Carlton remains winless and lacks the weaponry to contend against the best in the competition
THIRTY games ago, Carlton beat Essendon by 96 points at the MCG.
THIRTY games ago, Carlton beat Essendon by 96 points at the MCG.
It was Round 21, 2012, and Carlton coach Brett Ratten would be sacked one game later.
The Round 22 loss to Gold Coast the next week was the killer punch for Ratten, although it has been said Mick Malthouse had the job well before then.
The Port Adelaide loss in Round 10 of the same year was the day the tide for Ratten.
Bad news, Blues — it’s nothing new
SAM EDMUND, JON ANDERSON AND ANTHONY HUDSON DISCUSSED CARLTON’S WOES IN THE SUPERFOOTY PODCAST. PLAY BELOW OR SUBSCRIBE IN ITUNES
The Blues powerbrokers believed Ratten was not good enough to take the team to the next level, and that they needed the premiership-winning nous of Malthouse to do it.
So Carlton does was Carlton does and that’s go for the quick fix: Out Ratten and in Malthouse, on an estimated $1 million a season over three years.
With a season and three games passed, the $3 million commitment to the new coach is at risk of being a bust.
The Blues are 0-3, have a list which lacks real weaponry and a coach who is facing his greatest challenge since starting at Collingwood in 2000.
It was supposed to be so different.
Remember the enthusiasm when Malthouse was appointed?
Malthouse said it was an ‘’extension of life’’ and spoke of his ‘’drive is to see that mountain peak climbed’’.
And he believed it to be close, although others didn’t.
In his first season, after losing the first three games, he feared his team would not immediately respond to his game plan. They would scratch out a 12-12 win-loss season and stumble into the finals at Essendon’s expense.
Buoyed by the finish to 2013, Malthouse couldn’t wait for the start of 2014.
In March this year, Malthouse said his team was among a bunch clamouring to enter the premiership clock, which Malthouse said was between 11 and 1, which was top-four material.
“The rest of us, and we’re one of those, we’re caught in that bracket ... are we approaching 11 o’clock? I would say that we’re approaching 11 o’clock,” Malthouse said.
“Part way through the season we’ve got to say, well, some sides aren’t near [that], and we want to be progressing through 11 o’clock.
“And I don’t see any reason why that can’t be the case.
‘’I haven’t got a crystal ball but we’ve got a very good blend of senior players and we’ve got a good blend in the middle.”
Not for the first time has a club and coach over estimated their capabilities.
The Blues are mess on and off the field.
On the field, their skills are deplorable, their defensive actions are just huff and puff, and Sunday night against the Bombers was a national humiliation.
Rightly, fans want to know what’s gone wrong.
Thirty games ago they brought Malthouse in to win a flag, and here they are staving off a bottom-four finish.
The coach sends crazy messages, too.
One week he’s out of control in the box, the next he’s wearing a heart monitor for Channel 7 and on his best behaviour. Where’s the consistency of the message?
Maybe Malthouse saw himself against Richmond and was embarrassed by his behaviour. Maybe his players saw it and are now playing with fear instead of confidence, believing every mistake made would invite a Malthouse tantrum.
Something’s desperately amiss.
Off the field, the Blues are a troubled bunch.
No other club has layers of power like Carlton. There’s a handful of billionaires in Australia and three of them — Jeannie Pratt, Bruce Mathieson and Raphael Geminder — all wield power at Carlton. There’s the board., led by Stephen Kernahan, but there’s enough scuttlebutt around to suggest not all of them are on the same page.
They’d want to get that act together, for Carlton’s hopes for a flag under Malthouse in his three-year tenure would appear doomed.
List management is a matter of urgency, there’s talk of the Blues continuing their quick-fix solution by poaching a high-profile recruiter, and the fans are just shaking the heads and want answers from Kernahan and Malthouse.
And to think, 30 games ago, Carlton didn’t even talk to Ken Hinkley.