James Hird could coach Essendon as club is slammed for ‘butchering’ coach Ben Rutten

James Hird could coach Essendon next year after their main target Alastair Clarkson inked a five-year deal with North Melbourne.

It would be a stunning turnaround of fortunes for the former champion midfielder, who required mental health assistance following the infamous drug supplements saga of 2011 and 2012.

Hird eventually quit at Windy Hill in 2015 after serving a 12–month suspension imposed by the AFL stemming from the drug fiasco.

Few felt he would ever return, but with under siege current coach Ben Rutten likely to be shown the door once the Bombers conduct a season review, Hird has emerged as a genuine candidate for 2023 and beyond.

In May this year, Mark ‘Bomber’ Thompson said he would like to see Hird – viewed by many as the sacrificial lamb at the height of the Essendon drug scandal – be given another opportunity as an AFL head coach.

‘I hope Hirdy gets a senior job,’ Thompson told the Herald Sun.

‘He got cut out of the game pretty quickly, too early, and he never cut his teeth into coaching.

The Bombers chased Clarkson hard, believing the four-time premiership winning coach could make them a force in the AFL

‘Look, everybody makes mistakes and you don’t hang people for making those sorts of mistakes. You try to give them another chance. You help them.’

Hird is currently working as an assistant with the GWS Giants.

Meanwhile, Rutten’s manager Adam Ramanauskas has hit out at the treatment of the embattled Essendon coach amid the Bombers’ audacious and unsuccessful pursuit of Clarkson, a four-time Hawthorn premiership coach.

The 39-year-old is contracted for next season but it didn’t prevent Essendon from pursuing Clarkson, who opted on Friday to coach the Kangaroos ahead of the Bombers.

Ramanauskas, who played in Essendon’s last premiership back in 2000, is staggered by how his former club has handled the situation.

Current coach Ben Rutten likely to be shown the door once the Bombers conduct a season review

Rutten’s manager Adam Ramanauskas (pictured left) has hit out at the treatment of the embattled Essendon coach

He labelled the treatment of Rutten ‘poor’ and ‘really disappointing’.

‘The behaviour and way he’s been treated is fundamentally not right,’ Ramanauskas told RSN on Friday.

‘Whether that’s Ben Rutten or another senior coach, there’s only 18 of these jobs available in the country, it’s a very high-pressure job.

‘The way you treat these individuals is critical to the success of your football club.’

Ramanauskas claims the club, and David Barham, who replaced Paul Brasher as president on Monday amid board turmoil, had failed to inform Rutten of their intentions.

‘It’s fair to say Monday and half of Tuesday were pretty difficult days because no one was telling (Rutten) what was going on,’ Ramanauskas said.

‘He was reading on Monday he was sacked, and there was nobody who was telling him otherwise.’

Ramanauskas was joined in his condemnation by ex-West Coast star Will Schofield, who wrote: ‘What a complete and utter butchering by Essendon – they still have a coach, who they clearly don’t want, board is spilling and now look completely lost. Weren’t they winning the premiership this year?’  

Barham defended the club’s failed pursuit of Clarkson, claiming he would have been ‘derelict in his duty’ if he didn’t speak with the former Hawks coach.

He also apologised for not contacting Rutten after reports emerged he had been stood down on Monday, admitting it was a ‘mistake’.

‘It’s been horrible, but my job is to make sure the footy club is the best footy club it can be,’ Barham said.