Carlton football boss Chris Davies has conceded the Blues' list is still "not good enough" to compete with the AFL's best, while refusing to completely shut down speculation surrounding the futures of leaders Patrick Cripps and Jacob Weitering.
Davies, along with chief executive Graham Wright, president Rob Priestley and Eagles premiership coach Adam Simpson, have been charged to find the Blues' next senior coach after Michael Voss resigned earlier this month.
But the change wouldn't stop there, with Davies suggesting the club's list is an area of much-needed improvement.
"As much as I think that our list is more balanced than it was last year, I still don't think the list is good enough, ultimately, to compete at the top level," he said on SEN.
"And we're going to have to do some work on that over the next period of time. We started that last year with trading out the players that we did, or letting them go in free agency.
"We're well-placed from a draft capital standpoint to get Cody Walker in, and do some other things into the future, but I want to make sure that we're bringing in some young talent which is going to be required for us to be a sustainable force up the top end of the ladder."
Carlton made the bold call of trading away Coleman Medallist Charlie Curnow at the end of last year, and could look at other established players this season.
Cripps and Weitering have been floated as potential options given their star factor and trade value whilst being contracted to Ikon Park.
"I don't need to go into it any deeper than the fact that I think it's really important that we've got quality senior players at our club into the future," he added.
"The people you've just mentioned - Patrick, Jacob - you wouldn't meet two more committed Carlton people.
"I still firmly believe that your club, in these situations, you have to have good senior players who are mentoring the younger blokes, showing them the way to go about their footy.
"I don't subscribe to the theory that everyone is up for grabs. I certainly think that you've got to have a strong nucleus of people who are going to be good people at your club, and show the young players how to go about it.
"We've got to definitely think about how we balance our team … I also accept that the transition game is something that the club needs to continue to be good at into the future, and part of that is a personnel discussion, no doubt."
