Football Department Review

[PaulP]

Since 1965 Carlton has had 19 coaches (includes two stints by Jeza and Parkin).  That is under three years a coach.

Barassi was appointed coach in 1965.  He lasted 7 years (to 1971).  Parkin in his second stint went from 91-00 - 10years.  That's 17 years for two coaches.    Take these off and we get 17 coaches in 39 years.  Less than 2.5 years per coach!  (Does include '78 where there were three coaches).  Got this from Blueseum.  A curiosity is it lists both Nicolls and McKenzie as coaches from 72-75.  40 coaches since 1902 - three years per coach.

I don't really know the history of the 60s and 70s, but the Carlton way that I grew up with was to buy success - particularly in the 80s and 90s.  There was the odd developed player, but not many.  We know how this ended in 2002.

Have we actually learnt anything from the draft era - that we actually have to work hard and invest in the coaches and development of players?  It is a whole of club approach needed, not an appoint one person who will fix it all.

(While I was typing - a couple of posts have covered some of this)

I think there have been genuine attempts to embrace modernity, but up till now, they have been embraced half heartedly, incompetently, or killed off before they had time to bear fruit. The Bolton / SOS rebuild is the most conspicuous example, but folks inside and outside the club got the jack of that before it was finished, assuming it was even undertaken correctly to begin with. There's a good reason why Malthouse refused to be part of a rebuild. He knew it would take forever, and he knew that you had to give supporters some sort of hope, rather than a ground zero wasteland and years at the bottom. Hence the famous "coach and club are no longer in alignment". And yet again, he was right.