They'll just pay him of the books next year.

It seems as if a few people are protecting their backsides here and they seem to be reluctant to tackle Hird.

It will be pretty. Pretty bloody fantastic.

Couldnt be happening to a more deserving club.

How is this a good settlement for the AFL?

It's all about perception down at AFL HQ.

The writing is on the wall for The Bloated One.

It's Succession Planning Time I reckon.

Heard on the radio this morning Stephen Gough is next in line for the job.

Heard on the radio this morning Stephen Gough is next in line for the job.

Yep, I think Gillon hasn't handled himself well at all here.

Yep, I think Gillon hasn't handled himself well at all here.

Bit of a disappointment isn't he.

What a [censored] weak decision. So Hird effectively wins.

Gillon is way too much of a preppy [censored] to be up for a battle imo

Bit of a disappointment isn't he.

Always reminded me of AD jnr. whenever I saw them together. What we used to call a bit of a suck.

If he's up for it I think Cook would be the man to clean up this mess.

How is this a good settlement for the AFL?

It's all about perception down at AFL HQ.

The writing is on the wall for The Bloated One.

It's Succession Planning Time I reckon.

I think its a great result for the AFL, Vlad and the Bombers. It paves the way for a merger with the Mexican drug cartels, a 27% increase to the end-of-year bottom line and $½m pay increase for the CEO.

It's high 5s all round tonight.

Hird surely cannot return as coach when infraction notices are sent out to numerous players.

Hird surely cannot return as coach when infraction notices are sent out to numerous players.

They're all gone then 'wyl', Hird, Thompson, Doc and DC…Craig will end up coach again.

They're all gone then 'wyl', Hird, Thompson, Doc and DCCraig will end up coach again.

I had forgotten Craigy had walked into the Pharmacy!!

Here it is.

"Essendon coach James Hird will be paid for upfront for 2014 as the Bombers and AFL look to settle their differences"

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/essendon-coach-james-hird-will-be-paid-for-upfront-for-2014-as-the-bombers-and-afl-look-to-settle-their-differences/story-fni5f6kv-1226781952742

It is all BS anyway, as all the Bombers had to do was double Hird's salary the first year of his comeback, or if he didn't coach again, pay out all the money he was owed after the year was up. I am just glad that he is costing the club another million, the only pity being that he is getting it.

Just heard on the news that Hird will receive his 2014 pay this year and so not receive any pay next year. AFL have agreed. WTF?

So it may be the hird who releas leaked pay info' to the media??? on hearing of possible ASADA sanctions after Xmas, prior to 2014 season?

Yep. If an infraction notice is served against Hird, will be be liable to pay all this money back????

Hird surely cannot return as coach when infraction notices are sent out to numerous players.

Wanna bet?? After all, he IS James Hird and the AFL is run by Dimitriou, so anything could happen. FCS it wouldn't surprise me, if it suited AD's purpose, for him to appoint JH as Integrity Commissioner!!

Wanna bet?? After all, he IS James Hird and the AFL is run by Dimitriou, so anything could happen. FCS it wouldn't surprise me, if it suited AD's purpose, for him to appoint JH as Integrity Commissioner!!

sad but true.

nah, i reckon the life ban coming his way will put an end to that.

When Essendon decided to stand behind James Hird and defend all this, very early on, they really made a rod for their own backs.

They had their chance to 'fess up, cut him loose and move forward.

It is astounding that, instead, they are paying him $1 million, early, for doing nothing. Not even the most loyal organisations stand by disgraced figureheads this way and, to my mind, it is the fishiest part of this whole story.

I was about to post this on the sack AD thread but it has been locked.

Some posters seem confused as to what is governance and what is management. There seems also to be suggestions that somehow AD has been guilty of poor governance.

As the CEO AD manages the AFL, the commission is responsible for governance. The commission, like any board sets the strategic direction of the organisation and it is their responsibility to ensure there are the appropriate systems in place, for example to make sure the strategic plan can be implemented and ensure that risk is managed appropriately. The bombers supplement fiasco is the perfect example of this. There was - as Ziggy made clear - a complete breakdown of their reporting and risk management systems. In short a failure of governance for which their board was responsible. Of course there were also numerous examples of poor management (CEO, coach etc etc).

Sure the CEO is connected to this governance system because he is the boards representative but he reports to the board. As an example the decision to create GWS was the commissions, and AD was charged with the responsibility of making it happen. So whilst you could perhaps argue that it is really AD's baby, so to speak, if there is any criticism about the decision to take the risk it should be towards the board. If there are criticisms of how, say, the implementation has been managed then yes they can be directed at AD.

A terrific example of the distinction between governance and management was the decision to have a joint AFL/ASADA investigation. In the excellent Jon Pierek article in yesterday's age he makes a good point that this decision has now proved to be a flawed one. No doubt some will criticize AD for the decision but he didn't make it, the commission did. Sure he might have pushed for it and recommend the commission agree to go down that track (as part of his management role) - and often boards might go with the recommendation of their CEO - but it was their call. I'm sure as part his performance review the commission might well reflect on the quality of advice they received from AD.

But whilst i tend to agree with Pierek the choice to go with the joint investigation this is not an example of poor governance, perhaps a poor choice but not poor governance. And for that matter whilst you could easily criticize the management of the tanking saga i can't see any governance issues.

I can understand how AD's management style might be criticized, particularly his penchant to put himself out on a limb. I can also agree that some of his choices could be questioned - for instance his support for a joint investigation - but these do not represent a failure of governance. Against that by the sort of metrics that apply to a CEO of an organisation as big as the AFL even his critics would have to agree that he has been successful. His salary and the bonuses he has received are evidence of this.

Hear what you're saying but disagree that AD's position precludes him from acting in the realm of governance. AD is often mentioned as being part of the Commission, sitting in on its meetings and taking part in its decision making processes. Whilst he might therefore not technically be one of the AFL's "governors" he sits front and square in its governance process and is often the face of that body's operations.

I think the nautical term is "Batten down the hatches"!

A storm be coming...

Indeed. It's time to batten down the hatches people because yesterday's farce is a portent of darker days to come for Essendon, Hird, Demetriou, the Commission, the AFL and the sport itself.

By all means, draw your own inferences from shonky back room deals to the AFL's capitulation but this was not your usual settlement to avoid the financial drain of a long drawn out legal battle. There were other reasons why this was never going to see the light of day in a courtroom and we all know them.

Now the focus will turn from shonky back room deals to the main story and ASADA sits in the eye of the storm - the slaughter to come won't be pretty for anyone; and certainly not for the Bombers and their million dollar pretty boy "ex-coach" who began digging a huge black hole for themselves when they embarked on their drugs programme two years ago.

This week's sideshow might have resulted in a Pyrrhic victory for all concerned but it won't extract the Bombers from their black hole and its done nothing for AD's standing or his sagging reputation - they're all royally stuffed although Vlad will probably get away with a quiet retirement announcement at some later date.

The closing words of George Orwell's Animal Farm come irresistibly to mind:

"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which."

Indeed. It's time to batten down the hatches people because yesterday's farce is a portent of darker days to come for Essendon, Hird, Demetriou, the Commission, the AFL and the sport itself.

By all means, draw your own inferences from shonky back room deals to the AFL's capitulation but this was not your usual settlement to avoid the financial drain of a long drawn out legal battle. There were other reasons why this was never going to see the light of day in a courtroom and we all know them.

Now the focus will turn from shonky back room deals to the main story and ASADA sits in the eye of the storm - the slaughter to come won't be pretty for anyone; and certainly not for the Bombers and their million dollar pretty boy "ex-coach" who began digging a huge black hole for themselves when they embarked on their drugs programme two years ago.

This week's sideshow might have resulted in a Pyrrhic victory for all concerned but it won't extract the Bombers from their black hole and its done nothing for AD's standing or his sagging reputation - they're all royally stuffed although Vlad will probably get away with a quiet retirement announcement at some later date.

The closing words of George Orwell's Animal Farm come irresistibly to mind:

"The creatures outside looked from pig to man, and from man to pig, and from pig to man again; but already it was impossible to say which was which."

WJ

Do hope you're right, but my god I don't have much confidence in anything to do with sport right now. All seems so corrupt and incompetent, driven by the dollar.

This latest chapter in the Hird saga has left me just gob-smacked. The sheer incompetence, the greed, watching Hird emerge from his Toorak mansion with his shark-like wife, the sainted Julian Burnside getting his $10,000 a day, Demtetriou sucking in his blubbery guts.

These people are such fools.

Demetriou - how could the AFL be so stupid as to inflict a supposed punishment and not put it in writing? I mean the scummiest little backyard panelbeater these days has the sense to put things in writing. And now they're going to pay Hird his money in a lump sum and think we're stupid enough to think that's a fair outcome? Who are these guys? None of them are professionals. Demetriou is an ex schoolteacher, Hird a failed engineer who was worshipped by a bunch of morons because he had blond hair. I bet the GMH employees wish they could negotiate a retrenchment package like he's got. And it's all done with the money of ordinary people like those Holden employees who are losing their jobs and conditions because our society's wealth is vanishing into the massive maws of people like Gina Rinehart (sorry to go off track, but my take on it is that we're losing our manufacturing base because the mining boom is driving up the dollar - Govt spends more subsidising miners than it did cars - cheez - sorry again - Saturday rant over).

Wanna bet?? After all, he IS James Hird and the AFL is run by Dimitriou, so anything could happen. FCS it wouldn't surprise me, if it suited AD's purpose, for him to appoint JH as Integrity Commissioner!!

Or Tanya Hird!

Dare I say it, but how does ASADAs outcome play for Trenners?