Carlton Head of Football Brad Lloyd received an interesting surprise when he caught up with Justin Leppitsch about potentially being an assistant coach at the club in 2022, according to The Age.
The report suggests Leppitsch informed Lloyd that he had already been approached by someone within the Blues about taking over Chris Judd’s role on the board. An approach Lloyd was apparently not across.
Garry Lyon wonders what that information says about the club internally and how David Teague and his coaching staff would be feeling.
“Let’s say you’re the coach of Carlton. You’re in the job. Chris Judd says we didn’t want a coach with training wheels. That was his quote,” Lyon told SEN Breakfast.
“David Teague’s sitting there now, it’s a big year, we’ve recruited well, it hasn’t started really well and they go, ‘we’re appointing John Worsfold to help you out David’.
“Weeks later they go, ‘and by the way, we’ve also approached Justin Leppitsch to be your senior assistant coach next year’.
“Just tell me what’s happening at Carlton in the coaching fraternity which is tightknit. Teague sits in there with his assistant coaches who are going, ‘what are we, chopped liver?’
“So far you’ve got Worsfold to come in and help you out and now they’re talking about Leppitsch next year. How’s the environment?”
Tim Watson gave his answer to the question: “Potentially it’s toxic.”
“Sam McClure has written in The Age that Carlton football boss Brad Lloyd caught up with Leppitsch about the potential of him being an assistant coach with Teague and then Leppa says at the meeting that he had already been approached to take over from Chris Judd as the football director on the board by someone else,” Watson added.
“So the left hand is not talking to the right hand either. It does paint a picture of a club that is at odds with itself internally. If you’re not communicating, you’re at odds with yourself.
“Generally (these conversations) happen later in the year and now somebody who is in that position at Carlton, let’s just say it’s John Barker, he goes into the office today and says, ‘what’s going on here?’.
“It reeks of a miscommunication within the football club and it’s something they need to address.”
Carlton sits 13th on the ladder with three wins after nine games.
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