Sacked North Melbourne coach Alastair Clarkson is “seething” with the way the club handled his departure.
7NEWS chief AFL reporter Mitch Cleary revealed Clarkson was axed on Wednesday before the president Sonja Hood and football boss Todd Viney fronted the media to explain the decision.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Alastair Clarkson ‘seething’ at North’s handling of sacking
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Clarkson, who was contracted for next year, was shocked when he was told on Tuesday night that his time is up.
He released a statement when the initial story was confirmed, but before North Melbourne spoke.
“We set out to stabilise the club and lay the foundations for a return to playing deep in September,” he said.
“The challenge was a difficult one that I embraced with my whole being.
“My family and I have been privileged to be involved in AFL football for over 40 years, but it is now time for a new chapter.”
Viney and Hood then outlined the reasons for Clarkson’s departure in a “remarkable” media conference that left the former coach fuming.
Viney and Hood questioned Clarkson’s game plan, his communication to the players and said they wanted the next coach to know the “modern game”.
“The Alastair Clarkson camp and Alastair Clarkson himself are seething about the way the media conference played out today at North Melbourne. A remarkable media conference,” Tom Morris said on The Agenda Setters.
St Kilda great Nick Riewoldt couldn’t believe some of the language used, likening the situation to “dancing on Clarkson’s grave” on his way out.
“This is why it was such an extraordinary press conference because you don’t typically hear an outgoing coach be spoken about they way they spoke about him,” he said.
“I thought the players were somewhat thrown under the bus a little bit by speaking about that he lost people on and off the field. That puts the players in a really difficult position.
“The hits kept on coming in that press conference.
“I thought the press conference was an overshare. It’s a tough job and I understand Todd Viney and Clarkson are good mates, and Sonja Hood was the champion when she brought him into the club. So it would have been really difficult for them, but I thought they overshared.
“Some of it was in poor taste. You don’t need to dance on someone’s grave like this on the way out.
“There was information that was given today … we cry for honesty in the media and I get all that, but some of the stuff didn’t need to be shared.”
Riewoldt noted how Hood had “lied” six weeks ago and should have just done the same on Wednesday.
“When Sonja Hood was asked six weeks ago what sort of job Alastair Clarkson was doing, she said he was doing a terrific job. So she clearly didn’t think he was doing a terrific job because you can’t go from terrific to no job in six weeks,” he said.
“So you lied then, why not just lie today on a few of those questions and save the man some dignity and show a little bit of respect.”
7NEWS reporter Xander McGuire said it was a tough balancing act for the club, because a lot of fans would have appreciated the honesty in explaining the shock decision.
Brownlow medallist Tom Mitchell, who played under Clarkson at Hawthorn, couldn’t understand why his game plan was questioned.
“It was a pretty strong press conference, wasn’t it? When you hear some of the language, confused messaging, game plan, delegating, I find game plan a tough one to get my head around,” he said.
“And he’s been the most innovative coach of the last two decades, and the last decade still.
“And he’s always innovating and even chatting to some of the younger North players on a podcast last week. He’s still one of the smartest guys out there in terms of his footy brain. So I find that hard to agree with.”
