Carlton president Mark LoGiudice speaks out amid club’s sweeping review
One of Carlton’s biggest names has defended coach David Teague after one of his assistants became the first victim of a sweeping review.
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Carlton president Mark LoGiudice is emphatic the mid-year review is not a mandate on coach David Teague.
“I want to be very categoric here, this is not a review of the coach, this is a review of the football department,” LoGiudice said on Tuesday.
“It’s not a coaching review.
“Everyone is making this out to be about David Teague, that it’s a panic, believe me we are very calm and measured about the way this is going to get done.
“David Teague has coached 39 games, he is the coach and he is contracted for next year.’’
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The Blues officially announced on Monday they had brought forward an end-of-season review in the wake of successive losses to Sydney and West Coast.
The external probe will examine every facet of the football department — coaching, development, list management, fitness, performance and, importantly, the culture and environment.
Carlton veteran Eddie Betts said on Tuesday night that Teague did not deserve to have all the criticism for the Blues’ woes levelled at him.
“I think that’s unfair,” Betts said on Fox Footy’s AFL360.
“I guess we, as players, need to take some responsibility as well because we’re out there playing footy and we wouldn’t be in this position if we won those games that were close.
“We showed we can play a great brand of footy and we’ve shown we can play some awful footy as well.
“We want to get better, but putting it all on David is very unfair to him.
“We’re in this together, so the onus needs to be on the players as well.”
When asked if he was surprised to learn of the Blues’ mid-season review this week, Betts replied: “A little bit … but I guess every good organisation needs to keep itself accountable and needs to strive to get better and we want to do that and get better as a football club.”
“As players we want to play better footy and as an organisation we want to do better.
“I think it came at the right time with the mid-season bye, so we’ll look forward to it.”
It comes as senior assistant coach John Barker departed the club in what many believe is the first casualty in a failing football department.
The Blues said the Barker decision was not part of the review because the review had not started.
Barker had told Teague and head of football Brad Lloyd on Monday he intended to stand down at the end of the season.
He cited the demands of the role, a dwindling drive to become a senior coach and the desire to spend more time with his family as reasons for leaving.
But, late on Monday night, Barker was informed that his impending resignation would be effective immediately — a decision that shocked the popular assistant.
Betts said he was upset to hear of long-time Blues assistant coach John Barker’s sudden departure from the club on Tuesday.
“It’s a bit sad and I knew him even back when I was at Carlton seven years ago,” he said.
“He’s a great friend of mine and it’s just pretty sad to see him go.
“I haven’t spoken to him just yet, but I’ll reach out during the week to see how he’s going and to and to wish him well.”
The prevailing view is there will be a clean-out of assistants at the end of the season and second-year coach Teague will remain in charge.
Asked if he anticipated vast change in the football department, LoGiudice said: “We are not in denial, we’ve got to do what’s in the best interests of the Carlton Football Club at all times.
“We are going to do a review because we are not winning games of footy and if you’re not winning games of footy, you don’t make finals and if you don’t make finals, you don’t win premierships.
“We will have the review, we will review the recommendations and make decisions accordingly.
“This (review) is very measured, there’s no panic here, I promise you.’’
The Blues are hoping to announce who will be part of the independent review — which will answer to board member and incoming president Luke Sayers — by the end of the week.
The Blues are 4-8 and in 14th position, equal on games won with Gold Coast and Adelaide.
COACH QUITS AS BLUES REVIEW CLAIMS FIRST VICTIM
Carlton’s mid-season review has claimed its first victim, with assistant coach John Barker resigning.
Barker was expected to leave the Blues at the end of the season for personal reasons, but has agreed to end his tenure now.
The long-time assistant coach is expected to take a full break from football and return to the finance industry.
As the Blues committed to launch an independent review of the club’s football operations following their disappointing 4-8 start to the season, Barker told key club officials including coach David Teague and head of football Brad Lloyd of his plans on Monday morning.
It is understood the 46-year-old had been willing to stay until the end of the season, but it is now expected that he will depart during the club’s mid-year bye.
The Herald Sun understands the popular and respected assistant coach – who has worked under the likes of Alastair Clarkson, Ross Lyon and Mick Malthouse – had been considering a career change for some time.
Barker is the latest assistant coach to depart the game in the wake of the Covid financial squeeze, compounded by the AFL’s hard line on the clubs’ soft cap expenditure.
The loss of a number of experienced assistant coaches since the onset of the pandemic remains a massive concern for senior coaches including Clarkson, John Longmire and Luke Beveridge, who fear more will leave the system due to the role’s uncertainty.
He has been involved in AFL football as a player and coach for the past 27 years.
Barker has been one of the most popular figures at Carlton for a decade, developing a close rapport with a number of key players.
He was Carlton’s caretaker coach for 14 games following Malthouse’s sacking in 2015, and narrowly missed out on the job when Brendon Bolton took over.
SCROLL DOWN TO READ MORE ABOUT THE BLUES’ REVIEW
He has held a number of different roles at the club including backline and forwards coach, as well as midfield and stoppages coach.
Barker has been involved in the AFL system since playing his first game with Fitzroy in 1994.
He played 168 games for Fitzroy, Brisbane Lions and Hawthorn from 1994 to 2006.
His experience as an assistant coach includes stints under Lyon in 2007-08, time as forwards coach under Clarkson in 2009-2010 and also at Carlton since 2011.
It comes as Carlton ordered an immediate independent review of its football operations after bowing out of another finals race.
The battling Blues confirmed on Monday night that they would order a probe of every section of their operation — including the coaching department, recruiting department and fitness program.
Carlton released a statement on Tuesday morning saying it would “leave no stone unturned” in its bid to arrest its malaise.
The Blues confirmed “an external panel will partake in the review, which will be led by incoming President Luke Sayers”.
“This process will be conducted by an independent review panel external to the club, reporting to Luke Sayers and the Board,” outgoing president Mark LoGiudice said.
“The club acknowledges that we are not satisfied with where we are at from a performance perspective.
“We feel we owe it to our members and supporters to leave no stone unturned in our attempt to improve our on-field performance.
“Rather than wait until the conclusion of the 2021 season to undertake this review, we feel the opportunity is available to formalise this now, as we head into the halfway mark of the season.”
BATTLING BLUES LAUNCH REVIEW INTO FOOTY OPS
Mark Robinson and Scott Gullan
Carlton has ordered an immediate independent review of its football operations after bowing out of another finals race.
The battling Blues confirmed on Monday night that they would order a probe of every section of their operation — including the coaching department, recruiting department and fitness program.
It comes after David Teague’s side slumped to 4-8 after a disappointing loss to an undermanned West Coast Eagles side in Sydney on Sunday.
The Blues were largely tipped to climb up the ladder and push for their first finals series since 2013 after bringing in boom recruits Adam Saad and Zac Williams.
But they are now languishing in 14th position — equal on points with Gold Coast and Adelaide and three games behind eighth placed Richmond.
The club had planned to commission a review later in the season but brought that forward after a string of disappointing losses.
The review could decide the future of Teague, who has coached 40 games since taking over midway through 2019, and his assistants.
Carlton released a statement on Tuesday morning saying it would “leave no stone unturned” in its bid to arrest its malaise.
The Blues confirmed “an external panel will partake in the review, which will be led by incoming President Luke Sayers”
“This process will be conducted by an independent review panel external to the club, reporting to Luke Sayers and the Board,” outgoing president Mark LoGiudice said.
“The club acknowledges that we are not satisfied with where we are at from a performance perspective.
“We feel we owe it to our members and supporters to leave no stone unturned in our attempt to improve our on-field performance.
“Rather than wait until the conclusion of the 2021 season to undertake this review, we feel the opportunity is available to formalise this now, as we head into the halfway mark of the season.”
There will already be changes at the top at the end of the year with president Mark LoGiudice stepping down after seven years in the position and handing the reins to Luke Sayers, the former boss of PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Club chief executive Cain Liddle told the Herald Sun last week Carlton was in the middle of the most difficult part of its revival.
He said the Blues were debt free for the first time in 25 years and had hit record membership numbers – despite emerging from a year decimated by Covid-19.
“This is the part where everyone can see we are capable and naturally there is frustration when we don’t deliver that consistency in performance,” Liddle said last week.
“You see it in different stages of games that we have the ability to match it with very good teams, that is a fact.
“All we need to do is match it for four quarters.
“The off-field is going incredibly well and the contribution of our members and our corporate partners has put us in the strongest financial position we have been in for a long time.”
Liddle added: “Coaching and leading Carlton is a collective responsibility, it is not any individual — coaches rely on the executive who rely on the board and we all rely on recruiting and development — a collective responsibility.”
Carlton is also halfway through a $50 million redevelopment of Ikon Park.
Following the 22-point loss to West Coast on Sunday, Teague said “we had too many players that didn’t get the job done”.
“We had too many players that didn’t execute their role or execute a skill at the right times and then we got beaten in the contest,” he said.
“You can’t win the contest over the whole field with only a couple of guys.
“We needed more guys to step up and crack in and compete and West Coast beat us in that area convincingly.”
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