It's pretty hard to see how a meaningful role could have been found for him given Hird's return and that of another favourite son in Mark Harvey, the presence of Neil Craig and Rob Kerr as heads of football, even the introduction of Mark Neeld as head of player development. That would have meant no fewer than five men who have coached at senior level in the AFL, all with their own ideas about where to take the list and game plan, and, given Craig's sounding-out by the Western Bulldogs for their vacant coaching position, perhaps not having abandoned aspirations to be senior coaches again. Never has that old saying about a collection of cooks and a broth seemed more appropriate, and Essendon sources claim Thompson was already uncomfortable with Craig's place in the pecking order.



Further evidence of the football department disconnect is that Craig reportedly had no say in Harvey's appointment and Hird no say in the appointment of Neeld.



As we've written previously, Thompson's descent in status from, on the night of Essendon's best and fairest, seeming poised to either take over Hird's position permanently or walk into the Gold Coast job, to seemingly now being out of AFL football altogether, has been remarkably swift. He hasn't helped himself by being difficult to reach, and inconsistent with his message, which, to be blunt, has been confusing. And that damaging football grapevine has continued to work overtime with reports of Thompson's sometimes erratic behaviour. Having been present at Essendon's best and fairest count on October 1, I believe the strength of Thompson's supposed "pitch" for Hird's job has been somewhat overplayed, a theory supported by the fact Hird has recently appeared more than comfortable with the prospect of working again with his former right-hand man next year.

Essendon chairman Paul Little, chief executive Xavier Campbell and co have been caught between something of a rock and a hard place, wanting to keep Thompson in the fold, but unable to sit on their hands and do nothing until he found both the right motivation and a willingness to fit their plans. But as difficult as handling the past two years has been for the entire club, Essendon's administration also hasn't helped itself by its own erratic ways and inconsistency of message, both with the supplements saga and the football operations. That has created a climate in which too many people at the club have felt empowered to pursue their own agendas without cost and that, in turn, helps create a public image of a club swaying this way and that, destabilised and lurching from one crisis to the next. Hence the impending challenge to the incumbent board from the likes of former Melbourne Storm chief executive Ron Gauci and accountant Jason Cunningham. They are not, as some conspiracy theorists believe, "AFL plants". Their motivation is more to help mend a club fractured in several places. Little, according to sources, has been less-than-thrilled by their public campaigning. But that might be more a comment on the sort of inward "bunker mentality" which seems to have gripped this once powerhouse of a football club.

Hird, meanwhile, continues to prepare for coaching in 2015, unfazed by the whirlwind around him and his own Federal Court appeal. The players have remained staunch in their support of him, the supposed exodus the ASADA shenanigans was going to launch amounting only to the loss of Paddy Ryder. They and their returned coach have to date kept their eye on the ball and kept their heads, while seemingly all around them have lost theirs. The pity for them is that while in 2013 the storm against which they were able to insulate themselves was all from the outside, now much of the unsettled weather comes from within. But after two years of hell, Essendon's coach and players are pretty well-versed in whipping out the umbrellas.