David Teague’s manager labels Ross Lyon’s TV pitch for the Carlton coaching job as ‘grubby’

David Teague’s manager has come out swinging in defence of his client, slamming Ross Lyon for his TV pitch for the Blues job.

David Teague’s manager Liam Pickering has labelled Ross Lyon’s TV pitch for the Carlton coaching job “grubby” and disrespectful as he conceded the “silence is deafening” from Carlton about his client’s future.

The man who has managed Teague for two decades said it was “pretty obvious” what was going to happen next.

It is understood the Blues will release part of their external review into the football department in coming days, with speculation Teague will be sacked, despite having a contract for next season.

Pickering sought clarification from the Blues about Teague’s future this week, but was told an answer won’t come until after Saturday’s final round clash with GWS.

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Ross Lyon would be open to coaching the Blues next year. Picture: AAP Images

He also said he was “100 per cent certain” that Lyon had spoken with Carlton about being Teague’s replacement.

“I have (asked Carlton) I spoke to them this week, they didn’t have an answer. (They said) you have to wait for the review,” Pickering said on SEN on Saturday morning.

“They have got a meeting (Sunday) or Monday and then they will make their call. The silence is deafening though.

“I think everyone is expecting the same thing now.

“I think it is pretty obvious (what is going to happen).”

Pickering lashed out at Lyon for his “set-up interview” on Footy Classified on Wednesday where the former Fremantle and St Kilda coach expressed his desire to coach Carlton next year.

“I am 100 per cent certain he has (spoken to Carlton),” Pickering said. “He was talking very smugly the other night.”

“(He said) he didn’t want to be disrespectful to David Tegaue and then went on a five minute rant about why he would be a great man for the job, (with) his coaching record (and) Grand Finals at two clubs …

“I don’t think you should treat people the way (Teague) has been treated, and when you have ex coaches who are jumping on his grave … as well. It’s pretty grubby.

Ross Lyon talks finished at the Dockers in 2019. Picture: Getty Images

“I thought it was really poor and deliberate and he knew what he was doing.”

Pickering said he believed Collingwood hadn’t really been interested in Lyon as a potential senior coach, saying that the Magpies had been running a thorough process to find a replacement for Nathan Buckley.

But he feared the Blues hadn’t done the same.

“I would like to see him (Lyon) go through a process … he never went through one at St Kilda and he never went through one at Fremantle,” Pickering said on SEN.

“If Carlton do tip out David Teague, they better go through a process, like Collingwood are doing.”

BLUES GIG IS THE BEST COACHING JOB FOR A DECADE

Jay Cark

The situation stinks to high heaven for David Teague.

When he bemoaned the lack of any public support for his job this week Teague looked shattered, if a not a bit angry, about the way the rug had been pulled out from underneath him this year.

But if Chris Judd was wary about an inexperienced coach riding into the club on a kids’ bike when Teague took over from Brendon Bolton, the reality is Carlton’s two best options are flat-out dragracers in Alastair Clarkson and Ross Lyon.

And for a playing list which has All-Australian bookends in Harry McKay and Jacob Weitering, down-but-not-out A-Grade midfielder Patrick Cripps, Brownlow Medal fancy Sam Walsh, enormous upside on the defensive front and huge commercial backing, this is not a club in crisis mode.

David Teague bemoaned the lack of public support. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

The club might be embarrassed, certainly starved of any success, and often joked about in the grandstands and the top offices alike after a decade of doom.

But Teague’s soon-to-be vacant position is also the best coaching gig which has come around since Chris Scott replaced Mark Thompson at Geelong for 2011.

They’ve been loading up on talent for the best part of a decade, the Blues. They’re ripe. They have to be.

Now, no one would expect Clarkson or Lyon to take the Blues to a Grand Final in their first year like Chris Scott did, but all the Blues may need is a waterproof defensive system, improved midfield depth, some luck with injuries (read Charlie Curnow) and a more consistent effort to catapult into the eight next year.

But we are not just talking about the same scoring “pop” of late 2019, when Marc Murphy and Ed Curnow were reinjected into the midfield, and the dark clouds around Bolton lifted as the ‘Teague train’ took off.

At Carlton, there needs fundamental change (as the review will reveal), and the Blues would be confident their two best coaching options can deliver it for 2022.

If Clarkson accepts a godfather offer, they get the best coach of recent times, even if the Hawks think he is past his use-by-date.

He can be cranky, ‘Clarko’ and maybe even hard work for those close to him, but have a look at Hawthorn’s past three weeks. The crown fits.

Alastair Clarkson has led the Hawks to three-straight wins. Picture: Steve Bell/AFL Photos/via Getty Images

The price tag? It would be a whopper, say six years at more than Paul Roos’ $1.6-plus million a year when he took over at Melbourne.

Clarkson may want to travel, but since he can’t even get to the Peninsula at the moment, he can put the passport away for now.

And in Lyon, they get a man who Matthew Pavlich (a Carlton reviewer) says was the greatest coach he had. A tactical specialist and the man who wove together a culture of sacrifice and unity at Fremantle.

New president Luke Sayers would have asked Pavlich, and indeed has asked other Lyon lieutenants about his coaching powers, and received favourable feedback.

“He was a perfectionist in many ways and if you gave your all for him and showed great desire and effort, then he was as loyal as anyone,” Pavlich said two years ago.

“He also displayed great empathy and he actually laid, or helped lay, some really strong foundations of culture.”

And Nick Riewoldt said this on Friday.

“His No. 1 asset is his ability to create a high performing environment where there is such strong accountability and buy-in from the playing group,” Riewoldt said on Triple M.

“There is tough love associated with Rossy … there is a hard edge to Rossy as a coach which isn’t for everyone and you probably lose a few along the way.

“But those who are really going to dig-in and be the core of what you want to achieve anyway are pretty strong disciples with Rossy.

“He has incredible attributes as a coach and as a leader of men.”

That is not say to say Lyon hasn’t been abrasive at times, but wouldn’t Carlton love a “hard edge” right now?

Lyon holds close relationships with those he has coached in the past. Picture: Paul Kane/Getty Images

His press conferences were must-watch, and every journo’s heart rate went up whether those darting eyes zeroed in their own.

But go to a St Kilda reunion where Lyon is the centre of the chat, or ask Lachie Neale or Brad Hill to reveal their text conversations or most recent phone conversations and there are still very strong bonds.

The criticism about not being able to score is a furphy considering St Kilda was ranked No. 4 in attack in 2009 when they went within an unlucky bounce of a flag.

At Round 12 of Lyon’s final season in charge at Fremantle the Dockers were 7-5. It was a year they started with an 82-point win over North Melbourne and upset the Cats by 34 in Round 20.

There were no white flags there, perhaps like we have seen from Carlton over the past month with losses to North Melbourne, Gold Coast and Port Adelaide by 95 points last weekend.

New president Sayers may have been quiet in recent times, as Teague called out this week.

But, for all the pain this year, the membership is unlikely to drop off if they can pull-off the backroom moves for one of the two of the most successful coaches in terms of win-loss (Clarkson 59 percent and Lyon 57 per cent) of the modern era.