Demons may re-draft disgruntled defender

[DaVe86]

His manager Pickering has said Johnson does not even want to play for Melbourne. So Melbourne would be recruiting him against his will.


Cant believe this story even made it to print. I have never been one to say Melbourne is a smart club...but they are not this dumb.

 

[DaVe86]

Neither, but if you keep paying a lot more than something is worth, eventually the money dries up.

If they commit too much money to second rate footballers like Johnson and Warnock, they'll have less money to play with when they need to sign Kreuzer, Mark Murphy, Gibbs etc.

Thats if they abide by the salary cap.

Carlton will pay over the market price for Warnock because they have the worst ranked ruck division in the AFL and Warnock directly addresses this.

Johnson is yet another outsidish type midfielder who sweeps across half back. Has good skills but never showed them off at AFL level. They will not pay over the market price for him.

 

[footyman]

our financials showed we paid 97% of the salary cap in 2008, with several salaries to come off the books

Surely a few of Carlton's salaries come off the books - even when guys are still playing for the club!

97% of the cap - so you've got what about $200,000 up your sleeve. Mark Murphy, Bryce Gibbs and Matt Kreuzer will eat that up in their next contract.

Fevola should become a veteran soon enough so that'll give you some space - and the cap goes up as well.

But if you keep offering contracts to second rate and unproven players you won't have a lot of coin left.

 

[raffrox]

I think Connolly / Melbourne are just making Johnson sweat a bit. They are letting him know that they aren't happy with him I reckon.

 

[btdg]

Surely a few of Carlton's salaries come off the books - even when guys are still playing for the club!

97% of the cap - so you've got what about $200,000 up your sleeve. Mark Murphy, Bryce Gibbs and Matt Kreuzer will eat that up in their next contract.

Fevola should become a veteran soon enough so that'll give you some space - and the cap goes up as well.

But if you keep offering contracts to second rate and unproven players you won't have a lot of coin left.

Murphy has already signed an extension and was included in that figure. Fev becomes a veteran, Judd's contract is front-weighted, Stevens, Ackland and others will drop or come off...

We ran the numbers on the Carlton board earlier this pre-season, basically figured we'd have enough to sign one more big name ($500-$750k this year). Without that, we've got plenty to resign the other guys.

FWIW, I really hope that Gibbs, Kreuzer and and couple of others (Grigg? Walker? Yarran?) play well enough to demand contracts that put us in salary cap difficulty, because if you combine those guys potential with the proven stars we have, we'll be a certain premiership contender if that happens. And you can always fit players into a premiership team - the prospect of success seems to make players much more flexible on salary demands...

 

[Saveloy]

when i opened this thread, i thought it was going to be about nathan carroll, there is no chance that chris johnson will end up at the melbourne football club.

 

[smithos]

Pretty sure carlton has some people employed to project future salaries and how to fit them within the cap, just as I'm sure the AFL is always keen to see the books. I'd be less worried about Carlton's payments than I would with Melbourne paying 100% of their cap in a spoon year and coming close to breaching the tpp in paying off Carroll, maybe when you guys plumped for Microsoft Powerpoint you scrimped on MS Money?

I hope you guys do redraft Johnson, he's deadset ordinary, but he wasn't poached, he left because he was dudded out of money by the club.

 

[saj_21]

Interesting, so he was not good enough to commit to when asked for months on end, only good enough for a one year contract with incentives come the end of the year, now he might be the best player in the PSD and worthy of a two year deal?

Geez Dees, you might want to get your decision making processes right before players start walking.

No skin off Carlton's nose though. Johnson would be a fringe player with us as well.

Melbourne and C.Johnson did not part on good terms he turned his back on the club, i think its a ply by melbourne or connolly to a) make johnson sewat a bit and b) a bit of a dig at hime becuase we won't to take the best player available and when we select someone else its like saying "well your not the best player..." childish i know but just a bit of gamesmenship.

I think Connolly / Melbourne are just making Johnson sweat a bit. They are letting him know that they aren't happy with him I reckon.

Exactly.

 

[Giggidy Giggidy]

Pretty sure carlton has some people employed to project future salaries and how to fit them within the cap

Pretty sure they had some people employed to project future salaries and how to fit them within the cap from 1994-2001 as well.

 

[Silvagnis]

Pretty sure they had some people employed to project future salaries and how to fit them within the cap from 1994-2001 as well.

We poached those people from Melbourne and Essendon...

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Melbourne and C.Johnson did not part on good terms he turned his back on the club, i think its a ply by melbourne or connolly to a) make johnson sewat a bit and b) a bit of a dig at hime becuase we won't to take the best player available and when we select someone else its like saying "well your not the best player..." childish i know but just a bit of gamesmenship.



Exactly.

But this article suggested that Melbourne hardly played him in a wooden spoon year, and that his management asked continually where he fit into Melbourne's plans and got no answer. Then come the end of the year he gets offered a one year deal with incentives. Didn't the Dees make it abundantly clear that his future is shaky with them by these actions? I am not sure how this adds up to Johnson turning his back on the club.

 

[Trav 20]

I don't blame Johnson because he wasn't seen as a long term player. Which is the correct view, imo.

And as other Demon supporters have mentioned elsewhere, Connolly was just putting the wind up Johnson by stating that we'll take best available in the PSD and if that's Chris we'll consider him, when in reality we won't be picking him. And of course the inference is that he's not as good as an untried kid, which is the option we'll pursue.

 

[Demonheart]

But this article suggested that Melbourne hardly played him in a wooden spoon year, and that his management asked continually where he fit into Melbourne's plans and got no answer. Then come the end of the year he gets offered a one year deal with incentives. Didn't the Dees make it abundantly clear that his future is shaky with them by these actions? I am not sure how this adds up to Johnson turning his back on the club.

It's a point of view.

In reality Johnson wasn't prepared to do the hard yards under Bailey to be guaranteed more game time, he felt he'd been there long enough, however it's my understanding that another club did in fact guarantee him that ground time.

Good luck to the kid and to whoever picks him up, I like him and the way he was developing but he struggled to get regular games at the bottom club.

 

[Lord_Travis]

Hope we dont take him back. He's played 4-5 decent games in 5 years. A soft HBF who couldnt crack our team ahead of guys like Buckley and Bartram.

Use the spot on fresh youth, not depth who doesnt want to be there anyway.

 

[ROYAL EAGLE]

I don't blame Johnson because he wasn't seen as a long term player. Which is the correct view, imo.

And as other Demon supporters have mentioned elsewhere, Connolly was just putting the wind up Johnson by stating that we'll take best available in the PSD and if that's Chris we'll consider him, when in reality we won't be picking him. And of course the inference is that he's not as good as an untried kid, which is the option we'll pursue.

Congrats first Melbourne supporter to realise you only offered him a 1 year contract.
Carlton offered him two years Melbourne wouldn't.
I dont why you could be upset with him leaving on that basis ?
There not many clubs offering 1 year contracts to young players unless they have injury concerns.
You club must not have rated him to only offer 1 year, so I think he is been hard done by on that point.
Why would any young player stay at a club that only offers 1 year and another club offers two years ?

 

[Demonheart]

Congrats first Melbourne supporter to realise you only offered him a 1 year contract.
Carlton offered him two years Melbourne wouldn't.
I dont why you could be upset with him leaving on that basis ?
There not many clubs offering 1 year contracts to young players unless they have injury concerns.
You club must not have rated him to only offer 1 year, so I think he is been hard done by on that point.
Why would any young player stay at a club that only offers 1 year and another club offers two years ?

Bailey came out after he decided to leave and publicly stated that they offered him a two year deal, I can't be bothered looking for the article and linking it.

 

[saj_21]

But this article suggested that Melbourne hardly played him in a wooden spoon year, and that his management asked continually where he fit into Melbourne's plans and got no answer. Then come the end of the year he gets offered a one year deal with incentives. Didn't the Dees make it abundantly clear that his future is shaky with them by these actions? I am not sure how this adds up to Johnson turning his back on the club.

He told Bailey that he did not want to play for melbourne next year, and when asked to tell the playing group he sherked away from that as well. Regardless of what deal he was offered, he turned his back on Melbourne!

 

[The Old Dark Navy's]

Bailey came out after he decided to leave and publicly stated that they offered him a two year deal, I can't be bothered looking for the article and linking it.

This one doesn't mention terms only that it did not match Carlton's offer:
http://www.realfooty.com.au/news/news/dean-bailey-believer/2008/11/15/1226319006988.html?page=3

Alan Johnson said the club took too long to commit to Chris, and the Bailey got frustrated when they eventually made an offer and Chris would not commit. When Chris said he was leaving, Bailey gave him a serve on the way out. I'm not surprised this would be hard to mend. If it was McLean, Bailey would be following him, buying him a beer and doing everything he can to get him back. But it wasn't McLean and the best he could muster was a tirade on the way out.

It just seems a case of the Dees evaluating whether to keep him or not, not giving him any assurances on his future when asked, eventually opting to keep him on, meanwhile another team notes that he is not getting regular selection in the bottom team, asks the question of his manager and the rest is history. If the Dees created the perception that Johnson was a 50/50 bet to stay and another club were actually chasing, then would affect your mindset somewhat.

Another poor season by the Dees, the knives are out again, the cleanout continues, Carlton have moved on from their offer ... would Johnson be out of a job in 1 year and pretty much persona non grata being cut from the bottom team?

I know that Carlton offcuts were like lepers as far as the other clubs were concerned when we were on the bottom.

Still I feel for the Dees as we know how hard it is to attract players and retain decent players when you are struggling.

 

[Shambolic]

We poached those people from Melbourne and Essendon...

If we were the only club doing it, would the penalty have been so harsh???

 

[Orangewhip]

'So, Chris, how do you feel after being re-drafted by the Demons and winning their best & fairest?'

'Really, bloody disgruntled.'

 

[Lord_Travis]

We offered him a 2 year contract, but he had to meet certain objectives. He had to play x ammount of games. That's what pissed him off, as Carlton offered him a contract of equal length but minus those stipulations.

We were right to do that, as by the end of that next contract he would have been on an AFL list for 7 years, and if he wasnt cementing his spot by then and playing as many games as possible, then why the f*ck would you want him! He'd been at the club for 5 years, and had done nothing until this year where he had a run of 4 games or so where he got 20-30 disposals, and that was because the ball was coming into our backline non-stop Guys like Bartam, Petterd, Buckley, Bell walked into his spot and at least showed something. They all have a tenacity for a contest. CJ is soft a butter, and it's no wonder he could never stamp himself on a game.

The guys a prat anyway. He chucked a tantrum at training, and when Bailey told him to grow up and inform his team mates of his decision, he said f*ck off and left. He was then greeted by some yelling from Bails about thinking about his future, followed by Sylvia and a few other players telling him to f*ck off for turning his back on his friends. That's the last time he met face to face with Melbourne people (as far as anyone knows right now). So you'd say the chances of him being taken back are very slim

And hopefully we dont. Waste of a spot.

 

[-VC-]

We offered him a 2 year contract, but he had to meet certain objectives. He had to play x ammount of games. That's what pissed him off, as Carlton offered him a contract of equal length but minus those stipulations.

We were right to do that, as by the end of that next contract he would have been on an AFL list for 7 years, and if he wasnt cementing his spot by then and playing as many games as possible, then why the f*ck would you want him!

That's true, but why would he turn his back on a guaranteed seventh year elsewhere? It's easy to get emotive about it all, ranting and raving that he turned his back on the club, but it seems like the logical choice to me.

I remember being angry as hell at Ben Hudson at this time last year, but looking back on it he did the right thing to secure his own future, which is pretty important for guys like this. Johnson has been a fringe player for a long time, so a two year deal at this stage of his career would be pretty important and Hudson was a mature aged recruit, so even though he hadn't been in the system long his career was much closer to the end than another fourth (?) year player.

 

[Lord_Travis]

I dont disagree he's doing what's best to prolong his career at this point. It just sucks that there isnt more loyalty in the sport these days. I mean we've given this guy 5 years so far, where he spent chunks injured, and then showed nothing even when given multiple runs of games. And then you add the fact that he was a father-son selection, and his father is a well loved and respected ex player of the club. I suppose it's still hurting that Scott Thompson did the same thing going to you guys, but at least we got a decent draft pick for him along the way (although Thommo is ALOT better than what we got). Luckily the difference here is that CJ is the opposite of Thommo. Thommo is hard at it and a star. CJ is soft as butter depth.

Regardless, it just pisses you off as a supporter when this stuff happens.

But he's gone now, and his career will likely last another 2 years. After that we'll have to see whether he cracks the Carlton team or he is delisted. Ball's in his court now. But he's going to have to do a hell of a lot more to crack that team if he cant even crack ours!

 

[The Falcon Strike]

Interesting, so he was not good enough to commit to when asked for months on end, only good enough for a one year contract with incentives come the end of the year, now he might be the best player in the PSD and worthy of a two year deal?

Geez Dees, you might want to get your decision making processes right before players start walking.

No skin off Carlton's nose though. Johnson would be a fringe player with us as well.

Not sure these are mutually exclusive.

It's fair to say this year's PSD with the exception of Cuzzy Bro is pretty weak.

 

[Lord_Travis]

It's fair to say this year's PSD with the exception of Cuzzy Bro is pretty weak.

Very much so. And the year we get number 1 pick too