Meeting of Carlton Groups 17/10

[cfc05]

Havnt seen a thread on this, so maybe no one was aware.

In another sign the current board has finally switched on, got a plan and is showing a clear direction for the club they held a meeting tonight in at "MC labour park" to outline the clubs current position on and off the field and the steps that are going to be taken.

The meeting included Kernahan, Malouf, Gleeson and co and was pitched at the heads of the carlton supporter groups - past players group, social club, women of carlton, blue suits and i believe sponsors aswell.

An open question forum was also answered by the directors.

They confirmed a large debt and ambitious but realistic steps to erasing it (memberships will help, so all get on board!!)
Player contracts will be looked at earlier!!(they copped a few questions on this its fair to say)
Have been many cut backs, however the footy department is as strong as ever and will not be sacrificed at any expense. ( great to hear, can save money everywhere but football department imo)
They didnt divuldge into the mitchell case at all, answered fairly openly just saying he was on holidays and tended to focus on the positives of ratten and crossica.

All fairly positive id say!

 

[irish_setanta]

Havnt seen a thread on this, so maybe no one was aware.

In another sign the current board has finally switched on, got a plan and is showing a clear direction for the club they held a meeting tonight in at "MC labour park" to outline the clubs current position on and off the field and the steps that are going to be taken.

The meeting included Kernahan, Malouf, Gleeson and co and was pitched at the heads of the carlton supporter groups - past players group, social club, women of carlton, blue suits and i believe sponsors aswell.

An open question forum was also answered by the directors.

They confirmed a large debt and ambitious but realistic steps to erasing it (memberships will help, so all get on board!!)
Player contracts will be looked at earlier!!(they copped a few questions on this its fair to say)
Have been many cut backs, however the footy department is as strong as ever and will not be sacrificed at any expense. ( great to hear, can save money everywhere but football department imo)
They didnt divuldge into the mitchell case at all, answered fairly openly just saying he was on holidays and tended to focus on the positives of ratten and crossica.

All fairly positive id say!

What ways to deal with the debt?
What cutbacks have taken place?
Mitchell is gone, of course there going to focus on the positives, wouldnt look good focusing on the negatives in front of sponsors etc.

 

[Johnny_3]

I dont have a clue whats happening at carlton. Only a few weeks ago the club was in shambles, now look at them. They're starting to operate like a football club.

Trade Week and this week have been the best fortnight of the past yr imo.
And back on topic i think stating the obvious in memberships is a good idea so all us blue supporters sign up now, its the only way the blues can stay a club.
And mitchell is gone i reckon, but focussing on the positives isnt denial its just thinking positive.

MY BLUES ARE BACK OMG

 

[HBF]

Which Carlton supporter group do you belong to? Thanks for the info though, very informative.

 

[murphster]

I dont have a clue whats happening at carlton. Only a few weeks ago the club was in shambles, now look at them. They're starting to operate like a football club.

Trade Week and this week have been the best fortnight of the past yr imo.
And back on topic i think stating the obvious in memberships is a good idea so all us blue supporters sign up now, its the only way the blues can stay a club.
And mitchell is gone i reckon, but focussing on the positives isnt denial its just thinking positive.

MY BLUES ARE BACK OMG

No the media painted the picture that the club was in a shambles when really they where biding there time and as the past week has shown they where correct in doing so, just wishful thinking on the part of certain members of the media with axes to grind.

 

[btdg]

Havnt seen a thread on this, so maybe no one was aware.

In another sign the current board has finally switched on, got a plan and is showing a clear direction for the club they held a meeting tonight in at "MC labour park" to outline the clubs current position on and off the field and the steps that are going to be taken.

The meeting included Kernahan, Malouf, Gleeson and co and was pitched at the heads of the carlton supporter groups - past players group, social club, women of carlton, blue suits and i believe sponsors aswell.

An open question forum was also answered by the directors.

They confirmed a large debt and ambitious but realistic steps to erasing it (memberships will help, so all get on board!!)
Player contracts will be looked at earlier!!(they copped a few questions on this its fair to say)
Have been many cut backs, however the footy department is as strong as ever and will not be sacrificed at any expense. ( great to hear, can save money everywhere but football department imo)
They didnt divuldge into the mitchell case at all, answered fairly openly just saying he was on holidays and tended to focus on the positives of ratten and crossica.

All fairly positive id say!

So what did that actually say that was positive?

That we have a large debt, and can erase it if we sell memberships? Well thats bloody obvious. A more important question would be what value the club is going to provide for memberships this year - reasons why anyone would buy a membership other than 'so the club doesn't die'.

They're going to try harder with player contracts in future? Right, because that wasn't obvious either. The football department won't be sacrificed? Also obvious when you consider we're already behind some other clubs, and we are, basically a football club. Then they didn't say anything at all about Mitchell, but talked about their replacements for him in a positive way? As if that wasn't to be expected.

So again, what did they say that was positive? Where was the concrete plan to rebuild our list other than "finish last 10 years in a row and pray that the draft throws a few good players our way by accident". What are the elements of our off-field policy that will make us a financial powerhouse again? What about the ridiculous Pagan "Dead Man Walking" situation the club is in? Sounds like a lot more hot air than concrete solutions to me

 

[Bluebear]

So what did that actually say that was positive?

That we have a large debt, and can erase it if we sell memberships? Well thats bloody obvious. A more important question would be what value the club is going to provide for memberships this year - reasons why anyone would buy a membership other than 'so the club doesn't die'.

They're going to try harder with player contracts in future? Right, because that wasn't obvious either. The football department won't be sacrificed? Also obvious when you consider we're already behind some other clubs, and we are, basically a football club. Then they didn't say anything at all about Mitchell, but talked about their replacements for him in a positive way? As if that wasn't to be expected.

So again, what did they say that was positive? Where was the concrete plan to rebuild our list other than "finish last 10 years in a row and pray that the draft throws a few good players our way by accident". What are the elements of our off-field policy that will make us a financial powerhouse again? What about the ridiculous Pagan "Dead Man Walking" situation the club is in? Sounds like a lot more hot air than concrete solutions to me

I think they mentioned something about sending personalised detailed information to all supporters and members, just so they stop getting bagged by big footy posters...........

I think you'll find btdg that not all of the info they gave was posted above.
Funny how even when the board does try to present their case they get bagged. Damned if they do, damned if they don't.
FFS give them a break.
To have other clubs and supporters saying well done blues after last week is nothing short of a miracle, for which the club (and the board) should be credited.
Many of you would have me painted as a board sympathizer. While I'm not, I can live with that perception.
I just call it as I see it.
Their handling of the Pagan thing was crap.
People at the time were calling for explanations, leadership etc. They have got nothing but since that week, and still choose to whinge........get over it.

 

[cfc05]

haha btdg i can tell you now everyone who came out of that meeting could see a clear direction the club was heading in and saw a benefit in staying associated with the club.

Obviously cant really give too many more details, im not in the business of leaking all the big information to bigfooty posters to proove a point. Simply thought id tell people the board in now showing some direction and with other things going our way, things are alot more positive! (thats the first meeting of the like for years!)

Dont have to read it, or in future i wont the occurance of these meetings.

Further delisting are around the corner, and in the words of Kernahan "tough decisions" by the football departmen are gonna have to be made. Wont say who but Teague, Saddington, De Luca and Livingstone have all been thought about - despite contracts!

 

[btdg]

haha btdg i can tell you now everyone who came out of that meeting could see a clear direction the club was heading in and saw a benefit in staying associated with the club.

Obviously cant really give too many more details, im not in the business of leaking all the big information to bigfooty posters to proove a point. Simply thought id tell people the board in now showing some direction and with other things going our way, things are alot more positive! (thats the first meeting of the like for years!)

Dont have to read it, or in future i wont the occurance of these meetings.

Further delisting are around the corner, and in the words of Kernahan "tough decisions" by the football departmen are gonna have to be made. Wont say who but Teague, Saddington, De Luca and Livingstone have all been thought about - despite contracts!

Are you kidding me? The club had a meeting to outline its strategy, but its a secret, so much so that you can't 'leak' it onto a message board. Well, what was the point of the meeting, if not to inform supporters of their plans? Why else would the call the leaders of supporter groups, if not so that those people could then go to their groups and spread the word?

It sounds to me like they took you in, buttered you up with jam and scones and won you over, yet there doesn't appear to be anything of substance comign out of this. "Further delistings are around the corner, and they thought long and hard about X, even though he had a contract"? Thats blatently obvious. We have to delist players to take our complement in the draft, those players are amongst the worst on our list, and we have cap space available. It shouldn't be a 'wink wink, guess who is being delisted' affair - it should have happened weeks ago. It seems obvious who the cuts are going to be - everyone seems to know the obvious step except the board themselves. And sure, these are tough decisions - thats what running a sporting club is all about. If you don't have the balls to make them, then you are in the wrong business.

Even if you can't answer the questions, at least tell me this (yes or no if neccessary, no details needed). Did the board specifically address what to me
seem the most obvious questions facing our club:

- What are the concrete steps that the club is taking to rebuild our playing list. How can we measure that this plan is succeeding; what key performance indicators are in place. Are we aiming for an increase of 2 wins per year, or 4 new good players a year, or any semblance of a strategy other than 'wait and see'. In other words, is there a recognisable, objective plan that is in place to make us a good football team again.

- How is the club hoping to handle the Dennis Pagan 'Dead man walking' scenario. By sacking assistant coaches? Are they prepared to keep him on when the team inevitably finishes last again in 2007? If not, what is the contingency? They didn't even cover Mitchell? How could you let them get away with that?

- What specific intiatives are there to rebuild our financial position? New sponsors? New reasons for people to become members? The implication of the original post was that basically Carlton supporters should just hand over cash - gee, that sounds like a great strategy considering the crap the club has served up its members over the past 5 years on field.

You can't just come on a message board and say "Carlton Football Club just told us about this incredible new strategy to rebuild the club but I can't give you any details except to say its really, really good (so buy a membership)". And if you do, you can't get all hissy when others are a bit cynical that anything of substance has actually transpired.

 

[Chewmeister]

btdg, perhaps if you put your money up and join one of the supporter groups, you will be afforded an insight to what the board is putting in place. They are certainly not going to advise all and sundry what their KPI's are but as we are informed here they have put forward a summary of their direction. If you want more information then get more involved.

 

[btdg]

btdg, perhaps if you put your money up and join one of the supporter groups, you will be afforded an insight to what the board is putting in place. They are certainly not going to advise all and sundry what their KPI's are but as we are informed here they have put forward a summary of their direction. If you want more information then get more involved.

That isn't what I said. I asked whether they outlined to those in attendance exactly what their KPIs were, and whether they were going to be accountable for them. Plus, I also wanted to know, and still want to know, whether other seemingly obvious questions were answered satisfactorily.

Even so, I don't see why the club's strategy can't be public knowledge. It is for most large companies - and I don't see why I should put my membership money into a train wreck of an organisation, that is way behind its competitors in the field of competition that matters most, without knowing what the future strategy is first.

Imagine if for the Telstra float the board said "we are only going to tell a few select heads of business what our plans for the future are", then those people came out and said "I can't tell you what the plans are, except they are really, really good and you should definitely buy Telstra shares". It would be a joke. I don't see why it should be any different for a football club - football is way, way more important than money...

 

[cfc05]

Well im guessing btdg you are a proud passionate and paid up member.

Just so you know:
It wasnt a press conference for the whole media and public to be informed, rather a meeting to show a clear outline to sponsors and supporters groups of what steps will be taken over the next 3 years to rebuild our once great club. Its not for me, a fairly low key supportet to come out and release figures of how much debt they are in - and the way of wiping this off. Yes there are KPI's in place, and i can say few directors thought finals in 08 would be a goal set in place.

You would of noted carlton have attracted new sponsors during this boards leadership (ie: dan murphys.)

They strongly hinted at contracts not been a big deterent for not de-listing older players who are holding up spots, so that comment i thought was something. Did anyone actually no before, that this was the case, im sure there has been doubt about contracts saving people?

The Board has far from won me over, i still personally beleive many people on it should be replaced - however i posted to at least show fellow Carlton supporters they are finally showing some direction and its a further step foward.

 

[cfc05]

Imagine if for the Telstra float the board said "we are only going to tell a few select heads of business what our plans for the future are", then those people came out and said "I can't tell you what the plans are, except they are really, really good and you should definitely buy Telstra shares". It would be a joke. I don't see why it should be any different for a football club - football is way, way more important than money...

Listed companies, by law must include all share holders in annual general meeting.

Football teams, with common sense will keep many things in house in order to succeed. No point in coming out with exact figures of debt, or even exactly how they will operate in the coming yr - otherwise competitors will either copy it or seek to defeat it.

But yes i do agree, they should clearly outline there KPI's to all members and im sure this will be done in time.

And smorgon has come out and outlined a clear policy on how the club wishsed to return to the top!