Yes, it’s a rebuild. You can spin the current state of the Carlton Football Club any way you like, but it’s still a rebuild.
Earlier this week, Mick Malthouse questioned the club’s decision to adopt the term after Round 2.
As we now stand, it appears these comments could be the circuit-breaker to the club’s ongoing coaching saga – there was a notable change in tone from CEO Steven Trigg on radio on Friday. Add the fuel of Friday night’s loss to the fire and we all know what the story of the week is going to be.
But if we put that to one side for the moment and listen to Mick, it’s worth asking whether there should really be an issue with saying that Carlton have entered a rebuild.
According to Malthouse, it was a matter of confidence.
“I don’t care who you are or what you are, there’s a little man in the back of your brain who says if this is a rebuild, and I’ve just put pen to paper for five years, four years or three years … it’s very difficult to then disassociate yourself with what’s in front of you and what’s been said,” he said.
“So it’s a massive job by all our staff to get the confidence up to win games of footy.”
It’s an interesting point. By admitting that finals aren’t an immediate possibility, you’re probably triggering some sort of a shift in culture. Sounds semi-reasonable.
You can also buy Damian Barrett’s point that the messaging has been a little all over the place, which can’t have been too helpful.
But here’s the awkward fact that trips up what Mick is suggesting – Carlton are in a rebuild. It’s clear as day that finals are not an immediate possibility.
The list needs re-generation. A bottoming-out is set to take place. A plan for the direction of the football department is needed. Yes, it’s a rebuild.
Even if the club itself didn’t explicitly use the term, after the first seven rounds the footy world would have more than enough evidence to conclude that to be the case.
Mick may well claim that using the word rebuild makes it a self-fulfilling prophecy, but the alternative is to prioritise delusion over reality. To portray to the world that this is a top eight-worthy side, despite the fact Alastair Clarkson couldn’t even get this list to September.
Ironically, were that alternative to be adopted by the club – and were the players to genuinely believe it – the outcome in terms of ‘confidence’ would be far more disastrous than what we’ve seen.
Happiness is often reality minus expectations. Ridiculously high expectations can thus be quite toxic when things start going against you.
So let’s call a spade a spade – if for no other reason than, as Trigg pointed out on Friday night, the members deserve better.
“We chose to call that (rebuild) out, strategically, because there were some mixed messages,” he said. “Our members were saying, ‘Where are we at?’ and I was getting a lot of correspondence about this.
“After a couple of rounds of confusion we wanted to be really clear about it and called it out. It had nothing to do with dampening expectations, it had everything to do with being honest with our fans.”
Yes, it’s a rebuild. Let’s not be afraid to call it that.
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