Whilst the negatives stick out like dogs balls and are easily noticed, I don't think it takes a hell of a lot to change and to move up the ladder in the future. The competition is very tight, it only takes a few things to go wrong, or right to change a clubs fortunes.
Last nights game was interesting to watch. First quarter we showed we could beat Brisbane. Personally at quarter time I was secretly hoping we don't win this game. I was glad with the result.
The club seems fair dinkum about getting its act together. Sure the board everyone loves to hate is still hanging around like a bad case of herpes, but at least they've gone to the doctors and asked for some cream ...
We've got positives to acknowledge if we choose to recognize them. State of the art facilities at Ikon Park. We're making inroads to get the right people in the right positions which is a pretty massive turnaround compared to how we've operated in the past.
Even though we're not seeing results from a fair few of our younger recruits, I think many of them will come good once the dust settles as we get a stable working environment in place.
The sheer difference one good recruit makes, ie. Patrick Cripps, plainly shows we can get it right and what a difference it makes. We can and will do this again during the draft period, I have no doubts about it.
Getting Mick Malthouse was probably the best damn decision the club has made in the last 15 years. It took the appointments of Pagan, the sacking of Ratten and the final straw of Malthouse, to wake this club up and prove without a shadow of a doubt we've got it wrong, so horribly wrong.
Some absolutely ghastly decisions over the journey are NOT going to be rectified with a wave of the magic wand. But all is not lost, its only just beginning.
The next few years are going to sort out the men from the boys as far as supporter loyalty is concerned. Its going to be a bloody painful journey for ALL lovers of the Navy Blue.
The good news is, no, the BESTEST news is we have categorically acknowledged, without a shadow of a doubt, that we need to do things right, right across the board.
For the first time in a LOOOOOOOOOOOONG time I'm actually excited about our future. Sticks Kernahan did us a massive favour in retrospect appointing Mick Malthouse as coach. It showed us once and for all we need to change and do things right.
We weren't even prepared to look at teams like Hawthorn and how they went about it. We went about it the Carlton way - hire the best money can buy and BINGO! Premierships!
Thanks Sticks, all those years at the helm you finally came good for us appointing Malhouse. Your not a silly as you look you sneaky bastard

Its kind of a sickening feeling really. I'm so NOT looking forward to the next 2 seasons on the one hand, but at the same time its a strange game football, and with the competition is so evenly spread, our improvement could surprise many, or be a slow long slug-fest.
Either way, our days of doing things the old way are definitely over. Personally I think this and this alone is the best damn news any Carlton supporter could hear in the last 20+ years.
Chin up, we're not done yet, not by a long shot.