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The reality check we all needed

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reg_lower91

reg_lower91

Premiership Player
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May 7, 2007
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Melbourne
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Carlton
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Watsonia F.C.
Brett Ratten's speach on Sunday afternoon at the Family Day was, I think, the reality check we all needed... myself included. We shouldn't be expecting miracles this season. We have officially the youngest list in the AFL and with lack of experience we shouldn't be expecting our team to go too far. Really, if we all have our hopes set on, say, 11th position if Carlton exceed this expectation we will still be happy. If they don't exceed it then they have finished closer to our expectation of 11th then, say, 8th.

We shouldn't be putting so much pressure on our young guys. I do think they will do well this season but one think i can't stand is another season full of disappointment, which is why we should be lowering our expectations.

Thoughts?
 
Absolutely. While we did have a few older players out against Freo you could see we still looked pretty inexperienced and the young guys need time to develop.

What I'd be happy to see is the guys having a go each week which means we're competitive (no blow-outs!!) and then we might pinch a few more games than last year. Somewhere around 8 wins should be a target.
 
Obviously everyone's pretty excited about having Judd on board, Stevo back and Kreuzer landed, so it's no surprise a few people are getting a bit carried away.

Ratts is spot on though in saying that it's not gonna be quick or easy to get back to where we wanna be.

Finals in 08 is a possibility if we have a dream run with injuries, but depth is still our weakness, as is the lack of a genuine CHF.

You'd hope that 15 goal floggings are a thing of the past though.
 

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I didnt need a reality check.

We have been the worst performed side in the competition for 6 years and only some of the blame can go to the previous Coach. Shocking recruiting, player mismanagement and Coaching are just some of the big issues that have afflicted our great Club.

in all that time our opponents, other than Richmond, have been able to forge ahead with better list and player management.

It is only now that the catch-up has really begun. We start from a long way back, but with some of the spoils of the modern day rules which allow bottom clubs the chance to catch-up if they manage it right.

We are still a lowly ranked Club but with massive upside. That's the reality.
 
I'm hoping between 10th and 8th.
But, if we could string three to four wins in a row that'd be great.
That's what the blues need more than anything now.
Some belief that they can win and win consistently.
Once that mentality kicks in we'll start to see a massive change.
How long? who knows.
I just want teams to be afraid of us again instead of shrugging us off.
 
reg_lower91 said:
Brett Ratten's speach on Sunday afternoon at the Family Day was, I think, the reality check we all needed... myself included. We shouldn't be expecting miracles this season. We have officially the youngest list in the AFL and with lack of experience we shouldn't be expecting our team to go too far. Really, if we all have our hopes set on, say, 11th position if Carlton exceed this expectation we will still be happy. If they don't exceed it then they have finished closer to our expectation of 11th then, say, 8th.

We shouldn't be putting so much pressure on our young guys. I do think they will do well this season but one think i can't stand is another season full of disappointment, which is why we should be lowering our expectations.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...

My thoughts: If any fan actually believes that by thinking deep down that finals are achievable, it puts one iota of extra pressure on any professional sportsman, then they are certainly in need of a reality check.

Personally, I think we could very well make the 8 this year and I sincerely hope we do. But more so than that, I know that I am not putting any extra pressure on our young guys and I'm certainly not going to abandon that hope simply because Bigfooty's Carlton board seems so full of pessimists.
 
Anyone who goes to training will see that we're a young and light bodied group. Fortunately a lot of the more mature bodies will be standing in the centre square: Judd, Stevo, Carrazzo and Scotto at times. This will make a big difference when lining up against established lines like Black, Lappin, Power or Kirk, Bolton etc. A tighter midfield that isn't pushed around as much will greatly help our back 6 which is nowhere near as bad as people think. The ruck is still a problem because not only do we still have Ackland, but an underdone Ackland. Shauny Hampson's SA form will give hope though. Regardless, this will be an enjoyable season to watch.
 
Kim Chambers said:
You can call me a troll a smartass a prick or whatever you like, but Carlton HAVE had a reality check. But it wasn't on field. It was exactly where it needed to be. And to be perfectly honest, maybe the best thing to happen to Carlton and it's supporters was to be snotted on their ass. The arrogance and God given right attitude has been wearing thin since about 1970.
Click to expand...

One flag in 40 years and it's straight up on your soapbox.
 
FWIW Kim is completely right.

We ignored all the warning signs in the 1990's and refused to rebuild. Refused to draft.

And then they cashed in all of our deposits and built a stand no one used, almost bankrupting the Club.

2002-2007 was a huge reality check. We now know other Clubs have been doing it far better for longer whilst we were stuck in no mans land.

Taking shots at Geelong is only fair but what Kim says is spot on IMHO.
 

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Lets not baby the boys... they play professional footy to win games not to believe that at any one point that it's okay to lose.

That has been a problem for our club since 2002.. we've had the sh!t so badly knocked out of us that the morale and psyche of the group has been unable to recover.

For example look at StKilda, they are the wooden spoon masters and throughout history that mentality has beset on the club that a premiership is unobtainable... thus when over the last few years they had for some of them the best list in the comp they could not go all the way....

Richmond of 1980+, their mentality is it's ok to finish 9th... and it's now embedded in the culture.

Melbourne, a year or two up, a year or two down..... yoyo years.

For us we have to wipe this 2002-2007 away ASAP... It's a sickness, a disease, a virus that has infested itself within our club for 6 years too long.

Ratten might say what he said to appease us fans and cover his arse if things go a bit awry, but mark my words behind closed doors he's tutoring the boys in Swagger 101, Mongrel 101, Carlton Glory years 101, etc etc....

Judd and Hadley although great additions to our playing list in terms of skill and ability... the most benefit we'll see from these two is that they have come from clubs with that culture that we've lost and can inject/restore that to our mob.

Supporters best thing we can do is believe now that our boys can win and compete and see what happens after the first few rounds... for if we start having some doubts about them now.. that doubt will no doubt find its way into the club now and corrupt their souls.

GO BLUES!
 
Whatever the reality is...I'd like us to SMASH a few teams
instead of being gawn at half time or hoping and praying
for a miracle comeback in the second half.
I wanna be able to sit back and relax for a few qtrs
instead of sighing and watching the boys get torn apart.
 

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borissey said:
FWIW Kim is completely right.

We ignored all the warning signs in the 1990's and refused to rebuild. Refused to draft.

And then they cashed in all of our deposits and built a stand no one used, almost bankrupting the Club.

2002-2007 was a huge reality check. We now know other Clubs have been doing it far better for longer whilst we were stuck in no mans land.

Taking shots at Geelong is only fair but what Kim says is spot on IMHO.
Click to expand...
You can agree all you like but I challenge his right to say it on the Carlton board. Do these opposition supporters think they are telling us something for the first time ever, like they are an authority or something? We are not duty bound to take this crap for years to come anytime somebody feels like saying it. Do you think the honesty jibe towards Pratt needed to be said on here as well? No, just someone else who thinks that freedom of speech exists on here. They are so wrong.
 
Glad to see he is not getting ahead of himself. He could easily have followed the hype and blabbed on, but he kept it clean (thesauraus).

Good Job :thumbsu:
 
I think Brett Ratten is an extremely average coach, who could coach the AFL Legends Side, and they still wouldn't win, bad choice for Carlton in my opinion (his only positive is that he rightfully rates Banno), I think Carlton will finish 10th this season, all on the back of Banno's 8 BOG's
 
Djibril Cisse said:
I think Brett Ratten is an extremely average coach, who could coach the AFL Legends Side, and they still wouldn't win, bad choice for Carlton in my opinion (his only positive is that he rightfully rates Banno), I think Carlton will finish 10th this season, all on the back of Banno's 8 BOG's
Click to expand...
Can't see Banno having one BOG let alone 8- looks like another lean year if we have to rely on him.:p
 
I hate people saying we have the youngest list in the AFL. The Eagle's is pretty much the same. I think our problem is that whilst the Eagle's blooded their youngsters gradually and their kids could slowly learn alongside some more experienced players, all our young kids are/were just chucked into the deep end and we now lack serious leadership at the club
 
The Old Dark Navy's said:
You can agree all you like but I challenge his right to say it on the Carlton board. Do these opposition supporters think they are telling us something for the first time ever, like they are an authority or something? We are not duty bound to take this crap for years to come anytime somebody feels like saying it. Do you think the honesty jibe towards Pratt needed to be said on here as well? No, just someone else who thinks that freedom of speech exists on here. They are so wrong.
Click to expand...


I might disagree with opposition supporters opinions. I'll certainly fight to the death to have their bullshit lies repressed.
 

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The reality check we all needed

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