CARLTON'S decision to replace Brett Ratten as coach, with a view to appointing Mick Malthouse, was painful but understandable. Given five years, the incumbent was still to convince that he could drive a team all the way. The opportunity to grab one of the best, who's done it repeatedly, was too good to pass up.

But the Carlton/Malthouse fit is not entirely without challenge. The club and its new man will at some future stage be required to extend themselves in ways they have previously resisted. There are interesting times ahead.

''We have to strike,'' club president Stephen Kernahan said at Thursday's announcement of Ratten's departure.

Carlton's reputation as a successful club within the AFL era is shaky - one flag in 25 years is scarcely top 10.

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They can hear the clock ticking on Chris Judd. They have a core of high draft picks and other good players in the prime of their football years. Time is on the wing. Only a flag will appease the discomfort.

So the Blues intend to appoint a proven coach who, in his first year at the helm, will turn 60. On the score of age, it will be a unique appointment. And they will hope to quickly win a premiership to justify it.

If the coup is completed and delivers its clear objective, all will be well. The Baggers will have a 17th flag and the coach would join the exclusive four-flag club. But what then?

As ever, Carlton is acting for the here and now. Replacing coaches is in its DNA; doing hard yards towards a longer-term objective is not. The play for Malthouse, justified though it may be, can't be seen as other than a short-term grab. He perhaps has a five year shelf-life. As well as he coached at Collingwood, the premiership there took a decade.

This means Carlton, as it commits to a full assault under a proven veteran, must also think to the long-term. The last time it did this, Wayne Brittain was shoehorned into the coach's box behind David Parkin, then - in a moment of political expediency - sacked within two years.

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