Football clubs have to make tough decisions all the time. Not drafting this player or that player for whatever reason. Making this trade and not that one. Or, telling a club stalwart their time is up.
It’s not easy, but, at the end of the day, while sentiment plays a major role in sport, professional sport is a business, and each team’s shareholders (such as the members, fans and sponsors) need to be looked after to ensure the best possible return for their investment.
Now, let’s face it, whoever has to make the decision and tell an icon of the game, a legend, a hall of famer, that his time is up, won’t find it easy. But perhaps it’s like a Band-Aid, and it’s better to rip it now than to try and leave it lingering.
And that’s what faces Carlton right now – Mick Malthouse.
A coaching legend, an ornament of the game, who in a couple of weeks’ time will pass Jock McHale to climb to the top of the list of games coached in the VFL/AFL. But is he the right man for the job at Carlton?
A disappointing loss in a winnable game against the Tigers in Round 1, then a thrashing at the hands of West Coast last Friday night, all on the back of two less than successful previous seasons, and you have to start enquiring about the coach’s future, despite claims at the start of the year that Carlton were looking at an extension when Mick’s contract runs out at the year’s end.
I know we will hear all the excuses about Carlton’s cattle, and injuries, and so on and so forth, but Carlton under Mick just haven’t worked since he got the job following Brett Ratten’s departure at the end of 2012.
Blues fans, and I’d imagine the Carlton hierarchy, saw Mick as the Messiah but it certainly hasn’t worked out that way. Now it’s a case of how long do you persist?
I wouldn’t question Mick Malthouse’s credentials, but maybe it’s time for some new thinking, some new ways of coaching, some new ideas and tactics, and some fresh blood. It’s worked wonders this year at the Western Bulldogs with Luke Beveridge and also in Adelaide with Phil Walsh.
It’s still the same game, whoever kicks the biggest score wins, but there are so many different new ways to get that biggest score, and perhaps Carlton needs to look at someone else to show them some of those new ways.
But who does the dirty work? Perhaps Carlton can contact Essendon? They made the hard call several years ago to tell Kevin Sheedy it was time the club headed in a different direction.
It’s all well and good to say let him finish his contract, but is that really fair on everyone?
Carlton next meet Essendon and St Kilda, and judging by the weekend results it’s hard to pencil in either of those as wins. Then the Blues meet old foe Collingwood in Mick’s milestone record-breaking game.
They could very easily be 0-5 at full-time in that match. It could make a warm and fuzzy celebration feel a little cold and coarse for Blues fans.
Aransan
Guest
Buzz, if the players have no respect for Malthouse then they have no respect for themselves. They can learn plenty from him and any player just treading water to the end of the season should be moved on. Judd would be a terrific player off a half-back flank but that is not what he is being paid for and perhaps he wouldn't like that role either.
The Original Buzz
Guest
Dean Laidley would be my choice to fill in when MM gets the sack to see how he goes. There are a few assistant coaches that are ready to take the next step as well.
The Original Buzz
Guest
Don't forget Eddies 5.
The Original Buzz
Guest
The answer to your question, Griffo is a resounding YES.
The Original Buzz
Guest
Hang in there Davo, I am the same (only three years behind you). I will remain faithful to the team but not this coach and won't be happy until he has gone. They have the players and now need a modern coach with a real and recent game plan that can take them to the top again. We only have to endure this year of pain (hopefully).
The Original Buzz
Guest
Let Judd make his own decision, I believe he will know when it is time to move on and will make the call. @Slarti - Carlton will finish in the bottom three this year, the best they can hope for is not winning the wooden spoon. That will be next year if MM is still there. @Aransan - Even the players have no respect for Malthouse. @Zach - Murphy is too soft and needs to get some mongrel in him to win a Brownlow but I reckon Gibbs has what it takes.
The Original Buzz
Guest
Good call two years into a three year contract and the team going backwards using an out of date game plan. The team clearly do not want to play for Malthouse and he blames the players. LoGuidice has now started bagging the players as well. I think those two need to take a long hard look in the mirror and then make some good hard decisions. I was not happy to see Ratten go, particularly for Malthouse. He will be back in a senior role with a vengeance.
Aransan
Guest
Perhaps Malthouse's contract shouldn't be extended, that is something that can wait until the end of the season. The media are leading a campaign to have him sacked right now and that doesn't make any sense except perhaps for the media which will enable them to sell more newspapers. It should be made very clear to the players that they are under notice too, they can't just tread water to the end of the season. I think respect is more important to Malthouse than being liked, and that is a necessary attribute of a leader.
Slarti
Guest
Yep, they recruited poorly - and one of them was Malthouse I was very disappointed at the shonky way Ratten was shafted, when it happened, but I would have been willing to eat humble pie if he (Malthouse) had done something - besides take the club backwards. Ratten got the Blues to the finals at least 2 years running. Malthouse then took them to 9th, and a lovely 13th last year. I can't see that being improved upon this season. Why on earth should his contract be extended? On top of that, Ratten came across as a nice bloke. Malthouse doesn't. I know that doesn't make or end a coaching career, but it is just another thing I have against Malthouse.
jax
Guest
Simmo started sacking the deadwood last year and he replaced them with Duggan, Lamb, Lucas, Nelson, Waterman and Cavka. WC and Simmo are on the right track don't worry about that.
jax
Guest
You can't have Adam Simpson on the same list as sacked coaches. WC didn't move Worsfold on, he resigned so it was not a case of WC wanting 'fresh blood' as you put it. He's only had one year and I think that he has done a good job. Let's measure his worth at the end of the season please. McCartney is a known development coach and he put a lot work into those young Doggies and Beveridge has done a terrific job of getting the best of them in his 2 games at the helm. If you measure Simmo after his first 2 games his record looked pretty good also. The Lions should have kept Voss. Sure, he made some mistakes early but it was clear that the players were playing for him in his last few years at the helm.
jax
Guest
My sentiments exactly Aransan, very well stated!
jax
Guest
The Blues board didn't have the kahunas to stick with Ratten and tell their fans and sponsors to back-off. If they don't grow some kahunas now they will do it all over again and sack Mick. That's one of the reasons why I call them a basket case.
jax
Guest
Some would call it a 'long-overdue call' on Sheedy and I would be one of them
jax
Guest
Carlton never had a chance to beat WC. I penciled that game in as a certain win for WC, even with Mackenzie and Brown out. I can recall so many people calling for Ratten to be sacked and now they are calling for Malthouse's head when we are 2 rounds in. Blues fans should look at their board and management before they look at Mick. Love him or hate him he's got the runs on the board. Beverdige and Walsh has worked for the Dogs & Crows but we are only 2 rounds in. I'd be very careful replacing a coaching legend with a rookie coach. Just because the early signs are good for the other two that doesn't guarantee that they can carry that form all season, or that you can get a coach as good as these two seem to be. Be careful what you wish for is all that I'm saying and Blues fan need to realise that their list is in pretty poor shape and that it will take a good few years for them to get it back into shape.
lyn
Guest
Thomas was never going to be the player he was at Collingwood. Mick shouldn't have got him when there were other good mids in the 2014 draft.
Lroy
Guest
Great comment. The irony is that if a kid in Alice Springs can kick a ball, AFL scouts know something about him. Yet AFL coaches, one guy gets sacked and they grab the first bloke that happens to be walking by. (Not a reference to Mick by the way). I would suggest they set up a database of ex-players who are coaching in the WAFL or SANFL . Plenty of blokes over there doing their apprenterships, getting stuck in, trying to improve players. They get to develop their own philosophy out of the spotlight, what works and doesn't... he can make a few mistakes and no one will ever know about it. The problem for a guy like Voss was all his mistakes were in view of the whole world. Whereas if he had of spent a couple of years coaching a WAFL side he would have been able to develop his own style and become confident that his ''system'' would work... Ive got a lot of time for Voss, he makes some very insightful comments whenever he is on TV. He really should have gone to the eagles as an assistant first, then tried for a WAFL job. Same for Adam Simpson, its a big step going from an assistant to the number one guy. He's another one who seems intelligent enough to make a good coach, but he is in a catch 22 situation now. He has to sack some established players to go forward, if he does it and the youngsters don't do any good, he will be crucified.. its lose lose for him in some ways. Whatever happened to Dean Laidley? He did remarkably well given the talent he had at North. He used to write guest articles for the Age, was an interesting read. We seem to be heading down the English Premier League path, crikey, theres normally 4-5 a year who get sacked before the season is over.
Franky
Guest
Yeah, fresh blood, that's the way to go. It worked for Brendan McCartney at the Bulldogs, Michael Voss at the Lions, Brenton Sanderson at the Crows, Adam Simpson at the Eagles, Mark Neeld and Dean Bailey at the Demons, Scott Watters at the Saints, Nathan Buckley at Collingwood, Matthew Knights at the Bombers. And of course Malthouse replacing Ratten was a masterstroke. Oh wait... For every Clarkson and Hinkley, there's 3 or 4 other coaches who don't make it. It seems staggering that in this day and age, where clubs are investing significant resources for the most minor advantage on game day, that the recruitment of coaching staff is still so hit and miss. The administration of footy clubs, particularly at board level, is stuck in the 1950's. But back to Malthouse. For Carlton, the coach isn't the problem. It's the list. They seem to be a long way off winning the flag. And it's in that context that they need to decide what to do with Mick. If Carlton are 5 years away from a flag, will Mick still be coach then? I wouldn't have thought so. In that case, they should move him on and start planning for the future. Under normal circumstances I'd have thought a transition plan to a senior assistant coach would be the way to go, but we all know how that worked out last time Mick tried it...
Don Freo
Guest
Hmmm...Move Juddy on? He is all they have.
Simoc
Guest
Well MMs doing better than Eade. Who knows why the Suns took on Eade. The Bulldogs played great on the weekend and their skills seemed to hold up under pressure. Its the style that Port Adelaide used so well last year. Malthouse had great players at the Eagles and then coached great at Collingwood. But Carlton seem to be playing old school footy. It is early days and while Carlton don't look to have anything like the class of Sydney, Adelaide, Hawks etc they may make the eight.