Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Former Carlton star Brendan Fevola has taken aim at the Blues, declaring they are hopeless and Michael Voss should quit if they lose to North Melbourne on Good Friday.
Voss, in his fifth season in charge, is again under enormous pressure after the Blues squandered a 43-point lead to Melbourne on Sunday to lose by 23 points.
The Blues have only one win from their opening three games, their defensive woes over the past year continuing to haunt a team which club bosses declared at the weekend was gunning for the finals.
Fevola, the former champion goalkicker and a Carlton Hall of Fame member, said Voss – his former coach at Brisbane – should depart if the Blues fall against the resurgent Kangaroos on Friday.
“At the end of the day, we’re in round four, we play North Melbourne on Friday. You can’t sack the coach today because we play in four days. If they lose to North Melbourne, I would just quit,” Fevola said on his breakfast radio show on Fox FM on Monday.
“At the end of the day, it’s time for Michael … he’s a hard man, he’s not going to throw his cards [in].”
Asked if the Blues had a losing reputation, Fevola replied: “Yeah, we’re hopeless.”
The Blues were contacted for comment.
Despite what Voss insisted on the eve of the season was a new-look team, the Blues continue to struggle to contain opponents, ceding leads when they look to be in complete control. They famously capitulated against Richmond in round one last year, and allowed Hawthorn, Adelaide, North Melbourne, Brisbane and Fremantle to go on major runs after half-time later in the 2025 season.
This year they have conceded a combined 36.21 (237) after half-time, and managed to score only 11.18. (84) – a whopping 153-point differential.
They almost let slip a 27-point half-time lead over the Tigers in round one, hanging on to win by four points. In opening round against Sydney, they conceded 75 points alone in the third quarter, having led by 10 points at the main break, to lose.
Fevola said the Blues looked lost when attempting to curb opposition runs-ons, an issue they had worked to rectify over summer.
“They have got one game plan – go out there, have fun, and play. The other team goes: ‘OK, this is what they’re doing’ and put things in place,” Fevola said.
“It’s been three years … you don’t want to blame the coach and drive the bus over Vossy. When the players are out there, the players play. The coach has some say when the game goes on, but it’s up the players.
“It’s up to Patty Cripps – he’s the captain – to go: ‘Let’s lock it down for a couple of minutes and set up our systems’. But they just don’t know how to do it. Whether it’s the coach or the coaching staff – they’ve got coaching staff, and I don’t know how good they go … I’m trying not to whack [them] too hard.”
Dual North Melbourne premiership player David King, now a prominent commentator, said Voss’ cards may already be marked.
“The fans’ anger towards the whole Carlton situation has just bubbled to a point now,” King told SEN on Monday.
“I think Carlton have had ‘the game’. When the coach is under all sorts of pressure coming in to the season, you can’t afford to have ‘the game’ like this. There’s a moment in time when you go: ‘You know what, this is probably not going to recover, this is probably not going to serve any purpose’.
“After witnessing what we’ve witnessed in the second halves of the last three weeks – they either can’t perform the way they’re asked to play for 120 minutes; or he just can’t get it out of them any more.”
Blues president Rob Priestley told this masthead at the weekend – before the game against Melbourne – the club was backing Voss, and he would be judged on several areas before a decision was made on whether to offer him a new contract beyond this year.
King said Cripps had been unable to take a stand, and questioned the value of recruits Ollie Florent and Will Hayward.
Fevola also questioned the Blues’ fitness, and said he and his daughter were among the thousands of fans who streamed from the MCG when the Demons hit the front late in the final term.
“They mustn’t be fit enough. I was sitting with my daughter Lulu, and it was 44 to 1, and I go: ‘We will lose, you watch, we’ll lose’,” Fevola said.
“I think every Carlton supporter felt the same. When ‘Kozzie’ Pickett kicked the goal with five minutes to go in the last quarter, I grabbed the kids and I left. I said I’m out of here. I walked outside and there was 50,000 Carlton supporters that had already left.”
Essendon great Matthew Lloyd said the Blues were “pedestrian” and were guilty of playing “too safe”.
Voss said after Sunday’s loss the Blues had to get better quickly.
“I’m pretty filthy. We’re putting ourselves into great positions, and we’re handing it back,” he said.
“That sounds like I’m taking away something from Melbourne because you’ve got to be able to go at the game and challenge the opposition and turn the momentum your way. But we’re also not helping ourselves.”
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Jon Pierik is a sports journalist at The Age. He covers AFL and has won awards for his cricket and basketball writing.Connect via X or email.
