Last night, I attended a gathering where a club in the top eight, together with their coach, CEO, and head of football, outlined their season so far and what it would take to get them to their ultimate goal. It started in 2022 and is still being implemented today. They outlined where their younger players were and where they are now. They knew that to get them to be better players, and a part of that ultimate success, they needed to give them time and space to grow and get in more game time.
They made difficult decisions because they had a long-term plan that was going to be a minimum of five years. They knew that to become successful, they needed to ensure that the majority of their players would have at a bare minimum 100 games under their belt. They said that they knew that supporters would not like this plan from the start, but that this is what it would take to be successful. It is working and something that Carlton has not done for a long, long time.
A power-broker of the club, Carlton, has come out firing, and to be perfectly honest, he is part of the problem and not part of the solution. Together with those in the past, the plan is that there is no plan, just easy, short-term paths that are just based on the arrogance of some who simply believe that the Carlton FC is not like other clubs and the time of old, apply now. It does not and won’t in the modern game.
Those who continue to follow short-term plans instead of long-term ones are quick to adhere to knee-jerk reactions. They are shortsighted and downright blinded by their self-importance.
The Carlton FC has no long-term plan and doesn’t even stick to the short-term one. For some to say that we have no talent in our under-25s is downright ridiculous, for they do not know or care about what it will take to improve these players. At the other team’s function, they understand that it will take time to get younger players playing and performing at an elite level, and they are giving these players time to develop, as they know it will take a long-term plan to be successful.
Those who don’t see it have no fundamental understanding of the modern game. They are symptomatic of the need for quick and easy pathways. They want a straight line trajectory, which anyone in business or who has any semblance of success knows that this trajectory just does not happen overnight. It takes time and a long-term plan, and can be a messy, squiggly line to reach success. Far too many want quick, instant results, which, if they don’t transpire, then delete them and move on to the next road.
If we, as a club, cannot have a determined and long-term plan that may result in some difficult decisions regarding players, then we will never be successful, no matter who the coach is. We must have a culture of encompassing all that a successful club needs and wants…a group decision and a coming together of knowing and understanding that a long-term plan is the only way to become successful. We haven’t had that before, and it is now time to look down that road. It might mean having a little bit more patience, but if you don’t have that, Carlton will never achieve any resemblance to any success.
I will always support the club, but right now, I want to know that the club will support a better understanding of a long-term plan and not yet another knee-jerk reaction.
#GOBLUES!
SPORTZ 