Little told Fairfax Media he had no "social relationship" with Hird and was convinced the embattled coach would return to the role "a better person" when his suspension ended.
He said Hird had been a passionate footballer whose instinct was to "whack right back" after being hit on the field, and that was "just the wrong thing for him to do now".
And, he added that Hird had to move on from the supplements saga; something that he believed the champion Essendon player knew he had to do.
Little's words prompted Hird's father, Allan, to pen a letter to Fairfax disagreeing that the Brownlow medallist went to "whack" players on the field.
Allan Hird said his son "just went in harder and often helped to win games", and played with "distinction and fairness" while coping "with adversity extremely well".
After Hird's PR advisor Ian Hanke tweeted on the weekend that Little was undermining Hird and predicting the club's supporters would be outraged by the chairman's words, Little has moved to smooth the waters between the two parties.
"There has been a lot of press over the last week or so about relationships that may or may not exist between James Hird, the football club, myself and various others," Little said, in a video on the club's website.
"I would just like to explain to you that we have the utmost admiration and respect for James here at the Essendon Football Club and I believe James does back to us."
Little emphasised the work the club was doing in mending relationships with the media and the League after the drawn-out saga that dominated 2013.
He said he felt there were in-roads being made in both areas as the Bombers looked to repair their culture and restore trust with the supporters.
"In this situation, what I've been trying to do, and the board has been trying to do, is to re-engage with the press and journalists in particular, so you will see us now trying to engage with them in a responsible way so that we get some positive and balanced journalistic coverage of our football club for you in 2014," he said.
"It's terribly important for the playing group, it's terribly important for the coaching group, the administration, who do not want to have the constant negative commentary made – be it through the print media or anything else.
"The same situation really applies with the AFL. You've heard me talk about the need to re-engage with them in a very positive way [and] I'm satisfied that we're now doing that.
"I'm satisfied that across all levels … relationships are already improving.
"So I know that from the outside looking in that can be somewhat confusing - all I can say to you is that there is absolutely a strategy there now to bring the footy club back to a more normal environment in terms of how others see what we're doing and why we're doing it."
Little touched on the upgrading of the club's governance guidelines and said there had been improvements made based on the Switkowski report and the ASADA investigation from last year.
These include:
- A full review of the football department and football program;
- The establishment of a new football department executive with an active role for the football director attending monthly meetings;
- The embedding of a new football department structure with clear reporting lines, role definitions, the establishment of service level agreements and changes to the coaching structure;
- Reviewed medical policies and procedures with new medical protocol and policy established;
- Reviewed and improved procurement and recruitment policies;
- The introduction of a new internal whistle blower policy;
- Improved reporting to the board across all key areas of the business;
- The implementation of executive re-structure including the recruitment of new GM Football and GM People & Culture;
- The reinvigoration of cultural framework to embed new organisational values, behaviours and purpose; and,
- The establishment of an integrity officer position to oversee policies and procedures, TPP, AFL rules and regulations, medical protocols, insurance and risk management across the business - the position also has a direct communication line with the chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee.
Twitter: @AFL_JenPhelan
