"My hesitation in leaving this football club at this time is that I will leave the players in a time they still need strong guidance and care which I hope to continue to provide from a distance." The Bombers Credit:Getty Images EARLIER: Essendon are expected to announce they have parted company with senior coach James Hird, effective immediately. The resignation of Hird follows discussions by the Essendon board after the club's massive 112-point loss to Adelaide. But the move has been in the wind for some time, with the board increasingly of the view that Hird should move on. The Essendon players were told of Hird's fate at about lunchtime on Tuesday. The club will hold a press conference at 3.15pm on Tuesday afternoon. Hird, who had a year to run on his contract, will be replaced by an interim coach, who will be one of the current assistants, such as Matthew Egan or Hayden Skipworth. Club great and ex-Fremantle coach Mark Harvey will not be the replacement.

Hird's exit involves a negotiated settlement on the remainder of his contract - speculation is that he was due to be paid close to $750,000 for 2016. Gone from Essendon: James Hird. Credit:Getty Images Fairfax Media believes the Essendon board held discussions on Monday evening. Hird's exit has been seen as inevitable following a succession of heavy defeats by the Bombers, who have won only five matches this season, with the only question the extent to which the players' slump has been caused by the draining impact of the WADA appeal - which will be heard be the Court of Arbritration for Sport in November. The coach appeared resigned to his fate in the aftermath of Saturday's heavy defeat.