But at least one door remains partially open to him. The next act in Thompson's on-again-off-again love affair with AFL coaching will start in a matter of days when the out-of-contract "Bomber" returns from overseas and sits down with Essendon bosses so that both parties can work out where each other is "at". Where things stand this week, the answer on both sides remains unclear. Thompson flew out of Australia two weeks ago, just hours after publicly declaring his wish to coach the Bombers. But Essendon has another senior coach – at least for "the immediate term". The erratic nature of Thompson's behaviour became more unpredictable in the days leading up to his departure when even those Essendon directors backing him to officially replace James Hird suffered from cold feet. The Gold Coast, having stated it wanted to interview Thompson, withdrew from that stance – although it remains uncertain whether Thompson, in any event, would have been prepared to put himself through an interview process. Either way the fledgling Suns also went cold on Thompson.

Although it would not be the first time the two-time Geelong premiership coach changed his mind – he declared the job this year was for one year only and previously twice performed a radical change of heart about doing it in the first place – it seems certain he would not consider coaching the Western Bulldogs. For the same reason he declared no interest in Adelaide. Both Brenton Sanderson and Brendan McCartney have been close colleagues of Thompson and McCartney, like Sanderson, sees him as a mentor and friend. Which leaves Essendon. Clearly Hird, even in the view of his supporters, is barely hanging on to the senior job, which he retained following a series of legal threats after the Bombers' board botched its attempt to sack him. The Hird view is that Thompson betrayed him at the Crichton Medal count by applying for his job just hours after – according to Hird – Thompson said he supported his decision to appeal the Federal Court decision against him. The following day a dishevelled-looking Thompson said before departing Melbourne that he had "no idea" whether Hird would be back at the club.

Even despite the fall-out with Hird, Thompson's vocal supporter, Tim Watson, has stated recently that his former teammate needs the senior job to be at his best. Clearly, he was unable to truly succeed in the role as Hird's mentor. Essendon remains in talks with another former favourite son, Mark Harvey, for a coaching role and the prevailing view is that Harvey and Thompson could work together. Club CEO Xavier Campbell would not guarantee any outcome or plan on Wednesday when contacted by Fairfax Media. "We will be speaking to him [Thompson] when he returns from overseas in the next few days," Campbell said. "No decisions have been made about anything and we hope to sit down and discuss what the future looks like shortly." Not untypically of the club at present, the senior players appear divided over Thompson and whether he should return as senior coach. His performance at the best-and-fairest rattled a number of on and off-field power-brokers –none of whom doubt his coaching ability, but many of whom question whether he is stable enough to maintain the role. In the words of one of his key players at Geelong: You never knew which Bomber you were going to get from one day to the next. Particularly during his final year with the Cats, which ended in a dreadful fashion with trust between coach and club devastatingly eroded.

Essendon is understood to have attempted to contact Thompson during his holiday but communication was difficult, particularly while the 2014 senior coach was travelling in Mexico. Given Essendon's current state of limbo this was perhaps not a bad thing. Should the shake-up some Essendon supporters know must take place for the club to rebuild from the wreckage of its own creation happen, then Hird will only be one of a number of casualties. There seems little doubt Thompson believed Hird gone when he declared his passion to coach on Crichton Medal night. There also seemed little doubt he had no interest in returning in a lesser role as an assistant or coaching director. But then Thompson has made an art-form of saying one thing and doing another. His behaviour may have increasingly become a source of alarm for the football community but he remains an industry leader as a match-day coach. A coach crying out for a football boss – and a club – strong enough to support and harness him.