James Hird will continue as Essendon coach for the time being, only five days after the AFL club appeared certain to sack him.
Essendon’s decision to keep Hird puts the spotlight squarely back on Bombers caretaker coach Mark Thompson, who was linked last week to the vacant Gold Coast job.
The Essendon board decided on Monday it is the wrong time to make any major decisions, given Hird’s upcoming Federal Court appeal and ASADA’s imminent issuing of show cause notices against 34 current and former Essendon players.
That means Hird is safe for at least the next few weeks.
“The board believes it would be potentially reckless to make any decisions of significance until there is further clarity on these crucial matters,” said Essendon chairman Paul Little.
“The board recognises the rights of James to pursue his appeal of the recent Federal Court decision.
“James remains senior coach of Essendon and will work closely with other members of the football department during this particularly important trade and planning period in preparation for the 2015 season.
“The board has set no time frame on further considering these matters, however, (it) will monitor developments as they occur.”
Little also said the Bombers hope the ASADA disciplinary process against the 34 players can be completed by the end of the year.
Hird will start his appeal on Thursday when he goes to court to apply for an expedited hearing.
He is also not standing in the way of ASADA issuing the amended show cause notices.
But it remains unclear whether ASADA will issue the notices while Hird’s appeal is underway.
“After discussions with key relevant parties, we remain hopeful the ASADA process can be expedited and completed prior to the end of 2014,” Little said.
Hird and Essendon are at odds after his decision last week to appeal against the September 19 Federal Court verdict.
Essendon opted not to challenge Justice Middleton’s ruling, which went against Hird and the club.
Hird and Essendon had gone to court to challenge the legality of the joint ASADA-AFL investigation into the club’s controversial supplements program.
Speaking at last Wednesday’s club best and fairest function, Thompson said he wanted to stay at the club.
But the two-time Geelong premiership coach also added he did not want to go back to being a senior assistant coach, which was his role at Essendon before Hird had to serve a 12-month AFL suspension this year.
Thompson is overseas on holiday.
Last Thursday, there was strong speculation it was only a matter of time before Essendon would sack Hird.
He was in good spirits on Monday at the club’s Tullamarine headquarters.
Only minutes before Essendon released their statement, Hird left for the day and said he had not spoken to the club’s board.
“It wasn’t a normal day, but we have a big job ahead of us, the trade period and obviously (finding) another assistant coach,” he said.
“So we’re keen to get that done as soon as we can.”
Source: AAP