When Mick Malthouse was appointed Carlton’s new coach we all expected him to instantly work magic. The team would be better drilled and adapt to a new game style that would result in improved consistency and greater success.
It’s now a time for reflection.
Is Mick the messiah we expected? Was Stephen Kernahan the only supporter of Brett Ratten who, now looking back, had the Blues firing on more cylinders and playing exciting footy until injuries struck?
Is a paranoia now creeping into the minds of Carlton supporters?
Carlton defeated Collingwood very easily in 2012 and now, with Mick at the helm, Carlton has been easily defeated in 2013 in their opening three matches.
What if Mick had a better team at Collingwood and more flexibility? Will it take all year to implement a new defensive game style, which doesn’t look like the players are adapting to?
The players appear to enjoy the ‘roll-the-dice’ game style for which they are well suited. It’s not working for much of the game, so they are being out-scored due to defensive inadequacies.
Why didn’t Carlton participate in the pre-season draft? Did Mick want to see what the existing players could do first?
Blind Freddy knew Carlton had no big forward or someone who could dominate the contest to the extent the Eddie Bettses of the team could capitalise on.
It’s not surprising we are sitting here looking down the barrel of four and zip as it all stacks up.
One can’t help thinking, what were Carlton thinking about for 2013?
Mick’s media conferences seem to indicate he’s not concerned and so do the players. It’s as if they are Melbourne or a team re-building, but they cannot afford to use 2013 season as an experiment.
Like all things AFL it’s possible after Round 4 the scrutiny will be more severe on Mick (and the club hierarchy), which may not be ameliorated by a win over Melbourne.
Carlton needs to fix its deficiencies quickly and become a team that can defeat top teams consistently and not every now and again.
This should be their goal and not the ‘we focus on the process’ and ‘it’s not about how many wins’ tripe that Mick has reiterated recently.
Is Mick really the messiah?
Macca
Guest
Nice article, pity it bears little bearing in reality. Firstly - easily beaten in their first three games - the combined total of the 3 margins is about 6 goals! The Richmond game was less than a goal after Chris Yarran missed a soda to win the game. Against Collingwood the blues lead at 3/4 time (and had for most of the day) and with just 2 minutes to go the margin was 4 points. Against the cats the blues twice got out to 3 goal leads and the blues had the margin down to 10 points for most of the last 5 minutes and pushing hard with the ball locked in their forward line. If they were "easy" wins for the opposition I would hate to see a tough win. Secondly "Blind Freddy knew Carlton had no big forward or someone who could dominate the contest to the extent the Eddie Bettses of the team could capitalise on." Well maybe Mick thought "I have Hampson, Rowe, Casboult, Mitchell & Waite on the list, plus White, Walker, Menzel & Laidler can be marking opitons up forward I don;t need to pick up a mediocre player no one else wnats I just have to be patient" Rowe looked very good as the lone tall forward last week when Kreuzer went down, Hampson looked good against the Tigers and either would benefot from Waite's return. Plus the BLues have kicked over 100 points in each game (the last 2 without their 2 leading goal scorers from lat year), I don't think scoring is their problem. Finally the teams Carlton have played are no slouches and to cop them while the team are still adjusting to the game plan hasn't helped the win loss but has helped accelerate the learning - if Carlton win just 1 of the next 2 games (both winnable) then there is every liklihood that by round 10 they will be 6-4 and looking good for finals.