Carlton's 2013 season no so blue after all

Macca stop the denial! I told you they lack depth and that is exactly what Paul Roos was talking about on Monday night. Have beaten knowone of consequence all yr, so even if they do squeeze in the eight(unlikely), they will do little damage. As for you Chairman, I would suggest you hold your tongue on the cheating claims considering the Blues chequered past. Biggest salary cap cheats ever, first team to Tank, a history of buying premierships prior to salary caps and don't forget the Chris Judd visy deal.

The things I find amazing about all these people writing off the blues as premiership contenders for years to come is they ignore just how much small changes can dramatically effect sides. Who would of had Port in the 8 let alone beating Sydney & Collingwood in successive weeks at the start of the year? West Coast and Adelaide recently came from no where to threaten the top 4 from 1 year to the next. If just a couple of the likes of Mitchell, Bell, Buckley , Graham & Menzel emerge over the next 8 weeks the team takes on a very different look, throw in a half decent trade for a package including say Warnock & Robinson or Yarran or maybe a free agent coup with the money freed up by Judds pay cut and next years side is very different again.

Carlton needs more than Essendon out of the way. Be lucky to finish 10th. The one consolation should the worst occur for Essendon is Carlton are still further away from the flag than Essendon in fact most teams. :)

Gezza - Firstly the don't play Hawthorn, second twice this year they have won more then 2 in a row and third the one team in the 8 they have beaten is Port and they lost to Essendon by less than a goal so those 2 are far from unwinnable.

Lost their last four games - two games plus percentage out of the eight Essendon, Hawthorn and Port to come! Carlton cant win a free kick, can't win more than two in a row, only beat one team in the eight Good luck! I stand by my previous comment......Rebuild!

I don't think the tiges or port are sfe in the 8 and Essendon are almost certain to drop to the bottom so to me the blues fate is still well and truly in their own grasp, especially as they play Richmond, North & Port and grab a game on each of them.

Yeh, very true on North. I think though, they'll now have a 'sniff' of september action, so it'll be a matter of whether they can bring it or not - how hungry they are. I reacon North at their best could beat any team, apart from perhaps the Hawks, but wow Hawks V North both teams at best, what a match! It was said that based on avg player ages, North are in their premiership window now - but can they bring it week in week out from here on in? Suns, yeh, not sure. I'm not overly enthusiastic about Collingwoods chances weekend after next, if Ablett is back. They play a pretty good brand of footy these days. If it's Bulldogs before Freo, there's one win you can definately pencil in for sure. Freo can be vulnerable, but they are still winning other than the cats loss at Geelong. As mentioned, at this current point in time - the likely 8th spot to open from Essendons downfall looks like WC/NM, but hey, still 8 rounds to go and the blues are not without their chance to score it themselves.

Not far off AMNAC - it depends a bit on which North turns up and I still think the blues will have a slight edge on the Suns although as you say it will be tight. I actually thought we played the bulldogs then Freo but as shown by the Saints Freo can be vulnerable.

Saints - likely win, but the game Saints played last week was well above what I expected from them, so no easy beat. North Melbourne? Nope, going the roo's there. The brand of footy they have been playing sporadically all year can beat any side in the comp, and has done for a quarter here and there. Last week over Richmond, they put together 4 quarters of it, and it was a brand of footy I cannot see Carlton (nor many other teams mind you) match unless Waite gets some tall leading goal kicking help up forward (ie, get rid of your total reliance on him up forward). Gold Coast - no longer easy beats, and if it's a Sun's home game, it'll be tight. I put almost all GC home games down as a win these days, unless against an in form top 8 opponent, or, Ablett is out. Freo? no way, not unless something goes rotten over west. More than likely - if or rather should I say when Essendon fall, my tip is West Coast or North Melbourne to get 8th. And as for the Pies comment - pfft - bring it on :)

Chairman - Wow tell us what you really think!! Love the passion but I have penciled in wins against the saints & north to often over the past couple of seasons only to see us stink up the place - I'll put the pencil to paper only when the blues are 8 goals up with 10 minutes to play,

Personally, I would "pencil in". Carlton has too much class for the next bunch of clowns we have to face. Right now, would take 8th position, even better if Essendon loses it points and we get in because of them. That would mean more than likely Collingwood in the first weekend of the finals. We clean them up and the slate is cleaned right up and the stink would be rising with howls of "Collywobbles" all over the place. Essendon will go down, mark that down also. Really with what they have been up to, they should not have been in this season's competition so if you are a Bomber's supporter you had a good run but when you do the crime, just be prepared to do the time you pack of drug cheats. Put your club in the same category as Ben Johnson and Lance Armstrong also. You earned it.

I'm not penciling in anything, just saying they will probably start favourite in all 4 of them. And if the are still well and truly in the hunt for the 8 given- Port have tough matches against the Hawks, Cats & Freo plus a tough game against Adelaide with the blues last. West Coast still have to play Freo, Sydney, Essendon, Geelong & Collingwood plus Adelaide. And North still have Geelong, Essendon Hawthorn & Collingwood plus Carlton and Adelaide And the crows along with playing the 3 sides above them still have Collingwood, Geelong & Freo in the next 3 weeks.

Wow! Carlton supporters already to pencil in the next four games Even if........Still wont get them into the four, most likely not into the eight Even if Carlton finish ninth they will have to live in hope the Bombers have their points taken from them! 2013 is all over boys - rebuild should start now!

It is a tricky month Charlie but it's not like the last month - they are all games we should win if we are serious about having improved and playing finals - none of them are easy but I'd prefer them to playing Hawthorn, Geelong & Sydney On Lucas I think we all have to remember he isn't a finished product - we should be happy he is capable of racking 30 plus touches in a game we got destroyed rather than focus on the negatives - the improvement will continue to come.

Actually, if you look at the ladder, we are behind North Melbourne, Gold Coast is only one win behind us (and we lost to them last year), and we have already lost to St Kilda this year (and have struggled to beat them at all over the last decade). So the month ahead is looking treacherous. And the reason I don't like Kane Lucas is that he squibs the hard contest. You're right, he is playing his best football so far, and he does possess exquisite skills, but he loses just about every contested ball situation because he won't go hard for the footy.

As I said yesterday Chairman I think a lot of these stories were written almost as soon as Malthouse took over and have been waiting. The next month is massive - all very winnablle games but we don't have great records against the Saints, north or even the Gold Coast.

Johno - A couple of things first Duigan was once again named in the blues best on the weekend, just as he has been most weeks and second it won't take a "major screw-up by Port, North or West Coast" to keep our season alive given they all play more top 4 sides in the run home and North & Port also play Carlton so the blues jsut need to win games. Third while I agree Lucas has definitely improved this year I think it's his disposal and inability to lay a tackle that get's some supporters frustrated. Finally the move of Walker's career is simply returning him to where he was a few years ago, before the first "move of his career in the Swans final. For me I think the selectors need to start following the Geelong and Collingwood path and letting the likes of Mtichell, Graham, Menzel, Buckley & Bell (when he is fit again) spend some time in the big league so we can see what they have.

Have to agree. It does surprise me the way the critics are going after the Bluebaggers this week after a single bad loss. The other games we could have easily won and the rest of the season going forward all games are very winnable. Journalists being journalists they need their little scandal of the week. Every week their needs to be some sensational problem that everyone gets interested in. What happened to the Melbourne shimozzle? They are still getting belted week in week out. What about Essendon, they are still running around in the league while benefitting from this drug program that helped them increase their stamina and physiques. Any wonder they ran all over Carlton a few weeks back. How can we compete on only bread and water as they say in the cycling world? This week against St. Kilda, Carlton will bounce back and shut up the clowns in the media who flutter between opinions depending on what day of their cycle it is. Next week they will start picking on Adelaide or Footscray is my guess, or maybe even the Saints if Carlton really does a decent number on the pack of bludgers.

Under Malthouse Collingwood missed the finals in his first year. West Coast however under Malthouse were 3rd (largely due to the absolute cream of WA talent he had on the list). Blues fans need to pay heed to his famous Confucius saying "The ox is slow but the earth is patient" - show some patience. Malthouse didn't go hard in last years draft thinking the blues have some serious talent on their list. Lets see what happens this year - Malthouse doesn't suffer fools