How can a side be competitive for half a match and then let the margin go from two goals to 15 goals in the space of about 30 minutes of footy?

Yes the opposition did improve and step up, yes the opposition is clearly a better side than us, we all know that. But I'm sorry, this team is mentally as weak as piss and it really pisses me off! It seems that all it takes is for the opposition to kick 2 or 3 goals and that soon becomes 5 or 6 which then becomes 8 or 9! Shouldn't happen at AFL level no matter who you are and who your opposition is.

I think we'd have to be the most mentally fragile and soft and weak side ever. As soon as the opposition gets a run on we just capitulate? How else can it turn to shit so quickly if it wasn't a mental problem with the whole side? We cannot withstand an opposition onslaught and the problem is not what is out on the park but what's in the heads of those that are out on the park. You don't lose ability, you lose confidence. It seems that you only have to kick a goal or two against us for us to turn to shit.

I don't know what the solution is. I know our midfield is unaccountable and I know that there is a lack of defensive pressure etc. But it's embarrassing how easily we're swept aside after working so hard to be competitive for a large portion of the match. It is not just down to the opposition stepping up a gear, that is a reason but doesn't explain the problems we have.

This is probably a problem that can't be fixed overnight and to be honest I'm no psychologist and I don't know what the solution is. How do you make players less mentally soft? It is destroying us and whilst I'm not suggesting for a minute that we're simply mentally soft and that is what's holding us back from being a decent side, the manner in which we are being swamped owes more to simply the talent out on the ground. We would lose these games anyway, in other words. But maybe we wouldn't capitulate at the first sign of trouble.

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Formerly Blues-Back2003.

not 'just' mental. Our pressure droops away as our toughness etc is not across the board and natural with each player. I'm not buying into downhill skiers etc.
There are players however that have to really have the wind up them to play defensively....they may do it at the start of the game or after a blast but if it's not working they stop trying. Only need a few to do it and suddenly opposition players are running rampant

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“Every single element of the Club has to be the best in the league, meticulously and methodically, and only by doing this will we be elite and challenge for number 17.”
Greg Lee

Having leaders with balls would help.
Denis has made one huge blunder. He has allowed players who dont deserve a game play thinking they can/ might turn it around.

All thats done is rubbed off on the whole team.

You cant win games of football without leaders.

Its kind of like us all jumping on a boat with no clue of how to sail the flower thing and trying to enter and sail it in the Sydney to Hobart!!!!!

Thats what the team is like at the moment....

Kouta and Campo wearing their captain and first mates hat but they dont want to be on the boat.
theyre only on it for the $$$$$$$$$$


Is there a plank on this boat???

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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.

Effective tackles.....FFS how many times did we grab them & they still got the handball away to a team mate.

Not tackling.....defending like a basketballer & standing back from a stationary player with the ball.

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From little things, big things grow - Paul Kelly (The singer, not the Swan)

well, i will be stuffed.

there it is people.

the first thing Synbad and I have agreed on.

quick, get in soon, it may not happen again for a very long time

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Got to love the stare Down by Setanta on Llyod

It is not just the players mental propensity that is the issue. There is a cancer spreading through the entire club and that is a loser's culture whereby there is simply no spirit, pride and honour for the club, team-mates, members and self-performance. Carlton is turning into a place devoid of the hunger and respect required to compete at this level and we are becoming a deadset joke.

It is a stigma that will take years to shake off. A growing number of our own are labelling the club a rabble and a disgrace. Non-Carlton people have been ridiculing us about this for a few years now. There is no pride in being a Blue. It has a cumulative effect. You can see it out on the field. You read and hear it all the time through the media. You listen and watch supporters venting their anger and disbelief at what their once proud club has dissolved into.

A lot of people got stuck into that supporter on the TV for venting his spleen at the bench yesterday. He may have been grandstanding a little but he had the right to do what he did. What made me angry was the reaction on the bench. They were sitting there laughing at this guy, probably thinking he was some sort of nutter. I don't see what is so @#$%&! funny about our plight at the moment. To be honest, if I went to the game yesterday I would've made a bee-line to the players race after the game to give them a piece of my mind. I am so angry as a Carlton person at present that I am almost starting to be disinterested in the whole place. I glad that I didn't go yesterday as I got a shitload done around the house and kept my sanity!

I don't have answers to what the club needs to do to turn things around. The list is that pathetic that it will take near miracles to get us anywhere near finals within 3 years. This era will take a massive toll on our club. People are going to start dropping off eventually. We simply don't have any hope and don't offer any future to our members and supporters. I am not offering answers but I had to have a rant.

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C'mon Blueboys!

Agree marciblue with what you say but I do think there is a mental 'problem' afflicting the players. Our last two first halves have been pretty good and whilst I didn't expect to go on and win either game, the manner in which we have been defeated after half time is very worrying. Why should we play with spirit for a half and then not play with it in the second half?

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Formerly Blues-Back2003.

Why should we play with spirit for a half and then not play with it in the second half?[/quote]

Makes you wonder doesn't it? The players didn't seem too bothered by the loss, neither did the coach. Every man and his dog realises we could do with the PP, none moreso than DP.

I can't help but thinking DP saying to himself at half time the past 2 weeks : "shit, what have I done here?we're usually gone in the first 20 minutes"!

Half the team dont care and there seems no bond...players get attacked by other opposing players and some of our guys just walk away and leave their teammate to cope on his own.......gets some players with some spine into the club...its woeful being the worst football team as far as skills go but we are also the softest, weakest team going around and I have never seen a carlton team with so many players who dont care about their mates...if you dont have the skills fine but at least stick up for your mates and fly the flag not hide behind it.....recruit some players with some heart and spine before we become a complete basket case....there is just no fire in their bellies..its wrong we contribute to the club and they produce that weak half hearted crap for the supporters and its an embarrassment to all the old Blues players who have put in for the club and made it great....

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

this season is taking a toll.
the only things that give us hope are you promising yongsters, and for this reason, smith should be promoted asap. dont wait for deluca, just declare him LTI (with just 6 weeks to go anyway).

if smith doesnt get a run then setanta should come in, and bentick shouldplay the season out.

the guys not pulling their weight should be dropped regardless of reputation.

fevola, drop him for a week. Pagan needs to make a statment.
kouta, campo, drop them for a week atleast.

longmuir, drop him for good. will not have an impact in a side as poor as ours.

give the regns over to the 22 that run out next week and let them play their our attacking style. play on and take risks at all oppotunites.

mix it up a bit

Yesterday's game was the first game of football involving Carlton that I didn't have any emotional connection to. If anything, I had a bit of a giggle when I heard the score. My mental health is worth more than this season of manure.

Bang on BB2005, you can talk about drafts picks etc all you want but if a culture of 'Lets give up when the pressure is on' gets ingrained into the team, in particular the youngsters then we are looking at years on the bottom, not one or two, no matter how many high picks we get.

Somebody needs to get inside the players heads and turn the on field attitude around.

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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

Well done on this post being in Inside Football Synbad...

We need a philosophy that Leigh Matthews employs to ALL his players.

The philosophy is to always keep your head over the ball, no matter the circumstances. We simply have very few of these types.

Those that don't follow this, will not play again until they LEARN, otherwise they'll be delisted.

There is a serious culture change required at the club, and it may mean employing a change agent to implement a winning and high performing culture across all operations of the club.

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For some silly reason, you people want to assassinate him, and it's just rubbish. You people. All of you, ALL of you!

Theres no doubt we have given up on season 2005!
I dont mind seeing us loose competitvely these days, i just dont like us getting thrashed and humiliated!

IMO we need to put more pressure on the oppsition eg more takles, and contested football. When the opposing team has the ball why are our players even on the feild its not like we are interested in earning the ball back. Carlton players wait for a Clanger from the opposition to regain the football. The majority dont go out and get the ball any more they wait for a cheap pass. Why do we flood? Its not like we put pressure on the team when the oppisition is inside 50!

I have still tipped Carlton against Freo, and im predicting we will finish 2nd off the bottom NOT last!

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"Dont count the games, make the games count"