Thompson will step away from the coaching box to allow the returning James Hird - whose one-year suspension expired last month - to take the reins as Bombers coach.

 

But Thompson wants to stay at the club in some sort of capacity and he and the club are sorting through the finer details.

 

There is the possibility an announcement could be made as soon as this week.

 

"It's probably not being assistant coach. I've been there done that and got out of it and I'm not going back," Thompson said on Fox Footy on Monday night.

 

"We've got to work it out ... we've started the process. We'll go away and think about it."

 

Thompson hinted at his desire to be involved in player development but said there were a multitude of areas the club needs to improve in.

 

"There's a few things we've got to fix up. The development stuff is really important, that we just keep bringing players ready to step up and play," Thompson said.

 

"Then there's how you get the players there in the first place and it's how you coach the coaches and how to go from the way you want to play, into the way you train and the way you prepare, that sort of thing."

 

Retaining players is another key issue facing the Bombers, with ruckman Patrick Ryder's future "still up in the air" according to Thompson.

 

Ryder has been linked to a move to the Brisbane Lions with his management exploring a new breach-of-contract clause that would allow him to walk away from the Bombers as a delisted free agent.

 

Essendon will meet with Ryder, who is contracted for next year, in the coming days to try to convince him to stay.

 

"I don't know the whole issue but there's something that Paddy has on his mind and if we can resolve that, hopefully he'll stay," Thompson said.

 

"They're catching up in the next couple of days and hopefully everything works out pretty well."

 

Twitter: @AFL_BenGuthrie