Why Demons sacked Guerra as CEO

Melbourne president Steven Smith has outlined the reasons why the club sacked Paul Guerra as CEO.

Guerra was surprisingly removed on Tuesday after just seven months in the position, with Dan Taylor leaving an executive role at Stan Sports to replace him.

Smith explained why the decision to part ways with Guerra was made despite plenty of positivity surrounding the club in 2026.

“So basically there was no one particular thing, but it was just a general loss of confidence in his (Guerra’s) ability to lead the club and a breakdown of relations with the board,” Smith said at today’s press conference.

“In the last couple of weeks it came to a head. The board met yesterday to consider the position of Paul and basically it was a unanimous decision that Paul be removed as CEO.

“It was a difficult decision for us to make, it wasn’t treated lightly and basically as a board we had to go through the information that was available to us and we were unanimous in deciding it was time to move Paul on.

“We’ve shown we can make hard decisions and we do so again in this case.”

Under Steven King so far in 2026, the Dees have shocked many to hold a 5-2 record and fourth spot on the ladder.

They’ve been the surprise packets of the season to date but still there is off-field drama to contend with, with Smith admitting they got the Guerra appointment wrong.

“Last year we felt when we appointed Paul that he was the right choice at the time,” Smith said.

“The fact he was a non-football director, again, wasn’t a concern for us. But having said that you get to a point where you realise that maybe you’ve made a…

“We’ve had 15 to 20 new people appointed over the last six to 12 months and basically sometimes you get one wrong. And we think we just got this one wrong and it’s time to move on.”

Veteran administrator Brian Cook will act as the interim CEO until Taylor commences his new gig in the coming months.

“I approached Brian a week ago, just checking whether he could be interim in the meantime,” Smith said further.

“And Dan a week or two ago just to get a sense of whether he would be prepared to leave Stan. He indicated at that time he would.”

Cook admits that Guerra’s lack of football background many have worked against him in this instance.

“What I would say is there are very few CEOs who come from outside football into football and become successful CEOs in footy, very few,” Cook said.

“If I asked you now who are they you probably couldn’t tell me. It’s a difficult task to understand footy culture and that’s where Paul probably needed to… That’s why I was brought in, to help that progression.

“I’ve been through a fair bit over 40 years. This one is a bit unfortunate, I feel for Paul, he’s a good man, but footy has a strange way of working sometimes.”

Demons statement on Dan Taylor

The club announced Taylor as the next CEO on Wednesday morning.

“The Board is delighted to appoint Dan as CEO of the Melbourne Football Club,” said Smith in a statement.

“Dan has built his career making complex businesses work in competitive environments, and he brings to us the strategic and commercial thinking we need.

“His leadership experience and understanding of what it takes to grow a high-performance organisation will be a great asset for the club. 

“Dan has already made a significant contribution to the Club as a non-executive Director and we look forward to continuing to work with him as CEO to achieve sustained success.”

Taylor added: “I am honoured to be appointed as the CEO of the Melbourne Football Club.

“The club has a proud history and clear ambition, and I look forward to working with the Board, Executive team, staff and players to ensure its ongoing success.

“This is a special opportunity. I can’t wait to get started.”