Fremantle caretaker coach Mark Harvey has strongly indicated he wants to stay in Perth, rather than apply for the three Melbourne-based AFL positions.

As Michael Voss flew into Melbourne, amid speculation Carlton was interviewing him for their job, Harvey made it clear during a Perth function he would prefer to become the Dockers' permanent coach.

"Whatever happens in the next six weeks....for me, preferably, I think that I'm happy to stay here," Harvey said on Channel Nine.

Harvey took over as Dockers coach a week ago following the departure of Chris Connolly.

It is an unprecedented coaching market in the AFL, with at least four senior positions vacant before August.

In the past month, Neale Daniher left Melbourne, then Connolly went from Fremantle.

On Monday, Carlton sacked Denis Pagan and two days later time was called on one of the most famous coaching tenures in AFL history when Essendon confirmed it would not offer Kevin Sheedy an extension of his 27-year reign at Windy Hill.

Geelong coach Mark Thompson and Kangaroos counterpart Dean Laidley, whose teams hold the top two ladder positions, also come out of contract at the end of this season.

Harvey is considered a favourite for the Essendon job because of his strong links to the club as a top player and former assistant under Sheedy.

Meanwhile, Voss and his management would not confirm a Channel Seven report that he was in Melbourne to speak to the Blues.

The three-time Brisbane Lions premiership captain said earlier he was keen to talk to clubs if they were interested in him, but stressed he had yet to talk to any of them about a senior coaching appointment.

Also on Friday, Collingwood coach Mick Malthouse said Pagan had received unfair media treatment in the build-up to his sacking.

Malthouse added the media now wielded enormous influence in the fates of coaches.

While he praised journalists for their handling of Sheedy's announcement, he felt Pagan deserved better than he received.

"We seem to be making him (Pagan) into a villain - the bloke is a fantastic bloke and he just hasn't had the record that people expect," he said.

"I go back a bit further, (former Richmond coach) Danny Frawley, for all intents and purposes, is one of the nicest blokes you'll ever meet.

"Talk about call for his head, call for his blood and call for his job and forget that he's got a family and so forth.

"In the end, there was a frenzy from Richmond supporters as well as the media to dump him.

"I know some people in the media will go `ah, there he is, having another shot at the media' - no no no, I write for a paper....but it's a fact of life."

Malthouse also pointed out that clubs are putting enormous resources into picking their senior coaches, but felt they were perhaps not so thorough when it came to sacking them.

"People unfortunately spend a lot of time interviewing coaches, they go and get panels to interview coaches....and yet a select few from a board sack a bloke," he said.

"So our processes are pretty mixed - and ordinary.

"We make these blokes to be absolutely terrorists - well, I suppose I've used the wrong word, but they seem to get unwarranted coverage because they have an indifferent coaching record."

Malthouse added he had seen the perfect example of how he should end his outstanding career, once the time came.

"(Victorian Premier) Steve Bracks has done it the right way - surprise everyone, top of his game, jumps out," he said.

© 2009 AAP
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