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- #1
Carlton, touted by many as 2012 premiership favourites early in the season appear to have come unstuck and in a serious way. They are now sitting outside of the 8, with 6 wins and 6 losses just over half way through their season. Their next two matches are against Hawthorn, one of the top teams who have an excellent recent record against Carlton and Collingwood in red hot form and who should probably be the premiership favourites.
Right now the questions facing Carlton are where did it all go wrong and how can we fix it.
So where did it all go wrong? Most Carlton supporters will probably jump at the injury excuse, since this is probably second nature, but as we have seen the good sides that have been hit with injuries in Collingwood and WC find a way to win regardless.
Is it depth and therefore drafting, well Carlton have famously had a host of early picks throughout the last decade and on paper should have assembled a formidable squad capable of beating the best.
This then leads to the question that is it the staff, development, coaching or otherwise but I don't think this is the answer. There is only so far you can blame coaching staff for the failings of talented players.
No my theory is that the problem is that dirty word "culture", in this case a blame free culture. Simply put, blame cannot always be directed at the uncontrollables or external factors it has to start at the top.
The head coach Brett Ratten is becoming notorious for not only his lack of game day flexibility but also his barracking on the sidelines. He also has a penchant for mentioning things like injuries or alluding to umpiring factors.
The Carlton captain and champion Chris Judd, who is seriously under-performing and failing in his duties as captain, who should share in much of the blame, instead recieves effusive praise.
The early draft picks in Gibbs or Walker seem to escape criticism but also responsibility when they fail to stand up, yet it is clear from their lack of permanent position they are failing this year to even lock down modest roles.
This in turn has created a playing group that don't do the team things, don't do the hard stuff (famous Blues free footy) and don't stand up under pressure.
Fed by the the failure of those in positions of responsibility to take responsibility and acceptance of this by the fans, a truly unaccountable and blame free culture has developed.
Great evidence of this was seen on the weekend. Carltons 2012 season was on the line and Carlton instead of showing heart, were beaten across the park largely down to an insipid 1st half coaching and football display. Instead of embracing blame, it seems the players buoyed by CFC fan outrage have chosen to blame anyone but themselves. If only they had shown this much fight in matches that counted maybe things would be different.
TLDR: Personally I think Carlton are cooked. A blame free culture has festered and they need new staff, a shakedown of the playing group and hopefully then a fanbase that will clue in to where responsibility lies and maybe then the club can have some success.
Right now the questions facing Carlton are where did it all go wrong and how can we fix it.
So where did it all go wrong? Most Carlton supporters will probably jump at the injury excuse, since this is probably second nature, but as we have seen the good sides that have been hit with injuries in Collingwood and WC find a way to win regardless.
Is it depth and therefore drafting, well Carlton have famously had a host of early picks throughout the last decade and on paper should have assembled a formidable squad capable of beating the best.
This then leads to the question that is it the staff, development, coaching or otherwise but I don't think this is the answer. There is only so far you can blame coaching staff for the failings of talented players.
No my theory is that the problem is that dirty word "culture", in this case a blame free culture. Simply put, blame cannot always be directed at the uncontrollables or external factors it has to start at the top.
The head coach Brett Ratten is becoming notorious for not only his lack of game day flexibility but also his barracking on the sidelines. He also has a penchant for mentioning things like injuries or alluding to umpiring factors.
The Carlton captain and champion Chris Judd, who is seriously under-performing and failing in his duties as captain, who should share in much of the blame, instead recieves effusive praise.
The early draft picks in Gibbs or Walker seem to escape criticism but also responsibility when they fail to stand up, yet it is clear from their lack of permanent position they are failing this year to even lock down modest roles.
This in turn has created a playing group that don't do the team things, don't do the hard stuff (famous Blues free footy) and don't stand up under pressure.
Fed by the the failure of those in positions of responsibility to take responsibility and acceptance of this by the fans, a truly unaccountable and blame free culture has developed.
Great evidence of this was seen on the weekend. Carltons 2012 season was on the line and Carlton instead of showing heart, were beaten across the park largely down to an insipid 1st half coaching and football display. Instead of embracing blame, it seems the players buoyed by CFC fan outrage have chosen to blame anyone but themselves. If only they had shown this much fight in matches that counted maybe things would be different.
TLDR: Personally I think Carlton are cooked. A blame free culture has festered and they need new staff, a shakedown of the playing group and hopefully then a fanbase that will clue in to where responsibility lies and maybe then the club can have some success.
