Carlton have reportedly informed coach Brett Ratten that he will not be in charge of the club next season, with the Blues calling a press conference for Thursday morning to 'clarify the speculation' about his future.
Ratten's future has been the subject of intense speculation this season as the Blues failed to meet their lofty expectations, with the fall-out from their shock loss to the Gold Coast Suns last weekend proving to be the final straw.
It remains to be seen whether or not Ratten will coach the final game against St Kilda on Sunday or depart immediately given he will not get to see out the final year of his contract.
Hampered by a lengthy injury list, a good run of form - where the Blues won four out of five matches including a 96-point thumping of rivals Essendon - appeared to have steadied the ship before Saturday's surprise defeat at Metricon Stadium.
It was just the Suns' third win of the season and officially knocked Carlton out of the finals race, with Ratten - who was at the helm for more than five years - lasting just four days before the axe fell.
Ratten was appointed caretaker coach of the Blues following the sacking of Denis Pagan in July 2007, before being handed the reins permanently a month later.
In 2011 he guided them to their first finals win in a decade and they came within a whisker of a preliminary final after a gallant loss to West Coast in Perth.
Ratten was signed up for a further two years last September and declared the club would set their sights on the top four, but after three consecutive wins to begin 2012 saw them tagged premiership favourites, the wheels fell off in a big way.
After Round 6, the club lost seven of their next nine matches in a run of form that saw their finals aims become unlikely.
Mick Malthouse - who coached Collingwood from 2000 to 2011 and previously had stints with West Coast and Footscray - is heavily favoured to take over from Ratten.
Blues president Stephen Kernahan had said earlier in the week that no decision on Ratten's future would be made before the final match against the Saints.
Carlton then announced on Tuesday that Ratten would hold his regular weekly press conference on Wednesday morning, only to send a correction several hours later that assistant coach Alan Richardson would instead be appearing to discuss the Saints clash.
0 Comments