Former Essendon captain Tim Watson cannot see James Hird becoming the next coach of the club.
It was reported on Wednesday that the former Bombers skipper and coach had been interviewed by the club’s coaching selection committee.
Hird last coached the club in 2015 following the supplements saga and has only returned to the coaching caper recently with a role at GWS.
With that in mind, Watson does not see the premiership captain as the man to resurrect the embattled club.
“Let’s say Essendon is broken, I think what would unite a club will be success,” Watson said on SEN Breakfast.
“It doesn’t have to come from James Hird being the coach to unite Essendon.
“The club would have been united under Ben Rutten or John Worsfold had they been more successful.
“We don’t need a saviour to come back and unite the Essendon Football Club. We need somebody who is able to put a plan of action in place that is able to deliver success and to start to build a successful team again, that’s what we need.”
Watson also feels that a homecoming for Hird may open some old wounds given that he was at the helm during the club’s most treacherous days.
“I think for a lot of people it would drag back all those things that happened and occurred during that period of time that he was there as coach,” Watson added.
“I have to say that I’d be more than surprised if he ended up being the coach of the Essendon Football Club.
“But I’m happy for him to be part of the process and for him to have the courage to put his and up and even go through because he would have known what this would attract once it became public knowledge.
“He would have known that it puts him right out there in the middle of the conversation again which he has wanted to shy away from and avoid for a long time.”
While Watson can’t see it happening, it may simply be the case that Hird ends up being the best candidate.
“My thought on all this is you go through a process and if it’s set up correctly and ask the right questions then you end up with the best candidate,” he said further.
“We’ve seen that in more recent times, like Craig McRae got spat out of the Collingwood process, so, it works if you get it right.
“If you bring in all those potential coaches, ultimately you should end up with the best candidates.
“Out of all this, it may end up being James Hird, who knows?”