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Under-fire Carlton coach Mick Malthouse has heavily criticised the AFL club’s board and reiterated he will not stand down unless he is sacked.
Malthouse’s celebrated coaching career is expected to come to a brutal end within a fortnight – though it could now be much sooner – after Carlton announced on Monday it would bring forward a decision on his future.
As recently as two weeks ago, Blues president Mark LoGiudice said the veteran coach was safe until the end of the season when his contract expires.
But in a sharp departure from that plan, LoGiudice said Malthouse’s position would be assessed during the club’s bye round in two weeks’ time following games against Sydney and Adelaide.
Malthouse responded on Tuesday, slamming the board for shifting the goalposts on him and saying he believed the club had already made its decision.
“If people can judge me after 30 years, what’s two more weeks mean? That I lose it totally or gain more knowledge about it?” he told SEN.
“There’s not a lot to gain by two weeks is there?
“I don’t really get it – if you don’t know about the person now, what does two weeks show?
“We play Sydney with a depleted side and we play Adelaide with hopefully a couple of blokes coming back, but we’re not too sure about that either.”
When asked whether he thought he would be reappointed to the coaching role, Malthouse gave a simple “No”.
But he restated that the Blues would have to sack him if they wanted him gone, declaring: “I will not be standing down.”
Carlton has struggled under the intense speculation over Malthouse’s position.
Malthouse lamented that the coach was always the first to be sacrificed when boards needed to relieve pressure.
“Good boards stay sound. Boards crack under pressure, and the first thing that goes is the coach because it relieves a bit of the pressure,” the veteran coach said.
“They beat their chest because they’ve made a decision, and they move on.
“Very few of them ever work.”
In a startling admission, the embattled coach also said Blues chief executive Steven Trigg had spoken to him about appointing a caretaker coach mid-season, a concept he described as “damn ridiculous”.
“What do they get out of it, is it an ego trip or a pressure valve release? I don’t know,” he said.
Malthouse said he knew it would be an uphill battle to keep his job after the pair who brought him in – former chief executive Greg Swann and former president Stephen Kernahan – left the club last year.
But he was certain he had the backing of his players, some of whom he said felt alienated and “hung out on a limb” by the Blues’ mandate to rebuild its playing list.
“The day that I think the players aren’t responding … if that is the case that’s when you do stop coaching.”
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