Racing
League
Rugby
Cricket
Golf
Motorsport
Combat Sports
Football
Netball
Basketball
Other Sports
Sport Nation
What Malcolm Blight thinks Carlton should do with Michael Voss
Jaiden Sciberras • April 10th, 2025 2:04 pm
AFL Hall of Famer Malcolm Blight says Carlton must back coach Michael Voss despite the club's winless start to 2025.
Currently on a six-game losing streak stretching back to Round 23 of 2024, Voss’ job security remains hanging by a thread as Blues fans grow impatient over the club’s inability to reach expectations.
Looking back over the club's recent history, Blight believes that Carlton’s lack of success is mirrored by the club's lack of stability.
He has urged the club to “stay tough” and stick with Voss.
“Since ‘95, 30 years, David Parkin coached the premiership side and he finished in 2000,” Blight told SEN’s Whateley.
“From 2001 onwards, there have been eight coaches. Every time they hit the wall the coach goes.
“I can honestly say this over the years, once a coach is tippy-toed out the joint, the new coach comes in, some of the players say, ‘oh thank goodness he’s gone, I wasn’t getting a game, I was in and out the team’.
“When you start chopping and changing like this, you get this player mentality to think ‘okay let’s knuckle down for this new bloke coming in’.
“There has been a lot of good stuff lost!
“Have a look at a lot of the great teams, they stay stable. Geelong, how stable have they been over a 50-year period? How stable have Hawthorn been?
“They are the successful clubs. I don’t get it, I’ve seen too many boards react to four or five articles on TV or radio interviews and the coach gets the chop.
“I just wondered, staying tough sometimes might be the harder thing to do, but I reckon it got more success than the other way.”
SEN's Gerard Whateley questioned the Hall of Famer, who doubled down on his opinion that Voss must be backed by the club to kill the constant reactionary changes at the helm.
Whateley: “Time to back the coach?”
Blight: “Yes! Listen to this, Wayne Brittain, Denis Pagan, Brett Ratten, Mick Malthouse, John Barker, Brendan Bolton, David Teague and now Michael Voss.
“Brett Ratten finished fifth in 2011… bye bye!
“As soon as they hit the wall, too many boards react in a negative way to one person!
“I know everyone says its easier to sack the coach instead of 40 players, but for good heavens, sometimes you give the players a bit of a pass as well by not doing it!”
The 0-4 Blues take on the similarly winless West Coast at the Adelaide Oval in Gather Round on Saturday as what shapes as a massive fixture for both clubs.
