Dual premiership coach Denis Pagan believes Carlton's current treatment of Mick Malthouse shows they have not learnt anything about solidarity since they sacked him as their coach almost eight years ago.

"I feel for Mick. It's exactly the same," said Pagan, who was appointed in 2002 after a decorated decade at North Melbourne but departed the Blues in late 2007 after their players did not come close to replicating the feats of the Kangaroos who played under him.

"Have a look at how the good clubs operate. Carlton has always been fractured. I can't remember it being as one. It's exactly the same now as it was when I was there. I've been – I won't say lucky – able to experience it from the inside, and now I can look at it from the outside."

Pagan arrived at the Blues having won 63 per cent of his matches at North, where they made finals in nine of his 10 years. He finished with a career record just over 50 per cent, having won only a quarter of matches he coached the Blues, who were subject to draft bans in his first two years because of prior salary cap breaches.

Malthouse had won 58 per cent of his matches across three clubs, but that has dropped as Carlton have won only 20 of the 52 matches he had coached them in.

Pagan, who now runs a real estate business with son Ryan, said at North he had received strong support from then president Ron Casey. He cited Geelong, Sydney and Collingwood as clubs that have thrived under strong leadership, with Frank Costa and Brian Cook at the Cats, Richard Colless and Andrew Ireland at the Swans and Eddie McGuire and Gary Pert at the Magpies.

"Everything starts at the front office. If you've got a strong unity there [it sets the tone for the whole club]," he said.

"You never hear any whingeing or moaning at Collingwood. If they do they're out of the place that quick it isn't funny. I just can't understand how some clubs just don't get it."

Pagan said he held no grudges towards Carlton and hoped they could "salvage something" from a

season in which they have won only once in the opening six rounds. He reckoned the strong start to 2015 by Western Bulldogs, in the aftermath of losing captain Ryan Griffen and other senior players, was influenced by the strong leadership of president Peter Gordon that should be noted by the Blues.

Carlton president Mark LoGiudice declared on Monday that Malthouse would coach out the season, but did not guarantee that captain Marc Murphy and his deputy Bryce Gibbs will not be traded. He said he had only "touched on" Sunday's "hard to watch" loss to hitherto win-less Brisbane with Malthouse when the pair met at club headquarters on Monday.

The president said his message to Malthouse would be "to win games of football – it's that simple".

While Pagan said he rated Malthouse as "an elite coach" he had no qualms about Carlton reserving their decision on whether his contract, which lapses at the end of the season, will be extended. He argued that the Blues' top priority should be strongly supporting Malthouse until that decision was made.

"They're entitled to make their own decision, but if I was chairman of Carlton I'd get the board together, I'd get the coaches, I'd get the players, I'd get the staff and I'd say to everybody regardless of what happens we're not going to make a decision until the end of the year, but in the meantime we want everyone together. We don't want any scuttlebutt, any Chinese whispers, any factions or splinter groups, don't want anyone whingeing or moaning. And if anyone from outside, like a Mark Maclure, opens his trap I'd say to Mark Maclure, if I was the president, 'Listen Mark, you were a wonderful premiership player for us, pull your head in. If you want to help come into the club now,"' he said.

"I know they've got a big board – and I don't know many of the board members these days – but I don't think anything has changed much since I was coaching, quite frankly.

"What's the use of having a coach if you're not going to support him? You're dragging your own club down ... I just can't believe how you can think you can operate a football club like that.

"I suspect Mick knows he's a dead man walking, like I was [in 2007], but he's big enough and tough enough to realise that if you don't win that's the consequences of not winning."

Malthouse's manager Peter Sidwell told Fairfax Media last week his client could lead a Blues renaissance – as he had done at his three previous clubs – should he be given the opportunity through a contract extension.

Having "bottomed right out", the Blues have maintained a united front, with Gibbs taking the unsolicited step of joining Murphy when fronting a media pack hungry for answers.

Murphy and Gibbs were forced to bat away suggestions, which emerged in radio interviews by LoGiudice last month, that each could be traded at the end of the year, while insisting the players and Malthouse were determined to avenge a bruising opening six weeks to the season which has resulted in just one win.

Gibbs, who joined Murphy six minutes into the press conference, denied he and the skipper could be traded in exchange for high draft picks to accelerate a rebuild recruiting chief Steve Silvagni has flagged could take three seasons.

"Marc signed a four-year deal, I signed a five-year deal. I think that showed where we want to be, and I don't think the club would have signed us up if they knew we didn't want to be here," Gibbs said. "I don't think he (LoGiudice) said that at all."

However, LoGiudice, speaking later on Monday, was unable to confirm Murphy and Gibbs were safe.

"I don't know who has made those comments, other than the media. We certainly haven't," he said, when asked of the possibility that the pair could be traded. He stopped short of guaranteeing they would be with the Blues next year, saying: "I can't guarantee anything other than to say that they have long-term contracts with this football club and they will continue to be leaders of this football club. We're backing Marc Murphy and Bryce Gibbs and the leadership group to continue playing to the best of their ability and to lead this football club."

Essendon great Matthew Lloyd had suggested in his Fairfax Media column on Sunday that the Blues should listen to any offers for Gibbs but that Murphy was "untouchable".