The Spornstar
Premiership Player
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- Apr 8, 2002
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- Carlton
Brittain shouldn't be sacrificial lamb
By PATRICK SMITH
03jun02
THE saddest victim of the mess that is the Carlton Football Club is Wayne Brittain. Unless his injured players come back and win him a few games, the coach will get the sack. He doesn't deserve it, but Brittain will be the sacrificial lamb.
That's how indulged and self-satisfied clubs like Carlton operate. Rather than sift through all the evidence of decay and complacency then establish who the real culprits are, they throw the coach overboard. Brittain better have his floaties handy.
Brittain's record this year is stark, just one win from 10 games. But Brittain has been delivered a list of players that a wise recruiting officer said was so bereft of talent that the Blues may be five years away from their next finals appearance. Yet the Blues were brave yesterday at Subiaco against Fremantle and relinquished any control or influence in the match only late in the third quarter.
Until then they had closed the match up like a suitcase. The lock sprang when determination and discipline gave way to leg speed and skill. That has been the case for most of the season for the Blues.
Carlton aren't good enough but their coach is. It is a pity, then, that Brittain's career suffers not from his own doing but from the culture of a club who have been so blinded by their own self-importance that they have not changed with the times.
At this stage last year, Fremantle had not won a game and Carlton had seven wins and just three losses.
Now Fremantle sit in the top eight and Carlton sit on the bottom of the ladder. Such is the indignity that Shane Gould, who has no idea about Australian football, drops in and hands the players wooden spoons.
Gould should stick around though. We are not sure whether Brittain knows how to swim.
Brittain said last week that he has lost confidence. He shouldn't. He has made as good a fist of the season that could be expected of a man in charge of a list as mundane as that of Carlton. The work that must be done by the match committee and recruiters at the end of the year is massive.
Brittain was not helped yesterday when Corey McKernan collided with young team-mate Justin Davies in the first quarter and took his sore head to the bench for the rest of the match. It left Trent Hotton to ruck against Troy Simmonds. The best that can be said of Hotton is that he meant well.
Brittain pushed his men back to squash the space in the Fremantle forward line but it allowed Simmonds and Matthew Pavlich to sit behind the ball. What came out went straight back in. Yet Carlton did not wilt in spirit and that is a credit to them and Brittain. In the final term the Fremantle forward line was knee deep in Carlton players, such was the flooding ordered by Brittain.
The coach had decided if the Blues could not leave with the four points they would at least leave with their dignity.
Pavlich will soon become the most sought-after young man in Australian football when his contract expires at the end of the season. You could not judge his worth on yesterday's performance because so much of the time he was on his own. He did not impress Carlton when the teams met last year at Optus Oval but that was the game where commentator Robert Walls decided that most of the Fremantle players had escaped a fat farm one week into a 10-week course.
Still, you would think Pavlich must be high on Carlton's list of likely recruits but you can't be sure of anything at Optus Oval. Quality has not been a prerequisite in the past when Carlton have gone shopping for players.
The loss will heighten the pressure on the Carlton board. They have indulged their president John Elliott for a long time but the board members are more restless now than they have ever been under Big Jack. The bravest among them are searching for a replacement.
Elliott has been forced to call for unity. It would be better to change the president, who has had his day in the sun rather than a young coach who has been force-fed mediocrity by the club's recruiters.
In fairness to the recruiting staff, they have claimed they were merely following orders. Even more reason to get rid of Jack. And Wes Lofts, too. He has been reinstated as football director after being replaced last week. If Lofts wants to cling to the title so badly then he should accept fully the responsibility that goes with it.
Hoo roo, Jack. See you later, Wes.
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Patrick Smith is absolutely obsessed with our current problems - this is about the 10th article he has written. Whilst I have agreed with many of the things in his previous articles, I think this one is pathetic, except for the very obvious call to get Elliot out.
However, what is this quote about? :
"That's how indulged and self-satisfied clubs like Carlton operate. Rather than sift through all the evidence of decay and complacency then establish who the real culprits are, they throw the coach overboard."
What rubbish. When did we last sack a coach? 1990, at the end of a season. I'd say that there'd be literally dozens of coaches been sacked in the meantime. Did we sack Parkin when things were looking bad in 1991, 1997 or 1998? No. Sure we sacked Walls in 89 but that was only because he'd lost the faith of the players. The reality is that we have had four coaches in the past 20 years, which I would say is the least out of all clubs that have been around for 20 years (and even some that haven't) except Essendon. It is a misconception that Carlton sack the coach when things are going badly. And it isn't Carlton who are speculating about Brittain's future, it is the media that Smith is a part of. Carlton have done nothing to show that they don't support him. Fair enough to have a go at Carlton, but at least have a go when it is deserved.
He shows little knowledge of the situation when he praises Brittain for flooding. I don't see why Brittain should be praised for his performance on the weekend - I thought the players tried hard and did quite well but the flooding did not help us at all.
"The best that can be said of Hotton is that he meant well." - That comment is cheap and insulting to Hotton. Blatantly untrue -Hotton did an excellent job in the circumstances, he was undersized and had no help once Corey went down.
Also, to say we won't make the finals in the next 5 years is yet another flawed judgement by Smith. Freo could very well make the finals this year and this time last year they hadn't even won a game. WCE could make the finals this year and their list last year was said by most media scribes to be easily the worst in the AFL. Things change much quicker than that Patrick. If by some fluke you are reading this Patrick, I'm willing to bet you quite a bit of money that we do make the finals within 5 years.
I think the media, especially Patrick Smith, are totally obsessed with Carlton. All this will only make it sweeter when we are successful once again. Then the fickle b@stards will be singing our praises, with Smith leading the chorus.
By PATRICK SMITH
03jun02
THE saddest victim of the mess that is the Carlton Football Club is Wayne Brittain. Unless his injured players come back and win him a few games, the coach will get the sack. He doesn't deserve it, but Brittain will be the sacrificial lamb.
That's how indulged and self-satisfied clubs like Carlton operate. Rather than sift through all the evidence of decay and complacency then establish who the real culprits are, they throw the coach overboard. Brittain better have his floaties handy.
Brittain's record this year is stark, just one win from 10 games. But Brittain has been delivered a list of players that a wise recruiting officer said was so bereft of talent that the Blues may be five years away from their next finals appearance. Yet the Blues were brave yesterday at Subiaco against Fremantle and relinquished any control or influence in the match only late in the third quarter.
Until then they had closed the match up like a suitcase. The lock sprang when determination and discipline gave way to leg speed and skill. That has been the case for most of the season for the Blues.
Carlton aren't good enough but their coach is. It is a pity, then, that Brittain's career suffers not from his own doing but from the culture of a club who have been so blinded by their own self-importance that they have not changed with the times.
At this stage last year, Fremantle had not won a game and Carlton had seven wins and just three losses.
Now Fremantle sit in the top eight and Carlton sit on the bottom of the ladder. Such is the indignity that Shane Gould, who has no idea about Australian football, drops in and hands the players wooden spoons.
Gould should stick around though. We are not sure whether Brittain knows how to swim.
Brittain said last week that he has lost confidence. He shouldn't. He has made as good a fist of the season that could be expected of a man in charge of a list as mundane as that of Carlton. The work that must be done by the match committee and recruiters at the end of the year is massive.
Brittain was not helped yesterday when Corey McKernan collided with young team-mate Justin Davies in the first quarter and took his sore head to the bench for the rest of the match. It left Trent Hotton to ruck against Troy Simmonds. The best that can be said of Hotton is that he meant well.
Brittain pushed his men back to squash the space in the Fremantle forward line but it allowed Simmonds and Matthew Pavlich to sit behind the ball. What came out went straight back in. Yet Carlton did not wilt in spirit and that is a credit to them and Brittain. In the final term the Fremantle forward line was knee deep in Carlton players, such was the flooding ordered by Brittain.
The coach had decided if the Blues could not leave with the four points they would at least leave with their dignity.
Pavlich will soon become the most sought-after young man in Australian football when his contract expires at the end of the season. You could not judge his worth on yesterday's performance because so much of the time he was on his own. He did not impress Carlton when the teams met last year at Optus Oval but that was the game where commentator Robert Walls decided that most of the Fremantle players had escaped a fat farm one week into a 10-week course.
Still, you would think Pavlich must be high on Carlton's list of likely recruits but you can't be sure of anything at Optus Oval. Quality has not been a prerequisite in the past when Carlton have gone shopping for players.
The loss will heighten the pressure on the Carlton board. They have indulged their president John Elliott for a long time but the board members are more restless now than they have ever been under Big Jack. The bravest among them are searching for a replacement.
Elliott has been forced to call for unity. It would be better to change the president, who has had his day in the sun rather than a young coach who has been force-fed mediocrity by the club's recruiters.
In fairness to the recruiting staff, they have claimed they were merely following orders. Even more reason to get rid of Jack. And Wes Lofts, too. He has been reinstated as football director after being replaced last week. If Lofts wants to cling to the title so badly then he should accept fully the responsibility that goes with it.
Hoo roo, Jack. See you later, Wes.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Patrick Smith is absolutely obsessed with our current problems - this is about the 10th article he has written. Whilst I have agreed with many of the things in his previous articles, I think this one is pathetic, except for the very obvious call to get Elliot out.
However, what is this quote about? :
"That's how indulged and self-satisfied clubs like Carlton operate. Rather than sift through all the evidence of decay and complacency then establish who the real culprits are, they throw the coach overboard."
What rubbish. When did we last sack a coach? 1990, at the end of a season. I'd say that there'd be literally dozens of coaches been sacked in the meantime. Did we sack Parkin when things were looking bad in 1991, 1997 or 1998? No. Sure we sacked Walls in 89 but that was only because he'd lost the faith of the players. The reality is that we have had four coaches in the past 20 years, which I would say is the least out of all clubs that have been around for 20 years (and even some that haven't) except Essendon. It is a misconception that Carlton sack the coach when things are going badly. And it isn't Carlton who are speculating about Brittain's future, it is the media that Smith is a part of. Carlton have done nothing to show that they don't support him. Fair enough to have a go at Carlton, but at least have a go when it is deserved.
He shows little knowledge of the situation when he praises Brittain for flooding. I don't see why Brittain should be praised for his performance on the weekend - I thought the players tried hard and did quite well but the flooding did not help us at all.
"The best that can be said of Hotton is that he meant well." - That comment is cheap and insulting to Hotton. Blatantly untrue -Hotton did an excellent job in the circumstances, he was undersized and had no help once Corey went down.
Also, to say we won't make the finals in the next 5 years is yet another flawed judgement by Smith. Freo could very well make the finals this year and this time last year they hadn't even won a game. WCE could make the finals this year and their list last year was said by most media scribes to be easily the worst in the AFL. Things change much quicker than that Patrick. If by some fluke you are reading this Patrick, I'm willing to bet you quite a bit of money that we do make the finals within 5 years.
I think the media, especially Patrick Smith, are totally obsessed with Carlton. All this will only make it sweeter when we are successful once again. Then the fickle b@stards will be singing our praises, with Smith leading the chorus.
