Three years after Carlton sacked Brett Ratten, another upset AFL loss to a Queensland team has ramped up the pressure on Mick Malthouse.

Brisbane posted their first win of the season on Sunday, beating the Blues by nine points at Etihad Stadium.

The 12.12 (84) to 11.9 (75) leaves Carlton ahead of the Lions and Gold Coast only on percentage at the foot of the ladder with 1-5 records.

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“We know where we’re at – if we’re not on the bottom then we’ve bottomed right out,” Malthouse said.

In the wake of last weekend’s appalling capitulation to arch-rivals Collingwood, Malthouse conceded that no club board could sustain a coach who is not winning.

But when asked on Sunday about the inevitable increase in pressure whether he remains determined to see the job through, Malthouse was typically defiant.

“I find that strange that you’d ask,” the three-time premiership coach said.

“What’s my history? Turn the toes up and go, you reckon? No – the simple fact is that while there is a job to be done I will be doing it as best as I possibly can, along with the rest of my match committee.”

There is no obvious short-term relief, with Carlton playing emerging GWS, Geelong, Sydney at the SCG and Adelaide ahead of the Blues’ round-11 bye.

Three years ago, Ratten’s fate as Carlton coach was sealed when Gold Coast upset his team in the second-last game of the season.

The Blues sacked him a few days later.

Carlton’s loss was manna from heaven for Richmond coach Damien Hardwick.

Without the latest instalment of the Blues’ crisis, the blowtorch would have been firmly on Hardwick and the Tigers.

Saturday’s 35-point loss to North Melbourne left Richmond mired in a 2-4 mess.