Siegfried wrote:
Not sure what all this vitriol towards Malthouse is about. Here's my take on the lay of the land, from the outside looking in, of course...
Malthouse walked into a club that had been blighted by poor everything - poor management, poor leadership, poor coaching, poor recruiting and poor player development. That's all been discussed ad nauseum. I suspect he wanted to make changes to the list last year, but his hands were tired by appaling list management that saw all our fringe dwellers still contracted, and not much room in the cap. So he did the only thing he could do, which is be positive, pump up the list. Perhaps he wasn't aware quite the dire situation the list was in, but he certainly is now.
Next step for him is to devise and teach a new game plan. That takes time. Anyone expecting the players to pick it up and run with it straight away was going to be disappointed. For me, Malthouse and Carlton was always going to be 2014 and beyond.
To Malthouse's credit, he was prepared to adjust and adapt as he learned about the strengths and weaknesses of the list. Whether he goes in to 2014 with the current game plan remains to be seen. Interestingly, the top group of teams all play quite a different style of footy. Sydney are contested beasts with a strong defensive mindset, and now a super dangerous slingshot offence to go with it. Hawthorn do their precision kicking thing, slicing through. Geelong plays manic, down the corridor attacking football, backed up by players who are super hard at the ball. Freo plays the Ross Lyon strangle. Which is the right game plan? We'll know come the last Saturday in September. Nevertheless, Malthouse has to decide whether the game plan he wants to embed at Carlton for the next 3-5 years is going to be good enough to eventually challenge.
We have a list of players with terrible habits and no leadership. One way skiers, no one doing the hard work for others and now no one who can take a game by the scruff of it's neck and turn it around. Judd used to, but can't anymore. Murphy has never done it. Can't recall anyone else on our list who has done it. When you think of the number of players who can and do do it at the top clubs, it says plenty.
And for those who think that we are no better off this year than last year, I think it's important not to underestimate the Judd factor. He has been the one player (the other was Fevola) who could turn a game or win a game off his own back. We one plenty of games over the last 5 years on the back of Judd. If we had the Judd of 2 or 3 years ago playing this year, I have no doubt we would have won half the games we've lost this year, on the back of how he could turn a game.
This list is in dire need of reconstruction. People talk about defence and a key forward, but out biggest problem, as noted by many recently, is our midfield. Lack of depth, lack of elite talent once you go past Judd, Murphy, Gibbs on occasion and Carazzo. We badly miss Simpson's run through the midfield, which makes it even more ludicrous that we are playing him off half back when we have 8 half back flankers in the seconds.
But I digress.
It will take time for Malthouse to shape the list the way he wants it, and to change the culture and habits of the playing group, and find those who can provide the kind of leadership we need. But he has proven before that he can do it. His pride and ego mean that he will leave no stone unturned, of that I agree. Which is why I think there will be a massive clean out at the end of the season.
Malthouse can be hard to listen to sometimes. He is as abrasive in the media as he is fiercely loyal to and supportive of his players, which is why they always come to play for him and love him. I for one have much more confidence in Malthouse knowing how to get us out of this mess than if Ratten was still at the helm.
Great post
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