I have never suggested Mick was shit, ever.
My point if most people seem to be ignoring is that under Ratten we played finals 3 out of his 5 years with him at the helm. He was criticized repeatedly when he was seemed to have lost his way (and rightly so) last year, but again with an injury ravaged list.
Mick has made the same stupid decisions with a healthy list and has lost to the lesser teams and again hasn’t made any in roads to any of our much publicized deficiencies.
I don’t believe we should excuse one coach and not another especially when one has been brought in at great expense with the belief of raising standards and so far has failed to do so.
If Ratten is a shit coach then Malthouse can prove that theory of yours by using some of his experience and knowledge with the same list Ratten had and take us one step further and he can have an advantage by coaching a reasonably healthier one.
Yes

The basic skills of the game are our problem - field kicking and kicking for goal.
We have no problem with contested possessions (getting the ball), but we time and time again butcher the ball.
It's what separates the top sides from the rest - Geelong, Hawks, Sydney.
Until we draft or develop our skills/techniques of our players to kick the ball effectively, then we will always be a mediocre team at best.
I kid you not, if we master the art of kicking the ball and hitting targets - long, short, medium distances, we will win most games!!!

Good post, i agree with this increasingly.

Cant Dominate good opposition for the whole match anymore, seems to be accepted. Need to maximise your time on top by scoring. That happens through good kicking.

Also need to minimise damage when getting beat. Cool heads, leadership and good footskills needed for this too.

Good post, i agree with this increasingly.

Cant Dominate good opposition for the whole match anymore, seems to be accepted. Need to maximise your time on top by scoring. That happens through good kicking.

Also need to minimise damage when getting beat. Cool heads, leadership and good footskills needed for this too.

IMO the list we have is more than capable of playing in the finals. No excuses for the Super Duper coach and some really dumb coaching decisions he has made this year.

true RB but i think your discussing tension relieving momentary success as opposed to long term goal achieving

Exactly Denim provide us with a positive win lose to get us into the finals and a prelim for the moment with what is provided for you and at the end of the year chop and change and be judged on a separate criterion from your predecessor with the list you’re content/comfortable with.

Our greatest losing margins over the last 10 years have steadily improved with the blip being 2012:
2002: 108 point loss Collingwood Rd 18
2003: 124 point loss North Melbourne Rd 22
2004: 108 point loss St Kilda Round 10
2005: 99 point loss Essendon* Round 21
2006: 92 point loss St Kilda Round 8
2007: 100 point loss Hawthorn Round 12
2008: 78 Point loss Hawthorn Round 22
2009: 72 Point loss Adelaide Round 22
2010: 68 point loss Bulldogs Round 15
2011: 36 point loss West Coast Round 14
2012: 69 point loss Adelaide Round 8
2013: 17 point loss Collingwood Round 2

Who knows, we might be overdue for a thumping, or we might be overdue for a big scalp. We've matched up well against Sydney recently and I think we're in with a shot this time around.