JAMES Hird’s tenure at Essendon had an end date about the time of last year’s best-and-fairest count. It was not a matter of if, but when.

It was a tumultuous time, Hird being back from France and Mark Thompson in the coach’s chair, and the Bombers were conflicted.

Chairman Paul Little moved to sack Hird the day after the count when “Bomber” was thought to be in prime position to keep the job, but Little missed his mark.

But that didn’t stop him trying.

media_camera James Hird leaves his Toorak home this morning after his departure from Essendon yesterday. Picture: Nicole Garmston

Two days later, on Saturday, October 4, Little rang Hird and offered Hird money to walk away from the club.

We’re not talking Little’s ashtray money, either.

We’re talking in the vicinity of $3 million-plus.

Again, Hird said no.

It wasn’t about the money, it was about looking after the players, about what he believed was right and wrong, about how he believed the AFL had railroaded Essendon and himself and how he believed the players would have nothing to answer.

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He wanted the truth to be known and he would never stop fighting for the truth.

Call him delusional, ego-driven and narcissistic, but add to that resilient.

Even the most vociferous Hird haters would admit he had balls.

Hird caved in on Tuesday for the first time since this wretched affair began in February 2013. And he caved in because the Bombers caved in on him.

Not the players, mind you, some of whom were fighting tears at Tuesday’s press conference and were said to be devastated by the club’s decisions

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The board made this happen, so it’s difficult to accept the narrative that Hird resigned and wasn’t sacked.

As late as Sunday afternoon, Hird told confidants he would not to be stepping down.

Things were moving, but he still believed the board understood the mindset of the players and how it was affecting their performances.

Little said on Tuesday he and Hird met four weeks ago to discuss the future.

media_camera The AFL would be delighter to see the back of Hird, Mark Robinson says.

Just two weeks ago, however, Bombers chief executive Xavier Campbell said this: “James is contracted next year and James will coach the club next year. 100 per cent. I can’t see anything else changing between now and then.’’

What changed was two heavy losses, and Little and the board decided the club could not move on with the coach.

Let’s be honest: the AFL would be delighted to see the back of Hird.

The AFL would now be satisfied. It got what it wanted without having to fire the bullet.

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Commission chairman Mike Fitzpatrick had already asked Hird why he hadn’t resigned; former chief executive Andrew Demetriou would be disappointed he didn’t see Hird gone before he left; and current chief executive Gillon McLachlan, who had barely spoken to Hird since replacing Demetriou, won’t lose a minute’s sleep.

The board — the same board that had pleaded with Hird to take a year’s suspension covering the 2014 season, for the good of the club — turned on him.

Make no mistake: if the board had stuck by him, Hird would still be coach. In the end, he ran out of allies.

The club he’s known since he was knee-high to a grasshopper, where his grandfather and father played, where he was a champion and a Brownlow medallist and a premiership captain, cut him adrift.

The Bombers are a laughing stock on the field and will be accused of being the same off it.

‘I’M TRULY SORRY’, HIRD’S FAMILY PAIN

Remember the golden ticket? Hird and Thompson arrived together, their beaming smiles on offer in the cockpit of the World War II fighter plane.

Five years later, Thompson hates the club and Hird hates football.

Since 2011, the club has paid Matthew Knights for 2011-2012, when he didn’t coach, and now they have paid Hird close to $2 million to not coach in 2014 and 2016.

Anyone looking for a reason to run a ticket against those in charge?

Opinion on Hird was divided on Tuesday, but the majority appeared to believe the club had made the right decision; that something had to give; that a circuit-breaker was needed; that, ultimately, Hird had to be held responsible for what happened in 2012.

The board agreed. It’s a pity they couldn’t wait for the WADA appeal to be over — and won — to be that circuit-breaker.

media_camera Jobe Watson at the press conference yesterday.

Little is a good man. He took the role when David Evans couldn’t do it and made an enormous contribution.

But if there’s a criticism, it’s that Little could swing in the breeze.

He would fight the AFL, and then stop. He would appeal to the Federal Court, and then stop. He would give Hird two years’ extension, then end it after just one.

He marched Hird out not because of recent results, but for the continued fallout from the ASADA-AFL-WADA investigation, which Hird could never really let go.

After the Round 15 win over Melbourne, the headlines were on Hird’s comments about individuals at the AFL.

The Bombers told him to cool it. He did. But even without Hird’s creating noise, the pressure built and built.

Tuesday won’t be a circuit-breaker.

It will be the start of a civil war, in which fans will turn on the club, fans will support the club, the board will be probably in the gun, and players will ask themselves: Why should I stay here?

And God only knows who will coach the club.

As for Hird, the dream is over.

He was party to a supplements program which brought the club and by the end, his football career, to its knees.

He will miss the players and the buzz of footy.

But in return, he will get back a family and a sense of normality.

In the quiet times, he might think that was a good swap.

mark.robinson@news.com.au