An audacious attempt by Carlton to lure Brisbane Lions coach Chris Fagan to the club was swiftly “knocked on the head” by Fagan, according to Caroline Wilson.
After Carlton president Luke Sayers indicated that he would like a veteran coach to lead the club forward, the fallen Victorian powerhouse has failed to secure its top two targets in Alastair Clarkson and Ross Lyon.
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According to Wilson, the rejections from Clarkson and Lyon were quickly followed by an attempt to lure Fagan away from Brisbane, where he has overseen the club’s rise from a cellar-dweller to three straight top-four finishes.
“I can also reveal tonight that David Parkin, who sits on the coaching subcommittee, approached Chris Fagan not so long ago about the possibility of him coming to the club and being senior coach,” Wilson told Nine’s Footy Classified.
“I should add that Chris Fagan knocked that on the head immediately.”
The reported approach from Parkin to Fagan comes with Carlton currently without both a senior coach and a CEO after Cain Liddle was relieved of his duties last week.
Geelong coach Chris Scott has also been linked to the Carlton coaching role, particularly with outgoing Cats CEO, Brian Cook, likely heading to Ikon Park.
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Wilson and Footy Classified host, Craig Hutchison, were both highly critical of Carlton’s off-season.
“You just wonder who is actually making the decisions at the Carlton Football Club,” Wilson said.
“It’s extraordinary to me that Greg Williams now seems to be an executive director working at the club full-time helping choose the new coach.”
“That’s a mess. This subcommittee is just not working,” Hutchison added.
“There’s people having chats left, right and centre, one of the six subcommittee [members] has already gone, Greg Williams is on the board, but he’s paid, but he’s coming to work.
“Does Brad [Lloyd] work for the vacant CEO or does he work for Greg? I don’t like it at all.
“If Brian Cook goes in, he has to be given the keys and appoint the coach himself because this is a mess at the moment and it just continues to get worse and worse.”