Carlton have sacked Mick Malthouse the day after the Blues said an announcement on the embattled coach's future would come after their next two games.
Assistant coach John Barker will take over as interim coach.
Carlton chiefs called an unscheduled meeting of board members and chief executive Steven Trigg on Tuesday morning following Malthouse's explosive interview on radio station SEN earlier in the day.
In the interview, the veteran coach took a swing at the board and reiterated that he would not stand down and the club would have to sack him if it wanted him gone, all but challenging Carlton to sack him.
The Blues sit bottom of the AFL ladder with just one win from eight games.
It is Carlton's worst start to a season since 2007, when they finished second bottom, and the worst opening eight games of Malthouse's 30 seasons as a senior coach.
The club had originally flagged a decision on Malthouse's future during the club's bye in a fortnight's time, after a run of heavy defeats, including to Greater Western Sydney by 78 points and Geelong by 77 points.
In round five this year, Malthouse broke the AFL's long-standing record for games coached, surpassing Jock McHale's career tally of 714 when he coached the Blues against Collingwood. It was a dire performance on the milestone occasion, as the Blues were smashed by 75 points at the MCG.
MICK MALTHOUSE'S COACHING CAREER
*Coached Footscray, West Coast, Collingwood and Carlton for a total of 718 games from 1984-2015, the most in VFL/AFL history
*Overtook the previous record of 714 games coached by Collingwood legend Jock McHale earlier this year
*Had 406 wins as a coach, second only to McHale's 466
*Coached West Coast to their first two AFL premierships in 1992 and 1994
*Coached Collingwood to the 2010 premiership
*Was the losing grand final coach on four occasions - with West Coast in 1991 and Collingwood in 2002, 2003 and 2011
*All-Australian coach in 1991 and 2010
*Australian International Rules coach in 2008 and 2010
