Legendary AFL coach Denis Pagan says his decision to coach Carlton is the biggest regret of his career, declaring he'd never "seen a bigger mess" when he arrived at the club.
After a tremendously successful decade-long stint at North Melbourne, where he coached the club to premiership wins in 1996 and 1999, Pagan arrived at Princes Park on a lucrative $2 million deal at the end of 2002 and inherited a club that had been crippled by AFL sanctions due to salary cap breaches.
Pagan touched on his time at the Blues as a cautionary tale of how hard it is to have on-field success when there is off-field boardroom turmoil, as there currently is at Essendon.
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"It's amazing, you just can't be successful," he told Nine's AFL Sunday Footy Show.
"When I was at Carlton I don't think I've ever seen a bigger mess. It was virtually a snakepit. It was like going to work every day and a little bloke hiding behind the door with a sledgehammer and whacking you around the chin.
"They didn't have a great list, they didn't have any money, the place was in turmoil, there was factions and splits everywhere. It was a great club and it just disintegrated.
"It was (the biggest regret) without any doubt whatsoever. My time had probably finished at North Melbourne. I'd been there 10 years as a senior coach and 10 years as an under 19s coach and played there for eight or nine years, it was probably time for me to move on.
"I wish I had picked another club other than Carlton at the time. From the moment I made my decision to go there we lost draft picks, we lost (Brendon) Goddard and (Daniel) Wells (the two players picked with the selections Carlton was stripped of in the 2002 draft) and it was just a nightmare a minute."
When questioned over what type of coach he'd advise to take the currently vacant Bombers job, Pagan said it had to be someone of experience.
"Probably a Ross Lyon or a Mark Williams, someone along those lines," he said.
"Knowing both those guys pretty well, I reckon they'd do a really good job and if you could get one of them they're taking a step forward.
"For the first five years you're coaching at the senior level all you're really doing is practicing on the players, and you don't want anyone practicing on the players at Essendon.
"Essendon is a great club, it was one of my most enjoyable times in '92 (when he coached the Bombers reserves), but they look a real shambles at the moment.
"They've got to make some decisions, they've got to be the right decisions, and provide the foundation before they can go forward."
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