Where are we at?

[therubbernub]

The last two matches have given us an insight. One heavy defeat by the top side and then beating their challenger.

I dont think we re as bad as the 60 plus defeat suggests. It was lost at the clearances. Without kreuzer we had no hope against goldstein. I think with a better midfield setup we could have been much more competitive. A 30 point loss or thereabouts.

Our other heavy loss was also due to being wiped in the midfield battle against the swans. Their midfield runs deep and strong.

So our heaviest defeats were due to our midfield losing. So lets look at our other losses.

Rd 1 tigers. We could have easily won this
Rd 2 swans
Rd 3 gold coast 8 goals. Forward line failed. We ran out of legs
Rd 4 bulldogs 6 goals.
Rd 5 freo won
Rd 6 essendo won
Rd 7 pies won
Rd 8 port won
Rd 9 nth heavy loss
Rd 10 geel won

It looks like we are improving every week. Our line up is starting to be solidified.
Losses to the swans, nth and bulldogs should be expected.
The gold coast loss was coming after a tough match v sydney and our lineup was still being finalised. In hindsight this was a surprising result still.

So where are we? Clearly not top 4, yet able to beat the cats?
Able to beat the teams in the bottom half of the ladder consistently.

I think our next two matches will tell us a lot about our progress. I dont think either the lions or the saints are easy beats, yet i am quietly confident. Hopefully murphy and sumner get up for those matches.
I will be dissappointed if we get easily beaten by either side. But i fully expect a close game for either. If we have a tight contest but lose to either, then this will not be the end of the world. If we suffer a big loss to either, then that will be a reality check.
Win both and we are sitting at 7/5 and just outside the 8
Interesting times.

 

[Iamcarlton]

Yes very interesting times clearly a long way to go but beating geelong a huge surprise . The Sydney and north games were a reality check but teriffic effort to be 5-5 after a 0-4 start . I feel we have benefitted from a good draw and copping some sides struggling badly with injury and suspension * Collingwood and freo . The platform for intensity at the contest and opposition player the non negotiables are being firmly put in place . The work ethic within the playing group is much improved but we still have many pieces of the puzzle to be put in place . Losing Kruezer and casboult highlighted a lack of quality talls when injuries hit . Hopefully in time McKay in particular and C Curnow will address the fwd line tall depth . The future is looking bright now to inject more quality through the next Draft to have us competing on a regular basis with the top sides . Long way to go .

 

[LordLucifer]

We are ahead of all expectations because we finally have a coach who has instilled some spirit & belief into the playing group. They are also playing to a subscribed plan with everyone buying in, there are no passengers either. They are all playing for each other and sometimes, a united front achieves a little more than the collective ability would have you think initially.

The downside is that self-belief can only get you so far (its hard to know if we have reached that ceiling just yet) because overall skills come into play sooner or later. Bolton keeps talking about working on improving certain areas (he says it every week without fail in the presser) and there is no doubt that improvements have been made. However, some players have serious limitations and may not be able to take it to another level.

The fact that we are winning games when we were not expected to now has the rest of the competition looking at us. Some of them are kicking themselves as to why they didn't sign-up Bolton themselves, the rest are now working on how they can get around our systems and exploit our weaknesses.

As for ladder position, we can enjoy a little more of a roller-coaster ride whilst we face up to other teams around our level of playing stock. Play some of the big name teams like the Swans and we are always going to have to play to our peak to get near them, they just have too many big guns we struggle to cover.

I think we will fall back off the pace as our young players get tired over a long season plus we endure some unavoidable injuries and will finish around the 13-14th spots on the ladder.

Regardless of how it pans out, 2016 has already shown that our future is extremely bright and all we need to contribute from here on in is patience.

 

[Buckley00]

We are ahead of all expectations because we finally have a coach who has instilled some spirit & belief into the playing group. They are also playing to a subscribed plan with everyone buying in, there are no passengers either. They are all playing for each other and sometimes, a united front achieves a little more than the collective ability would have you think initially.

The downside is that self-belief can only get you so far (its hard to know if we have reached that ceiling just yet) because overall skills come into play sooner or later. Bolton keeps talking about working on improving certain areas (he says it every week without fail in the presser) and there is no doubt that improvements have been made. However, some players have serious limitations and may not be able to take it to another level.

The fact that we are winning games when we were not expected to now has the rest of the competition looking at us. Some of them are kicking themselves as to why they didn't sign-up Bolton themselves, the rest are now working on how they can get around our systems and exploit our weaknesses.

As for ladder position, we can enjoy a little more of a roller-coaster ride whilst we face up to other teams around our level of playing stock. Play some of the big name teams like the Swans and we are always going to have to play to our peak to get near them, they just have too many big guns we struggle to cover.

I think we will fall back off the pace as our young players get tired over a long season plus we endure some unavoidable injuries and will finish around the 13-14th spots on the ladder.

Regardless of how it pans out, 2016 has already shown that our future is extremely bright and all we need to contribute from here on in is patience.

Carlton will finish between 9-12th. Yesterday's win by the blues, was a huge step forward. I wasn't convinced that the blues could win against a top
4 team!

 

[NavyBlue5]

11 o'clock on the Premiership clock.

 

[HalloweenJack]

We are well ahead of where I thought we would be after 10 rounds. Still lots of work to be done but I am a very happy little Vegemite.

 

[BazzaBlue]

We are 5 and 5. Not too high and not too low.

 

[BM123]

Modern game plan, structures and we are playing with a lot more heart.

We are still rebuilding though so it's still going to be a roller coaster ride for quite awhile yet.

 

[CFC_JP]

The tig

Carlton will finish between 9-12th. Yesterday's win by the blues, was a huge step forward. I wasn't convinced that the blues could win against a top
4 team!

The tiggers have 9th covered

 

[BALKAN]

I might just be pessimistic but I think our purple patch will inevitably end and we'll have to endure a fair bit more ugliness in this reset, especially as our more senior players start ageing and dropping off.

Still, for the first time in a while we actually resemble a modern football club.

 

[BM123]

I might just be pessimistic but I think our purple patch will inevitably end and we'll have to endure a fair bit more ugliness in this reset, especially as our more senior players start ageing and dropping off.

Still, for the first time in a while we actually resemble a modern football club.

Least our current performances give us hope of what Bolton could do with a better list.

 

[ArjenTheGreat]

Sorry to intrude, but from an outsider... You are back to being the Carlton ****ing Football Club. The team that plays with genuine spirit with respect to your jumper and history.

You can't ask for more that.

Congratulations and keep it going, you're fast becoming the story of 2016 and all credit to Bolton, El Presidente and Silvagni.

 

[1981]

We are at a transition phase

We are building a young team for the LT

But Bolts is also giving the likes of Simpson, Murphy, Rowe, Gibbs, Thomas etc hope of something special in the ST / MT

 

[1981]

We are 5 and 5. Not too high and not too low.

5 from last 6 ?

 

[MrsEddieBetts]

it's so weird to have opposition supporters congratulating us.

 

[DaVillaBlues]

I might just be pessimistic but I think our purple patch will inevitably end and we'll have to endure a fair bit more ugliness in this reset, especially as our more senior players start ageing and dropping off.

Still, for the first time in a while we actually resemble a modern football club.

Agreed, realistically finals are probably still 3 years away, don't think we should compromise our rebuild philosophy by giving away top draft picks.

Got to start planning for life after Murphy, Gibbs, Kreuzer etc. Talent wise we still have a bottom 6 list and sadly it appears young players we pinned hopes on, like Graham and DVR, just don't pass muster.

 

[jaymasha]

I had to double check and make sure this was the Carlton board and not the main board.

 

[HBF]

Distinct possibility that we could finish on 10 wins for the year. Still have to play Brisbane twice, Melbourne, St.Kilda, Essendon & Collingwood. Even West Coast at the MCG is a possibility given their lack of success at the ground.

 

[Kramer1]

it's so weird to have opposition supporters congratulating us.

Congratulations on being average...oh, how the mighty have fallen.

 

[DollarsandSense]

We are competitive in the first 10 games........ Even won a handfull. Well ahead of where I honestly thought we'd be. So proud. Enjoying footy again and my two little fellas have the Blue swagger, instead of contemplating other teams.

 

[Keyza]

I think we all agree we are miles ahead of where any of us thought we would be.
As much as I love the way we are playing and winning I cant help but think back to 2004. Pagan took over and brought in a lot of players from other clubs (largely due to our salary cap penalties). We had a good year and won 10 games.
This meant we got a later draft pick. Next year it was back to the bottom for 3 years.
We need some more good young talent through the draft and it wouldn't hurt us long term to finish a bit lower.

 

[Sector 7G]

I think we all agree we are miles ahead of where any of us thought we would be.
As much as I love the way we are playing and winning I cant help but think back to 2004. Pagan took over and brought in a lot of players from other clubs (largely due to our salary cap penalties). We had a good year and won 10 games.
This meant we got a later draft pick. Next year it was back to the bottom for 3 years.
We need some more good young talent through the draft and it wouldn't hurt us long term to finish a bit lower.

Difference there is we had no talented young players coming through.

 

[therubbernub]

Difference there is we had no talented young players coming through.

Dont forget, pagan was very old school also. 10 wins didnt feel so good back then.

 

[Canyouhearthedrums]

We're miles ahead of where I thought we'd be but miles off where I hope we can get.

 

[Kleenex Crew]

I'm really not sure what to think at the moment. We've succeeded what most thought we'd do for the year by round ten. We're not playing a young team, but at the same time, not an experienced team.

Results to date have us 5 from our last six. As good as any team in the league. We're only getting better the longer the team is exposed to Bolton and the change of club personnel. Based on this logic, who's to say we're not going to get better this year?

Yet I know we need more very good young talent through the door for another 3 years to eventually hit the pinnacle.

I love the against the odds, team effort wins. Something that defines our club again and makes us feel so proud. Something we haven't witnessed in years.

I'm so confused.