In the euphoria that followed the 1995 premiership, I became disconcerted when virtually no changes were made to our list, that was by far and away the oldest of any in the competition. There was a sense that the group had had their last hurrah and defied the 'Too old, too slow' knockers.
Since that time, I have had year after year of dismay about the direction of our club, both on and off the field.
The retention of Justin Madden, the trading away of draft selections for has beens or rejects, and the rejection of professionalism in favour of '80's style behaviour made my worries grow.
In 1999 we had a freakish run which got us into the Grand Final, and even though there was a sense that we should never have got near that game, it seemed the powers that be thought all was well. The acrimonious departure of Aaron Hamill (regardless of how people perceive the player's role) was handled in poor fashion by Elliott and co, who failed to appreciate the changing nature of contract negotiations.
The absurdity of player administration reached its peak with the Koutoufides deal, further confirming our club's status as the laughing stock of the AFL. This was where I thought we had hit rock-bottom, as placing @ 20% of our salary cap with one player was clear lunacy.
Little did I know how much further we had to plunge!
And to think John Elliott described Footscray as tragic.
The litany of disaster continued, with the salary cap rorting and attendant penalties, the disgraceful dumping of Brittain (not the fact he was terminated, but how it was handled), the white elephant that is the 'Legends' stand, the dismantling of our brand, and the lurching from one public scandal to another.
But we got a new board, and all would be well!
A couple of things have looked OK, with the move from Princes Park that should've occured 15 years earlier, and the proposed redevelopment of our ground as a training venue.
But the hits have kept on coming. Whether it be half-baked sponsorship deals that dragged our image down further or extending Pagan's contract despite there being no reason to do so, but definitely a sense that waiting could be a good idea.
The unceremonious exit of Ian Collins was certainly a 'highlight' of 2005, and the very public debate about whether we should retain Whitnall and Fevola certainly was memorable.
Even though we collected our second Wooden Spoon, I thought things are finally looking up.
2006 ushered in further incompetence, culminating in re-signing Koutoufides after yet again being dragged through the media mud, despite his form hardly warranting consideration of his returning in 2007. Another Wooden Spoon for our 'proud' club and this latest farce over Denis Pagan.
Now there is plenty I'm sure I've left out, but I write this because I've noticed a long-established trend in our club, and that is we have been easily the worst managed, at all levels, since Fitzroy, and even they could lay claim to better administration.
In summary, I've had a gutful, and I've especially had a gutful of apologists for the current incompetent board of directors.
Those with a sense of history will be aware that the last time we had a sustained period of disasters, the club dentist, George Harris, took charge and turned the ship around.
We have reached that point again, in fact, we reached it a long time ago.
If Dick Pratt, or someone of his ilk reads Talking Carlton, then I plead for them to act. Forget about waiting for certain events to happen, the time to move is now.
Our membership fell by 5,000 people this season, and unless a complete reform group takes charge, we can be certain of another substantial decline for 2007. On top of that, can we seriously expect to attract professional administrators or sponsors while the circus continues?
So please, Dick, Fraser or whichever other influential professional, please get on the job and turn our beloved club around.
We, the diehard Carlton supporters, have had enough.
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