CARLTON coach Brett Ratten has bristled at reporters in a post-match press conference questioning his tenure at the club after the Blues' shock 12-point loss to Gold Coast on Saturday night.
Ratten's position has been the centre of speculation for much of the season, and the calamitous nature of the loss puts him square in the gun again.
Three-time premiership coach Mick Malthouse has been linked with the job, and Saturday's crushing defeat will do nothing to stop the chorus of supporters wanting Ratten out.
Mathematically Carlton is still a chance to make the top eight, but even Ratten has given up, saying "we can't play finals".
The loss was nothing short of embarrassing for the Blues, playing a virtual Suns reserves team, decimated by injuries.
They were lethargic in the first quarter and wasteful in the last three and never led.
Ratten was blunt when asked if he was concerned for his future after the loss.
"What do you reckon mate? Come on, you asked the question. What do you reckon?" Ratten said to a reporter.
When the reporter replied with "I imagine so", Ratten continued.
"Good guess, well done," he said
"I’m just asking the question," the reporter said.
"I'm just giving you the answer," Ratten replied.
Click here to watch Brett Ratten's media conference
Blues captain Chris Judd was at a loss to explain the performance, saying Ratten and the club deserved better.
"There's no doubt the players let everyone down tonight," Judd said.
"It's not about Ratts, it's about us letting down our entire footy club and supporters.
"The senior players need to take responsibility for that. We're the ones out on the park that can influence the game and we just didn't produce tonight."
One man in Ratten's corner was opposition coach Guy McKenna.
"I don't think he could have done more … for Carlton this year," McKenna said.
"Given his injuries and what they've been able to do, I think he's done the best any coach could have done in that situation."
Ratten described the night as a "train wreck" following the ACL injury to Andrew McInnes in the opening seconds.
He said the Suns played well but Carlton bombed its opportunities, leading most statistical categories but finishing with just 11.20 to Gold Coast's 15.8.
"By the end of the game we've dominated nearly every area of the game but our inability to score and the way they kept scoring - in the third they took it in eight times and scored five times," Ratten said.
"In the end we've had 31 shots and three or four out on the full, so we've had 35 shots from 66 entries to 43, so it's just very, very poor football. We've only got ourselves to blame.
"We gave the Suns a look … and they were right at us all day and we gave them the opportunity and they delivered."
Michael Whiting covers AFL news for AFL.com.au. Follow him on Twitter: @AFL_mikewhiting
The views in this story are those of the author and not necessarily those of the clubs or the AFL
