THE ESSENDON board will meet on Wednesday to decide James Hird's future after another weekend of drama for the club.
Bombers chairman Paul Little has been on the front foot since Friday, when he refused to guarantee Hird would return to coach the Bombers once his suspension ends in August.
Although Essendon champion Matthew Lloyd claimed at the weekend Hird would resume as senior coach in 2015 after suggesting Hird spoke with Little on Saturday, the Essendon board will make a call on Wednesday.
"Essendon Football Club wishes to advise the matter relating to James Hird has been referred to a board meeting on Wednesday, 26 March," a club statement said on Monday.
"The club will not make any further comment until after this meeting."
Bombers great Tim Watson said Essendon wanted a commitment from the Hird camp that there would be no more criticism of the AFL and its chief executive Andrew Demetriou over the club's supplements scandal.
"They want this to go away - they want James and they want Tania and they want everyone associated with the Hird camp ... to just accept the umpire's decision and move forward," Essendon great Tim Watson said on Seven's Talking Footy.
Hird's position was thrown into doubt after his wife Tania reignited claims AFL boss Andrew Demetriou tipped off the Bombers about the supplements scandal.
Watson agreed with fellow former Essendon star Matthew Lloyd that Hird will still return, but admitted to some doubt.
"All things are going to be canvassed," Watson said.
Interim coach Mark Thompson said he was doing his best to ignore the controversy.
"I'm not flippant about it, (but) I can't do anything," Thompson told Fox Footy's AFL 360.
"Right now ... Hirdy is going to come back in and until something else happens, we'll deal with it then."
Last week Little said he needed to speak with Hird to "understand the facts" before taking any action but admitted the situation had taken the gloss off round one.
"There are certain expectations on any senior coach that we have in relation to what we expect from them and what we expect from the people that surround them. If we're not getting what we expect then clearly that's something that needs to be dealt with," Little said last week on Channel Seven.
Hird was contracted for a further two years, through to the end of 2016, after accepting the 12-month suspension last year.
Asked directly if there was a "way out" of the contract if obligations were not met, Little said it would be dealt with.
"It's terribly complex. We will deal with it next week. At this point in time it really hasn't been part of our focus this afternoon," he said.
