{"id":584875,"date":"2026-04-04T11:21:29","date_gmt":"2026-04-04T11:21:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/584875\/"},"modified":"2026-04-04T11:21:29","modified_gmt":"2026-04-04T11:21:29","slug":"carlton-blues-coach-michael-voss-deserves-to-be-given-his-shot-at-turning-this-leaky-ship-around","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/584875\/","title":{"rendered":"Carlton Blues coach Michael Voss deserves to be given his shot at turning this leaky ship around"},"content":{"rendered":"

Opinion<\/p>\n

\"JakeJake Niall<\/a>Chief football writer, The Age<\/p>\n

April 4, 2026 \u2014 7:57pm<\/p>\n

April 4, 2026 \u2014 7:57pm<\/p>\n

Save<\/p>\n

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n

Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n

Save this article for later<\/p>\n

Add articles to your saved list and come back to them anytime.<\/p>\n

Got it<\/p>\n

AAA<\/p>\n

Michael Voss\u2019 position as Carlton coach is guaranteed for at least another week, in a season in which the club\u2019s stated aspiration<\/a> was to make the expanded version of finals, the top 10.<\/p>\n

It was a goal that bespoke realism and a recognition of the limitations of their playing list, which had lost Charlie Curnow<\/a>, Tom De Koning and Jack Silvagni and finished 11th in 2025.<\/p>\n

\"MichaelMichael Voss after the Blues\u2019 latest fadeout, this time against North Melbourne.AFL Photos<\/p>\n

At this point, the Blues are performing like a bottom-six side. If it is debatable whether they\u2019re bottom four, 14th or 13th, the form line is consistent: they build leads against teams in their weight division, only to be overrun thereafter.<\/p>\n

The Blues were saved from ignominy by the profligacy of Richmond\u2019s Tom Lynch in round one, blew a 43-point lead against the Demons and were then outworked and outrun by the younger Kangaroos late on Good Friday. The disparity in leg speed and numbers around the ball was notable in the final 10 minutes when North stormed home.<\/p>\n

Where does this leave Voss? Many Carlton fans have had enough, and would like to see him dealt with the traditional Carlton manner \u2013 sacked and replaced forthwith (and paid out). The more realistic know that the Blues aren\u2019t a finals team \u2013 not top eight at least \u2013 and are in the early stages of a football department-wide reset.<\/p>\n

\"BluesBlues president Rob Priestley and CEO Graham Wright have a decision to make.Getty Images<\/p>\n

Under the leadership of chief executive Graham Wright and president Rob Priestley, the Blues have preached stability and projected calm. They would know that the fans don\u2019t have infinite patience, but they also know that the club must cast ahead beyond 2026 in assessing Voss\u2019 position.<\/p>\n

The odds are clearly stacked against Voss continuing as senior coach in 2027, given that the Blues are not showing the improvement that the hierarchy said he would be judged on. The club\u2019s list moves \u2013 a move to the draft and youth emphasis \u2013 rendered Voss\u2019 task more difficult. But he could at least show that their method and mettle were improving, even if the raw talent was well below contention-ready.<\/p>\n

But if Voss is unlikely to survive into 2027, this does not mean he should be moved on in the coming few weeks to allow Carlton to begin searching for a successor. Indeed, to remove a contracted coach within the first third of the season would be both unnecessary and potentially harmful to the club\u2019s medium-term needs; it would repeat the historic patterns of ruthless impatience and mock the notion that this is a new sober Carlton.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Carlton<\/a><\/p>\n

Voss must be retained until it is evident that the Blues a) cannot attain their benchmark of the top 10, and b) are not demonstrating improvement in key metrics \u2013 one of which should be the execution of skills and defensive actions under duress.<\/p>\n

Logically, Voss should be given more than six or seven weeks to find an improved version. Once the finals are beyond them \u2013 and some critics would argue that\u2019s already so \u2013 then it is quite fair and reasonable for Wright and his football boss Chris Davies to advise Voss that he will not be offered a contract for 2027.<\/p>\n

Priestley told this masthead 10 days ago that Voss \u201cis our coach for this year\u201d.<\/p>\n

Once the decision has been made that Voss will not coach in 2027, it can be left to Voss to decide whether he wishes to coach out the remainder of this year. Most coaches choose to go immediately (or with one send-off game) once they get that bad news.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Plenty<\/a><\/p>\n

As football boss at Collingwood, Wright removed Nathan Buckley in mid-2021<\/a>, allowing the Magpies time to openly search for his replacement; Buckley was rightly given a dignified exit<\/a> that respected his magnificent service to the club and stature in the game.<\/p>\n

Voss, whose contribution to Carlton is not as longstanding as Buckley\u2019s to Collingwood (nor as successful), nonetheless deserves to be given his shot at turning this leaky ship around, and seeing whether he can plug the leaks that have sunk the Blues in three winnable games against less-than-stellar opposition.<\/p>\n

The respite is unlikely to come on Thursday in the Gather Round opener against the Crows.<\/p>\n

Once the season is gone, Voss can be moved on. But no sooner. The days of sacking coaches in April and May should be long gone, even at Royal Parade.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

Save<\/p>\n

You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n

Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n

\"JakeJake Niall<\/a> is a Walkley award-winning sports journalist and chief AFL writer for The Age.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Opinion Jake NiallChief football writer, The Age April 4, 2026 \u2014 7:57pm April 4, 2026 \u2014 7:57pm Save…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":584876,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[560],"tags":[638,64,63,55,639,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-584875","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-afl","8":"tag-afl","9":"tag-au","10":"tag-australia","11":"tag-australian-football-league","12":"tag-australianfootballleague","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=584875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/584875\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/584876"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=584875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=584875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=584875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}