Some reasonable questions here that would be part of any decent review. How they are answered will greatly differ of course. If people answer these questions, that will give an interesting straw poll. My take:

do i believe ratts has the most out of our list?
No, not the absolute most, but he has done a pretty fair job. Carrazzo is enjoying his role. He's getting a lot out of Joseph, and Bower has come on in leaps and bounds. Russell (waiting for the boos) & Browne are coming along. Armfield is being encouraged to run and break lines which is good, but then is also having to dispose under pressure which is not so good (which might be gameplan issues or other players not doing their part). I don't think he has Malthouse like abilities to extract everything from the players yet, but he's not exactly Tim Watson either.

do i believe our players are individuially playing to the best of their ability?
Some yes and some no. (see above). Fev, Stevens and Cloke would be no. Setanta is a case for both camps - out of favour and out of the team, thrown around a lot, but Ratts has him in there now, working well and integrating him into the forward setup.

do i believe we have worked into a sustainable gameplan?
This is where I'm struggling to say yes. I'm sure we are but I couldn't point to our game plan and say 'that' is what we are doing. (Except of course when we hold that damn ball up).

do i believe ratten is the best man we can have for the job?
Not yet, but I think he will get there. I do think we have to surround him with the right team... as with EVERY OTHER coach in the AFL.

do i believe we have a good mix of coaches ?
I must be honest and say I don't know. I couldn't point to each coach and name their strengths or weaknesses. So, my very un-sagelike answer is that I don't really know. Though if I can hazard a guess, adding a tactically astute coach to the team would seem to be a good idea (be it Laidley, Williams, Longmire or the Stig). I think some extra tactical nous would help the game prep and matchday coaching.

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I would like to thank Collingwood for helping me keep faith in my old man. He always told me that 'People are thick'.

I think i aggree with Synbad. And the proof of this is in the results.

I question the coaches that surround Ratten too, and don't lay blame directly at ratten alone.

Take Lappin for example, our forward coach. I can't figure out what (if any) our forward structure is. Even the players at times look confused going forward.

However i do think we have thoroughly improved on our tackling since the Pagan days.

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

Laying in bed thinking about this last night ( trying to get my body clock ready for the Ashes)
How do we know that what we are doing at the moment isn't the next fad in the way of game plans
How do we know that Ratten is not in the middle of developing th greatest game plan of all time.

Recent History is riddled with fans go ape over their coach and their game plan only to see a year of two later that same game plan win them a flag.

Port - two years of finishing on top and were bundled out in straight sets - terrific list played very unaccountable football- The public claimed that their style would never win them a flag - It did

Swans - blasted from pillar to post for playing ugly unattractive football and they weren't winning at the time- Roos stuck to his guns - wins him a flag and runner up the following year

West Coast - gun midfield but were never going to win anything without the power forward - Worsfold wasn't sucked in to trading midfielders for a CHF - won them a flag and runner up

Geelong- remember ring around the rosy at Geelong high possessions chip chip stuff and lots of handball -they constantly turned the ball over and were beaten - Nothings changed they just got better at what they were doing

Hawthorn - Clarkson there were calls for his head from day one - They were not pushing forward trying to maintain possession and had unusual set ups an match ups that no one could understand - They slashed their list -high profile players were getting dumped and the side was copping some floggings - Did they budge - no


Now I know I might be pulling a very very long bow here - but who is to say that what we are seeing each and every week isn't the start of the greatest unbeatable game plan that ever existed

We know at the moment it often looks like total garbage but so did all the others - how do we know that the current blokes sitting in the coaches box are not the next bunch of football genius


We can only hope I guess

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

Nicely put in perspective, SB.

I'm not saying that it's all necessarily going to burst into fruition, but it's nice to see that we can look to other teams who have been through similar questions of their coach/playing style and have been successful.

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And so while others miserably pledge themselves to the pursuit of ambition and brief power, I will be stretched out in the shade, singing.

Who is wrapping up anyone in cotton wool?
Who is providing this perfectly rehearsed script?

This is nonsense.

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Have I run too far to get home?

As a business, facts have to be assessed and the line has to drawn somewhere.

Given Ratts is currently contracted to the end of 2011 and if the club is in a financially sound position I think it's not unfair for decisions to be made at this time next year.

Operating on pure 'hope' could lead us to being the next Melbourne FC.

'Don't think!! ..DO!! Don't hope ..ACT!!'

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There's so much I could say...

For mine, I'm willing to keep supporting Ratts and reserve judgment until the end of the year. The proof will be in the pudding at the end of the season - if we don't make the finals then something has gone horribly wrong and we'll need to look at all options IMO.

But let's not forget the train wreck of a team that Ratten inherited. It's reasonable to expect that he'll take a couple of seasons to implement the changes in personnel and gameplan for us to be a consistent, competitive side.

What I'm not happy about with Ratten is the way that he represents the club in interviews. Too many 'sort of' and 'maybe' comments that aren't decisive which leaves him sounding uncertain. I really think that Swanny should have worked some sort of public speaking education into his role. The head coach has to be clear in his communication as he is representing the football club to the country - for mine this is an important point.

Also I really didn't like the way that it was reported that he refers to Juddy as 'The Champ' - probably not the fact that he made the comment, but that it got out into the public domain. It heavily intimates a 'she'll be right, Juddy has the ball' attitude to supporters and the players and takes the emphasis away from 'team'. Maybe it annoyed me too much and it's not that important, but you wouldn't find for instance Bomber Thompson referring to Ablett as 'The Champ' to the media.

But ultimately I guess it's supplementary to his main task of implementing a game plan that plays to our strengths, educating the players and wringing the best from them on game day. I'm not switched on enough to talk about game plans etc but for the time being I'll trust in Ratts and reserve judgment until he's had enough time in the drivers seat.

If you took Ratts out of the job today and put in the best coach you can think of, I really don't think our season will turn out any differently.

Ratts is doing fine. People far more knowledgable on football matters than the TCers appointed him. I'm happy to go with there choice at the moment.

Surely you didn't expect us to go from crap to brilliant in two years.

The only person who cares about what Synbad's answers to his questions are is Synbad...

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I support the Navy Blues whatever happens!

Wrong I do as well

If we dont make the eight this year he has failed and the coaching staff needs a complete overhaul in my view and get rid of the dozen or so list cloggers
Pick 12 kids and build
No more Saddingtons, Bentleys Hadleys and Johnson. This type of recruiting is simply [REDACTED]. Either the bloke isnt good enough or is not up to it because of injury

Lets not forget we only play the 3 best sides in the comp once this year so making the eight should be a monty particularly when we
smashed the bulldogs
pushed the saints

So why have we played so crap in other games
the players have got ahead of themselves but
poor coaching tactically some mystery selections(Bentley ahead Anderson twice what a joke)
Ellard not promoted ahead of Bentley
No Gartlett when we played the quickest team

Ratten has made some bad blunders this year
With our easy draw and what he have shown on occasions against Brisbane and the doggies we should make the eight
And with 2 teams dominating 11 wins will get you in

If we dont play finals Ratten should be give the arse
Unlikely with his mate Sticks at the helm.

I am sitting on the fence regarding if Ratten is the right man or not,,,,I'm just undecided !!!

So I have a couple of questions to those of you who are in the know.

How is the relationship between Ratten and the playing group ?.

Do the players like having Ratten as a coach and do they believe in him ?.


and this question to Synbad,

What would Ratten have to do, to get into your good book ?.

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BRING BACK PERFORMANCE BASE PAYMENTS !!!

maybe, maybe not, then again, nope definitely maybe, I think

So was the thought that Carlton would only play off in one GF from 96-08 and miss the finals for 7 consecutive years....and win multiple wooden spoons. Like I said, the Club and some of its supporters have gone from ruthless to toothless. it's my opinion. I may not have much support with it but I believe it.

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If I want your opinion, I'll give it to you!

some thoughts

if we make them finals then he's done about as well as I had hoped for
If we win a final I think he has done very well.

And then next year we set the bar higher and expect improvement again

but at the moment he is on track.

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This type of slight is alien in the more cultured part of the world - Walsh. Its up there with mad dogs, Englishmen and the midday sun!

I think Ratten would have to begin to get our players play a gameplan that is not reactive and has a semblence of fluency.
Players will have to learn to work as a unit.Not as a bunch of guys running around receiving handballs in static situations and looking sideways back and then turning it over as the mass forms into the space.

Koro you pointed to Setanta as a guy who has improved but only last year he was on the way out.... and Ratts didnt believe in him.
Bower has improved
Austin has improved.
Joseph has improved....

but really.. alot of them are treading water....and do we know with basically 4 or 5 players having improved that it is not inate improvement?

I want to see a surge in improvement individually and as a collective....
But they cant do this if the gameplan is a muddled mess...

You think Ratts will be the right coach.... but really... in your heart of hearts its 'HOPE'.. you dont believe it the way you believe Kreuzer will be an AFL gun though....

I think thats the difference,

We might believe Ratts would be the man if there were strides of improvement.. not 1 step forward 1 step back...

Remember the competition is attempting to improve also...

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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.

You can not be serious.

....Says the guy who wants Choco Williams at Carlton

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And so while others miserably pledge themselves to the pursuit of ambition and brief power, I will be stretched out in the shade, singing.

You are expecting the team to "surge" in improvement, what the hell are you on about???

As for the fluency you speak of, do you mean like the Doggies, Geelong or St kilda move the ball and play for each other, well how long have they been drilled by the same guy at the helm and how long have they played games together?

Get real Synbad, you're a little shy of the mark in your assessment of the 'game plan vs make up of the team' and your inability to make a fair comparison with the teams around our age, experience and length of time with the coach (except for Knights/Bombers which is admittedly very annoying and belittling but not something which is fixed by just getting rid of Ratts) shows you are just ranting.

Your constant talking down of the "boys club" and the coaching panel is kids stuff.

A bit OTT there Keogh,

Hadley, Johnson, Bentley were picked up for nothing and have been given a go, which is exactly what you would want the coach/MC to do especially with such a young and inexperienced group and very few middle aged players in the squad. This type of recruiting has certainly not harmed the Saints or Sydney in the last few years and hasnt really been our focus anyway.

To reply to you point about not winning all our matches (or played crap as you so elegantly put it)......... um well where to start with that one????? Suffice to say we have not been as accurate in front of goal as we should be but overall had opportunities to win them all except Crows/Bombers and only in the crows match was this a tactical issue.

Regardless of the draw I think we have enough evidence over the last few years to see that anyone can beat anyone else (geelong have been the exception) on the day, so if we make the finals it is because we deserve to get there.

I agree if we dont make the finals this year, we should look at all the areas we need to improve and that includes the head coach!!

Great Post

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Go BLues