The heat on winless Carlton has ramped up after a fourth straight loss when leading at half time, with horror stats showing just how low the Blues have sunk.
Damning replays also showed moments Blues players didn’t put their bodies on the line in the 17-point loss to Collingwood on Thursday night which left coach Michael Voss to label the performance “unacceptable”.
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Saints great Leigh Montagna warned the club’s review on Sunday was about to get “ugly” for players left with “nowhere to hide”.
“There are going to players uncomfortable sitting in that review – we’ve all been in there where you just know what’s coming,” he said on Fox Footy.
Two-time premiership Roo David King said there was an “attitude problem” at the Blues that Voss needed to address.
“The contest is not as embraced as what it was 12 months ago,” he said.
“They are famous for being so tough Carlton. They bashed teams last year, the year before to get to preliminary finals – it’s miles from that now.”
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Statistics showed the Blues recorded zero points from defensive midfield – a new club low, and had their lowest points scored from turnover in club history at a wet MCG.
But most damning is the fact the Blues blew another half time lead – their fourth of the season to fall to a fourth straight loss.
“Damning” figures show Carlton are +52 points in their first half and a woeful -110 points in second halves.
“Is it the fact that they can’t run? Is it the fact they won’t run? So is it attitudinal or actual physical capabilities?” King questioned.
“Is it all in? Are they actually as united as we think they are? Do they actually work for each other like you expect them to?
“(Captain) Patty Cripps has an off-night. He has one clearance for the night and who picks up the slack? Who really steps up? No one.”
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Hawks great Jason Dunstall held concerns for Carlton’s season and said there was no more “hiding” as the Blues’ second half fade outs are “getting worse”.
“It’s not like they are trying to bank some wins while waiting on a raft of players to come back,” he warned.
“They’ve got a lot of problems.
“That was a woeful second half so they are back to the drawing board.”
Coach Michael Voss labelled the club’s third term – where they coughed up 4.6 to just 0.1 – “unacceptable”, but said he had “no explanations” for their second half fade outs.
“A system only works if we are all in this together,” he said.
“I’m more concerned about the standard … we’ve got to address that.”
King agreed there were concerns around standards as he put it on the Blues’ senior players – including the likes of club favourite Sam Docherty – to really put their bodies on the line and fight for the club.
“There’s a chance to put your body on the line there and make contact and they just chose not to do it,” he warned.
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“In the end, you can point everywhere. It just doesn’t mean enough to Carlton at the moment.
“0-4 it doesn’t get much worse does it?
“They are 0-4 without real belief in what they are really doing now.”
Carlton CEO Brian Cook told Fox Footy’s Jon Ralph there would be “no panic” at the club, who now has nine days to try and turn their form around before facing fellow battlers West Coast in Gather Round.
With the Eagles also winless heading into Round 4, Carlton then get the match up against North Melbourne over Easter.
“When do they panic? Nine days into a game against West Coast and then North Melbourne – there’s really only three teams (including Richmond) we thought would be easy beats,” Ralph said on Fox Footy.
“They lose to three of those, all the talk of solidarity, the talk of staying strong … it’s not going to evaporate but it’s going to be eroded.”
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