News Thank you Bolts

Iamcarlton

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Oct 11, 2015
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It is not a matter of sacking the senior coach or bust, other decisions can be made after a considered understanding of why things are where they are. 'Win/loss' is not an investigation. That is what is happening, not why. The why is the most important, and the fact is that if we had won the Hawthorn and Gold Coast games, and sat here with a record of 3 and 8, the decision would not have been made.

The fact that two kicks is the difference between us keeping and losing a senior coach shows it was a rushed decision made for the wrong reasons.

No one on here can say that Bolton was the problem, just like I can't say that he wasn't the problem, because there are so many variables that could be at play within a footy club. The fact that we have made the decision as we have done shows the lack of consideration around the decision making progress.

Again, it could prove to be the right decision. But, even if this is the case, it was not made for the right reasons.
Or the club could have just waited 3 weeks to make the decision then .
3 wins is irrelevant the team based on what we saw yesterday and for the last month bar Collingwood has lost spirit and was/is in a tailspin this was inevitable given the evidence the team was presenting and I'm not surprised they've made the call as something is clearly not working .
Totally comfortable in what the club has done and impressed how professional we seem to have gone about the process .
Now we move forward .
 

Blue and Blue

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Jul 29, 2018
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Notice after being officially given his marching orders by Mlg, Brendon still referred a few times to the club as "our club". Maybe due to the unfinished busines in the success of the rebuild still weighed heavily on his mind.!
I would think he's now a Carlton man for life.
And Carlton is all the better for it.
 
Dec 29, 2008
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Or the club could have just waited 3 weeks to make the decision then .
3 wins is irrelevant the team based on what we saw yesterday and for the last month bar Collingwood has lost spirit and was/is in a tailspin this was inevitable given the evidence the team was presenting and I'm not surprised they've made the call as something is clearly not working .
Totally comfortable in what the club has done and impressed how professional we seem to have gone about the process .
Now we move forward .

:( I can't move on that quickly
 

Iamcarlton

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Brutal but necessary

He’d both coached and worked with mates of mine and is a good Tassie man, I had very high hopes but it just didn’t work out

Question mark over the pres for mine. Not due to the appointment or sacking though, I’m just not instilled with much confidence by him as a leader

Good luck in the future, Bolts. Let’s hope we find a beauty
No question marks on the Prez for mine we have a good off field team now most likely need to add a good assistant coach or 2 but getting Cain Liddle who has somehow upped our membership to over 60 k
is a masterstroke that alone gives me confidence in the Prez .
Now up to the football department and players .
 

davis_756

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May 24, 2008
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Gutted by this decision, really annoys me that the club has scapegoated him like this on the back of a couple of poor games where he doesn't have a single quality senior player to turn to. Really feels like they have sacked him to get the media pressure off for the next 12-24 months because they know until the kids reach 100 games we won't be starting to win lots of games and pushing up the ladder. He pretty much sacrificed his career by getting midfield minutes into the kids rather then getting murphy and curnow in there to gather 30 touches and get us over the line in a couple of close games.

Thankyou for doing all the hard yards and suffering through 3.5 years of a 5 year full list rebuild, shame you didn't have the support to see it through.
 
Jul 12, 2008
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he was on a hiding to nothing yesterday. keeping one behind the ball instead of evening up at the stoppages seems like a reasonable tactic to me, unfortunately we were minus two of our half backs who happen to be very experienced, and the guy we would have hoped to start some skilful halfback attacking, newman, sprayed the ball everywhere. asking more from a midfield of 18-21 year olds isn't going to happen, and both ends suffer for the cattle in that part of the paddock.

i'm fairly indifferent about coaching personnel - it's for people closer to the action to sort out. other than barker, who should be seeking to further his professional development away from carlton, at least for his good if not perhaps for the good of both parties.
it seems like a pragmatic removal with factors other than what's happening on field being taken into consideration, rather than thinking brendan could never turn it around. in time he may well have but it appears the powers that be feel it's time we don't have.

go well brendan
 

Beast__Mode

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It’s hard to imagine a better person leading the team as senior coach, by all accounts given of Brendon.

Every single time I saw a clip of him talking to players I was either thinking about where my mouth guard might be, or thinking how I’d like my son to have a coach/mentor so invested in them as a person.

Did he place too much trust in the club’s support through the tough times in taking such a strong long term approach? Possibly.

As fans of this club, with our high engagement and understanding of all the communication the club has put out around the plan etc, I think we could have a view that the club has blinked, and buckled too easily at outside scrutiny.

External folk will point to the W/L ratio, simply state the losses reached a critical mass and this was the only logical step to take.

I think the truth lies somewhere in the middle. I fully believe (still do), Bolton deserved the year. That said, something had changed the last couple of weeks. There was a listlessness in the approach that felt off. Whether it’s physical fatigue pre bye, mental fatigue at the continual losses, fatigue at the message, who knows. But something had shifted.

Thank you, Brendon. Any true Carlton fan will have you at the top of the list of those responsible for any future success this group achieves.
 
Feb 5, 2008
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Hmmm I'm not 100% sure on this decision. I'm not sure the board were either. But something clearly had to give. What strikes me as odd is the fact that the club never really put a 'number' on wins and losses to gauge success this year yet Bolts was sacked on his wins and loss ratio. I also wish when asked how many wins and losses Bolts thought he'd need to survive he answered with a number and not jibba jabba about ceilings and expectations and resilience. Just say "i wanted 6-8 wins". Just come out and say that. This is a numbers game at the end of the day. Pure and simple. Answering with a solid black and white number gives people fodder to come back at you, but if you're backing your players, systems and assistants stick your neck and say we wanted no less than 7 wins and to finish 15th and above. Some say perhaps a tad on the foolish side but i say put your manhood on the table and back yourself in. If you've got faith and belief in yourself it can't hurt to be cut and dry. That was probably my only knock on Bolts. The grey are answers.

Bolts? Seemed like a ripping super guy. I found him so engaging and I loved his love for the list and the club. He was all in from start to finish. I'm sure the players were really sad they couldn't go the journey with him. I was with him until the end of this year because I felt that if he could've weathered this current storm he would've prevailed. IN this case a bridge too far.

As for MLG, Bolts and CL in the same room for this announcement. Utterly transparent. It can never be done nicely. Did MLG speak well or not? Irrelevant really but he did try his best to be open and honest with the AFL world watching. AT least he did it with bolts right next to him. Some say it's perhaps disrespectful but i say the opposite. Not an easy thing to do. But that's life when things don't work out.

Cheers Bolts. Goes down as the most loved sacked coach ever i reckon. Wish him all the best.:thumbsu::thumbsu:
For now i think he needs a break.
 

BIuebagger

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Oct 3, 2017
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Thanks Bolts. To us externally, he seemed like a gentleman and someone very modest. He stuck through thick and thin and joined at a time where you knew the direction sold to him would be a job where it would not bare any fruits until later in his reign at the helm. Unfortunately he won’t be around to revel in that if it eventuates, but he will be remembered in kickstarting this rebuild if it becomes successful. I hope you are successful wherever you end up and enjoy your family time for the next little while.

Sad to say as hes been backed to the hilt by most here, but this was the right decision and there’s nothing knee jerk about it. Nothing bigger than the club, tomorrow is a new day. Next appointment is the one we need to get right on the money. Has to be.
 
Dec 29, 2008
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Im in the older brigade Carlton and sacking coaches just another day .
Disappointing yes but imo this was necessary and handled with respect to all parties on this occasion imo .
Now lets see the media twist it every which way .

I'm the older brigade too
It is not fair to put all this on Brendon and I am waiting to see who else gets the chop
I was happy when Malthouse got the chop but this and Ratten's sacking did and do not please me at all
 
Aug 22, 2014
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Hmmm I'm not 100% sure on this decision. I'm not sure the board were either. But something clearly had to give. What strikes me as odd is the fact that the club never really put a 'number' on wins and losses to gauge success this year yet Bolts was sacked on his wins and loss ratio. I also wish when asked how many wins and losses Bolts thought he'd need to survive he answered with a number and not jibba jabba about ceilings and expectations and resilience. Just say "i wanted 6-8 wins". Just come out and say that. This is a numbers game at the end of the day. Pure and simple. Answering with a solid black and white number gives people fodder to come back at you, but if you're backing your players, systems and assistants stick your neck and say we wanted no less than 7 wins and to finish 15th and above. Some say perhaps a tad on the foolish side but i say put your manhood on the table and back yourself in. If you've got faith and belief in yourself it can't hurt to be cut and dry. That was probably my only knock on Bolts. The grey are answers.

Bolts? Seemed like a ripping super guy. I found him so engaging and I loved his love for the list and the club. He was all in from start to finish. I'm sure the players were really sad they couldn't go the journey with him. I was with him until the end of this year because I felt that if he could've weathered this current storm he would've prevailed. IN this case a bridge too far.

As for MLG, Bolts and CL in the same room for this announcement. Utterly transparent. It can never be done nicely. Did MLG speak well or not? Irrelevant really but he did try his best to be open and honest with the AFL world watching. AT least he did it with bolts right next to him. Some say it's perhaps disrespectful but i say the opposite. Not an easy thing to do. But that's life when things don't work out.

Cheers Bolts. Goes down as the most loved sacked coach ever i reckon. Wish him all the best.:thumbsu::thumbsu:
For now i think he needs a break.

Problem with giving a number publicly is it ties your hands somewhat.

If our effort had been top notch the last month, but we were just falling short, I think he'd still be coaching even with a 1 & 10 record. As much as win/loss was clearly a factor, I think the performance of the group within the losses has been the real keystone. When the effort dropped, and Bolton wasn't able to get it back within a month, the question had to be asked.

Glad we didn't give in to pressure to put a number on it. We shouldn't have.
 

GalaxyBlue

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Apr 25, 2019
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Watching the dark clouds roll in over the MCG yesterday evening was weirdly metaphorical in hindsight. Like so many others here, I was hoping for so long that Bolts would be the one to finally get us out of our old ways. All the signs were there (or is it what they wanted us to believe?) that we were going to do things properly this time. But alas, it was not to be.

For what it's worth, from all accounts he's made a huge impact and brought positive change to the club that will hopefully be felt for many more years to come - especially (I hope) once we reach 17. All the best, mate. Thank you for everything.
 

Iamcarlton

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I'm the older brigade too
It is not fair to put all this on Brendon and I am waiting to see who else gets the chop
I was happy when Malthouse got the chop but this and Ratten's sacking did and do not please me at all
Maybe so , the players had a fair say in todays events their young yes but they seemed to be checking out imo which is a concern .
 
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