Inside the meeting that ended the Carlton coach’s time at the Blues

The lobby of the Sofitel in Brisbane is a large space filled with armchairs, small coffee tables and beige carpets. When Michael Voss told Chris Davies he wanted to chat at lunchtime on Friday, the pair found the quietest corner they could.

Carlton’s new football boss Davies and Voss knew each other well having worked together for a long time at Port Adelaide, so Voss felt comfortable being open with him about what could happen next at Carlton. Voss had a reasonable understanding of regular dinners or breakfasts (about every six weeks) with Davies, chief executive Graham Wright and chairman Rob Priestley. He wanted to be more direct with Davies.

After last week’s defeat to St Kilda, Voss made it even clearer that no matter how hard he tried, especially after half-time, he felt like Sisyphus as he watched the rock of first-half work and success roll back past him in the second half of games.

The Club likewise felt they were watching a bad high-rotation sitcom; The first half established a plot so hopeful and joyful that it was crushed by the punchline of disappointment in the second half.

Realizing the inevitable, Voss said he had better leave as soon as possible. It wasn’t a selfish choice, but one made to avoid the discomfort of a coach knowing he wasn’t part of their future but still being there. How can he be there and not be involved in countless important player-related discussions next season and beyond?

Davies understood. They agreed that Brisbane would be his last game. They stood, shook hands and agreed to keep quiet until this week, except when Davies informed his boss Wright.

Michael Voss played his last game as coach after the Brisbane match.Getty Images

Voss stood up, left the Sofitel and walked down the street to meet his manager, Peter Blucher, at a cafe near the GPO. He joked with Carlton that he might have backed down a little more when he said he was quitting.

There had been a frank conversation between Voss, Davies and Wright earlier in the season about the post-mortem of another defeat.

The club had only beaten Richmond – Richmond! – by four points in the opening month. The season was flying by quickly. It wasn’t made clear what would happen next if the club didn’t turn things around and start the season, but it didn’t need to be said. Everyone in the room knew what was going to happen next at the clubs in Carlton’s case.

Results on the pitch have clarified the club’s thinking. Although it was obvious to everyone that the players continued to play for their coach and the coach never lost touch with them, the results were louder. A coach who could often take his team into leading positions in the first half must be doing something right in terms of preparation and messaging, but the same routine pattern of matches also pointed to a problem in play and coaching.

The playlist was a complicating issue. The board and senior executives knew the game was going one way and Carlton and his list were heading in another. What they needed to see from the coach was not just a win, but at least a change in the style of play the others were playing. They didn’t see it. It was debatable whether this was the coach’s fault or the players’ inability to play.

As to whether Voss will be able to demonstrate a changing style of play with the players he has available to many coaches, the club said something had to change after one win and eight losses. They needed a circuit breaker, and Voss was the circuit breaker; It is the last of a series of senior leadership positions at the club that have remained unchanged over the last twelve months.

The club is in the bottom three with one win. However, they still had four games that ended with less than 14 points. They felt they could and should have beaten North Melbourne and Melbourne, and if not beaten Collingwood they at least drew with them. Who knows what would have happened if they had won all three games? If the club had been four and five men this decision would not have been taken by Voss and he would not have been encouraged to do so at this stage of the season.

“Ultimately, we didn’t see the intended evolution in our game beyond just the results,” Priestley said.

While long-term decisions are not made based on short-term results, those short-term results combined for last season’s nine wins, continuing the trend since the high watermark in 2023.

Voss failed in part because of a change none of the football department fully expected. They uploaded a list of slow players who couldn’t play the modern passing game. As the number of stoppages per match decreased, so did the effectiveness of their clunky midfield.

No single person is ever responsible for success or failure at a club, but losing in football requires change and normally that change is the senior coach. This is a results-based industry, and Voss’s results were not there.