Yes, I remember the tapping the table with his fingers.
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Clarkson who’s a 4 time premiership coach is doing such a stellar job at North i guess he’s no good too.
It’s not a senior coach issue with us the list is ■■■■■ you could have Chris Scott in charge and wouldn’t make a difference
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We’d have a discernible gameplan though…
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If he doesn’t have players that can kick,handball and execute the basics right no game plan will work
I was telling a colleague this the other day! And then couldn’t find anything on it, so I wondered if I dreamt it.
Welshy is going to get Brylcreem to be one of our major sponsors.
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Not a dinosaur and dosen’t look like a hobo that’s an improvement already haha
Club should hopefully save on advertising and marketing costs. Free billboard!!
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I want Welsh to tag Barret and make him useless like he did to Judd
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Maybe he can find us a plot of land in the western suburbs that isn’t cursed or a wind tunnel.
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How long will it be before Welshy buys the Hangar at a knock-down price and builds a housing estate there ?
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I’ll buy the 1st house just so it happens.
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Just a standard “Essendon should be good and that’s hard” letter. No real insight into whether or not he intends to do anything. Ok.
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Does this mean we’ve heard the last of Marco for a while?
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I thought this was hilarious:
The power of Essendon has always been in our unity.
Ah ha.
Overall, I’m not thrilled with this. I was hoping that if this was happening that they would use Barham leaving to do a few more “unliked” moves. Such as trading a few other players out, maybe firing Scott. Then the new president comes in with a clean slate. This implies to me we’re not making any more tough moves. No idea what it means for Merrett.
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Check the Merrett thread.
Draper,Ridley(maybe) the captain leaving not good enough for you?
Is the board challenge still happening?
Essendon president stands down, Welsh declares Merrett will stay
Incoming Essendon president Andrew Welsh has declared Zach Merrett will be at the Bombers in 2026.
Welsh’s predecessor, David Barham, announced on Tuesday morning that he would stand down, amid off-field drama over the playing future of the Dons captain, Merrett.
Essendon president David Barham with Zach Merrett at the Brownlow Medal on Monday night.Credit:AFL Photos via Getty Images
Barham said in a letter to members that he would hand the job to vice-president and former Bomber, Welsh.
Welsh told Seven News, in a short segment of a bigger interview posted to social media on Tuesday afternoon: “Yeah, Zach Merrett will be at the footy club next year”.
Barham said he had made tough decisions as Essendon boss.
“I have given my all over the past three and a half years and tackled every challenge with everything that I have. I took my responsibility to fight for and defend our club, its players, coaches and administrators extremely seriously,” Barham said.
“I’m proud of what we have achieved in transforming the club and making the hard decisions to set it up for long-term, sustained success. I have no doubt we are now on the right track, and I leave excited about the future.”
Barham attended the Brownlow Medal on Monday night, where Merrett addressed his future for the first time since it was revealed he had met with Hawthorn coach Sam Mitchell.
Merrett has not requested a trade but has not committed to returning to the Bombers.
“I haven’t worked through my preference yet. There is a lot of stuff to go through in the next few weeks, there will definitely be some conversations, some factors at play,” Merrett said on the Brownlow red carpet.
“But there is a fair bit of uncertainty all around, things will be made clearer in the coming weeks.”
Andrew Welsh as a player.Credit:Sebastian Costanzo
Nine News reported on Sunday night that a board challenge was brewing at the Bombers.
Barham’s pre-emptive move to hand over to Welsh is expected to defuse that situation.
Welsh, who met with Merrett last week, was a tough defender and former vice-captain of the club who has since established a successful career in property development.
He joined the Essendon board when Barham took over the presidency in 2022 as director of football governance.
“Andrew, the board and I have been working collaboratively to put a succession plan in place for some time, and I am delighted that Andrew is now able to take on the role, and he will take over responsibility from today,” Barham said in his letter
“I have been thinking about this decision for a while, and feel the timing is right.
“I convened a meeting of the board this morning where I informed them of this decision. I will now take steps to fully exit the board in the coming weeks to ensure a smooth transition.”
As president, Barham presided over the sacking of then-coach Ben Rutten and the appointment of Brad Scott ahead of the 2023 season.
Both developments were messy; the then rookie president apologised for leaving Rutten in the dark during a botched pursuit of Alastair Clarkson, before club legend Kevin Sheedy (then a director) publicly revealed he had supported James Hird’s bid to return as coach over Scott.
Play video
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Merrett speaks out on Hawthorn meeting
Zach Merrett addresses his potential move away from Essendon.
Barham’s administration presided over the exit of Sheedy from the board, a new CEO in Craig Vozzo (after the short-lived appointment of Andrew Thorburn, who resigned over a conflict with views espoused by his church), and a new list boss in Matt Rosa.
“Since becoming president, I have repeatedly said that sustained, long-term success relies on unity, stability and alignment and this transition to Andrew Welsh ensures that [is] maintained,” Barham said.
“Andrew will be an outstanding president, and it has been a privilege to work with him. He is driven and will bring fresh energy to the role, an energy we need to continue to build and develop the club and achieve on-field success.
“As we all loved him as a player, Andrew’s uncompromising but compassionate approach, football knowledge and strategic thinking have been brilliant to watch and are great assets to the club.”
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Doubt it