The job of new Essendon president David Barham is under intense scrutiny after he admitted to making a mistake in appointing CEO Andrew Thorburn, who quit 24 hours after he was hired.
A nightmare period for the Bombers again descended to farce on Tuesday when a wave of negative media about Thorburn due to the views held by the church he chairs led to his demise in one of the shortest-lived chief executive tenures on record.
Barham, who was elected club president in August, fronted the media on Tuesday afternoon to explain that the board had asked Thorburn to choose between his position with Essendon and his position with the City on a Hill church. Thorburn chose the church.
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The Thorburn shocker was the second major appointment made during Barham’s brief period in the presidency, and he has copped heavy criticism for the way he handled both, with supporters and members aggrieved by the treatment of sacked coach Ben Rutten, who was given the silent treatment while Barham and the Bombers board pursued the then in-demand four-time premiership coach Alastair Clarkson, only to have their advances spurned.
Having landed Brad Scott to coach the Bombers, Barham then secured Thorburn, plunging the club back into crisis barely days after recovering from the coach saga.
And he may yet have signed his own death warrant, with senior AFL journalist Damian Barrett revealing on Trade Radio that meetings had been held by powerful club figures to discuss Barham’s future on Tuesday night.
“I know there were meetings going on late last night,” Barrett said. “Multiple meetings about what these people, who also want change at that footy club, are going to do and none of it is favourable for Dave Barham.
“How that plays out, potentially as early as today, I’m really keen to see.”
Essendon president announces resignation of club CEO
Barrett added that in his own view Barham should fall on his sword.
That view was countered by Essendon legend Matthew Lloyd who said he supported Barham as president, despite accepting that grave mistakes have been made.
”David Barham, you’re right he has made some mistakes. So the way he handled the Ben Rutten situation – everyone knows I’m a fan of Dave – I’m a friend of Dave’s but he did make a big mistake there with the treatment of Rutten,” Lloyd said in discussion with Barrett on Trade Radio.
“He’s made a mistake here. But I understand what David’s been trying to do to change what the mediocrity has been at the club and their on-field performance.”
Speaking on Nine’s Today, former Essendon captain Brendon Goddard did not give a view on whether or not Barham should keep his job but did question how the board had made such a mess of the Thorburn appointment.
Goddard said that given Thorburn’s former positions in high profile jobs, it shouldn’t have been hard for Essendon to do their research.
”The question I want to raise, having worked for NAB and Bank of New Zealand, surely they’d known about this in the past and why wasn’t it an issue for them moving forward with him at the helm?” Goddard said.
“I’m not entirely sure, it does raise eyebrows when talking about it.
”Did they miss it or did they choose to ignore it?” Goddard added. “And when you’ve got a history and a resume like Andrew’s, it would suggest that maybe they knew about it and were happy to move forward knowing that other big companies had done the same.
“We don’t know, we’re only making assumptions. We can only go based on what the board and David Barham are saying.”
Essendon CEO quits over church controversy
While Goddard questioned Essendon’s decision to appoint Thorburn, he firmly backed the dramatic u-turn that brought them back to square one.
“Being Essendon, I know how big a supporter they are of particularly the LGBTQI community, diversity and equality, so how can you realistically have a CEO that doesn’t necessarily fit in with those beliefs, driving that,” Goddard said.
“And as a club being unified and being all on the same page and sending the same message, I just think that was really contradictive if he was to pursue the CEO job.”
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