THE CARLTON board and CEO Steven Trigg are meeting to discuss the future of coach Mick Malthouse.
Trigg and football manager Andrew McKay were seen at president Mark LoGiudice's city office around noon on Tuesday.
It is expected that Malthouse will be sacked as a result of the meeting, with the tipping point an inflammatory radio interview he conducted on Tuesday morning.
Tension between Carlton and Malthouse escalated when the veteran coach questioned why the club was waiting for two weeks to make a decision on his future and acknowledging that the end of his Blues career was close.
In a radio commitment on Tuesday arranged in the pre-season, Malthouse emphasised he would not stand down from his post regardless of Carlton's decision made in the bye round because of an "obligation to my player group".
However, he said he did not expect to be reappointed beyond this season.
Malthouse said whatever happened with the team in the next two weeks was "hardly relevant", after the Blues announced they would commit to a revised timeline and review Malthouse's position in round 11.
"If people can judge me after 30 years, what's two more weeks mean? That I'd lose it totally or I'd gain more knowledge about it?" Malthouse told SEN on Tuesday morning.
"There's not a lot to gain from two weeks, is there?
"I don't really get [it] … if you don't know about the person now, what does two weeks show?
"We play Sydney with a depleted side and we play Adelaide with hopefully a couple of blokes coming back, but we're not too sure about that either.
"It's a tall ask to go to the SCG playing a side like Sydney, who have played 25 players and I think we've played 35 - and unfortunately we might lose players from the weekend.
"It's going to be a tough game, so I don't know what can be gained from that or the Adelaide game that people don't know now."
Malthouse said he knew his position would be "very difficult to hold" after president Stephen Kernahan stepped down in favour of Mark LoGuidice and Greg Swann left for the Brisbane Lions' CEO position.
"Good boards stay sound. Boards crack under pressure, and the first thing that goes is the coach because it relieves a bit of the pressure," he said.
"They beat their chest and they've made a decision and they move on.
"Very few of them ever work, but I dare say that people will quote the ones that do work."
Malthouse said while he didn't expect to be reappointed, whether he coached on beyond round 11 would not be his decision.
"Those things are taken out of your hands. They don't give you opportunity once decisions are made," he said.
"The board or administration make the decision and that's final. I don't think there's a lot to enter into."
He said he would only walk away when he felt the players were no longer responding to his message.
Malthouse refused to blame injuries for the bottom-placed team's position, but said the Blues "never got on their feet" after a run of misfortune in the pre-season.
Matthew Kreuzer, who he believed would be "recruit of the year", broke down with a foot injury, Bryce Gibbs had an interrupted lead in and Michael Jamison and Lachie Henderson have battled issues.
"We just haven't been able to get anything near a side that we believe is our most competitive," he said.
"I've never blamed injuries but I felt damn this, no one else is coming out from the club and saying what the reality is.
"I did last week, that the list is has been terribly disjointed by key injuries and we've been exposed."
Malthouse again said the rebuild needed to happen but he was approached by senior players because they felt "alienated" by the position and that they were "hung out on a limb" when their names were mentioned as potential trade bait.
And he said he was told by CEO Steven Trigg, a former Crows chief executive, that Eddie Betts was "stitched up" by Adelaide 18 months before the forward left Carlton at the end of 2013, a claim that was instantly dismissed on Twitter as being "100% incorrect" by Betts' manager Ned Guy.
@MorningGlorySEN That is 100% incorrect
— Ned Guy (@nedguy12) May 25, 2015
The Malthouse interview came as Carlton supporters moved to voice their support of the veteran coach in the form of an online petition.
The petition is directed at LoGiudice and Trigg, and calls for a general meeting to address the issue, with members "fed up with knee jerk reactions from the Carlton board" and maintaining "belief in Mick Malthouse's long-term playing strategy for the Carlton squad".