FRESH from having his contract extended for a further two years, Carlton coach Brett Ratten says his club is enjoying a strong pre-season with signs the young list is taking the next step in their football development.

President Stephen Kernahan announced at Thursday night's annual general meeting that Ratten had been secured until at least the end of 2011.

And Ratten, a three-time best and fairest winner, club captain and member of Carlton's 1995 premiership-winning side, thinks the Blues are on the right path to their 2009 campaign.

Despite still having several players on modified programs due to injury, he said the the preparations are going well.

"I think all in all we've sort of got around 30-odd blokes out there doing most of training and I think our size and our shape has changed a bit," Ratten told Melbourne radio station SEN on Friday morning.

"I think we're starting to see the Bryce Gibbses of the world, who are in their third pre-season, they're getting that v-shape into their body and you can really see they're sort of changing from the boy into the man."

In 2008, Carlton finished 11th with 10 wins and 12 losses to miss the finals by eight premiership points, but showed a significant turnaround after two wooden spoons in three years.

The result was its best since a sixth-place finish in 2001.

Ratten rated the performance a pass but knows his success-starved fans want more.

"I think it’s a pleasing aspect that we won 10 games and we took a step forward," Ratten said.

"But I suppose at the end of the day if we reflect ... after the season you're sort of still disappointed that we didn’t make the eight and I think we haven't made it for seven years now.

So I think that’s the goal. Like most teams in the competition, you want to play finals footy."

Ratten worked under Pagan in 2007 after spending the previous year as coach of Norwood in the Eastern Football League. He was an assistant coach at Melbourne in 2004.