Carlton coach 2021: Mick Malthouse hits out at Blues board over treatment of David Teague

Coaching great Mick Malthouse has blasted the club’s treatment of David Teague, saying the Blues have “betrayed” and “failed” their coach as pressure mounts on his job.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – AUGUST 07: David Teague, Senior Coach of the Blues looks on during the 2021 AFL Round 21 match between the Carlton Blues and the Gold Coast Suns at Marvel Stadium on August 7, 2021 in Melbourne, Australia. (Photo by Michael Willson/AFL Photos via Getty Images)

Coaching great Mick Malthouse says Carlton coach David Teague has been “betrayed” by the club.

Teague, 40, is under mounting pressure amid reports Blues board members have been secretly sounding out big-name replacements to take his job.

Watch The 2021 Toyota AFL Premiership Season Live & On-Demand on Kayo. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >

Malthouse, sacked by the same Carlton board six years ago, said the football department review announced by president Mark LoGiudice in June signalled the end for Teague.

“Once you start announcing reviews and things start appearing in the paper, you know that the coach is wearing totally unnecessary pressure,” Malthouse said.

“And where there’s smoke there’s fire. There’s enough pressure on a coach as there is, particularly now during Covid and not even knowing where games are going to be played – and then suddenly there’s a review being led by external people.

David Teague is under pressure to keep his job as Carlton coach.

“It does not leave the coach with any certainty and when you don’t have certainty you have uncertainty and when you have uncertainty you have suspicions – and then those suspicions run wild through the playing group.

“Then every time you open the paper it’s about Carlton and about Teague. A football club needs to protect its coach as best it can. The club has failed him. They have betrayed him.

“If you want to go in the one direction then you need the board, the administration and football department all with their hands at the wheel knowing where they are going.

“Once you start to question things the trust is broken – and once the trust is broken it is very difficult to restore.”

Mick Malthouse says he felt supported by Stephen Kernahan at Carlton but when Kernahan left the club he knew he wouldn’t last as coach.

Malthouse said the review, led by ex-Collingwood football boss Geoff Walsh, would have prompted some sections of the playing group to question Teague’s ability.

Asked if the review had been designed as a way to justify Teague’s sacking and lure a big-name replacement, Malthouse said: “People have reviews because they know what the answer will be.”

Malthouse, 67, said he hoped incoming Carlton president Luke Sayers had the capacity to turn the club’s culture around.

“You would hope that Luke Sayers, who is a very reasonable person, does give the coach every support as opposed to what has generally happened,” Malthouse said.

“(Former president Stephen) Kernahan was very good to me. He was a really good person but when he was shoved out, you just know that you’re not going to last.

“In the end I felt very isolated at Carlton. The board was built on business acumen rather than football IQ.

“When I got there they had a plan that had already run out for three years saying they were going to win a premiership within five years.

“They just overrated where their list was and then of course you’ve got the factions around the place. It’s not a pleasant place to ply your trade.”

Malthouse said Sayers needed to ensure the behind-the-scenes powerbrokers at Carlton were moved on.

“The Carlton board has been infiltrated by people from the outside. We all know who they are and they are not accountable to anyone,” he said.

“And until those people no longer have a say you are continually going to have these discussions.”