Carlton will wait for their disappointing AFL season to end this weekend before making a call on coach Brett Ratten.

And three-time premiership coach Mick Malthouse, the hot tip to take over if the Blues sack Ratten, said on Monday he would not decide his future in football until this season is over.

Ratten’s future is again the subject of fierce speculation after Carlton suffered a shock loss to Gold Coast on Saturday night, ending their finals chances.

It came just a week after the Blues smashed Essendon, a win that appeared to shore up Ratten’s future.

“Everyone at the club is terribly disappointed with the loss on Saturday night, however it does not change our position in relation to reviewing our operations at the end of the season,” Carlton president Stephen Kernahan said.

“After the weekend’s matches we now know Sunday’s game against St Kilda will be our final match for the season.

“There will be no decisions and indeed no further meetings to review the operations of the club until after Sunday’s game.”

Ratten is contracted until the end of 2013.

Malthouse, 58, has not ruled out the prospect of returning to senior coaching but said he would not do so until he had consulted with his family.

He said even if offers were made through his manager Peter Sidwell, he did not expect to be informed until he was ready to consider them.

And the three-time premiership coach with West Coast and Collingwood said if he decided against coaching in 2013, it was virtually certain he would not coach again at senior level.

“When you’ve had a family for so long involved in football and you can see the joy and you can see the heartache and the breaking points, you’ve got to keep asking yourself, really, do you intend to go right through that again,” Malthouse told Fairfax radio on Monday.

Malthouse said he had been asked by family members whether he wanted to return to coaching because of the mounting speculation.

“They’ve all got a different view – and they have different views from different times,” he said.

“I’ve always said ‘never say never’ but it doesn’t mean I’m close to it.

“I’ve got to look at it – is it a good lifestyle, is it going to be the lifestyle I want for my family?”

Nathan Buckley succeeded Malthouse as Collingwood coach this year.