Missed ch7 - any news?
Sorry, didn't get back in time to see it. Anyone?
This seems encouraging:
<strong>Essendon 2014 coach Mark Thompson open to sticking with Bombers in reduced capacity</strong>
Ronny Lerner<br>
October 23, 2014 - 7:31PM
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Essendon's 2014 coach Mark Thompson has softened his stance and is now open to the possibility of staying at Tullamarine in a reduced capacity.
Three weeks ago at the Bombers' best-and-fairest night, Thompson strongly indicated that he wanted to remain the club's senior coach despite the suspended James Hird returning to the fold.
"The thing I'm really struggling with right now is taking a step back," Thompson said on October 1.
"I can't do a job that doesn't actually fill a need ... You don't go backwards in this world. We don't ever want players to play in the AFL and then go back to the VFL and expect them to enjoy that. They hate that and that's a little bit about how I feel."
But Thompson said on Thursday that he did not lobby the club to retain his 2014 role and insisted he was happy to accept a position below Hird on the Essendon coaching staff that now features another of their premiership teammates, Mark Harvey.
"I didn't say that," Thompson told Channel Seven. "I said I'd like [the senior coaching job] but I knew that Hirdy had it and that was the understanding all along. I'd never ever do that to a mate.
"We're just all in discussions [about my 2015 role], really. It hasn't been finalised."
Essendon CEO Xavier Campbell said the board was considering Thompson's suggestion of taking on an ambassadorial role with the club next season.
"There's a chance, absolutely," said Campbell. "But we need to understand where Mark's passion lies, where there is gaps for the business."
Thompson all but ruled out any chance of him filling the vacant senior coaching positions at either Gold Coast or the Western Bulldogs.
"I haven't given it too much thought and haven't spoken to anyone," he said.