Carlton twice let Mick Malthouse down and is yet to stand by its coach, says Mark Robinson
WHEN a coach is represented in a poor light in the media, it is paramount the club defends their man. Carlton did not or chose not to.
Mark Robinson
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IT’S clear there is tension between Mick Malthouse and Carlton.
The Blues twice let down its coach this week and it was either thoughtlessness from the Blues’ media department or a deliberate move to give the media ammunition to criticise the veteran coach.
If it’s the latter, they are strange days at Carlton.
If it’s the former, you have to wonder why the Blues didn’t jump to Malthouse’s defence.
It began on March 19 when Malthouse said his contract discussion would be a distraction for the players.
A fuller version of the interview was replayed last Sunday and Malthouse’s original comments about his contract being a distraction were repeated.
As expected, those comments made the news and prompted Malthouse critics to wonder whether the coach was ransoming the club and using the players as pawns.
It didn’t work within the club because the next day, March 20, Carlton chief executive Steven Trigg hosed down talk of it being a distraction.
Trigg said the Blues had “a lot of other priorities”.
Earlier in the year, February 16, Blues president Mark LoGiudice was adamant that speculation over Malthouse’s future beyond this season would not become a distraction.
“We’re all very happy with the way that our relationship with Mick is. It’s not a distraction for the club at all,’’ LoGiudice said.
After the screening of the full interview last Sunday, it was reported that ‘’Malthouse has repeated his desire to coach Carlton next year, arguing the uncertainty over his future will soon distract his players’’.
Malthouse’s beliefs were shot down the next day, April 7, by one of his own players, backman Zac Tuohy: ‘’I can categorically tell you it’s not (a distraction).’’
Aware of the combustible nature of Malthouse’s future, the Blues needed to act decisively.
After the full interview was screened, the club should have released a note to all media explaining the Malthouse interview was a repeat and that he didn’t put his future back on the agenda. They didn’t.
They let Malthouse hang, which opened the door for former Carlton captain Mark Maclure to launch on Malthouse.
“I don’t think many people are listening to Mick at the moment, to tell you the truth. Whatever he says doesn’t matter,” Maclure said, who added that he didn’t believe Malthouse would be at the club next year.
It was shoddy mishandling by the Blues.
When a coach is accidentally misrepresented in the media — and in a poor light — it is paramount the club immediately defends their coach.
The Blues did not or chose not to.
You hope it was a mistake by Carlton because if it wasn’t, the Blues are playing a dirty game.
Originally published as Carlton twice let Mick Malthouse down and is yet to stand by its coach, says Mark Robinson
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