I'm watching you Synbad Just stick to the topic and you will be in the good books...

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I stole Sheedy's Gatorade...

Agree with BV.. I want a plan and based on youth, prefer to see Fev stay and Lance be traded...accountability is important and basically I dont want more of the same because the same isnt working....the brand name of being the best in the business is gone....if Malouf wants more money then fine..but give me a action plan , a blueprint for the future with some goals and targets that have to be met.....we dont want another AGM where we have to listen to Sticks try and settle the masses and have the board trade on his good name and standing amongst the supporters...

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"When you have the attitude of a champion, you see adversity as your
training partner."
- Conor Gillen

BV I agree there are some worrying noises coming out of the club and I'm fairly certain I've heard most of what you have in regard to that.

I would have liked to see some change too but I still think that at this stage the coaching decisions have to be made with Denis' preferences in mind. If we're at the same point next year there'll be no argument from anyone. For now, he's on contract, he's not going anywhere and he should have the major say in who works for him. I definitely want to see additions to the coaching panel (and not former Pagan players from North) but if he still believes the three incumbents should be kept for 2006 then I'm willing to go with that.

The club's being criticised for being reactive and they may well be but the reaction to a couple of questionable decisions over the last few weeks is also exactly that. There's no doubt they're not on top of everything at the moment but to tear down the house of cards at this point would do more damage than good.

As for Fev, when they signed him he was flying and keeping his nose clean. He was right up there in favouritism for the Coleman and he was our only true matchwinner. Since then he's been a bit of a train wreck for a variety of reasons of which injury and petulance probably fill the top two spots. I don't think what's happened since his signing warrants getting rid of him but I may not know the full story either. I want to keep him and regardless of him being shopped I'm fairly confident due to the difficulty of arranging a deal for him and the question marks over his head that he'll be at Carlton next year. That said, if the deal was good enough (and it would have to be bloody good) I wouldn't have a problem with trading him despite him only being signed three months ago. The "Face of the Club" stuff is bullshit and means nothing to me. I want a side that doesn't trade on the "personality" or lack of attached to one individual.

This may be the fourth trading and drafting period for this administration but their first two were never going to amount to much and I thought considering our situation at the time that we did pretty well. We desperately had to get some of the cancers on the list out of the club at the time and whilst it'd be nice to find 200 game players to replace them we were never going to strike gold with every one of those players.

Anyway, I don't remember too many complaints during that period. Last year was disappointing as far as trading goes but I thought we drafted well and we'll know more in a couple more years.

As for what improvement has been made I think it's only fair to look at those who really have the capacity to improve. For example Prenda's had a variety of coaches now and has never really shown that he's likely to take the next step. I don't think that's necessarily the coaches fault - some players just have a limit to their talents and we have plenty in that boat.

There are others though who have improved.

1. Waite - there were people calling for his head 2-3 years ago which was ridiculous considering his age but he's come on and is now looking like he'll be a CFC captain one day.

2. Thornton - This year was a write-off due to injury but the previous two years he played under Denis and was excellent.

3. Carrazzo - thriving

4. Bentick - same

5. Simpson - and again

6. Fisher - Has come back from injury and appears to have done everything possible during his layoff to become a better player

7. Walker - Everyone's expectations for this kid are so high but the move onto McLeod and Akermanis was great for him and he's definitely improving rather than going backwards

Is the team as a whole improving?

No.

We've got major flaws in the makeup of our list and we've got no onfield leaders to speak of. How on Earth we're expecting our side to have even basic kick-in and clearance plays when you've got a Captain and Vice captain who won't chase or get into position is beyond me.

Until we have 20-30 players with the capacity to improve and follow orders I don't expect much.

Maybe that makes you and me different.

The current plan may be a little obscured. It may not even exist. What we do know is the club has committed to using at least its first two draft picks on youth for the next 3-5 years and for that I'm thankful.

If things go belly up again at least the next administration and coaching panel with have something to start with when they take over.

This lot haven't had that advantage and for that reason I'm willing to grant them a little more lee-way than I otherwise might have.

WOW

A rational thought so close to trade week !

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*(grow - fun - gah)

Yeah but whatabout your whataboutism.

Getting back to the original topic..assistant coaches.....we are after one....

Brad Scott..told to go by Brisbane and by all reports is looking for a coaching career at some stage and may not get a playing contract next season... we could do worse than offer him a job or even a one year contract playing and then with a view to having him assistant coach.
I like the Scotts and the way they go about their footy and Brad has been talked up as having what it takes to coach someday and being one of the leaders at Brisbane....any opinions?

_________________
"When you have the attitude of a champion, you see adversity as your
training partner."
- Conor Gillen

We've had playing coaches before - how about a playing assistant coach?

Would certainly show some lateral thinking.

Dont mind lateral thinking...playing assistant coach..not a bad idea...I reckon Brad would make a fair impact on players like Marc Murphy, Walker with some on field leadership..Kouta can have the title but I'd have B. Scott in the role...

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"When you have the attitude of a champion, you see adversity as your
training partner."
- Conor Gillen

Absolutely bring in B.Scott...he's got the right attitude (professional) for a start.

Good to see Synners returning to form, and trying to drag me into the stoush as well I see. It is beyond why he has not been warned for some of the stuff he has written about other peoples characters at times, and that includes the attack on another poster on the previous page.

Synbad you are good when you stick to the point, but lose credibility when you go 'postal'

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A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty" -Winston Churchill

L.M 35-06

Sticking to the point...?

What the @#$%&! does this have to do with Brad Scott or any of the other constructive posts that have been made in this thread?

Look in a mirror Mark.

Back to Brad Scott and any other worthwhile posting thanks.

Some fair points GWS and contrary to what some posters think, I'm not looking for wholesale changes.
I'd like a considered plan to be developed and followed through.
I do however get frustrated when the club decides to develop this plan after 3 years of underachieving.

Just on those players you nominated, one was a father son and 3 were rookie selections.
Doesnt say a lot about our actual national draft results.

I'm hearing noises out of the club that are inconsistent. That's the worrying part.
This stage of the clubs development is too important to leave it to chance or make it up as we go.

I want the club to know my position as a member.
I'm not interested in whinging after the event.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

Bluemark, can we move on. Warnings etc are being taken care of by the mods. No need to stir the pot.

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I stole Sheedy's Gatorade...

Just making an observation Chief thats all.

_________________
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty" -Winston Churchill

L.M 35-06

if only you'd said "sorry about that chief"

For mine, I'd rather Brad Scott than Scott Camporeale on the list. At least Brad is used to winning, and expects an effort.

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Love Cricket? Love me

I think Peter Dean in the vacant Assistant role is the best idea so far.. Need someone to instill some CARLTON passion into the players..

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"Some people take delight in Carlton. " - Verbs

Ive made own observations about credibility over time...

Anyway.. back to the topic...

Scott as playing assistant coach??????

That a way radical idea ......

Personally, i doubt anyone will pick up Scott if he leaves sop he can come in as an assistant coach if we get rid of one of the ones we already have...
Deano i want as defensive coach.....

Noone can lead a defense like Peter Dean....well........ Bruce Doull but i asked him and still waiting on his answer.....

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Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

The players picked as national draft selections during the last couple of years could be anything or nothing. Hard to judge them on the basis of that at this point.

I have a feeling this administration didn't have an idea of where we were really at when they took over. I don't think any of us really did. They look like they've been in damage control ever since. It would be hard not to be.

As for the inconsistencies. Any board member worthy of their position should speak their mind loudly and clearly during board meetings and shut the @#$%&! up outside of them if they don't believe the board has made a correct decision. There are three people who should be speaking publicly for the club and they are Collo, Pagan and Malouf. The rest should keep quiet if they're not towing the party line.

It may be that we need a quarterly "state of the nation" type address from Collo to outline where the club's at and what it's doing to get to where it wants to be. Obviously this would only be worthwhile if he was willing to cut the spin and speak frankly (which he has shown a willingness to do on occasion). That way we could forget about the speculation that wrecks clubs and have a public "plan" that the administration could be held to.

You're not scared of a radical idea are you?

Dean would be fine too (though not in a playing role).

I'm not to fussed about Collo making any statements.
I just want to see consistency of actions.
I dont believe that is being demonstrated.

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Looking forward to seeing our potential realised.

Look, the problem is if board members dont have the confidence to speak out .. it means they just dont have the confidence so where its a board with say ... 11 members or whatever it is now that SoS has resigned.... it becomes a board of say 5 or 6 with a few hanging on ...
Ideally what we need is a board of 10 or whatever each with the nouse to contribute....

But where to find them????

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Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.