simpson and Jamison represent some very good options. Even all three at once offers merit, if only for its step away from traditional-Carlton thinking. Its hard to criticize the coaches box for a team not playing together, when the captain is happy to do his own thing on the field. Its a step forward in addressing a pressing issue: galvanizing a side of individuals, that can still be resolved before the end of the year no less.
A lot of the arguments toward Ratten stepping down here, are no different with Judd. "If Brett Ratten Chris Judd truly cares about the club/is a true Carlton person/wants to earn his salary/another ridiculous statement, then he'd step down straight away, and do the right thing for the club".
From a public relations perspective, Judd fronting a media pack in the coming week, and announcing that he's dropping the captaincy, wanting to concentrate on his footy, obviously hasn't had the best of years, feels that by giving the captaincy away and being able to focus on his own game, he can best contribute to the club's fight for finals action in 2012, and let the next generation of Carlton leaders show what they have to offer in uniting the playing group as one for the challenge ahead is money. In one fell swoop:
* - The blame is lifted from Ratten and onus back onto the playing group to turn things around. At the very least - the focus is off him.
* - Disillusioned fans suddenly have something to look forward to at the remaining home games and turn up. Finals? New captain? Juddy's back?
* - You lift the profile and visibility of 1 to 3 of our players. Brand exposure.
* - Positive press. A theme and mental image of the team wanting to fight for their season rather than lay down.
* - You've already started the membership campaign for 2013. New blood. New leadership. One direction....with one direction repeated several million times into Google searches/Facebook. Watch our membership soar in the 10-14 year old female demographic in droves.
Plenty of positives to get out of changing the captain. Not so many going for the easy target in the coach..
Look Rhino, I do not know what managerial experience you have but let me summarise management 101 for you - the buck stops at the boss! Not the workers, not the cleaners, not the desk jockeys, it stops at the boss.
Ratts is 100% responsible for the performance of the player group, not Judd, not Murphy or Carrots or the leadership group or anyone else. Within the player group Ratts can and does appoint people to help him, like the captain, leadership groups, accountability etc. but ultimately his decisions & their respective showings reflect back on Ratts, not them.
My problem with Ratts is he does not take responsibility for the team’s performance and, like you, keeps pushing it back onto the playing group. He does not get it and given he has had so many years of ‘leading teams’ training I now believe Ratts just does not have the intellectual capacity to get it and hence take this group any further.
Maybe a more appropriate analogy for you is a poor workman always blames his tools!
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