well put dannyboy - agree with your entire piece. as you posted earlier, there is much to be pleased about. at this point, we should focused on measuring our on field performance against the realistic starting point entering into this year. i would suggest that we are on track.

Unfortunately, the off field team has probably delivered below expectations.

This season I would have gone to 19 games (including next week) and although we haven't won many, it has still been one of the most enjoyable for me to see our future on show.

Bingo.

It's been fantastic watching guys like Kade Simpson, Eddie Betts, Carlos, AB, Russell etc grow and develop through out the year.

Has been the only thing that has kept me sane.

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Writer for SuperCoach Paige www.scpaige.com.au
Twitter - @johnfeeney24

My ex brother-in-law emailed me yesterday saying he watched the game and reckoned we've got a few really good kids and that we'll be on our way back up. He's not one to do that sort of thing normally so I took notice.

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"One of my favorite philosophical tenets is that people will agree with you only if they already agree with you. You do not change people's minds." - Frank Zappa

I think Synbad that most people understand what you are saying and agree with you to varying extents.

Surely though as someone who has been on Carlton forums virtually since their inception you would appreciate the irony of posters almost bemoaning the presence of what is a positive article and criticising Mike Sheahan for having the audacity to realise that it might not be all doom and gloom when for the past five years we have been pining for positive representation in newspapers and the media. What amazes me most though is the implication that Mike Sheahan is now Carlton and Denis Pagan's propagandist!

Yes we all know that we're not there yet and I don't think Mike Sheahan or anyone on here actually thinks otherwise. But me personally, I was just pleased to open the paper and read something positive for once Synbad, I don't know about you but I'm sick of reading about how the club is in debt, the board is not united, the players are shit etc. That doesn't mean that I'm disconnected from reality, I realise that we still have our share of problems but after all this time it's nice to see an article written which focuses on our positives instead of our negatives for once!

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Formerly Blues-Back2003.

Me thinks, it must be pretty grim if Dennis is fighting his case via the media. Interesting!

Why do we think that if a positive story appears...it must be a negative?

Why if the story has a dig at the board, do we think it is Denis delivering the message? It is only what many have been saying anyway.

There are a few extra kids that Sheahan didn't mention i.e. Blackwell, Bower and Russell who are promising. He should have mentioned Thornton as well who is a very good mid-sized defender forced to play out of his weight division week after week.

Then of course there are players like Edwards, Raso, Hartlett, A O'Hailpin and Jackson who are all prospects.

Add picks #1, #17 and #19 to the mix and we will have a strong fleet of youngsters to start another exciting era in 2008 and beyond.

We have already "bottomed out" and it's all onwards and upwards from now on.

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There is no footy god

I've never heard such a load of conspiracy theory crap in all my life! And I spent years with a bunch of alternative hippies from all over the world who spun every conspiracy theory imaginable, from 9-11 being a CIA plot through to the whole world being controlled by 5 men...and everything in between.

We all know that we have significant challenges to overcome before we can challenge for finals, and eventually a top-four spot. We all know about the struggles we have faced. Many of us question (myself included) whether Pagan has done as well as he could have with this squad, and whether he is the right man for the job.

However, like Blues2005 and some others here, I am sick to death of opening the papers and seeing doom and gloom written about a club that I love, and have loved since I first went to the footy 31 years ago. Of hearing discussions on radio and television about how we have become a basket case club. It does nothing for morale, nothing for the feeling around the club, and it continues to put serious dents in what was once the impenetrable armour that was the auroa surrounding the Calrton Football Club.

To see a postive article in the paper, from the head football writer (irrespective of people's opinion of him) for me makes a bloody good change. He rightly points out that we are finally showing some glimpses (as he says, Blue Skies in the future) that things may be turning. He chooses to write some positive stuff about our footy club. He doesn't go into all the intricate details of our situation, because to do so would take up an entire edition of the HUN.

Right now, one of the things we are desperate for as a club is some feel good stuff. To get people positive again. To get membership up. To get people excited about being part of Carlton, to want to be associated with the club again.

When I was a kid, Carlton was the strongest club, the wealthiest, the most successful. We almost always made finals (when we missed in '77, I thought there had been some kind of mistake), and we won flags. And 4 weeks out of 5, I watched my team win.

I now have 7 nieces and nephews, from the age of 10 down, who have barely seen Carlton win a game. They get the piss taken out of them in the same way we used to take the piss out of St Kilda supporters in the primary school playground. They prefer to stay home, rather than watch us get flogged once again. We even had to bribe my oldest nephew a few years ago with jumper, scarf, badges and Carlton footy cards...because he has decided he wanted to barrack for Essendon*, a team (back then) that was cool, in vogue and won games. For a 7 or 8 year old, they don't understand much more than that.

This is where it is at. We need positive articles, we need some feel good stories, so that we can all feel good about being part of the Carlton family, so the kids can see something to be excited about, so all those members who jumped ship feel there is reason to get back on board again.

I hope there are many more positive articles to come.

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Mens sana in corpore sano.

Bring back the laurel wreath logo!!!

Exactly how I feel Mate.

Great post.

My Bummer of a BF actually said some positive things about us too after watching the Collingwwod replay...something along the lines of ::"gee, you are starting to look alright"

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The problem will be made. for the solution to be sold, to your face before your eyes, tolerance is now the new danger

Well done Mike Sheahan. Thanks for the positive article. We still have a long way to go. We all know that, but we are getting recognised for our efforts. Roll on trade period, delistings, draft period and a better 2007. We are on the rise.

Wolfister i think you really have a problem in understanding big picture stuff.
Im not barracking for results on the score board.. correct... im barracking for results on development/ gameplan/ list development.. because thats where the REAL RESULTS will be spawned...

I know you have a week of the wolfister 1%ers to go and then for 6 months youll have to find something else to do to feel valuable... so youre reinventing yourself...

Yes scoreboard results are not what gets me through right now and yes i focus on the macro picture stuff around the club.

so whats your point??

Because going on what this article was about "Blue skies ahead" what you just pointed out is of no significance to this Mike sheahan article...is it???

Tomorrow youre all going to disagree with Mike Sheahan...

and today representatives of our club is holding negotiations via the media.

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Due to recent budget cuts and the rising cost of electricity, gas, and oil....... the Light at the End of the Tunnel has been turned off. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Synbad wrote:


That's been the problem for us. We may have improved our list with the inclusion of Murphy, Kennedy and Bower, and seen improvement in Simpson, Thornton and Walker..., but the other teams have improved more.

Is this trend going to continue, will we improve enough to surpass others above us, have we got the right mix of experience, talent and youth to move up the ladder? Are we good enough?

If we compare last year's ladder with this year's, there's a few teams who have remained at the top in WCE, Crows, Sydney, StKilda, and even the Demons are still up there.

Other teams have actually improved one way or another, such as
Doggies (making the finals after floundering down the bottom for 5-6 years), Freo has improved 5%, Tigers have improved by at least a game and knocking on the door of the 8, Hawks have improved by 3 wins, and Maggies have improved by a massive 8 games and 40%.

The Maggies have gone from 15th (with PP) to finals. The Doggies and Richmond who have been at the bottom for 4-5 years are about 8th,and the Hawks are no doubt on the up with their youth driven draft picks showing good signs, just as the Saints did post 2003, after floundering at the bottom for years.

Teams that have gone down this year:
Kangas 17%
Geelong 9%
Port 7%
Bris 15%
Ess 11%.

Given the depth of youth I dare say that we are where the Saints were in 2002, and next year with 3-4 quality picks, we'll be where they were in 2003. This does not imply a finals berth, but does prove that youth takes time to develop, and they do, and we have enough of them, so we should. We have Murphy (Ball), Kennedy (Kosi), Waite (Reiwoldt), Russell, Bower, Blackwell, Carrazzo....heaps of them.

There's no doubt kids do need experience around them, and in 2007 we will have Coleman medallist Fevola (Gherig), Kouta (Harvey), Whitnall (Hamill), Lappin (Ozzie Jones), Thornton (Hughton), Stevens (Black), Scotland (Thompson), Houla...

In addition, everyteam has players older than 28 and approaching retirement age. We have Kouta, French and Lappin, whereas other teams in the 8 have heaps more...hey all have more than us. Have a look at the Crows, 4 BIG injuries to older statesmen, and they become ordinary...Age does catch up with teams as it did with the BLues, but that's long past us now.

Teams will decline for many reasons, including aging lists, injuries, suspensions, form, coaching and so on, but it is the age factor that will hold us in good stead. Add this year's draftees, to our improvement this year (from floggings), and another preseason and few more games for our existing kids, I believe we have every reason to rise, unless Kennedy, Bower, Blackwell, Gibbs, Russell, Hartlett....(the kids) are not as good as some say.

Teams to go down or stay down after 2006 that we should overtake should be Kangas, Essendon*, Bears, and I if everything goes right for us and we start to get 4 quarters together, we could pass, Hawks, Tigers,and maybe Port. Start 2008, I expect to see the rapid decline of Crows, Geelong, Maggies and Melbourne.

Collingwood went up, and so we should to. Them, the Doggies, Freo, Tigers have shown us the way, and give us good reason to believe that our list of good and elite youth can take us to greater heights than floundering on the bottom for much longer.

OK, we'll be in our 4th year of a 5 year sentence, but suerly we have shown signs in almost every game that we can compete and beat most teams in parts of the game. All we have to do is improve strength and stamina, which in turn will improve our concentration, and hopefully our skills. And we should improve somewhat in all those areas, as the kids get older and wiser.

The kids have proven in the 2nd half of 2006, that they like to play, and can play free flowing footy, and score goals, and if we can improve just a bit, and the game plan improves just a bit....and it should...we could end up being the surprise packet in 2007, not circa 2004 with retreads, but with kids rising to the challenge and taking their opportunity with gusto.

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Everyone looks good in Navy Blue

Fair dinkum great post Siegfried.

Also I love your new cover as an ice-cream vendor in the park - or are you working as a ship's doctor on board a cruise liner these days.

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"Hence you will not say that Greeks fight like heroes but that heroes fight like Greeks"?

Winston Churchill

Yep I hear you there, my 9 yo son tells me that he is one of only 4 kids in his year at school that follows the Blues. Wife tells me she overheard him the other day getting stirred by his mates about how cr@p Carlton are and he told all of them that he only barracks for Carlton because his Dad makes him. I figure he'll thank me one day!!!

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"Who discovered we could get milk from cows, and what did he think he was doing at the time?" Billy Connolly

Good post Bondiblue. Wehave lots of positives and I reckon we could climb up the ladder a bit next season. i

sorry to deflect attention for a minute

ive heard the 5 Men Theory - love it, reckon its a cracker

continue on as before people

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Got to love the stare Down by Setanta on Llyod

if that isnt POW right there - well i dont know what to think

excellent work mate excellent post

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Got to love the stare Down by Setanta on Llyod

Nice one Seigfried.

My 8 yo has also asked why we're so crap. I told her it's because Synbad hasn't been elected to the board - YET!!

Surprisingly there a quit a few in her class that are Blues supporters - most of the boys are either scummers of filth, so they start from the back of the pack as far as I'm concerned. Any young man with a Blues jumper on will be welcomed into my home with open arms.

The other thing about us showing signs of improvement is it's more likely we can attract quality players with cash incentives. The more even the list, the more we can offer them as trades, or just throw buckets at top players with promise of light at the end of the tunnel.

I can relate to your comments about 'expecting' to play finals each and every year. I thought the footy season started in September and was played in warm weather

I've told the Dutchess that when we hit back, and we will, she won't see me for 6 months. I'll be at the footy or the social club getting hammered........ and enjoying it.

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end of message

Perhaps you're right... maybe I can't see the Forest for the trees, but at the same time maybe you can't see the trees for the Forest. To me your internal logic doesn't make sense - we're doomed if we don't lose, but Pagan's rubbish because we keep losing and we're last. But you know, there's room for everyone here - those who know everything like yourself, and those of us who play with stats like me... unfortunately I can't feel valuable by knowing the answer to everything like your good self, but hey, that's just something I've got to deal with I guess...

The most promissing thing is that the responses here have shown that not everyone is looking at things through brown colour glasses - some people realise that a realistic view doesn't have to mean negativity.

Pity they offer nothing of value then, hey Synbad...

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If meat is murder then yoghurt must be burglary
GO YOU BIG RED FIRE ENGINE
Move aside Kouta, Lance etc - you're holding us back... from entering the under 18s