The supporters. The arrogant, entitled, success driven, impatient, supporters. All of which are poor character traits to have in the modern game.
Perhaps we are victims of our own success? Perhaps we exert to much pressure on the board at the wrong time.
....and before you wet yourself because you are ROFLMAOing......let me add this. Some 'supporters' are more arrogant, entitled, success driven and impatient than others.....and some 'supporters' have more say in the day to day business than others.
THAT is our true achillies heal.
I was arguing with someone the other day about our off-field being in the best place it has been over the past 2 decades. Thier response was something along the lines of, but does that get us wins? I gave examples of 'improved brand' which ultimately leads to a better, more attractive football club which will give more wins.
However, what i forgot to mention was this. Clearing our debt and improving our overall finances has a second, perhaps more important benefit. That is, getting 'the bankers of our back'. We no longer need to bow down to external pressures by some 'supporters' at the threat of losing income if we ignore their wishes.
We are free from our 'supporters' for the first time in 20 years.
With that in mind....lets ride out the storm and see what benefits that gives us....and we won't see a direct benefit this year.
I get the proposition you are putting, but it still doesn't stop me from feeling as though I've been trapped in Groundhog Day with no happy ending in sight.
I read what was said on The Roar and thought a comment on the article by a contributor might be of interest:
"It's the nature of the loss to Port that's the problem. Nearly a quarter of the Blues total score was kicked in the last 5 minutes of the game when Port had clocked off.
Carlton had 10 of the lowest 12 disposal-getters on the ground, and the two Port players in that bottom 12 were injured pair Hartlett and Dan Houston, who was subbed out at halftime.
There are glaring stats that Carlton must swiftly address or run the risk of missing the finals for an eighth consecutive season.
The first is simple but damning. The Blues haven't been ahead of the win-loss ledger during a season since mid-2016.
The other stat is equally telling. Since the start of 2014, Carlton has won only nine games against teams that went on to play finals in that given season."
With a membership of 80,000 mostly unhappy fans, is it any wonder that the media is on our case?
Thanks, but I won't be watching that. If I want my daily dose of lazy, cherry picking shock jock, I have many better choices than him.
I put it to you, my learned colleague, that our issues are far more centred around skill execution, and far less around toughness, niceness, giving up chases, not remonstrating with opponents etc. Improve our general skills, kicking into F50, and the ball movement that leads to that, forward leading pattens, goal kicking and the like, and our position and W/L will improve.
Take the time to watch McClure. You obviously do not like him but I doubt you would find much to criticise.
With regard to skill execution, we lag far behind opposition clubs because (a) we specialise in recruiting players with poor skills, and (b) we make no effort to improve what limited ability they have.
It has been that way for years and our solution seems to be to change the coach every few years.
Believe me, Pauly, I also do not like buzzwords - trite, shallow and lazy where meaningful, substantial and strong change is required. But then I deal with people and life at a deeper level than motivation seminars as the cure all - and that's where I find Robbins dangerous, thinking that 'positive thinking' will magically cure certain mental health issues. An expensive week or w/e of ra ra for everyday folks is fine, as long as you don't expect lasting benefits - maybe 1% will get a lasting benefit but the rest were just entertained by a charismatic, well-meaning performer for an exorbitant price.
That's why when I work with folks and if a 'buzzword' is used, we then flesh it out, give it substance and what it means to the client, not me, and how it will impact their lives for the better and what it will take to implement such a change, and very importantly, how to manage the problems inevitably caused by and associated with the change.
And if I could segway this into our club... buzzwords... We've belched buzzwords and cliches for two decades now. As I've said previously, we talk the talk, but fail to walk the talk. And that's about powerful leadership... our void. When you have a leadership void, well, you get what we've got.
No, we do not need to level the place and start again. But we do need to be honest with ourselves that strong, ruthless leadership is required to enforce the 'buzzwords', to give them substance to create a Fluffy Ducks kind of culture that can be passed from generation to generation.
People who think that the Pussy Cats and Tiggers and Dawks turned around their fortunes with a buzzword, or persisting with what was failing -- because success would be inevitable -- are kidding themselves. The things that went on behind the scenes at those 3 clubs were really quite honest and brutal. Didn't need to change an enormous amount in terms of personnel (on and off the field), just a ruthless, systematic and honest analysis of the failure attitudes and how to destroy them and then do what was necessary to institute change. And it started with Presidents/Boards and their thorough honesty and boldness and vision to force change. Our opponents this Saturday did it a few years back, around the same time as us, and look at their culture now!
We certainly seem captive to past decisions made by the club commencing early this century.
I am referring to the dreadful mistakes made at the draft table each year. The Board, even now, seems incapable of understanding that success depends so much on the player list.
In its mistaken belief that the problem lies elsewhere it has ruined the careers of experienced and relatively inexperienced coaches. I fear that Teague may be next.
If any of the clubs mentioned - Richmond, Geelong - had shown the same drafting incompetency as we have I'm sure they would be in the same position we are in now.
It is only a few years ago since we were so grateful for SOS getting us the GWS castoffs, and we are still left with a poor list.
As Prof E said in another thread, we have real problems on every line. I think the pain will be with us for some time.
You are correct about the clangers and mistakes made by the backline. I think what gets me fired up is the complete lack of pressure put on the opposition's mids.
On so many occasions the Port mids just waltzed straight down the centre without any pressure. It was like watching a training exercise where talented mids had multiple options with forwards leading to designated positions and then having the ball delivered accurately to them. Our backline was always under pressure with little help from further afield.
Surely our backline must go into siege mentality mode early in a game when our inevitable skill errors cause turnovers on our half forward line and the ball comes rocketing back at them through the centre.
Those skill errors, unwillingness to chase and consequent lack of pressure on opposition teams must contribute to a losing mindset that has been a feature of the club for most of this century despite a huge turnover in the players list and numerous coaches.
An air of complacency seems to be a feature of the club - how else to explain the recruitment of players with mediocre skills at best and then providing them with no specialised coaching to reach AFL standard?
Harry is a prime example. Why has he not been taught a set routine when taking a set shot for goal? It is quite plain to see that his current method depends entirely on the thought bubble occupying his mind just before taking his kick.
That raises the question: why do we keep recruiting players whose skills will keep us occupying the bottom half of the ladder?
I wish I had the overconfidence of Paul P. At present I am struggling to be in the glass half full frame of mind.
It was another disappointing effort. Do we practice kicking the ball? We miss targets, we miss shots on goal, our kicks lack penetration and distance, we take the wrong option and we don't kick to the advantage of our team mates. The teaming and skills of the Port players far exceeded those of our own players. Pittonet knocks the ball over the back, Gibbons runs onto the ball and into an empty F50, but what is the plan. Does he kick it to Harry, does he go all the way or does someone run into the F50 and takes the ball short. He kicks to the top of the square, 20 meters from Harry who is now behind two Port players and the ball then sweeps down the other end. There is no coherence in the Carlton play. Every play seems to be a discrete action where the ball carrier makes a decision and if the ball gets to the next Carlton player, that player then makes a decision that may or may not have any relevance to the previous decision. We don't get a consistent chain of play. Everything is reactive whether we have the ball or not. Saad is a perfect example of this. We get it to him, but what is the next play. Do the players down the ground know what he is going to do, are team mates running beside him to draw fire and give him options. What is the plan? In Teague's press conference he referred to players not executing under pressure. I think he is wrong. I think the problem is not doing the simple things well. Missing goals from 25 meters dead in front. It doesn't matter if it is Harry, Cripps or Casboult, supporters do not have the confidence in the capability of the players to kick the easy goal. Cripps kicks that goal in the second quarter and it is a different game. We stop butchering the ball and it is a different game. People seem to be ranting about defence but I think it is our forwards which are the problem. We do not kick enough goals. Murphy, Casboult, Gibbons, Silvagni, Foggerty, Cuninngham, Kennedy have never kicked five goals in a match for Carlton, it has also been a long time since Betts has done it and Harry has done it once. Having Charlie in the side would make a difference. When the forwards are kicking goals, the backline functions a lot better because your opponents have to defend and cannot be as free wheeling in their attacks. Fix our goal kicking, fix our disposal and develop more team cohesion and things will improve. Also instead of talking about how important Carlton Members are to the team, actually show it by putting in better efforts than what was dished up last night.
After so many years of rebuilding, we should expect to have a team that plays at a level similar to Port Adelaide.
That's what we have been led to expect from the Carlton hierarchy.
And yet we are still talking in terms of if we improve our kicking skills or put in harder then we will win. The fact is we have recruited players with mediocre kicking skills at best and they are not going to improve.
Teague deserves criticism but how can you put a plan in place with players incapable of carrying it out.
Our forward line entry, and the forward line itself, were a shambles. We had players getting in the way of one another, and this is happening every week.
As has been said, too many players of VFL standard and incapable of improvement.
The harsh reality facing us is that our rebuild has been a failure.
If all of the players on our list were available and we dropped the players from tonight's side who are not up to final 8 standard, we would have trouble fielding a side.
Port Adelaide have recruited skilled ball players, just like the Hawthorn power sides of recent years. What were our selectors thinking?
With this current list we are destined to be amongst the "also rans" for the forseeable future.
Our abysmal recruiting over the years has left us with a list that sets a new standard for mediocrity.
We are so lacking in skills, especially foot skills, that we are forced to play a predictable game that is easily countered by the opposition.
It was on display against Collingwood. As soon as our players tired Collingwood packed its backline and we went back to our usual style of kicking the ball long into the forward line in the hope we could somehow scrounge a goal.
We had two forwards, one being Murphy, who showed they could not make the goal line from 40 metres.
We are unable to control the tempo of a game because of poor kicking skills. When we try to do so opposition teams sit back waiting for the inevitable turnover.
Our recruiters must see what we see as to what makes a successful list so what is their problem?
We picked Dow with the view he would slot straight into the middle, yet it was well known that he has poor disposal skills. Setterfield, amongst others falls into that category.
This century we have recruited just three players I can think of who could kick accurately, kick long, and kick with either foot - Scotland, Houlihan and Gibbs. That is a disgracefully small number.
St Kilda got Bradley Hill. In the first quarter of our practice match he gave a Rolls Royce performance of skills that left our players floundering.
I'm at the point of believing no coach could do much with this talentless list.
We ran out of steam in the last quarter because we had used so much energy in the third quarter for so little reward.
Given the amount of time the ball was in our forward line in the third quarter we should have been ahead at the start of the last quarter.
As we were still behind at the beginning of the last quarter, the mental fragility of so many of our players was on show - they crumbled and that was the end for us.
So after 2 rounds in 2021 we are in the same position we have been for umpteen years: we have a list that is not good enough.
Too few players have the necessary skills to make a difference and we have too many C graders posing as B graders. When the going gets tough they go missing.
As Jack Dyer said " you can't pull your socks up if you're not wearing any."
The player who worries me most is Harry. Since his recruitment we have been waiting for him to deliver. At that time he was compared with Wayne Carey. We all know that Carey had a football brain. What is between Harry's ears is anyone's guess.
It's said that he'll get better when he has played fifty games, but the mistakes he continues to make through stupid mistakes and being a smart ar@e should have been dealt with by the time he had reached ten games.
If Teague allows Harry to continue with his dinky kick across the body shots for goal, then he is wasted at full forward.
Maybe put him at centre half forward where he will be forced to kick the ball properly and he could actually trouble the opposition.
