But that's all changed after the 2008 season – the club jumped from 15th to 11th, two games out of the eight, dragged along by, as much as anything, the arrival of Chris Judd at the club.
The Blues, along with Richmond, have been tagged as 2009's big improvers, with both expected to be fighting for a top-eight spot come next season.
Skipper Chris Judd, who came to the club from West Coast at the end of the 2007 season after leading the club to the 2006 flag, says he expected the Blues to be still playing in September next year.
"I don't know about should or shouldn't – I think we realise we need to be a lot better than we were last year if we're to be satisfied with our season," he said at Visy Park on Monday.
"If we get the improvement, and we do the work, I think we should play finals next year.
"But it's a bloody long journey, and it's a long way to go."
Judd, who raised the standard at training as well as in matches when he arrived at Carlton, said expectation was something the club had to both anticipate and deal with.
"I think certainly the expectations on what's expected of the players is different.
"This time last year we still didn't have our fitness coordinator working yet – (Justin) Cordy was still finishing up his work with the ACB (Cricket Australia), so he hadn't set a program for the players over the eight weeks off because he wasn't employed yet.
The expectations were a lot different this year and I think that'll hold us in good stead."
Carlton's improvement under coach Brett Ratten was significant, but Judd said the team wasn't underestimating the amount of work still required.
"One of the things in pre-season is every team's flying, because you're not playing on the weekend's and comparing yourselves to anyone else.
"We're still in the bottom half of the competition last year, and there's a huge amount of time and effort that needs to go into it to push us up the ladder.
"I don't think you'd say there's an area across the field where we're as good as we need to be yet.
"We've probably got to get a few more options in our forward line kicking goals, and our midfield's got to get fitter, and the backline can get better as well.
"So it's really right across the field we'll be looking for improvements."
