That was the view of Carlton coach Mick Malthouse when asked to critique whether his conduct last weekend in a half-time spat with Channel Seven analyst Cameron Ling, and his overall conduct in relation to the media, was befitting of a senior AFL coach, and its most senior at that.

"Am I any different than a few years ago? Does that make it right? I don't know if it makes it right," the Blues coach said on Thursday morning.

"My media conferences haven't been picture-perfect, and I'm the first to say that. But it's not by design to hurt anyone . . . it's to finish it as quick as I can and do what I probably do best: dialogue with players, dialogue with coaches, and so forth."

Malthouse disputed the suggestion his behaviour was unworthy of a senior coach, but said "if people view [it] that [way] then I've got to look at it".

"If it's not good, it's not good for Carlton," he said.

The three-time premiership coach was the target of a stinging rebuke from Carlton great Mark Maclure on Wednesday night. The retired centre half-forward declared on AFL 360 Malthouse was "friendless", prone to bullying the media and, most damningly, also questioned whether he should coach next year, on the basis he became too distracted in the coaches' box.

"He runs up, jumps around in the coaches box, yells and screams. It looks like he's going to do himself some damage. I think he should bring someone in to do the match-day coaching if he seriously wants to stay on and get the extra two games or whatever [to break the VFL-AFL coaching record]."

Malthouse said he was only aware that Maclure had criticised him and had consciously avoided digesting the specifics of that criticism.

When told that included criticism of his match-day antics, Malthouse replied: "Well, I've been compromised for 30 years if that's the case."

He acknowledged that if people looked at footage from this season alone some may think "he's gone nuts this year", but stressed that he adamant he possesses "a cool head with directives to my player group in all circumstances".

"I'm the first to say I'm a very passionate coach. I get emotionally involved. I don't think my players expect any less or any different - they know I'm totally on board for them. And I've been like that since I've coached," he said.

Malthouse strongly defended his actions during the club's loss away to Sydney last Saturday night, in which he was involved in the spat with Ling and then later a press-conference exchange with Fairfax Media and Seven's Samantha Lane that drew a public rebuke for Malthouse from the journalist's father, sports broadcaster Tim Lane - especially since his own daughter, Christi, is a sports journalist.

"I did speak to Christi about that. She viewed it and her view was there's nothing untoward . . . and I trust her view."

In regards to Ling, he said he contacted the retired Geelong premiership captain and was pleased to discover he too considered the negative media reaction to it to have been "over the top".

"I spoke to Cameron . . . and he said it was cleared up Saturday and there was no need to have rung - but I'm glad I did, because the response was exactly what I though it was [going to be]," he said.

Malthouse also questioned criticism of him for having angrily approached Ling as he walked off the ground for the half-time break to complain about how often he had been show on the Seven telecast.

"Until you're in that position you'll never know. We're fighting for victory against the top side . . . we're within a goal but we're robbed of a goal. Until you walk in someone else's shoes you'll never know," he said.

"I'm not here to say that you don't, because you haven't played football and you haven't coached, but that's the fact of life.

"I wouldn't put an opinion on [the conduct of] someone who's in a position that I don't understand."

Asked if he felt he was under siege in the media, the coach replied: "I sometimes wonder about the agendas . . . I wonder where it comes from."

While Malthouse acknowledged promoting the club was "part of the responsibility of a senior coach", unlike when his coaching career began in 1984, he said he was still not at ease in the media spotlight.

"I'm probably opening up my soul a bit here, but I find it very, very difficult to talk publicly - and I've been doing it for 30 years," he said.

Malthouse reiterated he thought there was too much focus on coaches' behaviour during matches, arguing they receive five or six times the attention of coaches overseas in sports such as soccer, rugby and American football.

He said a byproduct of the focus on him was that his five-year-old grandson did not feel comfortable attending matches, on the basis "he's sick of seeing his grandfather either booed on the screen".

"He didn't go to the last game because of that," Malthouse said. "He won't go tomorrow night . . . he doesn't want to go, which is sad. A thousand other kids will but he won't."