People have wanted action from the board to address the clubs disastrous cash flow situation, and yet when an option of selling a home game to perth is canvassed, apparently thats a bad thing.

Clearly more options need to be identified than just selling a home game or two to help out the finances, but at least it is some form of action.

Personally I think its a step in the right direction and shows that the board is at least looking at options to help the club.

John and Elwood, I hate this as much as you, but what do we do? We don't generate enough cash to run the club, we are insolvent. What are the quick fixes apart from Dick Pratt digging into his wallet? And we need a quick fix. We can't keep earning less than we spend. We have a shocking team that has been at the bottom for 5 years and there is very little light at the end of the tunnel. That means few sponsor $. We have a coach that costs a fortune and won't be taking us anywhere in the next two seasons (This board's fault for renewing too soon) and all the big donors - Kevin Hall Peter Kerr Dick Pratt - were Elliot men, failed to stop his meglomania and now are on the other side of the divide at the club and probably aren't going to be chipping in. Maybe getting Colin De Lutis involved again may thaw the freeze with some of our rich supporters, but you can't rely on donations and brown paper bags as Elliot did. It leads to where we are. I don't particularly like what I see with Smorgon but I'm not sure who would be better - in fact I don't know much about him. I presume he has a reasonable business brain. Most of TC are happyish to tank. Why not sell a few games for two years to cover membership drop then in 2009 with a few more young guns on board and a new coach and match committee, we will start to rise fairly quickly, with hate in our hearts and revenge in our souls

Have to say i am with JohnM and Elwood on this one.

One area that has not been discuused in this debate and it is of a concern to me(and should be to the AFL) is this whole issue of Clubs with cash being able to buy Home Games and effectively wins.This seems totally at odds with their socialist system of salary caps and drafts.

I wonder if the AFL would be as quick to embrace the concept if an interstate Club found themselves in financial difficulties?

Could you imagine Andrew"despot" Demitriou allowing Collingwood/Essendon*/Carlton at their peaks in the 90,s buying the Swans home games?

Me thinks not!

I'm for it if we can have one less away interstate game for the year (does this make sense?)

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Between our dreams and actions lies this world

If we are going to do it for a year it might as well be in 2007. We don't want to win more than four games next year.

Hit....Nail....Head.

If this goes through, time all decision makers on hand to piss off and let some real people willing to do the hard yards take over. Soft Blues.

Where has it got the clubs who having been selling games?....they are all still in debt, still have their snouts in the AFL trough and in the Kangaroos case will be playing out of the Gold Coast by default...4 games next season, and so on for a couple of years and then what...7 games out of the Gold Coast each season...and so on.....the AFL could give them that money if they really wanted to but they have their agenda....and its called expansion and rationalising the amount of Melbourne teams....never give up the right to be in charge of your own destiny..selling games or prostituting ourselves to the AFL is the start of us giving up our identity..

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

This is the third nail in this boards coffin.

Apart from our neighbourhood location and historical penchant for giving up early picks for mid-listers, how else is the story comparable Elwood?

I'd have thought the better analysis is St Kilda and Hawthorn, strong supporter base (strong enough), seeking better cashflows from exploiting another client base. As a short term option, with the fans looked after with the designated games, to generate cash until we can stand on our own feet, what is the downside? The fear of being controlled by the AFL will remain regardless of where we play our games, they are after all our direct guarantor and potential banker. A well timed game to a core market - WA or Tassie - can only help us climb out of the mess.

Carlton cant just generate cash, especially whilst we're woeful. Carlton doesnt have enough funds to do anything material. We are scraping the bottom of the barrel. We will not progress without some cashflow generation from new sources. Until someone wealthy helps us out, which we cannot plan for, we have to do something. I dont concur with the downside analysis you have provided.

Unfortunately those clown are still alive and kicking on the board!!
Our club is going to die if changes aren't made soon at a board and MC level

What is the point of this board if all they do is play follow the leader???
A bunch of work experience students could have come in and reached the same decision.

Where's the innovation within this board? Where's the new ideas? Why are we always following other clubs leads well after they have saturated ideas? Why can't this board come up with any ingenious ideas?

Is this the beginning of the end?

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Revenge is a dish best served cold

&

I AM PROUD SPONSOR OF THE CAROLINE WILSON HATE CLUB

The AFL have owned us for years now. We lost real control of our club when we stupidly gave the AFL the chance to break us on black Friday. They own our name & our guernsey & soon to be our lease of our true home Princes Park. We are a 16th of the AFL. All we own are our memories and our pride in our history. That's the reality.

We did that a few years ago and in my eyes the current CFC is a new CFC that has to survive the current modern era.

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There's so much I could say...

Let me guess, ballistic blues...

you didn't quite captain your school debating team, did you?

Thought not.

'you're a retard'...

Why do we all expect genius ideas? If there was anything easy we'd have done it (or are doing it). Genius is by definition rare & precious - why do we expect it?

What sort of genius idea could save a broke business with few (but increasing) star employees?

In business, you'd just close it down, or sell off some parts to give you some breathing space.

Much like the timing of the draft penalties, the timing of the Legends Stand and the timing of being a crap team have hurt us . Right when the rest of the compeiution is exploiting media and TV opportunities, we are left behind.

Relying on genius is not the answer. Relying on benefactors would be great but its not the answer.

Are we really selling the game to make money, sign up supporters or is it to appease the AFL and the likes of David Smorgan and justify us being allowed in the same trough as the Bulldogs and Kangas.....
I dont see it the same as Stkilda or Hawthorn because they dont have their snouts in the CBF....or with special loans however you like to dress it up.
But I will use Geelong as an example....down and out till Costa and Cook got them back on track..they didnt sell home games or run to the AFL...they did it themselves....the Herald Sun had an article on Brian Cook last season and he explained wht he had to do and how deseperate they were...our directors should get a copy of that and study how he went about it or find some Directors who have not given up like ours appear to have...

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

What did Cook do? there was a bit of cost cutting, a plan which is not available to us (we're cut to the bone). There was some State Funding for a ground. That is what we are doing. There was the recruitment of a cheaper Coach... good idea!

Why is it us giving up when Hawks, St Kilda, Dogs, North, Melbourne all do it? That's half the Vic teams... I wouldn't call that giving up.

It is plain that it is extremely difficult to manage this problem. WE have minimal cash, struggling off-field and cant avail ourselves of handouts. What can we do?

I said Perth a few weeks ago and i'm glad the club are looking at it.

Not that i'm happy we have to sell our home games, but look at StKilda...............they're a powerhouse club that attracts Raitings, Sponsers, high games attendances, etc, etc, etc.............and they still sell their home games.

If it's gonna net us close to $1million per year to sell 2 home games to Perth you would have to consider it.

Again, i don't want to move any games (felt the same way about PP) but if we are to do it anywhere, i'm glad it's perth! Massive following over there!

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"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit"
- Aristotle

I never said anything about genius ideas - I said we need new ideas. Innovative ideas.

We don't have money, that's right. But why are we following well worn paths whilst at the same time devaluing our brand (or what littles left of it)? Why are we taking actions that have been tried by others? The same others that are now complaining about selling those games.

Why can't this board think of a new and innovative idea for once? It doesn't necessarily mean it will cost us money. Why can't they think of alternatives? Where are the fresh ideas? You can't tell me the AFL and football clubs have exhausted all possible avenues of revenue and this is the only one left?

My concern is this board is so bereft of imagination that once we sell games, we will continue selling them because they won't be able to think of other ways to source the same amount of income from elsewhere. (well not until someone else thinks of it first that is)

It would be a sad day for this club if we sold a home game.
And the board should suffer the consequences if they carry this through.

It's a quick cash grab that we'll be trying (unsuccessfully) to get out of if we're ever good again.

Melbourne want out of Gabba but they can;t
Saints want out of Tassie but they can;t

And we're gonna go to Perth???? Disgrace. Can;t wait for the trip to Subi when we're trying to make the 8 or 4.

And yeah, it'll be the MCG game that gets transferred of course.

@#$%&! the board off if this happens. Wangers, where's the challenge you've been prediciting?

ALL CARLTON HOME GAMES IN MELBOURNE FOREVER

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They will know that they've been playing against the famous old dark blues