Another card falls

Plus writing a column for the Herald-Sun.

He's already been using a ghostwriter for them for the last 3 years.

i didn't realise until i read bomberblitz just how many essendope supporters are gay

I don't understand what this means, but gees I hope I've misinterpreted you.

Essendon paid Matthew Knights not to coach in 2011 and 2012 (sacked with 2 years contract left).

Paid Hird not to coach in 2014 while suspended.

Will pay Hird not to coach in 2016.

Probably $2-3 million spent on coaches who didn't coach!

I don't like this !!! I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!! WONDERFULL

I don't like this !!! I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!! WONDERFULL

Not to mention the legal costs

Huge fall from grace. Once the poster child for the AFL, now the black sheep of the AFL coaching alumni.

I hope he is remembered for his playing, not his coaching.

Who would want the coaching job??

Matthew Knights must be having a bit of a chuckle

Embattled James Hird gone as Essendon seeks fresh start

• MARK ROBINSON
• HERALD SUN
• AUGUST 18, 2015 10:22PM

JAMES Hird’s tenure at Essendon had an end date about the time of last year’s best-and-fairest count. It was not a matter of if, but when. It was a tumultuous time, Hird being back from France and Mark Thompson in the coach’s chair, and the Bombers were conflicted.

Chairman Paul Little moved to sack Hird the day after the count when “Bomber” was thought to be in prime position to keep the job, but Little missed his mark. But that didn’t stop him trying. Two days later, on Saturday, October 4, Little rang Hird and offered Hird money to walk away from the club. We’re not talking Little’s ashtray money, either. We’re talking in the vicinity of $3 million-plus. Again, Hird said no. It wasn’t about the money, it was about looking after the players, about what he believed was right and wrong, about how he believed the AFL had railroaded Essendon and himself and how he believed the players would have nothing to answer.

He wanted the truth to be known and he would never stop fighting for the truth. Call him delusional, ego-driven and narcissistic, but add to that resilient. Even the most vociferous Hird haters would admit he had balls.

Hird caved in on Tuesday for the first time since this wretched affair began in February 2013. And he caved in because the Bombers caved in on him. Not the players, mind you, some of whom were fighting tears at Tuesday’s press conference and were said to be devastated by the club’s decisions. The board made this happen, so it’s difficult to accept the narrative that Hird resigned and wasn’t sacked. As late as Sunday afternoon, Hird told confidants he would not to be stepping down. Things were moving, but he still believed the board understood the mindset of the players and how it was affecting their performances.

Little said on Tuesday he and Hird met four weeks ago to discuss the future. Just two weeks ago, however, Bombers chief executive Xavier Campbell said this: “James is contracted next year and James will coach the club next year. 100 per cent. I can’t see anything else changing between now and then.’’ What changed was two heavy losses, and Little and the board decided the club could not move on with the coach.

Let’s be honest: the AFL would be delighted to see the back of Hird. At a recent club chief executives’ conference with the AFL, Campbell was told by the AFL that Essendon’s best chance of recovery was to cut Hird adrift. Campbell confirmed the conversation to Hird. The AFL didn’t instruct Campbell to sack Hird, but believed it to be in the club’s best interests that the club move on without him. The AFL would now be satisfied. It got what it wanted without having to fire the bullet.

Commission chairman Mike Fitzpatrick had already asked Hird why he hadn’t resigned; former chief executive Andrew Demetriou would be disappointed he didn’t see Hird gone before he left; and current chief executive Gillon McLachlan, who had barely spoken to Hird since replacing Demetriou, won’t lose a minute’s sleep.

The board — the same board that had pleaded with Hird to take a year’s suspension covering the 2014 season, for the good of the club — turned on him. Make no mistake: if the board had stuck by him, Hird would still be coach. In the end, he ran out of allies.

The club he’s known since he was knee-high to a grasshopper, where his grandfather and father played, where he was a champion and a Brownlow medallist and a premiership captain, cut him adrift. The Bombers are a laughing stock on the field and will be accused of being the same off it.

Remember the golden ticket? Hird and Thompson arrived together, their beaming smiles on offer in the cockpit of the World War II fighter plane. Five years later, Thompson hates the club and Hird hates football. Since 2011, the club has paid Matthew Knights for 2011-2012, when he didn’t coach, and now they have paid Hird close to $2 million to not coach in 2014 and 2016.

Anyone looking for a reason to run a ticket against those in charge? Opinion on Hird was divided on Tuesday, but the majority appeared to believe the club had made the right decision; that something had to give; that a circuit-breaker was needed; that, ultimately, Hird had to be held responsible for what happened in 2012. The board agreed. It’s a pity they couldn’t wait for the WADA appeal to be over — and won — to be that circuit-breaker.

Little is a good man. He took the role when David Evans couldn’t do it and made an enormous contribution. But if there’s a criticism, it’s that Little could swing in the breeze. He would fight the AFL, and then stop. He would appeal to the Federal Court, and then stop. He would give Hird two years’ extension, then end it after just one.

He marched Hird out not because of recent results, but for the continued fallout from the ASADA-AFL-WADA investigation, which Hird could never really let go. After the Round 15 win over Melbourne, the headlines were on Hird’s comments about individuals at the AFL. The Bombers told him to cool it. He did. But even without Hird’s creating noise, the pressure built and built. Tuesday won’t be a circuit-breaker. It will be the start of a civil war, in which fans will turn on the club, fans will support the club, the board will be probably in the gun, and players will ask themselves: Why should I stay here? And God only knows who will coach the club.

As for Hird, the dream is over. He was party to a supplements program which brought the club and by the end, his football career, to its knees. He will miss the players and the buzz of footy. But in return, he will get back a family and a sense of normality. In the quiet times, he might think that was a good swap.

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/embattled-james-hird-gone-as-essendon-seeks-fresh-start/story-fnp04d70-1227489045785

Who would want the coaching job??

Could be back to the future with Sheeds. He'd be mad enough to do it.

Robbo is a spud, the the herald sun allow his rubbish i have no idea.

Who would want the coaching job??

Anyone who might be interested in at least 600k a year (usually, that money is guaranteed for 3 years or more) ... and, it's not exactly a real job.

The Bombers will have any number of applicants for the now vacant coaching position - nearly all ex coaches find their way back into assistant roles whether they're successful or not. So, an assistant goes from 150k-250k up to 600k+ and then back to 150k-250k. Nice work if you can get it. There's about 140 assistant coaches in the ranks and many of them have high ambitions.

As for the "sacked one", he's a sociopath in the Armstrong mould. I'd say he'll go to ground now or take off overseas ... however, it's not over for him just yet - he'll possibly/probably be subpoenaed by WADA in the CAS case and after that, he can look forward to receiving his own infraction notice, which could lead to a lifetime ban (especially if it can be proven that he worked hand in hand with Dank)

.

Would we expect anything else of Slobbo?
Biggest piece of propaganda I have seen this side of Pravda.

That's the first Robbo article I've read in its entirety for years. Holy hell, primary school children have a stronger grasp of prose.

There's no cohesion nor structure to anything he writes, just an inexhaustible mess of thought bubbles pervaded by his subservient bias. His wailing and woe is more reminiscent of a petulant child demanding ice-cream than a professional journalist demanding respect.

This makes him a perfect fit for the glorified toilet paper known as the Herald Sun.

That's the first Robbo article I've read in its entirety for years. Holy hell, primary school children have a stronger grasp of prose.

There's no cohesion nor structure to anything he writes, just an inexhaustible mess of thought bubbles pervaded by his subservient bias. His wailing and woe is more reminiscent of a petulant child demanding ice-cream than a professional journalist demanding respect.

This makes him a perfect fit for the glorified toilet paper known as the Herald Sun.

To quote Pavarotti: " I'm sitting on the toilet reading your article - it will soon be behind me."

That's the first Robbo article I've read in its entirety for years. Holy hell, primary school children have a stronger grasp of prose.

There's no cohesion nor structure to anything he writes, just an inexhaustible mess of thought bubbles pervaded by his subservient bias. His wailing and woe is more reminiscent of a petulant child demanding ice-cream than a professional journalist demanding respect.

This makes him a perfect fit for the glorified toilet paper known as the Herald Sun.

I had to stop reading at (about not stepping down) "It was about looking after the players."

I had to stop reading at (about not stepping down) "It was about looking after the players."

That was the line where I bolted for the toilet lest I spill vomit on the carpet.

Geez I tell you, some titans of Bomberblitz have just rolled over and died. The stalwarts, the diehards, the mouthpieces, the blowhards, the apologists. They are apoplectic with grief and shame and anger. How the worms turns!

Loving the pain.

What's the bet that we see him next year working for Ch 7 as an AFL supplementary commentator.

BIt hard from the south of France, but I am sure he would give it a go ...

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/afl/james-hird-makes-a-graceful-exit-as-he-departs-as-essendon-coach/story-fnp04d70-1227488989802

John Ralph

James Hird makes a graceful exit as he departs as Essendon coach

ESSENDON’S greatest fear was when James Hird ­departed it would be kicking and screaming, the prelude to a costly unfair ­dismissal suit.

But on Tuesday, Essendon made the only decision it could and yet, perplexingly, it was one of James Albert Hird’s finest hours.

...

By Christmas, Essendon’s players could be cleared of doping charges, with a new coach and executives, and a new brand to sell to eager fans.

Or at worst, perhaps 10 of those players might face a month’s suspension given the backdated penalties and excessive delays in this wearying ASADA/WADA case.

Then, Essendon can make itself what it wants to be again.

Wow. You can't polish a hird but you can certainly cover it in lots of sticky vanilla icing.

Uppercut has been very quiet...

Good to see its not the MFC imploding.. What a mess... Club in turmoil.. Oops I forget it's Ess not us!

A friend of mine declared she is done with the AFL.

So it's their fault Tird couldn't coach.

On the other hand a work colleague is estatic he can follow his club again now Tird is gone.

If Hird was offered 3 mil at the end of last year to jump - he would've. How Robbo gets away with baseless claims - never backed up by sources - is beyond me. This is why I don't respect journalism anymore. Sure there are some good ones, but the bad apples ruin it for all. Robbo is a rotten apple.