But...he has a great football brain...

_________________
"...that's the thing about opinion - you don't have to know anything to have one..." Andre Agassi commenting on Pat Cash 2004
"...the less you know - the more you believe..." - Bono 2006

They are all irrelevant excuses. The same fact is that the game is too quick for him.
The days of him playing a loose man in defence are over. His bludging days are over. Were you not concerned that Gasper was running off him and creating an extra option that was hurting us???

No, but it's the rejoicing in it thats pissing me off.

Weak as piss some of you.

_________________
Oompa loompa doompety dee
If you are wise you'll listen to me

Cor, that sounded just like a negative reality inversion, didn't it?

Lance may yet join the Richie Vandenberg school for captains that can't play...

Even the most ardent of Lance apologists can surely see the writing on the wall.

To have any chance of being effective (and not as a loose man in defence), Lance needs to get back to and maintain the fitness/mobilty levels he had in pre season 2005. I doubt this will ever happen again.

I do not buy the 'Lance is a victim of genetics' argument. He could achieve far superior fitness levels through self discipline, yet he chooses not to.

Unlike a Cam Cloke, age is against him.

Lance is in poor form. Someone said he is like Greg Chappell was when he couldn't score a run.

That's the way the cookie crumbles some times.

Give Lance 2 more weeks. If he plays crap against the pussies and the scum he has to be dropped to find touch for his own benefit.

The interesting issue to me is where Kennedy fits in in all this. Lance is restricting this guys development. He was the guy that stood out to me last night. he turned the game in our favour. To me he stood out .You cant play Fev, Whitnall, Fisher Waite and Kennedy in the forward line. Too top heavy. A couple of times we were too Fev driven when Kennedy was a better option.

Lance to me is proof positive that it is easier being a defender than a forward. Lance has spent the past three years accross half back and has forgotten how hard you have to work if you are going to be a successful forward.

Other examples= Waite struggled looks good down back
Sentanta was tried as a forward but holds his own down back
Lappin is better accross half back than half forward
Houlihan has made a mark accross half back despite being a goal sneak when he started

Its easier in the back line when you have two or three of your mates atempting the spoil - very rarely does anyone give you assistance to take a grab up forward.

Lance has to learn how to be a forward again - If he has the brain everyone says he has it wont take long

_________________
If you allow the Government to change the Laws in an emergency
They will create an Emergency to change the Laws

According to the Blueseum (so it must be right ) Lance is 190 cms. Looking at the list, these are the heights of some of the rest of our players that play in some of the positions (key back, key forward, and half back flank, half forward flank) Lance is meant to be competing for:

Setanta 199 cms
Hartlett 196 cms
Kennedy 195 cms
Thornton 192 cms
Fisher 192 cms
Waite 192 cms
Walker 190 cms

It is looking at a list like that which leads me to think that Lance's time in the game is limited. The above players are not only at least as tall as Lance, they are also much quicker. The flexibility they offer to the side is far greater than what we see from Lance. We have guys like Walker and Fisher who can be rotated through the centre, we have players like Waite and Thornton who can be rotated onto various types of players, and we have guys like Hartlett and Kennedy who can pinch-hit when the ruckman is resting or even switch to CHB.

Lance's game last year was built around being floating player in defence. That's ok if your gameplan gives you the option of having a floating player such as Lance, but I suspect this year's gameplan doesn't cater to it. So what we are really relying on is an ability for the Match Committee to somehow exploit a mismatch up forward which suits Lance. He's not tall enough to be a key position player, and he's not quick enough to be a flanker. The opposition these days will usually only have one small backman, and he is going to be playing on Eddie Betts... so I just can't see how we can manufacture a match-up which Lance is going to be able to exploit.

I don't dislike Lance or bear him any ill will, but I just can't picture a situation in which he is going to be able to offer either the muscle, felxibility or speed that this team needs in moving forward.

Another Whitnall theory....

All the Richmond fans in Q22 of the MCG looked like Shane Whitnall. Now, on the basis that all Richmond fans EVERYWHERE look like that, perhaps Lance was spooked as he ran on to field?

Food for thought?

_________________
Formerly: Ackland the Wonderkid / Army the Wonderkid / quivering mess / molsey / Tony Lynn Fan Club

Disappointing to see that there seem to be some supporters more pleased that Whitnall had a shocker than that Carlton had an important first-up win.

His round-one performance was significantly worse than what he produced for most of last year. I'm not sure what effect the family situation is having - apparently a very reliable source says he is relishing the extra publicity, so maybe he would actually be far worse if not for the regular does of public ridicule - but the decline in his mobility since last season seems to be the real problem.

This has always been a problem he has had to work around, but even by Whitnall standards, he is really struggling to get around the ground. So much so that I am pessimistic about him being dramatically better in the next few weeks. An unfit?/injured?/distracted? Whitnall is one of the few good match-ups for cumbersome Gaspar.

Particularly early last season Whitnall was covering a lot of territory - not at lightning speeds, of course, but his stamina was good. He needs to at least reach that level to be worthy of a place in the team - and that place probably needs to be half-forward because although there will be some teething problems with Waite at CHB (a bit undisciplined and decision-making and skills at time questionable), Waite looks a likely long-term solution for that position.

Last Year

Played Great but we couldnt win a game, Lance gets Bagged


This Year

Held the NAB cup.

Hasn't lost a game as Captain this year. Lance gets Bagged

To many experts that have never played footy at the highest level.

I am a Whitnall fan.

However, I do not believe that we should be carrying him or anyone that is out of form in the first 22.

I thought that naming him captain when he hadn't completed a preseason was very risky.

I know that Lance plays his best when he has come off a strong preseason, and he hasn't done that in 2007.

He's out of form and his fitness level is questionable.

I do not believe that carrying Lance to find form in the ones is going to help win us matches.

The Reserves is where players find form and fitness. That's what happened to Lappin last year, and it did him wonders.

One has to earn their position to play in the ones.

He should be dropped for the Cats game. Sorry but that's life.

I'm sure there was a captain dropped to the reserves in the last 10 years...and it did him wonders. Geelong? Adelaide?...I'm sure there was. If not, big deal.

_________________
Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Lance is distracted at the moment and perhaps some of you should ask your boss how well you worked after having a big spat with the wife/partner before work. I see it time and time again when people have problems at home they carry the problems to work. What he needs is for his wife and family to support him and to work out his fustrations and problems on the training track - to use the negativity of Shane into a positive in terms of fitness, both phisical and mental. I believe that Swann is going to help Lance sort out this problem soon as even he can see that it is a big distraction that he doesn't need. I can also tell you that Lance is not loving the publicity, far from it and if it was not footy season I would be willing to help Lance reset his mind with the help of Jack Daniels and Johnny Walker.

Two things need to happen if this club wants to continue on the way to 100% credibility.

1. Lance needs to put his club and his team mates ahead of himself and step down as Captain.
We know how stubborn & pig-headed Pagan is and he will continue to carry Lance and disregard form to save face on his (with others) decision to make Lance captain.
It's not fair on the club, and it's not fair on his team mates.
The club is bigger than any individual.

2. Pagan must be shown the door.
The decision to make Lance Captain was a big mistake based on old fashioned & out dated theories IMO.
Pagan is too stubborn & too pig-headed to change completely with the times.
We must get a modern thinking & flexible senior coach.

_________________
There's so much I could say...

C'mon guys, give Lance a break! One ordinary regular season game and you are ready to drop him!! Please????

A little faith please.

_________________
Wisdom tells me I am nothing
Love tells me I am everything
Between the two my life flows

Was it Pagan's decision alone?

Let's not forget the second half of 2006, and all NAB Cup as well...

_________________

************************************************************
NOW YOU'RE JUST SOME CLUB THAT I USED TO KNOW.

Let's also not forget 2002-2005

Stevens & Whitnall have both been carrying niggles for years.

Both had an unquestionable committment to the club, but questionable committment to their own preparation.

Lance bleeds blue, and was generally perceived as the superior on-field marshall of the troops. He got the nod.

Since then his knee has been flaring up again AND he's in the papers over a personal dispute. One or the other would have been managble, but combined it has to be taxing. Judging by your support of Kids Helpline, I'd suggest you'd be aware of the impact mental stress and/or illness can have on a person. Imagine how Lance has it when he gets no sympathy because he's Lance Whitnall: Carlton Captain.

Just something to think about.

_________________
29 different attributes,
And only 7 that you like;
20 ways to see the world,
Or 20 ways to start a fight.