I have faith in the people we have elected to run the club and the coach and match committee.

I think Dennis has been doing a very good job in the last year or two bringing our young players into the side and developing their skills. DeLuca Waite Simpson Thornton Walker Fisher Bentick Betts Carrazzo Russell Bryan and Sporn have all been given senior opportunities, have spent some time with the Bullants, have played in a variety of roles, are developing their knowledge of the team plan and team-mates all the time working on their defensive side, bodies and confidence.

As an example I have found it interesting to watch the roles and development of 1AW as he has given a variety of roles and has been matched up with some of the best midfielders in the opposition each match. I think in the long term it will give Andrew a better idea of where he needs to be with his fitness and strength and make him a better player. Kade likewise has been brought along steadily and played down back up forward on ball and on the wing.

We are starting to see the fruits of that development by the coach and most of these youngsters are gradually getting better by the week. Remember not all players develop at the same pace and in the same time frame and some have suffered injuries so it is a bit harsh IMO to say that some of these youngsters may not be there for our next tilt at a flag. Let's just wait and give them a chance.

I think it would have been very tempting of Dennis and the Match Committee to continue to play some of the older players and keep our youngster away from the heat of the action and perhaps grab a few more wins but Dennis has persisted this year with the kids. I think this may have been possibly his best and greatest coaching performance.

I think it's a testament to Dennis' coaching that in most games we have been competitive. Yes he has flooded on occasions but even the most generous of us would scream if we lost by 15 or more goals each and every week. He has had to balance the development of the team, and club, against putting up a group of kids every week, being completely uncompetitive, rewarding senior players with games for consistent performances in the Bullants and assessing the list for future years.

We may have won 10 matches last year but we used Bannister Norman Morrell Clarke Harford Kenna McCormick and Hulme for a lot of those wins. The more senior stronger and older recruits stole some games and we all complained that they wouldn't take us to a premiership and now their is an outcry because we are putting up with short term pain for long term gain. We all wished we didn't have to go through it but that's the price for not being in the early rounds of the draft and it's history now.

I think most of us would agree that the right decisions were made when we watch Bentick Betts Carrazzo Simpson Bryan Longmuir Russell and Chambers conbtribute the skill grunt and the pace we badly lacked last year. I also look forward to Raso and Blackwell stepping up next year.

I also have faith, but, if we are in this position again next year? I'm not so sure.

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

Agreed, 2006 will be a very interesting year. But crap it shits me to be saying that in July.

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I have faith in Barbecue shapes not much else .

Good post amazonstud.
Unfortunately, most supporters have little patience and unrealistically demand almost immediate success.
Ever since the Richmond game this year I've not worried too much about results as that game showed we were not going anywhere ladder-wize this year.
I've concentrated more on the kids' development and it's been fascinating to see their progress under DP's tutorlidge.
I also have faith in DP and have seen a number of young blues progress really well this year.
ROME WASN'T BUILT IN A DAY.

Well said Ammo - POW.

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

POW (Piss Off Wanker)

i thought you likes his post



good work - although i dont like it when pagan and the match commitee play someone that is not fit - but that has been my only gripe this season. And i say that as more of a benefit for the players than anything.

I hate seeing Kouta like he is at the moment - he has been to good of a servant for the club to see him like he is at the moment when all he may need it a couple of weeks rest and he would be back to top form like he was at the start of the season.

Same goes for Stevens - clearly not right - and unfairly getting criticised.

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Got to love the stare Down by Setanta on Llyod

Ditto Fev........

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Football is life: there is nothing else

I hope we are heading the right direction, but not sure if I agree with all your points amazon.



I would have thought guys like Davies, Sporn, Wiggo, Norman, Deluca, Bannister, Prenda have gone backwards while several others like Livo have not developed as quickly as they might if the coach didn't drag them every time they lost a contest.



You're kidding, you must have seen different games to me. I think DP has set many new flogging records in his time at Carlton.



McCormick was a young player who barely got any game time in 04, Norman, Kenna, and banno are as young as or younger than Sporn Wiggo, Livo deluca etc. and harford hardly got a run last year, played mainly for the Ants.



bentick has hardly had a game, and I'm not sure what contribution Chambers and Longmuir have made or how they will improve the side more than most of the other rejects he's recruited.

And as for faith in the match committee, do you really think Libba and Elshaugh bring much to the party, don't you think we need someone with a bit of tactical flair to help out. One area we can improve quickly, and should, is our match committee. get someone young a smart to challenge the entrenched ideas and be strong in areas where DP is weak.

Not sure if you are serious with this

Why again is Stevens above criticism? He hardly gets criticised on here yet several other big names cop it in bucket loads and are also said to be injured.

I thought Kouta was pretty good last week. His possessions were worth double the combined total that Campo and Scotland racked up at the back of packs. Apart from a quiet last month, he would have been clearly in our best players for at least half of our games ... not sure how many other Carlton players could claim the same thing at this stage.

If only he'd kicked that goal against Freo when we had the run-on ...

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In WADA we trust

I thought this was going to be another thread about Marc Murphy

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This type of slight is alien in the more cultured part of the world - Walsh. Its up there with mad dogs, Englishmen and the midday sun!

You are right to have faith in our Club, but I believe that that faith will be tested in coming years.

2006 will be a difficult year for us, I think a bottom 4 finish will be the result and 2007 will be difficult as well, although we might fare a bit better than 06, showing gradual improvement.

I think that the year that we start to get a lot better will be 2008 and that special something Ive always felt would happen to us might possibly be be in 2009. (The big Middle East Oil war will start around that time I think, and President Clinton will have a lot on her mind at that time)

I get the feeling that it will be a slow climb back to football respectability for us, but we will get there.

The current crises are bad, but I dont think that it gets worse than at the moment (I'm taking off field ATO issues into account here and possibly the Whitehead case as well)

Its as if our whole club is being cleansed by way of a firey furnace of incredibly hard tests both on and off field. But I think we will emerge like a tool from the blacksmiths fire, beated and shaped into a new Carlton ready to face the coming century.

In terms of time between flags, I think that this period will be the third longest time between premierships in the history of our club.

T'will be shorter than the 1915 to 1938 and 1947 to 1968 premiership droughts but still it will be a long time between drinking the champers from that premiership cup.

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My Blue Heaven