Stevens

[pumped]

Have been very critical of Stevens this season but felt that yesterday he was playing with the sort of passion that could see him one day captain the side. Especially towards the end when all seemed lost he was attacking the ball hard and chasing with intent.

If he could do this week in week out his influence on the others would be very positive. In fact if Kouta, Stevo and Scotland could all do this weekly we would be a very different side. These 3 have enormous ability and if they could stick togeather and keep their passion up even when the chips are down then it would be likely that the rest of the side would find consisitency.

 

[RoK]

Stevo went down hill mid year because he hurt his knee.He will star next year with Simmo,Bentick and carrots.

Kouta will play forward and back most of the year i think.

 

[WTTF]

Kouta will play forward and back most of the year i think.

Kouta cannot play in defence anymore........he is not effective down there ever since he lost the zip following his knee injuries.

Play him in the guts and where he belongs and let him drift and rest forward.

 

[mojo31]

Kouta cannot play in defence anymore........he is not effective down there ever since he lost the zip following his knee injuries.

Play him in the guts and where he belongs and let him drift and rest forward.

Impact player from the bench. Like Riccardi. Could get 2 more years out of him that way. Play him midfield for half the quater. Pinch hit him up forward and then give him a rest every quater.

 

[av76]

Impact player from the bench. Like Riccardi. Could get 2 more years out of him that way. Play him midfield for half the quater. Pinch hit him up forward and then give him a rest every quater.

Maybe that's what they're planning given reports of us chasing Roger James...play the two dinosaurs in tandem...might be a good clearance combination while the younger players come through!

 

[HBF]

Stevo went down hill mid year because he hurt his knee.He will star next year with Simmo,Bentick and carrots.

Kouta will play forward and back most of the year i think.

Exactly right. You could throw Campo and Scotland into that mix as well. Add Fevola to that list, and you can quickly see why we struggled this year.

 

[gadj1976]

If he could do this week in week out his influence on the others would be very positive. In fact if Kouta, Stevo and Scotland could all do this weekly we would be a very different side. These 3 have enormous ability and if they could stick togeather and keep their passion up even when the chips are down then it would be likely that the rest of the side would find consisitency.

If we had 22 blokes able to do it week in week out and if we had depth and if we could kick and mark and handball and shepherd and tackle..........

If's schmiffs.

 

[pumped]

If we had 22 blokes able to do it week in week out and if we had depth and if we could kick and mark and handball and shepherd and tackle..........

If's schmiffs.

Very positive post. Why don't you come up with something rather than scoff on my suggestions. I truly believe that 3 leaders hanging tough would make a very big difference on the whole side.

 

[pumped]

Stevo went down hill mid year because he hurt his knee.He will star next year with Simmo,Bentick and carrots.

Kouta will play forward and back most of the year i think.

You may be right however I think Stevo's consistency goes deeper than the knee injury. Same with Kouta and Scotland I am very baffled by.

 

[Muji]

Murphy and Co. will help us next year.. LET's HOPE SO!

 

[gadj1976]

Very positive post. Why don't you come up with something rather than scoff on my suggestions. I truly believe that 3 leaders hanging tough would make a very big difference on the whole side.

Pumped, no doubt what you're saying is true, but it's a huge if! I'm not trying to have a go at you, all I'm saying is that "we" keep saying "if". It's time to play hardball with a few guys at the club. Seriously we could be here in 10 years time with the blues still mulling around the bottom of the ladder and whinging about our draft picks - or we can actually do something about it, get in the finals and not say "if" like us and the Bulldogs (for one) have to do.

You could use the analogy that "if" Houlihan wasn't deemed to be soft, he'd be a good footballer. Well at the moment, he is deemed to be soft - so let's deal with it. Resign him or move him on.

I'd much rather say at the end of the year "yep, we gave it everything and we were/weren't good enough, end of story" rather than use "if's".

Cold hard facts are that we need at least two solid midfielders straight up and another tall defender, and a ruckman. This will 1, increase depth at the club. 2, give Thornton and Livo much needed support. 3, enable us to start winning the ball out of the centre. 4, deliver it on a plate like Fev and others would get at other clubs. 5, let Kouta run a bit more freely around the ground. 6, Free up Barnaby from rucking (and Bryan) who both aren't quite tall enough to be no.1 rucks IMO.

 

[bibi01]

Murphy and Co. will help us next year.. LET's HOPE SO!

our draftee's will help us in 3-4 years time

for us to improve in 2006 we need another experienced ruckmen and a KPP backmen

we need to start seeing improvement and consistency from our players in their 3rd, 4th and 5th years at the club

players on the list from 11-30 need to take the next step from where they are currently at.

its all about improving and deepening the talent pool.

 

[WTTF]

Maybe that's what they're planning given reports of us chasing Roger James...play the two dinosaurs in tandem...might be a good clearance combination while the younger players come through!

We've already got the best clearance combination in the league. Steven and Kouta.

Stevens was number 1 for centre clearances and Kouta number 3. Roger James would be a step in the wrong direction.

 

[WTTF]

You may be right however I think Stevo's consistency goes deeper than the knee injury. Same with Kouta and Scotland I am very baffled by.

I think Scotland's biggest problem, is that he doesn't know what his role is from one week to the next. One week he is on a wing, next week HBF, next week on the middle.

IMO Scotland is a solid player who should be rotating through the midfield. I don't like him across half back.

 

[WTTF]

6, Free up Barnaby from rucking (and Bryan) who both aren't quite tall enough to be no.1 rucks IMO.

French is 200cm............that is about the average I would have thought. Strange how our season started going downhill when French got injured? I agree that Bryan is a little undersized at 197cm, but he projects as the ideal backup Ruckman doing forward.

 

[av76]

We've already got the best clearance combination in the league. Steven and Kouta.

Stevens was number 1 for centre clearances and Kouta number 3. Roger James would be a step in the wrong direction.

I knew Kouta was high up on hard ball gets and clearances as he's played well and doesn't get rotated much. The Stevens stat I find a little shocking...Looking at those stats you'd wonder why we seem to get comprehensively beaten in the midfield this year...some days the opposition could just walk it out of the centre square.

I think this is one of those situations where the stats might be deceptive as the load gets shared more evenly in other teams and the disposals are more effective. Campo is fourth in the league for kicks...he has had no where near the impact of some of the others on the list...I still reckon our centre four is what needs improving the most...sure James might not be the solution but we need an experienced player who had help Kouta out (Bartel would be nice if we can get lucky). If Kouta and Stevens are rested they might get less possessions but the quality will hopefully go up a little.

 

[pumped]

Pumped, no doubt what you're saying is true, but it's a huge if! I'm not trying to have a go at you, all I'm saying is that "we" keep saying "if". It's time to play hardball with a few guys at the club. Seriously we could be here in 10 years time with the blues still mulling around the bottom of the ladder and whinging about our draft picks - or we can actually do something about it, get in the finals and not say "if" like us and the Bulldogs (for one) have to do.

You could use the analogy that "if" Houlihan wasn't deemed to be soft, he'd be a good footballer. Well at the moment, he is deemed to be soft - so let's deal with it. Resign him or move him on.

I'd much rather say at the end of the year "yep, we gave it everything and we were/weren't good enough, end of story" rather than use "if's".

Cold hard facts are that we need at least two solid midfielders straight up and another tall defender, and a ruckman. This will 1, increase depth at the club. 2, give Thornton and Livo much needed support. 3, enable us to start winning the ball out of the centre. 4, deliver it on a plate like Fev and others would get at other clubs. 5, let Kouta run a bit more freely around the ground. 6, Free up Barnaby from rucking (and Bryan) who both aren't quite tall enough to be no.1 rucks IMO.

Thanks gadj1976 for getting back to me, I appreciate it.

I do agree that there are some definite holes that need to be filled. A big strong fast defender probably the most pressing. I suppose my biggest beef is just that too many players are underperforming. I have my opinions why and just wish that the club could take some steps to help the problem players.

Sure Ryan is soft and he is not on his own. My belief is that there are very few physically soft men playing footy. That it is mostly in the head and this then makes them look physically soft. I truly wish the Carlton Footy Club would invest some time and money into the attitude side of our list. This would be a fantastic addition to any new talent we bring into the club.