Bloody Hell. So many of you guys read so much into a single performance or an individual effort.

The reality was that Ratten was sacked because of the inconsistency of our group and the lack of development of our next level players. The performance against Port Adelaide last year was the effectively the end of his coaching reign at Carlton.

We can argue all day whether it was right or not but that was the reason.

MM has come in and is here to get the best out of our group whilst assessing who is up to being part of the next great Carlton side or not.

In the first three rounds we have played an improving Richmond and lost by just five points. Beaten by Collingwood after leading late in the game and just being rolled by this years flag favourites on a ground we don't play well.

I bet all three of those side will play finals this year and we were close and yet we are no where near our best. Previously we may have well been blown away by one or two of those sides.

The fact is we have played some very good and some very bad football in those games. That is what happens with a new coach and a new game plan. Imagine if we had had Sydney's first three weeks. GWS, Gold Coast & North!

Malthouse has played 28 players in 3 rounds. That is more than anyone else. Why? to expose players to the big games, see who can play and in what positions and to get experience into our potential stars of the future. It is a fine balancing act.

We have a number of players who have had a lot of chances over the past few years and have teased without producing consistent and match winning football. A call needs to be made on their future and it will.

To go to the next level we need to know who can play at the required level and who cant. Simple.
As Malthouse has said he no pre conceived idea of any players, and he will be assessing them as he goes.

I know this is hard but patience is required, but not that much. The hardest part (on paper) of our draw has been played. We now have WCE (tough but winnable) then Adelaide (struggling) at the G, Melb (pathetic)at the G, St Kilda (gone)at Etihad then Port (improving) at Etihad and Brisbane (struggling).

If we can beat WCE we could easily gain a lot of confidence and momentum and those next games are easily winnable. It is not impossible to be 6-3 after 9 or at worst 5-4 and we are right back in it and on a roll.

Not only that during that time guys like Warnock, McCarthy, Menzel, Temay, Watson, White, Ellard, Buckley, Dale, Collins, Bell will all be given a real opportunity to prove their worth and by years end we will have a "real" idea of our list.

On top of that we will have Waite, McInnes & Betts back in our line up.

Individually the "Wins" we have had in the first few weeks are:

1. Walker to a HBF and playing to his potential
2. Kruezer fit and firing after knee
3. Hendersons growth as a key position footballer
4. Bootsma, Buckley, Davies getting game time in big games
5. Rowe's comeback
6. Judd fit & free of pressure
7. Lucas improving
8. Gibbs back in middle and playing contested footy
9. Murphy will be a very good Captain in time
10. Ability to kick goals yet still don't have a proper key forward

Seriously, have a bit of a bigger picture look at what's going on and I have no doubt by mid year we will be in a much better position and on our way up.

_________________
#NewBlues beginning 25th August 2015

Malthouse has definitely made us more consistent...at losing.

Thanks CJ.

I'm still feeling good about our efforts thus far ...not entriely happy with the result...but can live with it.

If we make finals this year that will be great but I can see Trade priod at the end of the year being quite significant for us.

I wish we practised a bit more tackling over the preseason, but maybe that wouldn't have mattered.

I would've expected a more defensive output thus far and also believe what Carey wrote on the weekend: we don't have the players to play MM's defensive way.

MM has a lot of work ahead of him before Trade period...and a lot of wins to be had too.

_________________
Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

I agree there are very real positives. And I'm pretty optimistic about our senior coach (in comparison with our previous one). It's just going to be hard to recover lost ground this year. The next 2 games are going to be really, really hard as well. And then while things ease off a little, there's not a lot of really easy games in the competition anymore. Our current level of performance will win some of those games, but it'll also lose others. And 'confidence' can be a huge factor.

It's not impossible that we could get to 6-3. And it's not impossible we might be 3-6.

I agree but I also think free agency will be the key. We did nothing last year as MM wanted to assess list first hand. End of this season I have no doubt we will turn over 8-10 players minimum. Our issue for a long while has been our bottom 6.

Someone like Jack Watts may be worth chasing. Fills a role we need filling and under a good coach and a well run club may well thrive. IMO has the talent.

Issues have been with our recruiting and development. Very inconsistent.

If Mick can get the best out guys like McCarthy, Bootsma, Graham, Ellard, Lucas, Warnock etc we are in a completely different position. These are the guys that need to take us to the next level.

I have no doubt we have the coaching group that can get it right.

Come end of year if we can bring in a natural Key Forward and some more midfield run and class we will be very quickly back where we should be.

_________________
#NewBlues beginning 25th August 2015

..actually i think our coaching group could use as much of a list shake-up as the players.. ..a dedicated midfield/stoppages coach, and in tandem a new ruck coach.. ..and get some experienced kpd and kpf part timers to work with our raw kpp stocks, cos we gotta find something in that lot..

_________________
..if you can't be good, be good at it..

No we dont its 3 performances plus a particularly insipid performance in NAB CUP FINAL - we were in a winning position in all 3 of those premiership season games and as usual over the last 5 years cant close them out against good opposition - new coach same lack of execution same lack of mental toughness same propensity to not work hard enough - we were all but guaranteed when they made the change by the admin and board that we would make the finals - AT THIS VERY EARLY STAGE it doesnt look like we will make the finals so dont know why you wouldnt be expecting angst from the fans and dont know why you dont understand why we are concerned - mick supposed to be defensive minded coach but we leak goals like they are going out of fashion -all sides have kicked over 100 points against us anyone reckon the eagles might kick the ton this week - apart from Walker and Jamison the rest of the side hasnt strung 2 let alone 3 consistent games- wasnt mick going to bridge the gap between our best and worst -we still seem ridiculously mentally fragile and still are intimidated physically and psychologically by teams like collingwood and geelong

Sure we are still on board with Mick and be delighted if Im wrong and we make the finals this year but that is an absolute minimum and if we dont the malthouse experiment has failed in the first year of the three year project- With this team there isnt an instant cure but with the players available we should with this squad at least make the finals this year- he may succeed rather than fail in his next 2 years who knows and yes you need to assess over the 3 year tenure but losses from first 3 games doesnt instil great confidence - didnt even have poise to beat tigers when they tried to lose the game - and contrary to your view if the eagles belt us on the weekend are you still going to be content with the way its going

No, thats not a fact at all. Its your opinion.
The fact is new coaches don't neccesarily facilitate inconsistency. Port Adelaide are performing significantly better than previous years.
Maybe because their senior assistant has a strong grasp of the game and ours is out of Dads Army. Mind you, good on Port Adelaide. Not only did they score a top line senior assistant, they got his previous employers to subsidise his wages....
us!

Malthouse was bought in because the board believe we have a top 4 list. That is the fact.
Whats more, Malthouse was veery content with the list himself. Thats another fact.
So he's not juggling the team to see who can play. He's trying to win games of footy and he's not succeeding.
I love all these fantastic theories about Malthouse bringing a defensive edge to our team. Its not real. Our scores against are far worse than they've been for the past 3 or 4 years. Thats another fact.

So please, if you're going to attempt to set us straight, give us facts and not supposition and baseless theories.
It helps us understand a bit better because at the moment all I'm getting is theories and tea leave reading when the actual facts and statistical data are telling me otherwise.

_________________
Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

..and we don't have to wait 'til the end of the year to intro some new coaches either..

..at least i don't think we do..

_________________
..if you can't be good, be good at it..

and as usual the same individuals come out complaining and looking for negatives.

I am not going to argue these points at this time.

Lets put a bookmark in it and review come round 11. Then we will have more data and information to correctly assess how we are going.

_________________
#NewBlues beginning 25th August 2015

Pretty much sums up my feelings.

_________________
We are on our way back...

Common sense. Agree 100%

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

not sure you are right psych - its not the usual hysterics that are concerned its actually some of the more moderate posters who are concerned -hoping we are 5-5 at round 10 but its a long way back from 0-3 and maybe 0-4

Looking for negatives.

I'm not looking for negatives, I'm looking for reality.
You sprout these theories about "MM wants this" and "MM does that" but you back it up with nothing.
Give us something!!!
Back it up with something other than your imagination.

Your not going to argue the points at this time because you've got nothing other than supposition.

The actual statements from the club, the statements from the coach tell us we have a quality list. Somewhere along the way its gone astray.
Were the board and Malthouse wrong? If so, did the previous coach do remarkably well to get a poor list into 3 consecutive finals series and to be competitive against the best teams in those finals?

If they are wrong, why did we fork out 2 million dollars of the members money to get a man who cannot assess our list?
Why did we lay out 2 million dollars to replace a bloke who had our team performing significantly better than the incumbent is?

So dont disregard the posters who dont share your baseless views, give us something to actually sway our opinion. And please back it up with something real because I'm hating seeing us where we are and baseless theories and guesswork aren't giving me any reason for optimism.

_________________
Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

So Richmond have improved.
Collingwood and Geelong are very good sides that we should be content to get close to.
We have a new coach and game plan that's build on defence yet everyonr kicks more than 100 points against us.

Sorry Psych you usually make a good point but not in the same ball park this time.
There are some improvements but there are some shockers also.
I didn't see some sense in Rattens decisions and I don't see some with Malthouse's.

What disturbes me the most is the lack of discipline and accountability in the group, especially the senior members.
The one advantage a new coach has at his disposal is the amout of authority he should have over his players which should at least for the start or his reign have the players out to impress him.
So far I haven't seen this bar form a select few but for our future short and long I hope I am wrong.

If I took anything out of yesterday's game it's that playing four quarters of footy is overrated in today's game.

Reckon Collingwood probably took the honours for at least 20 out of 30 minutes in each quarter. Hawthorn's ten minutes counted for a lot more, and then just pounded them in the last. Never seen a team win 3 quarters of football and lose by ten goals before.

All about absorbing pressure and being able to hurt teams on the rebound. If that is the style of the day, we're [REDACTED]. 3 defenders in the back half who aren't AFL standard kicks, and a team mentally incapable of standing up in pressure situations. Lost count of the amount of times we too, have played very good football for 20 minutes, and then let 2-3 goals slide in red time and it be all for nothing.

_________________
BLUES 2010: PAV AND JUDD = FLAGS. DOING IT FOR THE LOVE OF DICK PRATT.

HAVE YOU SIGNED UP FOR TALKINGCARLTON SUPERCOACH 2009 YET?

Damn I thought Mick could click his fingers and we win a flag

_________________
Alexander the Great was born in Greece!

I am not happy with our position either. I hate losing. Believe me I am bloody frustrated during games and after but what I am trying to do is look at the bigger picture and what is possibly happening.

Malthouse, Wiley etc are not idiots. They know what they are doing.

It is also THREE GAMES into a new regime. What if we had started with a soft draw? What if we had had Waite fit? We could of easily snuck one or two wins to start the year whilst not playing well. It is such a fine line.

NO ONE on here knows exactly what is actually going on behind closed doors but they need to be given a chance and at the moment IMO too many people are too quick to criticise with very little evidence or knowledge of what is really happening. I am offering another possible reason.

I remember Ross Lyon copping similar criticism at Freo and St Kilda. Roos at Sydney. Williams copped hell at Port Adelaide. Sanderson is getting hell in Adelaide from his supporters after being awesome last year. Hinkley is having a great run at the moment but will it last?

What I am saying is give it a bit more time. MM has been given the role and from the outside I believe I can see what he is doing. Only time will tell who is right.

Personally I am happy to give him the opportunity to prove himself.

_________________
#NewBlues beginning 25th August 2015

Spot on as per usual.

_________________
The only way for some people to understand is for them to be on the receiving end

Left wing moralists
In self serving denial
They shit me no end

Would've been nice to see a bit more leading Sat night. I can't think of any justification for a stagnant, immobile forward line other than laziness.