A "GUTTED" Mick Malthouse fully understands Friday night's heavy loss to Collingwood has left him in an even more precarious position as Carlton coach.
The Blues were obliterated by Collingwood on Friday night, thumped by 75 points in what was Malthouse's record-breaking 715th match as coach.
Malthouse slammed his players' work ethic after the game, describing it as "disappointing a game as I've been attached to here at Carlton".
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The loss was the club's fourth from five games this year and with only one win – over fellow battlers St Kilda – the coach said he knew his chances of earning another contract at Carlton would continue to plummet as long as the Blues kept losing.
"I'm quite gutted, frankly," Malthouse told radio station 3AW.
"I'm a realist, [I know the board can't] sustain a coach that isn't winning games.
"I know when I'm contracted to, I'm contracted until the end of October and all my staff know that so we coach our heart out until such time as it’s either renewed or not.
"That's life; I face that very thing in a realistic manner…it simply means you approach every week and treat it as gold.
"I'm under no illusions."
Meanwhile, Blues veteran Chris Judd denied Malthouse had lost the playing group, despite yet another horror loss.
Judd said Friday night's performance on such an historic occasion was unacceptable.
He said the players had failed their coach.
"If it was one thing we'd fix it and move on but obviously footy's a little more complex than that," Judd told radio station SEN.
"We need to work harder, have more intensity, use the ball better – there's a whole host of things ... we know where we sit.
"Our leaders are emerging and working really hard on their craft and I don't see that as a deficiency for us at the minute.
"In terms of playing for Mick we’re very clear on what a good coach he is and what a good job he’s doing [but] there's no doubt he was essentially let down last night by the playing group."
