SACKING A SIGN COOK IS COMING
YOU don’t sack a chief executive that has dragged your club from a financial abyss unless you are confident about nailing a superior replacement.
Carlton’s decision to move on Cain Liddle on Friday ended weeks of uncertainty as new president Luke Sayers repeatedly refused to back the man who had cleared Carlton’s debt and spearheaded their off-field renaissance.
It could be seen as the latest disastrous chapter for a club that has sacked its coach, half its board, moved on its president and failed to guarantee its football boss his future.
The prevailing view was that Carlton was finally, officially a shambles.
But strangely enough, Sayers’ confidence in moving on Liddle might be a sign the club is on the verge of at least one coup.
Outgoing Geelong chief executive Brian Cook has not knocked back the Blues’ overtures and is now seen as extremely likely to join Carlton as its new CEO.
Cook famously told North Melbourne in 2012 he would join them then backflipped, but he has postponed an official decision this year until Geelong’s season is over and seems intent on a new challenge.
If Sayers were able to secure Cook, it would open up all manner of possibilities including a renewed bid for Hawthorn master coach Alastair Clarkson. The club might also reconsider whether Ross Lyon is the kind of coach they need.
The message out of Carlton is clear - this is a club that needs an uncompromising, unflinching attitude to elite performance.
The club is seeking a harder edge to all football decisions.
It is why club champion Greg Williams is the new football boss. Lyon and Clarkson also fit that bill. Adding to the intrigue is that Liddle will not be replaced on the newly formed Blues coaching subcommittee - an interview process that turned Lyon off the coaching job.
Despite his stance, Carlton insiders have not ruled out Lyon — a great mate of Stephen Silvagni who left the Blues in acrimonious circumstances after falling out with Liddle.
Carlton said the decision to axe its CEO was made on Friday after Liddle sought certainty over his future at the club.
The board had met on Thursday night and decided that the Blues had not closed the gap between significant financial gains off the field and poor performances on the field.
“We are entering a reset phase for our football club, and while we have built a strong platform in a business sense, the ability to ensure our onfield position matches our off-field one is an area that must be addressed,” Sayers said.
Clarkson might end up committing to a year-long sabbatical, but if Cook were on board it would represent Carlton’s best chance to show it has finally found off-field stability.
Clarkson didn’t rate the way Carlton treated Brendon Bolton and has long been dismissive of the way moneyed interests run the Blues instead of the appointed board and executive.
Sayers hasn’t exactly dispelled that notion with his executive decisions so far but if he could pitch an elite CEO, a new board that does not represent the old school, an attractive list with Adam Cerra and George Hewett added in, it would at least give Clarkson food for thought.
Sayers said in a statement on Friday the club would seek a new CEO who could “drive a sustainable level of high performance across every department of the football club”.