While interim coach Barker said he was "philosophical" about being beaten to the position by Hawthorn assistant Brendon Bolton, he believed the Blues would be in "good hands".

Carlton would like Barker to remain at the club as an assistant to Bolton, but Barker remained coy on Friday morning.

"What happens in the future will take care of itself in good time," he said.

Barker has guided the club to three wins and nine losses since taking over from Mick Malthouse but missed out on the permanent job when the Blues announced Bolton as Malthouse's replacement this week.

Barker, 40, was among the final few candidates remaining in the race to replace Mick Malthouse as the Blues' full-time coach, having recorded a 3-9 record since taking over at the helm following Malthouse's sacking after round eight.

Both the Essendon and Adelaide coaching job also remain vacant, and keeping in character, Barker would not disclose whether he intended to apply for either of those positions.

Whatever his future entails, he seemed glad to have been part of the process, as he spoke at Melbourne Airport on Friday ahead of his penultimate game as caretaker, Satuday's clash with Greater Western Sydney at Spotless Stadium.

"I was pretty philosophical. Carlton has given me a great opportunity. I've grown as a coach. It was a great experience."

"The process was exhaustive and a really good one. I felt like I gave myself every opportunity."

Former Fitzroy, Brisbane Lions and Hawthorn forward Barker said his mind remained focused on steering the Blues' through the final two weeks of their inglorious campaign, which will end coincidentally against the Hawks next Friday night. He added that he never considered not seeing out the role which he undertook to perform in May.

"Right now I've got two weeks to coach and I'm looking forward to getting that done," he said.

"What I know is I'm going to work really hard on growing as a coach but also just as hard to keep growing as a person.

"Carlton's in really good hands. I've worked with Brendon at Hawthorn and he's a really good coach.

"Carlton's really handed me a great opportunity and it's been invaluable experience, and I think I've grown as a coach through that period, and I've enjoyed every minute of the last 12 weeks."

While unwilling to elaborate on his own plans, Barker predicted that ruckman Matthew Kreuzer - who becomes a restricted free agent at year's end - would stay at the club.

Barker said his "gut feel" was that Kreuzer was a "Carlton man".

"He's a Carlton man. We all know that."

Kreuzer was earlier in the week linked to the Western Bulldogs by former Dogs coach Terry Wallace on SEN, but Dogs coach Luke Beveridge said on Friday morning that Kreuzer had not been talked about as an October target at the Whitten Oval.

Pacy utility Chris Yarran is widely tipped to be traded from the club at year's end, and while Barker would not talk about the West Australian's future, Yarran is back in the Carlton side this week after three weeks in the VFL.

Barker said Yarran had done enough for the Northern Blues to deserve a recall.

"There's areas of his game that needed improving in terms of his effort and application and he's shown that over the last couple of weeks," he said.

"We expect that translates into tomorrow afternoon."