Mick Malthouse has been sacked as coach of Carlton after a dreadful run of results.

Assistant coach John Barker will take over Malthouse’s job in a caretaker capacity.

Malthouse confirmed his coaching career was over in a statement released on Tuesday evening.

“This concludes my coaching journey but I will enjoy viewing the game from afar and its progress.

“I particularly want to thank my family who have been resilient and loyal beyond the call of duty at all times. I look forward to enjoying some of the spare time I now have as a family more than ever before.

Carlton president Mark LoGiudice and CEO Steven Trigg deliver the news. Photo: Getty

“To the media I wish you well – despite our constant battlefield……you might even miss me!

“I bear no grudges and I have no regrets. I have achieved some amazing football highs with some wonderful people and endured tough times with great support.”

He registered an AFL record 718 senior matches as coach across four clubs and 31 seasons, winning three premierships with West Coast (1992, 1994) and Collingwood (2010).

Earlier, Carlton president Mark LoGiudice and CEO Steven Trigg fronted the media to address Malthouse’s sacking.

“The Carlton Football Club Board has today advised Mick Malthouse that his contract as senior coach has been terminated effective immediately,” LoGiudice said in a statement.

“As I communicated to Mick and our members yesterday, the decision on our senior coaching role was to be reviewed, considered and delivered in the week of the bye.

“However, unfortunately Mick’s obvious public misalignment with the football club has resulted in a loss of trust between the club and coach.

“The Board today considered the situation had deteriorated to such an extent that not making a change now would only exacerbate our current position.”

LoGiudice paid tribute to Malthouse.

“I would like to acknowledge Mick Malthouse’s contribution to Carlton and the broader football community. He is rightly described as a legend of the game,” he said.

“The role of a senior coach is demanding and uncompromising, one that takes true passion and dedication. Carlton is grateful to have been a part of his coaching legacy.

“This decision was not made easily. AFL football is ultimately about people and relationships. Unfortunately, in this case the relationship regrettably has not worked.”

Just a day after being told his position would be evaluated after Round 10, Malthouse’s fate was effectively sealed by an explosive radio interview he conducted on Melbourne radio station SEN on Tuesday morning.

He sounded like a man resigned to his fate.

“If people can judge me after 30 years, what’s two more weeks mean? That I lose it totally or gain more knowledge about it?” he said.

“There’s not a lot to gain by 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.”

When asked whether he thought he would be reappointed to the coaching role, Malthouse gave a simple “No”.

Carlton chief Steven Trigg. Photo: Getty

Malthouse lamented that the coach was always the first to be sacrificed when boards needed to relieve pressure.

“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,” the veteran coach said.

“They beat their chest because they’ve made a decision, and they move on.

“Very few of them ever work.”

In a startling admission, the embattled coach also said Trigg had spoken to him about appointing a caretaker coach mid-season, a concept he described as “damn ridiculous”.

“What do they get out of it, is it an ego trip or a pressure valve release? I don’t know,” he said.

Malthouse also revealed that Carlton CEO Steven Trigg had told him when he arrived at the club not to take the departure of small forward Eddie Betts personally because the move was sealed 18 months before he left.

Malthouse said he knew it would be an uphill battle to keep his job after the pair who brought him in – former chief executive Greg Swann and former president Stephen Kernahan – left the club last year.

But he was certain he had the backing of his players, some of whom he said felt alienated and “hung out on a limb” by the Blues’ mandate to rebuild its playing list.

“The day that I think the players aren’t responding … if that is the case that’s when you do stop coaching.”

Malthouse’s last game was a 77-point drubbing from Geelong, the club against whom he won his first two premierships at West Coast.

Mick Malthouse’s life in football

St Kilda

1972-76. Games: 53 as a player

Recruited from North Ballarat, the tough, hard-working defender played three finals in his first season with the Saints. Eventually departed for Richmond halfway through the 1976 campaign after coach Allan Jeans told him his opportunities had become limited.

Richmond

1976-83. Games: 121 as a player

Malthouse slotted into the Tigers’ defence seamlessly and went on to play in the club’s record-breaking flag-winning team over Collingwood in 1980. He famously missed out on the Tigers’ grand final side in 1982 after failing a searching fitness test administered by coach Francis Bourke and retired the next year.

Footscray

1984-89. Games: 135 as a coach. Won: 67 Lost: 66 Drawn: 2

Quickly made the transition from playing to coaching at the age of 30. Guided the Bulldogs to one finals campaign, in 1985, and established a reputation as a hard-nosed authoritarian.

West Coast

1990-99. Games: 243 as a coach. Won: 156 Lost: 85 Drawn: 2

Malthouse became the Eagles’ third coach in the fledgling club’s fourth season in the competition. He left a strong legacy, with West Coast winning two flags and making the finals in every season he was in charge.

Collingwood

2000-11. Games: 286 as a coach. Won: 163 Lost: 121 Drawn: 2

Took over from Tony Shaw, who was sacked after the Pies slumped to the wooden spoon in 1999. Guided Collingwood to two grand finals early in his tenure, with the team becoming regular finals participants before breaking through to win the 2010 flag in the grand final replay against St Kilda.

Carlton

2013-present. Games as a coach: 54 Won: 20 Lost: 33 Drawn: 1

After a year in the media, Malthouse replaced Brett Ratten, who was sacked by the Blues after five full seasons in charge. He took Carlton to the finals in his first season, but the Blues managed just seven wins last year and one so far in 2015.