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Malthouse sacked as Carlton coach

May 26, 2015
Mick Malthouse after Carlton's loss to Geelong on Friday.

Mick Malthouse after Carlton's loss to Geelong on Friday.

UPDATED: Mick Malthouse has been sacked as coach of AFL club Carlton.

Malthouse was sacked by the Blues on Tuesday after a bitter falling-out with the club’s board and chief executive Steven Trigg, with president Mark LoGiudice blaming “a loss of trust between the club and coach”.

“This concludes my coaching journey, but I will enjoy viewing the game from afar, and its progress,” said Malthouse in a statement.

LoGiudice said on Monday a decision on Malthouse’s future would be made during the bye round in a fortnight.

Malthouse responded in an incendiary radio interview on Tuesday, saying that a two-week time-frame was pointless, effectively daring the club to dump him.

Current Carlton assistant coach John Barker will take over as caretaker coach for the remainder of the 2015 season.

“John will nurture our younger players and our senior talent and give them a chance to shine,” said LoGiudice.

The Blues currently sit in last spot on the ladder with just one win from eight matches.

Malthouse holds the record for most VFL/AFL games coached, having been at the helm at Footscray, West Coast, Collingwood and Carlton for 718 games.

He overtook Collingwood legend Jock McHale earlier this year.

“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 Radio SEN on Tuesday morning.

“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?”

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.”

The embattled coach also said 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.”

LoGiudice and Trigg will hold a media conference at 4.15pm (AEDT) at Princes Park on Tuesday.

– AAP

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