Hird gone after Crows thrashing
UPDATED: Embattled Essendon coach and former premiership captain James Hird has confirmed he has stepped down after the board lost faith in him.
An emotional Hird fronted the media this afternoon, flanked by club chairman Paul Little and CEO Xavier Campbell, as he thanked his family, players and supporters.
The club has been dogged by the ongoing supplements scandal since 2013, with a recent run of on-field failures culminating in the Bombers’ devastating 112-point loss to Adelaide on Saturday.
“Essendon has always been in my heart since the day I was born,” Hird said.
He said Little had conveyed to him that it was “the board’s opinion the club would never be truly free of the ASADA issue while I was coach and he was chairman”.
“While 2015 has been a disappointing year on the field, personally – I’m sure some of you may disagree – I believe I’m a good coach,” he said, adding his relationship with the players has always been his main focus.
“I always cared deeply for them.”
He admitted intense media speculation had taken its toll, saying “we want to be a football club that’s talked about for our football”.
He will be replaced by interim coach Matthew Egan.
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Hird, who sat out last year after the AFL suspended him over the club’s supplements scandal, has a year to run on his contract. The club has reached a confidential settlement with him.
Little said he would remain as chairman until a WADA appeal was resolved, to provide ongoing stability.
He described Hird as a “champion” of the club and “one of the most resilient men I’ve met”.
It is be the fifth time a senior coach has resigned or been sacked after a big loss to Adelaide.
Two North Melbourne coaches, Dean Laidley and Wayne Schimmelbusch, coached their last match against the Crows, the former in Round 12, 2009, while the latter’s tenure at the Kangaroos ended following a 147-point pre-season thrashing. Robert Walls left Richmond in 1997 after losing by 137 points at Football Park, while Malcolm Blight’s tenure at St Kilda ended after a 97-point defeat against his former side.
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