Essendon Bombers coach Ben Rutten brutally SACKED by the club after disappointing season

Bombers coach Ben Rutten has been brutally sacked, with the club revealing he would be leaving the club effective immediately after a board meeting on Sunday

Rutten, who guided to club to an unlikely finals campaign last season, was moved to tears by the situation after the Bombers finished their year with a disappointing 66-point thumping at the hands of Richmond.

It comes after a week of turmoil at the club that has included board upheaval and a very public failed attempt to lure former Hawks coach Alastair Clarkson.

Rutten was not made aware of the club’s pursuit of Clarkson, and the Bombers were lashed for their lack of communication and respect towards their head coach. 

With the axe looming over his head on Saturday night after the side’s loss, Rutten said that he deserved to be treated better by the club. 

‘I probably think I deserve better,’ he said in a post-match press conference.

‘As a club, we need to come together as a whole football club and we need to stick to a plan, put our heads down, bum up and do the work.

‘There’s no other way. There’s no other way for this football club to get back to where it wants to be,’ said Rutten.

Essendon president David Barham said in a statement on Sunday afternoon that the club’s board of directors made the decision to part ways with Rutten, effective immediately.

‘The unfortunate reality is, at various stages this season; we have simply been uncompetitive. And while we acknowledge that we have an emerging playing list, we were compelled to make the decision,’ Barham said in a statement released by the club.

‘Our members and supporters do, and should, expect better from a proud football club. We appreciate this has been a difficult chapter for our Club. 

‘But as I said in my President’s address pre-game yesterday, we will be a bold and courageous football club again. We need to return to being a successful football club,’ said Barham.

More to come…