Big ‘what ifs’ begin to mount after Carlton’s latest horror performance
Carlton’s horror performance against GWS has left it with one win from the first nine rounds of the season. The big ‘what if’ questions are beginning to mount. Is Brendon Bolton still the man to lead them out of the mire?
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The ‘what if’ questions are building around Carlton.
What if they would be better served under a new coach?
What if this list is better than what it is showing?
What if Bolton is not getting through to his players?
What if the recruiting is flawed?
It must be said, this has been a different looking Carlton this year. The Blues have been ultra-competitive in seven of their nine games and should have won three games, maybe four.
When they didn’t show up against North Melbourne in a 58-point loss in Round 7 we gave them a leave pass.
Every team, even the best, can have a game like that.
But when you get a second non-competitive nightmare in three weeks, do you lose that right?
As Nick Riewoldt said on SEN this morning: “All bets are off … we’ve got no choice but to call it out and it gives me no pleasure.”
The overwhelming question is, should losses like this continue to be happening in the fourth year of a rebuild?
How can a side go from pushing Grand Finalist Collingwood one week to not giving a yelp the next?
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Is it not the coaches responsibility, along with others, to trigger than emotional response?
This is the most heat Bolton has been under since taking the job in 2016.
The comparison has been made with the Brisbane Lions.
In 2016, the Lions won three games — sacking Justin Leppitsch — while the Blues won seven.
In 2017, Chris Fagan’s Lions won five and Carlton six. In 2018 it was Lions five, Carlton two.
And this year the Lions have won six games and Carlton one.
Brisbane haven’t just gone past Carlton, they’ve given them whiplash.
Carlton supporters have been patient to the point of disenchantment.
Bolton may well prove to be the man.
There may be no other coach out there who could extract more from this group at this very time.
But, what if?
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