What’s worse than a team that has no chance of being a premiership contender? A club that has no chance of being a premiership contender but is delusional enough to think it is.
Those in charge at Carlton have wildly overestimated their premiership credentials during the years leading up to and including 2014.
This false bravado has punctuated the struggles of a team which over recent years has never had a realistic grasp of where they stand.
Despite getting within a goal of the well-regarded Cats, the Blues still look like a club in absolute disarray after losses to lowly Melbourne and Brisbane. However, these moment have been in the works for a number of years, ever since the ill-fated, “they know we’re coming” campaign in 2008/09.
At this point, it appeared Carlton was readying itself to not just participate in September, but to be one of the major premiership contenders, and they let us know all about it. Such big talk needs to be backed up with results, because if expectations aren’t met a lot of questions will be asked.
Five years later and the Blues haven’t even advanced past the second week of finals. Now is the time to ask questions.
The club has played a major role in its own downfall by creating expectations as large as the navy blue shorts Eddie Betts once wore. Like Eddie’s shorts, the title ‘top four contender’ never seemed to fit the Blues. The club’s list wasn’t on the same level as those of Hawthorn, Geelong and Sydney.
After luring Chris Judd in 2007, Carlton must have known they had a limited timeframe to assemble a premiership team around him. It never happened, but it didn’t stop the club from thinking it was just one move away from truly being a threat.
First, we were told that convincing Mick Malthouse to come out of his forced retirement was the miracle move, because the lack of a premiership-calibre coach was the only thing holding this team back.
When that didn’t work, the Carlton hierarchy decided their list needed Dale Thomas, on an exorbitant salary, to take them over the top. Wrong again.
To compound matters, their best goalkicker, Eddie Betts, left the club without being adequately replaced. Such moves are indicative of a team that thinks they are just one more move away from winning a grand final.
After two semi-final appearances with Judd at the helm, it now looks as if the Judd era is over and it is time to move on. Only problem is, the future is quite murky.
With many mainstays either on the wrong side of 30 or fast approaching it, a rebuild is desperately needed. Due to the lack of games given to many youngsters on the list – 21 players have played fewer than 50 games – it’s going to be a lengthy process. And you can bet that Mick won’t hang around for a drawn-out rebuild, so they’ll likely need to find a new coach.
Such a mind-boggling lack of self awareness is what has put Carlton in this position. Their wounds are self-inflicted.
The Blues made sure we knew they were coming, let’s see if they’re strong enough to admit that they’re going.
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