Chris Fagan says Brendon Bolton will get another coaching job – but it probably won't be at Brisbane.
Fagan has known Bolton for more 20 years - since coaching him as a 16-year-old in Tasmania - and said he was "disappointed" for the former Carlton coach after he was sacked on Monday.
The pair had a long association at Hawthorn before Bolton went to the Blues and Fagan to the Lions 12 months later.
But the Brisbane coach quashed the notion he'd be offering up a job for his mate.
"We don't have any vacancies at our club at the moment," Fagan said on Thursday.
"It's a reasonable thing to point at me, but he's also worked with a lot of other people at the Hawthorn footy club who all know his talents.
"I'm sure somebody out there will be thinking seriously about that."
Brisbane's coaching staff is settled, with assistants Danny Daly, Murray Davis, Jed Adcock, Dale Tapping and Ben Hudson all on-board since Fagan's arrival.
The Lions' coach said he had spoken to Bolton in the past few days.
"I was disappointed for him and his family.
"I think he's done a terrific job at Carlton, I reckon they're a team really on the improve, it's just a pity he hasn't got the opportunity to see it through.
"He's a resilient person and he's a great footy person and somebody will snap him up somewhere I would imagine, maybe not in a senior coaching role but in an assistant coaching role and he'd be a great get for their club."
Coincidentally Fagan is preparing his team to play Carlton at Marvel Stadium on Saturday, a proposition that has slightly changed with David Teague taking over the Blues' reigns.
"You've got to be prepared for the unpredictable to some degree," Fagan said.
"We've got no reason not to respect Carlton, their performances this year have been really strong other than a couple of games.
"On their day they're a very, very good side and we're expecting the best of Carlton, but we also know with a new coach there might be some things they toss up that we haven't seen before - but we don't control that, we just control our own effort and energy, which has been the focus."
