Hi all, I'm a long time reader & sometime poster on this board. Been a Carlton fan since 2004 & getting to see our boys play at the 'G' was one of the reasons I decided to emigrate to Australia in 2009. As luck would have it my first game was against the Tigers when Fev finally kicked a bag of 9!!

Anyway just wondering if people feel the current period of say Ratts final season to now would be seen as a darker time on field than the midst of the salary cap penalty seasons of say 02-06? Been thinking about it lately & from reading posts here I get the feeling that no matter how bad affairs got during the 02-06 period there was still the feeling that 'We are Carlton' & that the club would right itself & before long be challenging again. Having gone through a should have been rebuild it feels like many have lost hope that the club can right itself when having to rebuild again.

My own feelings are that the club was broken by trying to take shortcuts during the tanking years. Despite the riches on offer through draft picks, this club should never have traded culture for draft picks. You win or you lose but you always try to your utmost. As much as I hate to say it I personally can't see us winning a flag as long as we have a number 1 pick in our lineup. No offence to Murphy, Gibbs or Kreuzer but they are a product of the club that drafted them & have known no better.

Unfortunately I wasnt here during 02-06 to make a better comparison but just feels lately like the hope has been sucked out of us. After seeing the club chance 1 rebuild there doesn't appear to be the same belief this time that we can do a proper job of it this time.

Before anyone says it this is not a reaction to last Thursday but the general vibe I have picked up from other blues fans lately. I've always been proud to say I barrack for Carlton when asked but it's often ill meet someone & they are half embarrassed to admit it!

Regardless of everything, go Bluebaggers!!

it all boils down to the people at the top
tanking isnt so bad if you understand the bigger picture and what else you must do to become great
cllingwood and hawthorn both did it..(flags ). stkilda did also.. (10 years of finals)
problem is when thats the extent of your plan...


we just have no idea....

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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.

Pretty depressing when you think the Saints have done it better than us even!

I suppose for as long as we are a billionaire plaything we won't be going anywhere. It just feels like we need to do something as a fanbase before we become even more of an irrelevance to this competiton.

2011 definitely was our zenith. 2 losses in our first 13 games, Murphy was a gun, beat Essendon* by 10 goals in a final, very unlucky to have lost the other over in Perth. Since 2012 it has been a gradual slide. At least in 2002 it was dramatic.

Great heartfelt post navyirish.
Possibly a fair few of us are worn down after years of hoping and supporting through bleak times.

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That’s not a political statement — it’s a harsh reality, and we must act,” she said. “He is a clear and present danger to the things that keep us strong and free. I support impeachment.”

Got it BG.
It's the fact we are NOT seeing the light at the end if a the tunnel that has worn most down.
At the end if the day, footy clubs rely on "hope"...and that's what we've lost. Even after 2002, we saw high picks, etc so it appeared that the light at the end of the tunnel was actually the end of the tunnel!

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“Every single element of the Club has to be the best in the league, meticulously and methodically, and only by doing this will we be elite and challenge for number 17.”
Greg Lee

I'd remove recent.

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dane's trolling again

Pretty much it.

Yes

In theory we should be top 4 given where we were at 10 years ago.
That is how the comp is set up
The club have been shit because
Shit coaching appointments
Shit trades
Shit recruiting
Shit injury management
Shit player development
Shit culture
Shit leadership on and off the field
Shit admin decisions
That's a lot of shit

And shit flows downstream
The board mainly the Pratts and Mathiesons are the problem
Until the board goes I am afraid to say we will get further behind most clubs who do these things better

These are the best of times
These are the worst of times

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NG
S M C , S F L

The blurst of times.

Yes this is the bleakest period because you can't see a way out.

The only real tanking year was 2007, prior to then we were just terrible. Without tanking in 07 we may of won 6-7.

and apathetic supporters........

lol

idiots!!!how dare they???

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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.

I have supported Carlton since the late 60's, been a member since 1976.
I can not recall feeling so disillusioned as i am right now. During 2002-2007 it was hard but we had the feeling that there was light at the end of the tunnel. We had 3 number one draft picks, Judd arrived and Fev was flying.
It's hard to take that we got so much wrong. Appointing Ratts because "he was there". Terrible drafting and trading, letting good players go for little compensation has come back to bite us on the bum.
I just can't see us being a power for years and with the timing of the introduction of free agency it is even harder for the bottom clubs to climb the ladder.
There is just this feeling of hopelessness and I am so pissed off right now with our club.

One of the main problems we have had is in Recruiting where we have been absolutely woeful. I don't attribute this aspect of our failure to any coach.

However we have made some seriously bad coaching appointments ... Pagan, Madhouse and some of the assistants. Hopefully the lesson has been learnt (the hard way) and we move away from knee jerk appointments. Coaches must be allowed to finish their contracts. Those contracts must be sensible in the first place.

My option would be to let the Madhouse finish his term this year. Unless we have serious improvement in performance to TAKE US BACK TO WHERE WE WERE when he took over, then he should go. Then we need to take a CONSIDERED look at where we are going and who is best to get us there.

Go Bluebaggers!

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

but ratten was a good coach???

lol

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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.

Well of the 3 ... he performed much better ... we went from last to 5th ... its as simple as that.

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

This is nothing compared to the Dark Years under Pagan.
No money
No players (apart from Fev)
No facilities
Belted by 10 goals + more often than not
Contrary to what others said, until Pratt turned up out of the blue, it felt like there was no future.
The depths of how much of a laughing stock we were might be forgotten by some people, but we rivaled the Mark Neild coached Melbourne for crapness on and off the ground.

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James Hird and Essendon* FC - #FOREVERDRUGCHEATS

True ... the problem is we are heading that way again... the signs are not good ... and people are laughing at us

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

I have been a member since '68 and attended my first game a year or two before that.

Having seen 8 premierships and lots of finals appearances in the first 30 years of active supporting I was able to live with the crash in the early 2000s but as each year has gone by the joy of supporting the Blues has further diminished.

But what has p!ssed me off more than anything was that I used to go to any game and think that if we played our best then we were a chance no matter who the opposition was. That does not exist any more and it is that lack of hope that kills me the most.

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Carlton - Nothing's changed
I still love you, oh, I still love you
Only slightly, only slightly less
Than I used to, my love