Former Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett would like to see Eddie McGuire removed from Collingwood leadership, calling for the Magpies president to step down after 16 years in the top job.
McGuire has been at the forefront of Collingwood’s revival, which includes the 2010 AFL premiership, helping transform the once struggling Magpies into one of the league’s most consistent, popular and financially sound clubs.
But the Magpies’ recent on-field drop-off and the uphill battle coach Nathan Buckley faces in order to make the finals has prompted the outspoken Kennett to call for McGuire’s axing.
“I don’t believe any leader should be in a job for much longer than six to nine years. (McGuire) has been there double that (time),” Kennett told 3AW on Thursday.
“I think it’s time, in the interests of the club, that he hands over to a successor.
“Once you lose your mojo … once you slip from that top competitive level … it’s hard to get back up there without a rebuilding process.
“The buck stops with the club president at every club.”
Kennett didn’t stop there- the six-year Hawks president predicted Collingwood is set for what he believes will be a five-year slump.
The 66-year-old has never been shy about throwing punches at the AFL’s elite. He took aim at Essendon chairman Paul Little last week, berating Bombers boardroom leadership for its perceived desperate attempt to re-involve political figures in the club’s ongoing Federal Court case against ASADA after having previously spoken out against the Dons on several occasions, at one point calling the club’s supplement scandal “one of the biggest PR disasters we’ve seen in corporate life in recent times” and labelling the seemingly never-ending saga as poor and incompetent corporate governance.
Photo: Paul Little/Getty Images
