James Hird: Should Essendon honour his employment contract?

[Suit]

first priority.

Priorities? Hird has children, and a wife. They are his first priority. Other than that, I agree with you.

EFA

What annoys me is he thinks he has been hard done by when everyone has been way too lenient. He should have been sacked in the first place. He should be sacked now. He is an embarrassment for AFL. He is an embarrassment to EFC. He says he cares about the club when he has made it painfully obvious to all that he lacks the professional and ethical obligations required by his choice of employment.

 

[Boxhead_31]

Should James Hird have his employment terminated? IMO Yes

Will the EFC board do so an make a large portion of their supporter base extremely upset? No they need the membership dollars now too much to make the move

 

[Black_White]

For the good of the AFL, for the good of the Essendon Football Club, he must go.
Despite what a lot of Bombers supporters think he is replaceable and the players, club and followers will prosper if they put all this behind them. First step is for Hird to step aside. Failing that he must be dismissed.

 

[Boxhead_31]

Interesting the amount of people saying someone should be sacked because of comments made by one's wife.

Do you think that those said comments were solely the comments of Tania and none of James' thinking?
How many people do you know have their spouse listen in on speaker phone to take notes on business related matters?

 

[Chism]

No they they wont and nor should they.

Hird will get the sack very soon but you don't have to Einstein to work out it was not going to happen today as it would even create more turmoil on the eve of their 1st game and Fletchers milestone tonight.

I have no doubt he will be sacked though soon enough and never coach in the AFL again IMO.

His position is untenable after Tania came out with all guns blazing blaming everyone but poor old hubby Jimmy who has just been hard done by according to her. This is delusion on her part but it is not like we did not know this.

Caro ( as much as i don't like her ) pretty much got it spot on when she said this....

If Tania Hird thought it was smart to continue her campaign against Andrew Demetriou, then her focus only underlined her stupidity

Ouch but it deserves a .

 

[Final Siren]

As badly as Essendon has handled this whole thing, Little is a smart man. I imagine the "contract" Essendon has with Hird is one that will have numerous "outs" should things take a turn for the worst and James brings the club into (further) disrepute during his suspension.

Comments made by ones wife in an informal, unplanned doorstop interview, I definitely agree, they have no context.

Comments made in a pre planned investigative interview, where no doubt questions were supplied in advance and James no doubt had input into the responses. It might as well have come out of James mouth imo

I keep hearing this, but every time I see him he's acting like a complete goose. With particular relevance to this thread, he's handed a two-year contract extension to a guy who was banned for a year of it, and who the club is apparently already thinking about paying out for doing nothing at all. And there was no need to do that. It's even worse than Port Adelaide's backflip on Choco.

 

[jko'neal]

Ive said before he will never coach again, I'm sticking to it. But they will end up paying him out, so in a way that's honoring the contract I'm guessing?

 

[Tiger2709]

Not at all.

Continue to judge solely on team support though.

This goes well beyond team support, has it crossed your mind that some of us are just sick of James and his family and the spin team hijacking yet another season?

It's 2014 lets get on with the footy without Tanya and James keep reminding us of what a disaster last year was, time to man up and accept that it's time to go, up to Essendon or the courts as to whether he should be paid out though.

 

[matwt73]

I would suggest they should honour it or pay him out.

Nothing which has been done by James since it was extended has changed the facts as they were known then. So if a subsequent review of those facts suggests they want to take a different course they will need to negotiate that with him.

 

[mulz]

Contracts a contract. Yes they should honour it. They have made their bed

 

[LeverPuller]

Short answer: no
Long answer: nooooooooooooooooooooooooo

 

[Sprout]

The answer is so obviously no.

It is in everyone's best interest, bar James and Tania's, to end his contract. The club, the players, and the supporters (even if they won't acknowledge it).

 

[benchwarmer5]

Admittedly I don't follow Essendon as much as I used to but Hird coach and Hird player seem to both have everything against them

 

[Colonial]

No. He screwed up so he gets fired like every other type of employee

Sent from my GT-I9300T using Tapatalk

 

[St Edward]

Hird always had to go. Been untenable from start. The fact that he, his missus, Burnside and the rest of fan club are prepared to drag the football club into the quicksand with them shows exactly what they really think of this club they claim to love. This is about Hird attempting to salvage his reputation but against insurmountable odds it is in tatters. In an almost Shakesperian storyline the clubs greatest hero is morphing into its greatest villian before our eyes. In a way i hope it doesn't end too soon - its magnificent theatre!

 

[Randy Campbell]

Hird always had to go. Been untenable from start. The fact that he, his missus, Burnside and the rest of fan club are prepared to drag the football club into the quicksand with them shows exactly what they really think of this club they claim to love. This is about Hird attempting to salvage his reputation but against insurmountable odds it is in tatters. In an almost Shakesperian storyline the clubs greatest hero is morphing into its greatest villian before our eyes. In a way i hope it doesn't end too soon - its magnificent theatre!

Can't wait for the TV Mini series.

 

[IanW]

Yup, wait at least until the ASADA reports to come out, but I have no doubt he's coached his last game. It's just a matter as to whether or not he'll get paid.

Firing Hird gives him the chance of an unfair dismissal lawsuit.

Just let him swing in the breeze, and then decline to pay him once his doping ban comes through.

 

[RandB]

They can't retain him as a coach surely. How they go about it will be delicate though.

 

[TheHoneyBadger]

I keep hearing this, but every time I see him he's acting like a complete goose. With particular relevance to this thread, he's handed a two-year contract extension to a guy who was banned for a year of it, and who the club is apparently already thinking about paying out for doing nothing at all. And there was no need to do that. It's even worse than Port Adelaide's backflip on Choco.

He's an absolute crook, at best. Cannot stand the man.

 

[AndyLucimitis]

Can't wait for the TV Mini series.

Here's a start - James and Tania Hird remind me of Frank Burns and Margaret Houlihan from M*A*S*H.

 

[Adelaide Hawk]

You're a smart man Chief, so do you really need a thread to know which way this will go?

Such an array of in depth answers so far.

Most people have already given their opinions, many times over. I think a Yes or No answer is sufficient.

 

[jd1991]

Essendon Football Club can never truly put the past behind it until it severs its ties with James Hird.

Er, we can never put the past behind, if Caro keeps bring it up in 50+ articles.

But Team Hird are guilty of keep bringing it up and putting himself ahead of the club. At present sympathy from the greater football community towards hird is quickly diminishing.
Who has done worse - Ben Cousins for been an addict - harming only himself or Hird overseeing a program of a huge number of injections of unknown substances without any idea of long term consequences health wise and even playing wise of the recipients of this flawed program.
Wheres any contriteness from team hird to the predicament of the players - its all about "sob", "sob" poor hird who is suspended on full pay, with additional training provided for in a top business school.

I feel sorry for the players, but Hirds public persona comes across as all should feel sorry for Hird.

Please.....................................................provide some real perspective, the players are the poor suckers here, not Hird. If Clarkson at the Hawks had done the same, I would want him sacked ASAP.

 

[jd1991]

Hird always had to go. Been untenable from start. The fact that he, his missus, Burnside and the rest of fan club are prepared to drag the football club into the quicksand with them shows exactly what they really think of this club they claim to love. This is about Hird attempting to salvage his reputation but against insurmountable odds it is in tatters. In an almost Shakesperian storyline the clubs greatest hero is morphing into its greatest villian before our eyes. In a way i hope it doesn't end too soon - its magnificent theatre!

Magnificent way to sum this up. You have put the words together where I couldnt

 

[QuietB]

Hird's contracts are nothing more than hush money. He is not coming back. He never was.

 

[LordLucifer]

Morally and ethically, they should punt him.

For the media sensationalism & upside in membership sales I reckon Essendon will keep him.

Purely for the potential of Essendon suffering for a lot longer than they probably need to, I damn hope they honour their agreement.