keogh wrote:
Said a lot of things
I agree with some of what you say and disagree with some.
I disagree with the notion that Malthouse is a has been old coach who shouldn't have been gotten... I think he's better than that. I think he's better than the whole Denis Pagan thing. I think he's better than Ratten. I hope he proves it.
I agree that it looks as though we could be in for a torrid year. As you mentioned Judd is done, although he's still better than a sizeable portion of our list even at his retirement age.
I agree that it appears that the recruitment has been shizen housen... I'd argue that it's less the recruitment and more the development... or maybe it's about the attitude of the individual... I believe the results we tend to get are largely as a result of the way in which the goal was attempted.
The trio of Kreuzer, Gibbs and Murphy haven't set alight the competition as we all thought they would when they were put together, but they're still in a position to do this as they are in or about to be in the prime of their career. Murphy with 2 injured seasons and Kreuzer who seems as though he will never achieve his potential due to ongoing injury management... there's plenty of reasons to be pessimistic.
The supporting cast has done it's job okay in my view. At times they look like world beaters, only to be frustrated by a lack of consistency to always perform at a high level. In 2013 we lacked the killer punch. Against Essendon*, Collingwood, Richmond, St Kilda and Hawthorn the team had enough opportunity to establish a significant lead - certainly enough to win the game - and blew it. That says to me that with a similar (and arguably improved) list and an ability to put scoreboard pressure in on dominant windows of the game, Carlton should actually improve.
I think we're still a mid table club. We could finish as high as 6th and as low as 12th depending on how much improvement actually occurs. Should we get good service out of recruits Thomas and Everitt, the higher end of the ladder looks okay.
If I had to put money on it, I'd put it on missing the finals. Not enough confidence in the team.