Whackty
It is true Hird should not be sacked now his team is struggling so badly. He should have gone last year and it should never have come to this. To coach an AFL team, to be put in charge of the welfare of 40 or so young men, is a privilege Hird lost any right to in 2012.
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Whack whack whack
Still, Little promised that Hird had learnt from his mistakes and would return a better man from his exile. When Tania Hird and other Hird camp members went rogue the chairman threatened them but failed to make them see contrition was mandatory.
My belief is Little was contrite over the club's welfare failings – or "governance" failings as he calls them – but still believes the shocking experimental program had been exaggerated.
The president cost the club again when he joined forces with Hird in his failed legal challenge against the Australian Sports Anti‑Doping Authority, which was thrown out of court. As Hird hung out his dirty linen legally over those dark days, he failed to land a punch, only further slinging mud upon the competition. Both he and Little were laughed out of court. Again we say: if Essendon had nothing to hide, then why waste time trying to avoid a trial?
Hird was almost sacked again at the end of last season, when he went against the wishes of club and players and lawyered up again.
He was saved again for all the wrong reasons. Because of Little's botched legal manoeuvring, to sack the coach would have cost Essendon a threatened millions of dollars. Plus, the members threatened a revolt, plus Little became concerned about the reliability of Hird's obvious successor Thompson.
http://www.theage.com.au/afl/afl-news/why-paul-littles-reign-of-error-at-crisis-club-essendon-must-end-20150707-gi76kt.html
