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.

Considering we were'nt too far off last time we had a relatively injury free list, yes.

Besides, the board recently sacked the coach because he failed to make Top 4, so why should we lower our expectations now?

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

We wera chance for a 4 or 5 losses out of 5 games with that draw on most years.
What we need to do is not lose sight of the bigger picture.... and thats how will we go over a season or two.
Were focusing on the hole in the donut and not the whole of the donut again.
Personally we wont win a flag in the new future.. but we will be in a better position .. than where we were when Malthouse took over
That was terrib le list managment and development.. the fact we have no obvious leaders basically tells us all we need to know.
This is Rattens list!!!.. he built it . he developed it and Malthouse has Rattens hand me down.15 half back flankers and an ageing midflield.. an ageing judd
3 rucks that have never shown much...
no key forward
and a hamstrung salary cap for trading

wow! Thats impressive!!!


I have negative nellies

Rino Hawthorn did that last year in most games 10 minutes of purple patch football given their talent blew most teams away

However in the finals - nearly came a cropper against Adelaide but a bit of cyril magic got them just over the line - tried that in GF but couldnt do it to redoubtable swans

teams of lesser talent must play 4 quarters - hawthorn is an exception I reckon

we won't have major changes overall till sticks is gone

So what you are saying is that hiring MM and getting rid of Ratten is all meaningless until we can replace the Prez and the board?

So what you are saying is that hiring Ratten and getting rid of Pagan is all meaningless until we can replace the Prez and the board?

So what you are saying is that hiring Pagan and getting rid of Brittain is all meaningless until we can replace the Prez and the board?

Big bodied, aggressive midfielders. Numerous elite kicks of the footy in the backline. A kickout strategy that is as predictable as it is successful and robotic.

I reckon they succeed at it for these attributes. If anything, I reckon we're a more talented side and we fail for how little of the above we have.

Carlton is now in the best position it's been in for years.

Why ?

Because the bullshit charade has finally been recognised by most observers.

Our gutsy losing semi-final effort against the Eagles in reality was a con. Yes, the players busted a gut in that game and nearly pulled off a win but in reality the same problems of inconsistency and mental lapses were on display often in that year and have been the issue since the rebuild started in 2005.

I believe we've now reached a stage where real change for the better will now be orchestrated.

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.

Please.
Surely you've played footy Rexy?
If so, you'd realise how difficult a propsition it is to endure a full season and to make a finals series.
Teams dont "con" their way to 3 finals series in a row, let alone being very competitive in those matches.
To suggest it was a charade is ridiculous.

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

It isn't that difficult to finish in the top 8.

It is difficult to reach the top 4 - the real finals where the premier team basicly comes from.

We have talented players - who've gotten us to top 8 level - but have failed to go to the next level.

The club's been conning itself for years.