May as well pour ourselves a nice large snifter of Brandy and wrap ourselves up in a warm blanket and flick on the classic movies channel. This winter and the next couple are going to be long cold and dark.

The problems currently afflicting the team are many and varied.

Lack of confidence
Lack of talent
Lack of leadership

are all cited as being the reasons for our continuing demise and I think it is a combination of these and many other things as well.

What to do?

Early draft picks? Nice, but it will take a couple years before they mature

Turnover the list via trades and delistings? Well, this can satisfy those demanding change, but is it a real fix?

Sack the coach? Yep the calls are starting.

Sometimes, employing one or more of the above can offer a quick 'fix' but how often do they offer a permanent solution.

No, our problems are deeper, much deeper. We will get early draft picks this year, we will turnover the list, there might even be changes in the match committee, but unless we address the deep core problem we will be in the same position in two years as we are now. Locked in a cold dark winter.

The problem we have and have had for the last three years or so years is

Self respect and the lack of. There is a lack of Self respect in the way we train, in the way we play and in the way we conduct ourselves on and off the field. It runs though our club from the administration, the playing group and even to the supporter base

And until we learn to have self respect for ourselves as a club, as a playing group and as supporters, we even cannot begin to address the other issues that affect the team.

It begins with each player, administrator and supporter developing thier own indivivual self respect.

Its is going to be a long cold winter.

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A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty" -Winston Churchill

L.M 35-06

I agree that the players have lost respect for themselves collectively.
Pagan needs to get some of the former greats in Wayne Johnston, Jezza, Fitzpatrick, etc involved with actual on ground training drills not just a quick pep talk then out the door again....actual training involvement. Libba & Elshaugh should take a break for a couple of weeks.
We are at crisis point on the ground atm...DO SOMETHING PAGAN

This is why I appreciate what you have to say Mark.
Right on the money again....the whole place is falling apart.

Don't know about brandy - think I would prefer valium. Planning to spend the winter nice and cosy in the drafts/recruitment room.

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"Whoever said you can't buy happiness forgot about puppies." - Gene Hill

Yeah Nah I think we just need some draft picks

Having a home ground would also be a good start as well.

Playing at Optus would maintain that sense of tradition and pride in the jumper. Currently we have no pride in jumper whatsoever.

BACK TO PRINCES PARK!!!!!!

And do you know what the most disappointing fact is?

THE CLUB SAYS ABSOLUTELY F%$#ING NOTHING!!!!

And by the club I mean:

COLLO, COUTS, PAGAN, LIBBA, ELSHAUG even KERNAHAN

HELLO? IS ANYONE HOME? ET HERE!

John Kennedy had a famous saying: “Don’t say……DO!

This club is doing neither!! IT STARTS WITH OFF-FIELD LEADERSHIP!

"Now is the winter of our discontent"...Shakespeare must have been a Carlton Supporter.....

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In Bolts we trust.......Until we don't anymore

Draft picks, draft picks my kingdom for some draft picks.

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"Whoever said you can't buy happiness forgot about puppies." - Gene Hill

brandy is for nancy boys who think they have more money than they actually do.

tastes like shit as well unless you are a booze hound.

now - beer, give me a beer anyday.

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Got to love the stare Down by Setanta on Llyod

And beer is for Yobbos who fall off thier pushbikes

_________________
A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty" -Winston Churchill

L.M 35-06

yeah - bloody yobos

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Got to love the stare Down by Setanta on Llyod

In it's own little way my bo-dy was tryn to say that you'd better stop drinking brandy ...

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The only way for some people to understand is for them to be on the receiving end

Left wing moralists
In self serving denial
They shit me no end

It's a fair call you make all-round BlueMark, but what exactly do you mean by supporters developing their own self-respect? That one's got me scratching my head a bit......

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Football is life: there is nothing else

It's a swipe at Synbad cheering losses

Respect is earned and not given....supporters have done their bit and helped the club with record memberships...forums like this show the passion is there....but
We have developed a losing mentality, we are accepting being a banana republic in terms of the footballing world.....wrong attitude. We are sliding down the path of the Bulldogs/Kangaroos and all the other gutter crawling clubs and BM is proably right we have lost self respect overall.
Where is the arrogance? the cocky confidence that we can get ourselves out of the mess.....now we are losing games to get Priority Picks...maybe its fools gold...
Hard to enthuse a club and its supporters when you have the coach looking forward to draft picks..the media telling us we need draft picks... and a playing group who are playing for their own survival.
Play some kids like Sentanta,Blackwell, Russell, try some new positions...give us some hope coach and MC...dont just give up and rollover.

Grow some balls and do something....not just wait until October-December for another session of draft hoping and praying....I just cant believe how the club have given up....

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"When you have the attitude of a champion, you see adversity as your
training partner."
- Conor Gillen

I love brandy...

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Galaxies in the grain...

Now your talking Elwood.

Elwood, I know it's a Carlton forum, but I think it's attitudes like this that has put your club in the position it currently faces. I always read with interest many of the issues posted on this site (and TBV previously), but perhaps the attitude of both administrators and fans of Carlton in the past has been to reflect on the successes of the past and completely disregard the ever-changing landscape of football. How seriously did Carlton's admin post 1995 take to recruiting young talent? How seriously did they take the Salary Cap, and the repeated warnings not to breach it? How pro-active were they in marketing and expansion policies so as to increase the exposure and subsequent revenue streams of the club?

A little disappointed at the cheap shots thrown to those small "gutter" clubs like North and the Dogs, clubs whose histories are every bit as rich and diverse as Carlton's (just without a larger trophy cabinet ).

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"You've got no fear of The Underdog, that's why you will not survive"
- Spoon, 2007
- Western Bulldogs, 2016

Tend to agree, when we are talking gutter clubs we're talking about our own.

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Oompa loompa doompety dee
If you are wise you'll listen to me