Real reason coach was sacked, Carlton releases review findings

Carlton has reached a series of brutal conclusions surrounding sacked coach David Teague, going public with extraordinary details.

David Teague is gone.

Carlton has made a series of brutal conclusions surrounding the tenure of sacked coach David Teague.

The Blues on Thursday afternoon confirmed Teague’s sacking four hours after the development was first reported.

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The club eventually went public with revelations of Teague’s shortcomings by releasing the key findings of its independent football department review which was first commissioned in the middle of the season.

The review, conducted by external panel members Geoff Walsh, Graham Lowe and Matthew Pavlich, dropped this week and the verdict resulted in Teague being sacked on Thursday morning. Assistant coach Dale Amos has also been told his contract will not be renewed for the 2022 season.

Carlton bosses have been heavily criticised for the messy way the review played out and for hanging Teague out to dry in the second half of the season. However, the Blues have now revealed the reason they were forced to make the “difficult” decision to move Teague on.

“The review has found that while the coaching group had the expertise required, it had been unable to have an effective impact on a playing group that is required to deliver results at the elite level,” club president Luke Sayers said in a statement released on Thursday.

“It was identified that there had been confusion associated with the game plan at times and on-field, the team has underdelivered in its ability to consistently defend, win the contest and apply pressure.

“This was highlighted, but not limited to, an overt, consistent focus on offence at a detriment to the defensive side of the game.

“While the easier option would have been to wait a further 12 months in the hope these deficiencies would change, the in-depth data gained over a significant period of time as part of this review process left no doubt that such an option would not be in the best interests of the Club. As such, it would have been irresponsible to ignore the decisions that had to be made”.

David Teague.

Sayers said in a press conference Thursday afternoon the club has regret regarding how Teague feels the situation was handled.

“I don’t feel good that that’s how David felt.,” Sayers said of Teague’s public comments the club had not supported him.

“If David felt like that then that’s not ideal. We believe we set about a very structured process, we had three excellent people perform and conduct the process.

“If that’s David’s feeling and he did express that, I don’t feel good about that.”

Teague had endured a week from hell where he continued to fulfil his role as coach during the club’s end of season reviews this week, despite knowing he was a dead man walking.

Teague is reported to have had lunch with players on Wednesday, but — 24 hours later — he is no longer an employee of the club.

The Age reported Teague himself informed the playing group of his sacking on Thursday morning.

According to reports on Footy Classified Wednesday night, Teague will receive a full payout of his contract, which extended through to the end of the 2022 season. Veteran football journalist Caroline Wilson also reported Wednesday night Richmond is interested in speaking to Teague about a role in the club’s football department.

Carlton is still yet to decide on who will coach the club in 2022, causing internal chaos with four members of the board leaving the club, which the Blues have now confirmed.

Former president Mark LoGiudice, Jeanne Pratt, Chris Judd and Christopher Townshend have officially stood down. Greg Williams, Tim Lincoln, Lahra Carey and Robert Priestley have been appointed.

Meanwhile, Carlton’s apparent first-choice replacement for Teague, Alastair Clarkson, is reported to have officially told the club on Wednesday he isn’t interested despite being told the job was his if he wanted it.

Veteran coach Ross Lyon’s candidacy has also been muddied by what he has described as a “smear campaign”.

Under Teague’s two full seasons in charge, Carlton finished 11th in 2020 and 13th this year.

He took over as interim coach from sacked mentor Brendon Bolton midway through the 2019 season before being confirmed as senior coach the same year. He is the club’s ninth coach since 2000.

The official findings of Carlton’s mid-season football department review

David Teague is walking away from the rabble that is Carlton.

Carlton president Luke Sayers admitted the review had made 20 key findings, however, the club released just a handful recommendations made. The findings include:

— Whilst management and staff were found to be capable and committed to the success of Carlton Football Club, and demonstrating a positive mindset, there is a requirement for stronger leadership, more experienced coaching, and improvements in player development.

— There has been confusion associated with the game plan at times and on-field, the team has underdelivered in its ability to consistently defend, win the contest and apply pressure.

— There is a high level of expertise in the High-Performance area, however opportunity exists to clearly define roles and responsibilities.

— Good list management processes are now in place, including detailed analysis undertaken to support list management and recruitment decisions; and

— The Club has excellent facilities which reflects the ambition to compete against the best performing teams in the AFL.

Teague snuck in one final parting shot to expose Carlton’s failures

Teague has been widely praised for the way he has handled the end to his tenure with the club’s football department review taking the legs out from under him before the end of the season.

He did, however, deliver one parting slap for his club before his team’s loss to GWS in Round 23 — his final game in charge — when he said the club has a lot to learn.

Teague, whose Blues missed the finals for an eighth consecutive season, told reporters he “absolutely” would have liked club officials to voice their support for him throughout the review process.

“Would I have loved some people from within the club to come out and back me up? Absolutely, I’m not going to lie,” he said.

“I love this footy club, don’t get me wrong, I understand the ‘why’. Have we nailed the process? I don’t think so. I think that’s clear; I think everyone would put their hand up to that.”

He followed it up by saying after the defeat: “I love this club I don’t want to sit up here and say anything but when the review gets announced through the media that’s not high performance.

“I’m going to challenge it, I’m going to call it out. This footy club has got some areas to improve.”

Footy commentators are saying David Teague is better off.

Teague was set up to fail 24 months previously

The club’s executive staff and board of directors, including new president Sayers, have been heavily criticised this week for the ugly fashion in which Teague was hung out to dry before the guillotine finally fell on his tenure.

Footy icon Leigh Matthews was scathing of the club.

“Whoever is at the top of that football club have got no idea how to run a football club,” he said on 3AW radio.

“It’s the people at the top of the football club that are the problem.”

Essendon legend Matthew Lloyd also told Footy Classified: “Sometimes it’s when the board overplays their role in the footy department, that’s when the club is in trouble.”

Fox Footy’s AFL 360 host Gerard Whateley said the club’s mismanagement from the top meant Teague was coaching in an impossible position where the senior executive failed to grasp where the club really sat.

Carlton has loaded up in recent years through the AFL Trade period, signing stars Jack Martin, Adam Saad and big-money recruit Zac Williams.

Whateley said the club jumped the gun and accused the Blues of putting pressure on Teague to deliver a finals berth, when the reality was the club was still in a development phase.

“Carlton had declared by their own hand that the time for development was over. They had recruited to contend, to move into the eight and start contending,” Whateley said on SEN.

“The next year is the Covid interrupted season where they’re not good enough to make the eight after hanging around the fringes.

“And then Carlton decrees the time for development is over and that is a mistake that the club owns. It owns the mistake of its recruiting and it owns the mistakes of over-estimating what they were going to be capable of.

“David Teague pays the price for that at the end. I don’t know whether it’s the right decision or not.

“What I do know is this is not the dignified way to remove a coach from his job.”