Hi guys. I would guess most of you don't subscribe to Crikey, but I thought you may want to read below. I know that I am a voracious reader of all things my club - good or bad!
Denis Pagan: it's time the hard questions were asked
David Sutherland writes:
How much longer can the Denis Pagan amnesty last? It's been over three years and for any coach to escape critical examination for that long in footy-mad Melbourne is unprecedented.
Is this restraint by media and fans justified? Perhaps for the first couple of years. Pagan inherited an aging list which had won just three games the previous season, and in his second year he bore the full brunt of the punishment meted out by the AFL for the crimes of John Elliott's administration.
But surely his credit has run out. Or has Pagan cleverly and deliberately manipulated coverage of his team's continued slump to buttress his own position?
When he arrived at Carlton at the end of 2002 Pagan had a win-loss ratio of 63 per cent, an impressive stat when compared even to the very best. 72 games later, he's recorded only 19 wins, a 26 per cent win rate with the Blues.
From the outset Pagan has managed expectations. When Carlton won 10 games in 2004 (more than double the previous season) he was cautiously optimistic. When they won 4 last year (after winning the pre-season comp) he talked again about having lost draft picks. He talked about being patient.
Supporters are now openly questioning the man who arrived with a reputation of being tough and straightforward. The man who could have been hoped, at the very least, to make the players accountable.
Pagan has overseen this group for almost four years, and should have put his stamp on them by now. If there's two things a coach SHOULD be held accountable for, it's attitude and application, and last Sunday against Collingwood those skills were as much in short supply as effective, or even acceptable, disposal by hand or foot.
Denis Pagan has proved, with his sustained success at the Kangaroos, that he can coach a good footy team. It's time for those in the media (especially ex-Carlton great and outspoken commentator Robert Walls, who has taken just about every other coach/player/team to task) to ask, why is Pagan still in the job?
Denis Pagan: it's time the hard questions were asked
David Sutherland writes:
How much longer can the Denis Pagan amnesty last? It's been over three years and for any coach to escape critical examination for that long in footy-mad Melbourne is unprecedented.
Is this restraint by media and fans justified? Perhaps for the first couple of years. Pagan inherited an aging list which had won just three games the previous season, and in his second year he bore the full brunt of the punishment meted out by the AFL for the crimes of John Elliott's administration.
But surely his credit has run out. Or has Pagan cleverly and deliberately manipulated coverage of his team's continued slump to buttress his own position?
When he arrived at Carlton at the end of 2002 Pagan had a win-loss ratio of 63 per cent, an impressive stat when compared even to the very best. 72 games later, he's recorded only 19 wins, a 26 per cent win rate with the Blues.
From the outset Pagan has managed expectations. When Carlton won 10 games in 2004 (more than double the previous season) he was cautiously optimistic. When they won 4 last year (after winning the pre-season comp) he talked again about having lost draft picks. He talked about being patient.
Supporters are now openly questioning the man who arrived with a reputation of being tough and straightforward. The man who could have been hoped, at the very least, to make the players accountable.
Pagan has overseen this group for almost four years, and should have put his stamp on them by now. If there's two things a coach SHOULD be held accountable for, it's attitude and application, and last Sunday against Collingwood those skills were as much in short supply as effective, or even acceptable, disposal by hand or foot.
Denis Pagan has proved, with his sustained success at the Kangaroos, that he can coach a good footy team. It's time for those in the media (especially ex-Carlton great and outspoken commentator Robert Walls, who has taken just about every other coach/player/team to task) to ask, why is Pagan still in the job?
