Thread for supporters who feel lost

[Seeds]

After hearing that they will sign Scott for a whoping further 3 years making him the coach for the next four seasons I feel the need to seriously vent.

The club is going in the wrong direction for me and I'm losing my connection with it. This is a thread for people who feel similar and would also like to vent their frustration. This is not just about the coach but the whole direction the club has been going on for the past four years and now looks set to continue in the years ahead. Maybe someone of importance will listen and we can instigate some much needed change.

The pursuit of topping up to go for a flag at the expense of three first round draft picks will create a lost decade for us. The coaches and admin who made the decision to pursue this path will be long gone but us the fans will be left to deal with the pain. And yes the system has changed and there are benefits from bringing in free agents. But with exception of rivers and Scott Selwood we haven't been doing this but rather trading away our future for players instead and we suck at the negotiating table. There is a slim chance we can win a flag with this lot, but it's not worth the inevitable ten years of doom heading our way. When Selwood, Henderson, Taylor, Dangerfield, Touhy, Stanley, smith, Hawkins all retire within 2-3 years of each other the end is going to come very quick. It will be the seventies all over again.

The overly defensive mindset that has creeped into our game is not the Geelong way. The Bulldogs are playing the way we should be playing. Fast ball movement is what defined the teams of the early nineties and our flag dynasty era. Now it is our weakness. We hold the ball up constantly giving our forwards no chance.

The treatment of our premiership heros has horrified me. The club promised it would never repeat the mistake of the nineties and it has done exactly that. Johnson, chapman, Kelly and Bartel deserved to go out on their terms. That doesn't mean playing them if they weren't good enough (not that was an issue with chapman and Johnson who were both clearly still in our top 10 players). But they should of been able to stay at the club until they were nothing more than reserves players if that is what they wanted. Three have gone on to play another two years at other clubs and Bartel clearly ain't happy with how things played out. The bizarre excuses from some fans to justify the club letting them go has equally horrified me.

Support for anything in life is never unconditional. Geelong is starting to not feel like Geelong anymore. The club has to wake up as it may start losing memberships from people who had previously considered themselves lifers. Can someone please listen.

 

[catempire]

With that OP I will say that this is going to be a very negative thread. If you are a poster that doesn't like seeing a lot of negative things said about the club just don't get involved in this thread.

 

[HaroLad]

The pursuit of topping up to go for a flag at the expense of three first round draft picks will create a lost decade for us.

IMO it's worth it, look at where teams like Collingwood are now, that could easily be us in 1-2 years but it won't be thanks to our 'topping-up' trades.

 

[JohnZ]

I have only been seriously watching footy since 2005 (was too young before then to fully understand everything that went on when the game wasn't being played). I feel as if want you want Seeds is unattainable for this club in its current state. Our current list of 23-27yos are all mostly trade ins, due to wasted picks and lack of development during our golden years, and this has hurt us the most. We have some good young talent coming through (development has been slower than I'd have liked) and we needed to get games into them whilst selwood and hawkins were on the park.

Does that mean we needed to effectively kick out our legends, I go both ways, but if we want Geelong to be ruthless at the trade table, then that follows onto when we trade out our stars like the Hawks have done. We can't continue to be the country bumpkin club anymore, and it starts with saying that the club is more important than any one player (another reason I don't want GAJ back at the club). When we prioritise the club over any one player, we don't trade caddy for pick 24, we get delidio instead. We trade like Essendon and get the players in we need without selling the farm.

It's hard to even call KP a suburban ground with the only old stand left being the GA terrace. Geelong has been forced to evolve, and if that means people get left behind then it's a hard call, but again what's best for the club (and with that, winning premierships), needs to be more important than a vocal minority on message board.

 

[Spazz Cat]

I hope some of your predictions don't come true but there's a very good chance they will.
IMO a flag would be worth it but nothing less as this strategy has put the club back 5+ years.
I am starting to feel the same as you but for also other reasons.
The coach calling supporters arrogant the other night who expect him to deliver on this strategy.
The Union comments earlier in the year show where the clubs values lie and make me regret buying a membership.
And a new stadium mainly paid for by all of us that TBH I won't be able to afford to take my kids to because there too young to stand while there will be at least a few thousand seats most games with no-one sitting in them.
Not that it matters much now because their both Doggies fans but it's hard to turn them around when you can catch a train straight to docklands, walk in and sit down.
I love the club but it's hard to feel part of it sometimes.

 

[dazbroncos]

Awesome thread. Perfect place for all the critical posts to get moved to. And you will already know where to find them.

Just made my day.

This thread rocks.

Go Catters

 

[Spazz Cat]

Awesome thread. Perfect place for all the critical posts to get moved to. And you will already know where to find them.

Just made my day.

This thread rocks.

Go Catters

Should set up an extra positive thread too, and no-ones allowed to disagree/argue.
Would make you Mods life so much easier.

 

[terry_bright]

Awesome thread. Perfect place for all the critical posts to get moved to. And you will already know where to find them.

Just made my day.

This thread rocks.

Go Catters

And without naming names, I think we all know which posters who will be owning this thread.

 

[ATSAM]

I hope some of your predictions don't come true but there's a very good chance they will.
IMO a flag would be worth it but nothing less as this strategy has put the club back 5+ years.
I am starting to feel the same as you but for also other reasons.
The coach calling supporters arrogant the other night who expect him to deliver on this strategy.
The Union comments earlier in the year show where the clubs values lie and make me regret buying a membership.
And a new stadium mainly paid for by all of us that TBH I won't be able to afford to take my kids to because there too young to stand while there will be at least a few thousand seats most games with no-one sitting in them.
Not that it matters much now because their both Doggies fans but it's hard to turn them around when you can catch a train straight to docklands, walk in and sit down.
I love the club but it's hard to feel part of it sometimes.

Did Scott really say that Supporters were arrogant??Gosh if he did. Not sure about lots of what is happening at catland but do believe that we have sacrificed on-field support in the guise of coaches for stands that no-one will sit in. Despite increasing the capacity in recent years max crowd has been 27,000. And making more space for seats makes it unaffordable. And the dreadful draw which we accept meekly makes it hard for, even those who might pay, to attend. Thursday and Friday night games are for Geelong residents only.

 

[goyoucatters]

This thread is going to be very cool.

A truly remarkable 'one-stop shop' for disillusioned Cats fans to congregate and bemoan their piteous existence together.

It has my unstinting endorsement.

 

[aCunningPlan]

IMO it's worth it, look at where teams like Collingwood are now, that could easily be us in 1-2 years but it won't be thanks to our 'topping-up' trades.

Exactly right, even look at Essendon after 2000, held on to their old guns for far too long, picked up some woeful draft prospects coupled with long-term injuries and by 2006 they never looked like genuinely competing again. Floating along as if every young bloke we pick up is going to be a future All-Australian is a bloody big gamble when you can pick up mature bodies ready to give it their all from the get go. If anything I am optimistic about the club and where they are going. We still have some great youngsters coming up and if we nurture them and give them the game time they need they will serve us well in five years time.

 

[Spazz Cat]

Did Scott really say that Supporters were arrogant??Gosh if he did. Not sure about lots of what is happening at catland but do believe that we have sacrificed on-field support in the guise of coaches for stands that no-one will sit in. Despite increasing the capacity in recent years max crowd has been 27,000. And making more space for seats makes it unaffordable. And the dreadful draw which we accept meekly makes it hard for, even those who might pay, to attend. Thursday and Friday night games are for Geelong residents only.

The arrogant was in a certain context sorry.
He actually said it would be arrogant of our supporters to keep expecting success when there is a lot of good teams out there.
That really shat me. If you aren't expecting success why are you trading draft picks for mature players?
What's the point?
Don't call supporters arrogant for expecting success when you've traded picks and future picks for a flag.

 

[4quarter_cat]

I would go so far as to say that twilight games are as late as they should get. Otherwise no travelling fans can bring their kids either.

 

[Rondog]

I may need to preface I'm not from Geelong or victoria for that matter but i have loved the club since 89. I don't feel lost more like anticipating so you may not want to hear from me.

The only thing i dont like about Chris Scott is he seems to clinical. He doesn't like to get in the rooms after a game and say what is on his mind to the players. He's always filtering himself.

I can't complain with the premiership in 2011. Albeit he basically coached a'la John Buchanon. I.e. he just let the players do their thing.

Yes we've traded out many draft picks and haven't picked up alot of young talent but you can't be upset with missing only 1 finals series in 6 years.

Bartel, Johnson and Chapman were once in a generation players. Just glad they played for us.

Scarlett is back at the club, so is Enright. We've got another unique gun in the number 5 guernsey and picked up what seems a plethora of good picks this year. The Renaissance is happening. Enjoy the ride.

 

[Landgraft]

Did Scott really say that Supporters were arrogant??Gosh if he did.

He said that some who had the attitude that the club was entitled to a top four spot (in the mould of a Hawks supporter who views that area as their birthright) were being arrogant.

He did not say that supporters were arrogant for wanting or even expecting success, in fact one of the first things he said when taking over was that all Geelong people should expect success. But you need to appreciate that success is hard-won and cannot be guaranteed, regardless of the pathway taken to it.

 

[4quarter_cat]

I'm not sure trading future picks in that bad if you are confident you're going to finish high up the ladder. Outside the top dozen or so picks, the quality of players on offer really does flat line substantially.

 

[aCunningPlan]

Did Scott really say that Supporters were arrogant??Gosh if he did. Not sure about lots of what is happening at catland but do believe that we have sacrificed on-field support in the guise of coaches for stands that no-one will sit in. Despite increasing the capacity in recent years max crowd has been 27,000. And making more space for seats makes it unaffordable. And the dreadful draw which we accept meekly makes it hard for, even those who might pay, to attend. Thursday and Friday night games are for Geelong residents only.

Geelong must stretch all the way up the Midland Highway then because I know a good lot of people from Ballarat (even Bendigo) that are able to make the Friday night games in Geelong. Even then, if we are to have Friday night games I much prefer they have them in Geelong where the biggest concentration of fans are rather than in Melbourne.

 

[Cosmic Energy]

I get where you're coming from Seeds. We can't really know how we'll go from here, though. Just have to wait and see. We can be critical of list handling in the past, though. I won't post about it anymore, but to me our team was within reach of a flag in the last couple of years, but we did some shuffling at the wrong time. It can't be easy salary cap wise, but if we really wanted to load up for a flag I feel like we needed to have had last year's team with Johnson in it, the forward version who kicks 40 goals a year. Possibly even Kelly (hardness/tackling), and maybe even TV (run & delivery from half-back/wing, or some goals).

I found it absolutely infuriating that we were talking about getting Ablett back, when we just traded Johnson out. If I'm not mistaken when he was played forward Johnson was one of the all-time great small-medium forwards, certainly for us. While Ablett would seem capable of being that player too, we know Johnson can comfortably kick 40, 50, 60 goals a year, and would have been perfectly suited to the way Dangerfield for example was bringing the ball inside 50. Instead we had so much reliance on Menzel who ultimately missed the prelim (I know Johnson missed his too) and then we've experimented with a variety of mediums and talls up forward loookg for more goals without much conviction, Kersten, Caddy, Henderson, Bartel, Stanley, now Taylor.

But anyway. I will post no more on the above and will look ahead.

Go Cats.

 

[barmy44]

i would like to address those feeling lost or disconnected respectfully... everyone can support however they see fit, and it takes all sorts. no such thing as a single acceptable 'real supporter'.

there isnt a sporting club on earth that hasnt gone through tough times, lost their way a bit, treated some aging vets in a way that the vets might not have liked, or supporters from afar might not have agreed with. its part of following a club - they wont always be up and about, getting things right without fail. to expect that is to expect frustration.

maybe this direction isnt the best, maybe there are problems. maybe scott is the wrong guy. maybe they are resting on their laurels of '07-'11 too much. i think some of those claims arent entirely wrong.

but the club is what it is. 'it' - as an entity - puts people in charge who dedicate their professional, and often personal as well, lives to generating success. it wont always work. but theyre the ones sacrificing their nervous systems for it, and as a result have the right to do so in the way they see best. it wont always be, though. thats life.

if you cannot stomach what the club is doing, you really have 3 broad choices - 1) stick it out (as we have all had to do in the past as cats fans, and as all sports fans have had to do at some point no matter who they support); 2) give up and follow a passion that makes you happy; or 3) nut up and drive yourself to do everything you can to be in a position to affect actual change at the club, and as a consequence open yourself up to criticisms from those who sit back and watch and only want to see win after win, no excuses.

its easy to sit back and say 'this is the way to success' when there is no possibility of your pathway being actually tested.

and hey, it could be worse - we could have brad scott.

 

[Seeds]

i would like to address those feeling lost or disconnected respectfully... everyone can support however they see fit, and it takes all sorts. no such thing as a single acceptable 'real supporter'.

there isnt a sporting club on earth that hasnt gone through tough times, lost their way a bit, treated some aging vets in a way that the vets might not have liked, or supporters from afar might not have agreed with. its part of following a club - they wont always be up and about, getting things right without fail. to expect that is to expect frustration.

maybe this direction isnt the best, maybe there are problems. maybe scott is the wrong guy. maybe they are resting on their laurels of '07-'11 too much. i think some of those claims arent entirely wrong.

but the club is what it is. 'it' - as an entity - puts people in charge who dedicate their professional, and often personal as well, lives to generating success. it wont always work. but theyre the ones sacrificing their nervous systems for it, and as a result have the right to do so in the way they see best. it wont always be, though. thats life.

if you cannot stomach what the club is doing, you really have 3 broad choices - 1) stick it out (as we have all had to do in the past as cats fans, and as all sports fans have had to do at some point no matter who they support); 2) give up and follow a passion that makes you happy; or 3) nut up and drive yourself to do everything you can to be in a position to affect actual change at the club, and as a consequence open yourself up to criticisms from those who sit back and watch and only want to see win after win, no excuses.

its easy to sit back and say 'this is the way to success' when there is no possibility of your pathway being actually tested.

and hey, it could be worse - we could have brad scott.

All good points. Unfortunately I don't have the means in my life at the moment to influence the club other than posting something like this thread. I continue to follow the club but who knows how long. It's not about success. It's about what the club represents (the way we play and the history) and doing what's best for the club long term rather then focusing almost solely on the here and now.

 

[Stocks_go_Up]

I have lost faith in Scott - his robotic nature has run its course. In my eyes he has failed to lead the development of young players, struggled to motivate players and failed to adjust tactically to game day situations. I would like to see a fresh set of eyes with a new voice - again look at the bulldogs and the effect of bringing in Beveridge. I can assure you he has a stronger connection with his players than Scott has with ours, you can see it.

 

[aCunningPlan]

I'm listening to K-Rock right now and the talk around the club from the commentators and even listening to the Scott interview is very passionate yet measured in thoughtful reflection. Scott takes every question seriously, and understands how important his position is in the town...he may not get every decision right but he and others behind the scenes do their all to ensure we maintain our identity. For me that's Geelong, by all means we love our club but we aren't running our mouths off, we have a deep understanding of the game and we love each player that is lucky enough to put on the hoops. Personally that's why I think there are so many Geelong fans in the media dissecting the game. It is the only club in the league that has that truly deep connection with the town and its people, Geelong are the Cats, the Cats are Geelong. I don't get that vibe from any other club.

 

[Seeds]

IMO it's worth it, look at where teams like Collingwood are now, that could easily be us in 1-2 years but it won't be thanks to our 'topping-up' trades.

Collingwood have been topping up too. Treloer, Adams, greenwood, Varcoe white, Mayne, Wells. They have just been worse than us at it.

 

[barmy44]

All good points. Unfortunately I don't have the means in my life at the moment to influence the club other than posting something like this thread. I continue to follow the club but who knows how long. It's not about success. It's about what the club represents (the way we play and the history) and doing what's best for the club long term rather then focusing almost solely on the here and now.

fair enough man, i do see where youre coming from.

but i guess my advice would be you support the GFC, over and above the current list, admin, coaches etc. stick it out, understand that all these elements you disagree with will not outlast the club, and when it does resume a course that really does it for you, it will (hopefully) all be worth it.

i maintain that down times are necessary to appreciate the good times.

i would personally wager that the experience of our supporters in '07, footscray, chicago cubs and leicester city supporters last year would have been far, far, far more rewarding than that experienced by barca fc, olympiakos fc, and until fergie retired, man utd supporters watching their team claim title after title.

stick it out, man - it will (hopefully) be worth it in the end!

 

[Daniel McL]

Sometimes I feel lost...

Then I just use Maps on my phone