ESSENDON will make a decision about Ben Rutten's future on Sunday after its late-hatched grand plan to land Alastair Clarkson misfired, with Rutten saying he was blindsided by the Bombers' brazen coup attempt.

New Bombers president Dave Barham fronted the media on Friday hours after Clarkson had made his call to be North Melbourne's next senior coach, with Barham saying he had to approach Clarkson in an attempt to make the battling Bombers better.

He said the board would meet on Sunday to make a decision on Rutten's future, and that it needed to work out what type of coach the club needs.

But Rutten, who will steer the Bombers on Saturday night against Richmond, was reluctant to say whether he would want to stay at Essendon next year anyway after their treatment of him this week.

"I'm the coach of this footy club and I've made a commitment to serve the Essendon Football Club and the members, supporters and my players and I'm going to continue the best I can until someone tells me otherwise," Rutten said.

In a dramatic day at Tullamarine, Barham said he regretted not speaking with Rutten on Monday as he became the president-elect of the club, taking over from Paul Brasher, and that players were disappointed they had not been more consulted through another week of turmoil at the club.

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"That was a mistake. I should have called him (Rutten) Monday, and I apologise for that," said Barham, who described the week as "really horrible".

"I called him Tuesday, went and saw him at his house on Wednesday; I got that wrong."

Rutten said Clarkson had not contacted him through the week, but said he was "looking forward" to coaching Essendon against the Tigers in what will be Michael Hurley's farewell game.

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When pressed on if he could remain at the club after its brazen attempt to pinch Clarkson from North's grasp, Rutten, who is contracted for next year and would collect a payout in the vicinity of $600,000 if sacked, held firm.

"It's something we're certainly going to need to work through, but as I said, I'm the coach of the footy club and I made a commitment to them. I'm not going to let them down," he said.

"They're conversations we need to have moving forward, absolutely, but I'm not in a position now to make any (comment)."

The Bombers' season hit a new low on Sunday after their 84-point drubbing at the hands of Port Adelaide, with Rutten saying he had had no inkling the club was searching for a coaching replacement before Monday.

"I didn't have any idea what was going on," he said, adding he wasn't sure why there was a disconnect between the board and its coach.

"The board, like us in the footy department, want us to be a successful football club. So that's really clear. I think that's clear from Dave's intention – he wants this football club to be back to being a fiercely competitive football club competing for Grand Finals."

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Barham conceded the Bombers' week had been "really difficult" for Rutten but argued that the club "tried our absolute best to look after him through this period".

He said it was up to the board as to why the club had not acted earlier to engage Clarkson after its horror 2-10 start to the season, saying it did not want to pursue the four-time flag coach at that stage.

"When I became president it was obvious that Alastair Clarkson was out there and he had expressed an interest in coaching Essendon. As president, my job is to do everything I can to get this club to winning a flag and being successful," Barham said.

"So if the best coach of the last 20 years is out there, and has an interest in coaching Essendon, I would be derelict in my duties as director and a president to not go and talk to him, which I did.

"I fully accept he's made a decision to go to North Melbourne and congratulations to them, well done. Tough on Ben, for sure. But that's the sort of thing that we have to do and I have to do for this club improve and get better and go forward."

Essendon champion and former club coach James Hird has been linked as a possible contender to return to the top job, but Barham said he had not spoken to the 49-year-old.

"I'm not sure what Hirdy's got to do with it, to be honest. I haven't spoken to him. Does he want to [coach]? I haven't asked him," Barham said.

Barham described himself as an "agent for some sort of change" but said no roles were under review. He said the Bombers' board of directors would need to "look at itself" and that he would meet with long-term chief executive Xavier Campbell about his position.

"Xavier's fine. Xavier and I need to sit down and have a long chat. Because when you have a new president, him and I have not had time to sit down. I don't know how he feels about me," he said. "Xavier and I have a lot of work to do in the next few months."

The Bombers' drought without winning a final will stretch to 18 years this season, with the club losing six elimination finals since 2004. Barham said he wanted more information about how his club stacked up against the best in the competition.

"What I would like is some direct comparison with other clubs as to how we're going. So what does Geelong have – eight preliminary finals in 12 years? Why have they got eight preliminary finals in 12 years and we're not making the finals?" he said.

"I want to know what are Geelong doing? What's Collingwood doing this year? What happened with Richmond, why'd they turn it around? I just want some of that data to add to internal data so we've got a full picture."