Brett Ratten’s departure as Carlton coach will be made official on Thursday.
The Blues have decided to dump Ratten, even though he has a full year remaining on his contract.
The red-hot favourite to take over from the 41-year-old in 2013 is Mick Malthouse, whose decorated coaching CV includes three premierships with West Coast (1992 and 1994) and Collingwood (2010).
The final straw for the Blues board was last weekend’s shock loss to Gold Coast which ended their finals hopes.
Two days later, Carlton president Stephen Kernahan – a 1995 premiership teammate of Ratten – insisted no decision would be made on his close friend’s coaching future until after Sunday’s concluding home and away clash against St Kilda.
That timetable has been moved forward, although it was unclear whether Ratten would take charge of the Blues for one final time in the dead rubber against the Saints, or if that task would fall to one of his assistants.
Ratten will front a media conference at Carlton’s Visy Park headquarters at 0930 (AEST) where he is expected to be joined by Kernahan and Carlton CEO Greg Swann.
“(It will) clarify the speculation regarding Brett Ratten’s coaching future,” Carlton said in a statement.
Assistant coach Alan Richardson replaced Ratten for the regular midweek media conference on Wednesday in what was ultimately a failed attempt to shift the focus away from Ratten.
Richardson insisted Ratten was remaining upbeat despite his uncertain future.
“He’s incredibly optimistic and positive about coaching the team to respond to the weekend,” Richardson said.
“In Brett Ratten’s mind right now, from what we see as coaches, it’s about making up for an incredibly disappointing performance.
“It’s got nothing to do with Brett Ratten in terms of his own future.
“It’s all about making sure that we respond as a footy club and a footy team this week.”
Ratten has coached the Blues to 60 wins in his 119 matches at the helm since taking over from Denis Pagan late in the 2007 season.
Carlton qualified for the finals in each of the past three years, with Ratten putting on record early this season that the club wanted a top-four finish in 2012.
Finishing a long way short of that target helped seal Ratten’s fate.
As did the availability of such a well-credentialled replacement as Malthouse, who has spent 2012 working in the media after being replaced in the top job at Collingwood by Nathan Buckley.
Prior to this season, the highly-respected Malthouse had spent 27 successive years as a head coach at Western Bulldogs, West Coast and Collingwood.
The 58-year-old is the second most experienced coach in VFL/AFL history with 664, behind only Magpies legend Jock McHale (714).
Out-of-contract Collingwood key forward Travis Cloke has also been linked with a move to the Magpies’ arch-rivals Carlton, a prospect that could become more likely if Malthouse agrees to terms with the Blues.