How to fix Carlton | The Eminently Sensible Phil Davis (01.04.26)

0:00something just a little more straightforward. How do we fix Carlton? Yeah, there's no easier question is there, too. I think we've been talking about the same sort of challenges for a while now, and the bit that I can't get my head around is, obviously new CEO, new GM of footy, that takes time to make any changes. Like I don't think we would be seeing yet what their fingerprints look like on this football club that wouldn't have happened yet. There were some changes to the coaching group. Maybe we're seeing a little bit of that. But the two things to me that we are not getting a clear answer on is, A, does Michael, sorry, three, two being Michael Voselad. First one is, A, does Michael Vos know how the game should be played and does his game plan stack up? B, do the players still listen to him? Like is the game plan intact? And they just can't execute because they're not listening.

1:01C, is his game plan good, but he has the wrong players. Because there's no point rock out to a Datsun at Albert Park when the F1s are going around Jared, and at times that's what it looks like. And I think that becomes very hard because you wouldn't want to be throwing out a coach if he's trying to play game style based on his playing list, which is completely incompatible to how the modern games been played. Yeah, yes. And I think they're very high level questions, but they're things that you'd want to work out pretty quickly. And then it's like, okay, if we think our list, and I'm pretty, I'm sure it's a bit of everything to be fair, Jared, because I know that when you go on pitch to be a coach, you either go A, I've looked at your list. This is how I would play, and this is how we would win. Or you go, this is how I play. Give me a few years to change the list, so it can play like this, and this is where the game's going. There's sort of the two options you have when you pitch for a job out from what I've been told. And so if you look at Voss, you'd be like, okay,

2:02I have huge, big, strong midfielders. Like, you know, if Chera's back this week, all of a sudden you've got Crips, Shewett, Chera, trying to run around that midfield. No one has a midfield like that. Like no one, it's like, it doesn't work like that. I remember during a last year, or even before the Giants, I know that Adam Kingsley told a few midfielders that said, if Tom Green is in the midfield, you will not be in the midfield. You are too similar. We need to be able to run. And then, then you look at their back half at Carton, you go, okay, we're doing a great player. How many big colossal keyfords are there too, these days, Chera? The dynamic is changing as well, and he's still a sublime player, and he'll still always be one of the best defenders. And then the rest of the back line is still makeshift a bit, Chera. And then you look at the forward line, you got rid of Kerno to bring in McCoy. Whereas the elite small forwards, like some of these teams have got, like some of these teams have got fantastic small forwards, and they probably are still lacking there. So that's the bit where follows Carton.

3:03Easiest option they've got, Chera, by an absolute length of straight, is to get rid of Michael Boss. But once again, like in the last year, is that even the solution? Is that the problem? And there's some, we'll never know from the outside, because we can all look and be like, okay, it looks like they're not trying. Everyone tries, Jared. Everyone tries. I heard Sam Dockley say that they're like, everyone tries. It's just that sometimes it doesn't look like you're trying hard enough because you're just not good enough. And that can be pretty hard to take. Yes, so the list is, as you say, it's a little bit of everything, but they are not set up for success right now. No, and that's the bit is like, you take this job, your cell is, oh, give me three years. And I tell you what, you're probably hoping for five, because you're now competing with Tasmania, which is terrifying, because we saw what happened to like the Melbourne's of the world and St. Kilders of the World, when they were at the bottom of the Giants

4:03and the Suns came through. You know, the one competitive advantage being that they're Carlton, and I think if they can maintain their presence in the market, people will still want to come. Like you still have players that we're willing to go to Carlton, they'll take Carlton's call before they'll take other calls. But there's a lot going on. They've got some work to do. You get this feeling at my moment that there's two coaches that someone's gonna make a call in the next four weeks, which is very early. Very early.