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This might be self-indugent, but I've had enough. Following is the letter I've just sent to El Presidente.
It would be great if we all contacted the club to express our sentiments and maybe the message will get through, but I'll admit it's a dream.
Dear Mr. Smorgon.
Whilst I'll always remain a member of the Carlton Football Club while it exists, I have never been more despondent about its future than I am after reading your letter.
There is a significant responsibility in leading a public organisation such as an AFL club, but there is a significantly greater burden as head of Carlton Football Club at the present time. It would be reasonable to say that the vast majority of Carlton supporters have been patient through the last four years, despite the seemingly never-ending waves of bad news that they have had to endure. I for one recognised that I enjoyed wonderful times supporting the club during the halcyon days of the '70's and '80's, and so a few hard years is a reasonable price to pay.
No doubt the previous committee made significant errors of judgement, and so our club has had to fightback to regain prestige, and supporters have understood that renewed success was not going to happen overnight. Supporters also recognised that the playing list had been neglected through poor trading decisions and recruiting, and accepted that rebuilding was, and is, necessary.
However, the past few months have turned our club into a laughing stock, and the poor relation of the AFL. It was bad enough to have people ridiculing my club due to the tumultuous end of the Elliot years and the disastrous financial predicament we faced, and it was insulting to have other club's barrackers feeling some kind of pity for our plight as time went on.
It has been a disgrace watching the resurrection of the Collingwood Football Club since Eddie McGuire took over, and their restoration as the most powerful Victorian club in a financial and political sense. McGuire took over a club in dire financial straits, and which had a pathetic on-field personnel roster. The first thing he did was recognise the Collingwood brand had to be sacrosanct, and built an administration and structure around that principle. Collingwood carefully cultivated significant sponsorships, and ensured the brand association was a positive experience, and his club has a long-term future we can't even dream of at the moment.
The letter just delivered to members by yourself is nothing more than an election pamphlet designed to shore up support for an incompetent administration. Nowhere was any plan outlined, merely hopelessly modest targets and repetition of existing announcements. How can we openly admit failure in 2007 and 2008 by conceding that we won't be a chance to make the finals until 2009, where we can only hope to be contending for finals? Surely we compete for a spot in the finals every year? Surely we have done so ever since the club's formation?
Why must my club be the only one to say we've got enough sponsorship, because the statement "Top three levels filled in 2006" and "Top level sponsors continuing in 2007" tells me we've closed the door. Can anyone imagine Eddie McGuire telling a potential sponsor (an impossible dream for our dilapidated club at the moment) that the 'House Full' sign is up? How do our current and potential sponsors feel about the guaranteed failure for 2007 and 2008. How do our committed sponsors for 2007 feel about the statement "In 2008 we expect to rise up the ladder...", thereby we confidently assert another bottom finish for the brands in the coming season.
"Fantastic!" I hear them all say, as they feverishly try and find other avenues for their sponsorship dollars in 2008.
Lastly, I have watched you drag my club through surely the most inept coaching and business review that could possibly be conceived, and insult my intelligence by getting my virtually bankrupt club to pay for a public relations firm to tell me how rosy the future is, despite all evidence being to the contrary, not to mention what it cost me to have the latest offering pollute my letterbox.
At this point I can only beg you and the rest of the board to announce that you're stepping down, and declare all positions vacant. I am now at the point where I believe my club's condition is verging on terminal, and your administration is the death knell should it be allowed to continue in office. It is the mark of great character to admit that others maybe better placed to succeed, rather than hanging onto office for the sake of misplaced pride.
Thank you.
Yours sincerely, etc.
_________________
"The old believe everything, the middle-aged suspect everything, and the young know everything." Oscar Wilde
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