{"id":233931,"date":"2022-08-22T00:44:26","date_gmt":"2022-08-22T00:44:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=233931"},"modified":"2022-08-22T10:59:34","modified_gmt":"2022-08-22T10:59:34","slug":"icons-blunt-hird-call-after-unforgiveable-stint","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=233931","title":{"rendered":"Icon's blunt Hird call after 'unforgiveable' stint"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former Essendon<\/a> captain Brendon Goddard said that it was likely that more people would follow the now-sacked coach Ben Rutten<\/a> out the door – but James Hird wouldn't be coming back the other way.<\/p>\n

The Bombers are in a fully blown crisis after a disastrous attempt to court four-time premiership coach Alastair Clarkson blew up in their face.<\/p>\n

Having undermined Rutten by publicly going after Clarkson, Essendon sacked him on Sunday, less than 24 hours after the club's season ended with an 11-goal thrashing by Richmond.<\/p>\n

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That's put pressure on the board to find a viable candidate to replace him, with Hird reportedly under consideration for a controversial return seven years after his cataclysmic first stint as head coach came to an end.<\/p>\n

Appearing as a guest on Nine's Today<\/em> Goddard was asked if there was any chance of Hird returning to the club<\/a>, where he coached between 2011 and 2013, and again in 2015, after serving his suspension in relation to the drugs scandal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Bombers<\/p>\n

"I think [it's unlikely] at this point," Goddard said.<\/p>\n

"They've made it clear yesterday after that board meeting, and the decision to sack Rutten, that they're after an experienced coach – so that does narrow the actual candidates.<\/p>\n

"What's needed is time to do an external review, then add that to the internal review they've already had, and then make a really good decision and then go through an interview process with all the coaches they put on a shortlist.<\/p>\n

"I think that needs to happen before names, like Hird in particular, get thrown around."<\/p>\n

Appearing separately later in the show, iconic ex AFL coach Mick Malthouse scoffed at the suggestion of a Hird return.<\/p>\n

"No, absolutely not," he said.<\/p>\n

"He's been out of the game for a while, for a start-off … but I just don't think you can forget what took place several years ago.<\/p>\n

"Those sort of things, they're unforgivable, what happened at Essendon. I personally don't think it would be a good move at all."<\/p>\n

Hird returned to the AFL fold this year to take up a leadership consultancy role with GWS Giants.<\/p>\n

While the head coaching appointment will continue to draw headlines until the vacancy is filled, Goddard said Rutten must not be the only casualty of Essendon's sudden implosion.<\/p>\n

"It can't only just be the coach," Goddard said.<\/p>\n

"I'd expect, based on – after their external review in particular – that there's probably more names to be pushed aside and heads to roll at Essendon."<\/p>\n

"In this position, when a new board member takes over and makes strong statements, that David Barham has, that I think everyone's on notice and everyone's walking on eggshells.<\/p>\n

"Their job's not secure, regardless of their contract and situation."<\/p>\n

\"Bombers<\/p>\n

Goddard declined to say whether or not he thought Rutten should have been fired, but said the procedures that led to it were less than desirable.<\/p>\n

"The way it was done was terrible – Essendon have been in a position since the drug scandal, they make mistake after mistake, and I reckon this is a mistake as well.<\/p>\n

"I'm not saying he shouldn't go, the simple fact is just how it's happened."<\/p>\n

Former AFL coach Mick Malthouse agreed that Rutten shouldn't be the only person to lose his job.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

"I do," he answered on Today when asked if other people at the club were in trouble.<\/p>\n

"I think (club CEO) Xavier Campbell certainly looks like he's in a bit of trouble.<\/p>\n

"But generally speaking, if you're going to do a review of the club, you have to do a review of the club – it just can't just be one section of the football club. I think the coach takes an enormous amount of responsibility and probably blame, but I think you've got to a little bit deeper than that.<\/p>\n

"The Bombers need to be very open, very harsh, and have a close look at what the better clubs have been doing over the past few years to get where they've got."<\/p>\n

For a daily dose of the best of the breaking news and exclusive content from Wide World of Sports, subscribe to our newsletter by<\/strong><\/em> clicking here<\/strong><\/em><\/a>!<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Former Essendon captain Brendon Goddard said that it was likely that more people would follow the now-sacked coach Ben Rutten out the door – but […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233931"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=233931"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233931\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":233933,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/233931\/revisions\/233933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=233931"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=233931"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=233931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}