Carlton fans were loving what they were watching in the first half at the MCG on Sunday against Melbourne.
Then came the second half.
Watch every match of every round of the Premiership Season LIVE and ad-break free during play on FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.
As has become a far too common occurrence for the Blues faithful, the club simply forget to come out of the rooms and compete in the third and fourth quarters.
The Blues led by 34 points at the main break and had held the Demons to only one goal. They extended the margin out to 43 points before putting the cue in the rack.
In the second half, the Demons slammed home 14 goals to four as they secured the 15.10 (100) to 11.11 (77) victory.
So far through three games this season, the Blues have been outscored by a staggering 153 points in second halves.
If not for Richmond forward Tom Lynch’s inaccuracy, the club would be staring down the barrel of being 0-3.
After the euphoria of the first half, the mood of Blues fans swung drastically in the second with the knives well and truly coming out after the final siren.
“Carlton supporters streaming out of the MCG absolutely ropeable at this second half, as they should be,” Campbell Brown said on Channel 7.
“The midfield … they go to sleep every time after halftime,” Carlton legend Anthony Koutoufides said on SEN.
The Herald Sun’s Tim Michell wrote on X: “Want it to work but Michael Voss is in serious danger.”
Blues fans were quick to call for Voss to be relieved of his position as the comments flooded in on the club’s post game upload.
One fan wrote: “I’ll be waiting for the announcement from Graham Wright soon.”
A second added: “That seals the deal. I am no longer a Blues fan. This team is a pure and utter embarrassment to the suburb of Carlton. I officially will not be renewing my membership next season nor will I watch on tv ever again. I’m going to North Melb where they know how to run a mega dynasty.”
A third wrote: “It’s time for Voss to go now enough is enough.”
With the pressure mounting on him to retain his position, Voss said the issues start with him as a leader and that the club need to turn things around.
“I don’t think we can ignore it,” Voss said of the second half fade-outs.
“I’m pretty filthy. We’re putting ourselves in great positions, and we’re handing it back.
“I think we’ve got to accept some reality in that. Right now, my position is, we own it, whatever that looks like.
“I’ll always come back to process and make sure we keep the process really simple … but that whole thing around staying connected as a football team and making sure we’re still playing the right way, there’s gotta be an energy towards that and we’re not able to sustain for that for a long period of time.
“That starts with me as a leader; I’m not shying away from this. Nor will our leaders, speaking to them in there. As a leadership group, we own this.
“We’ve got to get to work on it, clearly.”
The Blues will have five days to fix their issues ahead of a Good Friday showdown against a resurgent North Melbourne.
