Coach James Hird - is it time to give him a second chance at coaching an AFL club? Gil says yes!

[Neese]

Form an orderly queue, ladies

Pass

 

[Ice-Wolf]

Also he proved last time he was willing to throw his own team and players under the bus and put them through hell rather than admit fault.

Whatever it takes!

 

[HirdsTheWord]

So the other candidates are now sitting back thinking what’s the point? Robbo and Hird media are making it feel like his reemployment is a given. No wonder Ross and a few others pulled out, their BS detectors must’ve been triggered.

Hird’s camp has been leaking and driving things from the outset. Magically James starts dabling again at GWS, articles start to reappear trying to disassociate his role in the injection regime, he’s introduced as a God at the 150th, we hear that GWS players love him yet I’ve never seen them say so (and if so why didn’t GWS beg him to apply).

 

[Elixuh]

dunno, looks like you guys are taking it personally haha

Yes, I am taking the fact that Essendon is undertaking a sham selection process to appoint a guy who hasn’t coached in almost 10yrs and who previously almost crippled the club very personally.

I was actually crying last night as a result….of laughing.

 

[Ice-Wolf]

So the other candidates are now sitting back thinking what’s the point?

What other candidates?

 

[Mofra]

What other candidates?

Tibor

 

[QuietB]

May as well get the gang back together and enlist Shane!

Is Bomber eligible for day release?

 

[a_fighting_fury]

His 360 mouthpiece is a Hird parrot. Whatever he says is exactly what Jimmy wants him to say. Only with a lot more ums ands ahhs, slurring and camp looking arm waving.

I for one welcome James back into the head coaches fold.

It sure will be interesting this time around though. He will be without his two most valuable attributes which he had during his previous stint- Bomber Thompson and 34 doped up footballers playing well above their natural abilities.

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Surely the AFL can intervene and ensure he has umpiring on his side to facilitate a smooth transition!

 

[citizen-erased]

sigh

it was bad enough being a dons supporter on this site without Hird in the seat.
Might be time to retire the ole account.....unless we start winning. then **** the lot of you

 

[HTPunter]

The AFL cleared him to coach years ago. Whether that is right or wrong has been done to death. He's entitled to put his hand up as he pleases.

Having said that, it would be utter madness for the EFC to select him as coach. After what they went through, I would have thought the club would simply elect to move on permanently.

For this to play out the way it has in the media, Hird has the job. He wouldn't do this if he didn't know already. IMO.

Sure, I don't think anyone really has a moral issue with him being allowed to coach. Some may say they do but really, it was a decade ago, time to move on.

I get the sense most people are just baffled/amused at how he could possibly be the "best candidate". He was an alright senior coach at his best, in regards to results. He's then had 7 years out of the game. He's never been a true assistant coach, in the way that all recent premiership coaches have been - fairly standard recipe for success.

The drug saga is barely relevant.

Literally the only thing that makes him even close to being in the running is that he was a GOAT player for Essendon 20 years ago, and his biggest fan of his playing ability is on the Essendon board. How on earth that relates to coaching ability, I do not know.

 

[RAPPA]

Appoint Hird as coach. May as well also employ Carey as Player Welfare Manager.

 

[RUNVS]

Appoint Hird as coach. May as well also employ Carey as Player Welfare Manager.

Nah, Carey needs to be made coach of Essendon's AFLW team.

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

That is literally what they wanted. Manufacture a way to make it look like they searched for the best coach but only ever really wanted Hird.

How do Walls and Lewis maintain their integrity without quitting now?

By openly refusing to put Hird on the short list.

That's bull crap if the club wanted him they would have straight up hired him and not set up a process to select a new coach.

 

[kranky al]

That club is doomed until they clean up their off field power struggles and clean house. Appointing Hird will only give strength to the current toxic regime in Sheedy and co. They’ll waste another ten years with their heads buried in the sand, telling themselves that they are on the right track and stuff the outside opinion. God help us in the unlikely event that they are proven right though.

It’s delicious. I hope he gets the gig. Sport is way more interesting when there is a villian involved in the storyline.

S’funny, when we joined the afl you sorta pick up the collingwood hate (eddie macguire helps) and run with it, but ive come to not mind collingwood at all, weve had some amazing finals wins and losses against them and its more of a rivalry than hatred.

Ive really come to dislike essendon. Playing a “home” final in melbourne against them didnt help and just the colossal arrogance and entitlement from a club that has just flat out deliberately cheated and had the afl bend over backwards to accomodate it compared to the threats the afl gave us when we had players that never failed a drug test decide to go off the reservation…. Like our club had an option to do extra testing or anything….

 

[citizen-erased]

S’funny, when we joined the afl you sorta pick up the collingwood hate (eddie macguire helps) and run with it, but ive come to not mind collingwood at all, weve had some amazing finals wins and losses against them and its more of a rivalry than hatred.

Ive really come to dislike essendon. Playing a “home” final in melbourne against them didnt help and just the colossal arrogance and entitlement from a club that has just flat out deliberately cheated and had the afl bend over backwards to accomodate it compared to the threats the afl gave us when we had players that never failed a drug test decide to go off the reservation…. Like our club had an option to do extra testing or anything….

don't bring that up!

it's normal broadcasting to dislike Coll, Carl and Ess. We are entitled and have arrogant fans. I'd prefer to be disliked for achieving things though.
ill give Coll credit - they are a well run club (largely) and don't tend to spend long times not competing. Gotta admire that. And the fans always rock up.

 

[BF Tiger]

Essendon will be hoping for a redemption arc storyline, but I’ll be hoping for a redemption s-bend storyline

 

[citizen-erased]

That's bull crap if the club wanted him they would have straight up hired him and not set up a process to select a new coach.

optics.

I think the only coach we could have just head-hunted and appointed was Clarkson (I don't agree, but we could have got away with it without looking amateur).

Have to run a process these days. whether it's a sham or legit, who knows. But for the board, at least they can point to it and say "see, we did it properly" .....even if we didnt.

 

[HairyO]

That's bull crap if the club wanted him they would have straight up hired him and not set up a process to select a new coach.

Yeah right. They want people to believe he is the best candidate.

 

[jj1978]

Even though I dislike the EFC with a passion, even sometimes you have to feel for your enemy. Are they really that blind? I'm seeing articles now from media and fan forum sites going on how Hird's presentation to the committee was awesome. Yet we don't hear how good some of the other candidates did specifically.

You have Robbo (aka Slobbo) going on during 360 that the board should make the decision on Hird and not the committee (wtf??)... preceded and followed by all his articles attempting to inject in the minds of the EFC board, members, supporters and wider AFL community that the return of the Hird is the right thing. Hearing shyte like bringing Hird back will be the thing to "unite", "heal" and its constant bombardment is a tactic used to subliminally make everyone slowly come around and think it's the right thing to do.

If I'm one of the other candidates now, I'd be pulling out! Can see why other potentials told them to eff-off or didn't apply.

If the board had the nads they needed they'd be booting Sheedy out immediately and banning Robbo from being allowed to be involved EFC related media indefinitely.

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

optics.

I think the only coach we could have just head-hunted and appointed was Clarkson (I don't agree, but we could have got away with it without looking amateur).

Have to run a process these days. whether it's a sham or legit, who knows. But for the board, at least they can point to it and say "see, we did it properly" .....even if we didnt.

If that happens then the club can get stuffed ill be done for good u won't see me attending any games ever again

 

[HirdsTheWord]

Yeah right. They want people to believe he is the best candidate.

if hird is chosen it certainly wont be because of his coaching credentials.

7 odd years out of the game and we weren't exactly an unstoppable force prior to him leaving.

 

[HirdsTheWord]

If that happens then the club can get stuffed ill be done for good u won't see me attending any games ever again

what about posting on big footy?

 

[AFLXFACTOR]

Imagine this: the team rallies. Hird has been drafting a master plan for an epic comeback, putting the pieces together with Kevin Sheedy like a general before battle. He's spent the last seven years and millions of dollars hiring a crack team of data scientists and football historians to weed through the archives, to crunch the numbers and best configure his team for a shot at the big one. This is it: his moment for redemption and to show that he and the team has what it takes to once again make it to the premiership dais.

James's son Tom gets picked up again in the rookie draft after being delisted the year before. He plays out of mind all year. He shows great promise and gets his chance in the elimination final after an injury. He plays well and cements his place in the side. The Bombers win their first final in 19 years. The Bombers win the semi and the prelim, and they're through to the granny.

It's Essendon vs. Carlton in the 2023 AFL Grand Final. Over 125 years of history between the teams. It's 16 flags apiece. It's the final minute. BT is frothing at the mouth in the final few seconds. The Bombers are down by 5 points. Carlton's Sam Walsh

18

Sam Walsh

Age

24

Ht

184cm

Wt

84kg

Pos.

Mid

Career

Season

Last 5

D

25.1

5star

K

13.5

5star

HB

11.6

5star

M

5.1

5star

T

3.2

5star

CL

3.4

5star

No current season stats available

D

26.2

5star

K

15.4

5star

HB

10.8

5star

M

6.0

5star

T

3.2

5star

CL

4.8

5star

is flooding back to the back flank. He chips the ball across to a loose player about 60 metres from goal, but Tom Hird comes like a bolt from the blue and takes a miraculous hanger.

The siren goes. The audience holds their breath. Hird can't kick this far with a drop punt; he has to channel his inner Malcolm Blight and go for broke. He takes a breath, angles the ball slightly, and launches a perfect torpedo that sails betwixt the big sticks for a goal. BT defenestrates his laptop and orgasms on camera. Tom runs into the crowd and hugs the leader of the Essendon cheer squad.

"Like father, like son," James Brayshaw proclaims. "This is the greatest thing to have ever happened in 165 years of Australian rules football," he adds. One hundred thousand people stand on their feet in rapturous applause as both Hirds are chaired around the ground like Egyptian pharaohs.

Hollywood comes calling. It wins an Academy Award for best picture.

I wake up. It's 9:29 am. It's September 15th, 2022. I'm late for work. Shit.

 

[BOMBERS 4 LIFE!!!!]

what about posting on big footy?

I'll still be here

 

[Iskender Time]

Nah, Carey needs to be made coach of Essendon's AFLW team.

It’s been more than a decade, which I understand is the requirement for redemption.