ESSENDON took until Sunday to make a decision it should have made last Monday. It is already a regrettable six-day gap.

The Bombers' board made Ben Rutten's job untenable from the moment it decided to make a last-gasp, desperate play for Alastair Clarkson last week. When Clarkson chose North Melbourne, after some late courting from Essendon, the Bombers' big play had backfired.

From the moment president Dave Barham made a leadership spill at Tullamarine last week to take on Paul Brasher's job as president and take it on himself to pursue Clarkson, the Bombers should have parted ways with Rutten. There and then.

SACKED Bombers oust Rutten after week of turmoil

It could have been done far more respectfully and gracefully than the past week has played out. Instead, the Bombers delayed the inevitable, which came on Sunday after a board meeting that lasted more than two hours.

Rutten's position was made impossible by Essendon's board, despite the coach's comments on Saturday night that he could go back to work for the club as coach in 2023 if backed.

By making the call on Rutten before making the call to Clarkson, the Bombers' image as a club would have taken less of a kicking this week. It would have been a ruthless move, but would have ensured Rutten didn't have to face a week of cameras and questions of his board's making.

It would also have made Essendon a far better sell to its next coach. Make no mistake, as the Bombers undertake their search for a replacement, the applicants will have as many questions of the club as the club has of them. Players in the upcoming trade period will clearly want to know details of future plans, too.

If the Bombers try to rip a contracted coach out of another club to guide them in 2023 and beyond, it would be difficult to convince them of a steady environment. Michael Hurley, retiring this week after a career full of drama, said as much when he longed for stability that other clubs had shown.

And if it was a first-time coach or experienced ex-coach, they would have to have reservations about what they were stepping into. The movement behind getting James Hird back to the club is only going to intensify.

Rutten's ascent into coaching came quickly. He landed a line-coaching role at Richmond as soon as he retired from playing, then three years later was off to Essendon as a senior assistant coach. After one year, he was anointed the Bombers' coach-in-waiting as part of a succession plan after the Crows had sounded Rutten out for their vacant role.

Essendon didn't interview any other candidates, although Barham, who has been on the board since 2015, said they did have a process for that appointment.

ANALYSIS A new coach alone won't fix Essendon's 18 years of woe

The poor treatment of Rutten this week has overshadowed the fact that Essendon's dismal performances have led them to this point.

As Barham said in his comments on Sunday, the Bombers have been too often "simply uncompetitive". Saturday night's defeat to Richmond was symptomatic of their season; they had their moments, but were victims of another defensive debacle as the Tigers registered their second-highest score of the year.

Rutten came to the Bombers as its defensive coach but was unable to implement a plan that was deployed consistently by his team. The Bombers tried to add things to their game in the first half of the season, but managed just two wins in their first 12 matches and then went back to a more simplified, high-stakes attacking structure that had some better results. But the past three shockers, against Greater Western Sydney, Port Adelaide and the Tigers, sealed his fate.

Players were sympathetic to Rutten this week, and disappointed at how events unfolded, but through the past two years had not built ultra-strong relationships with their coach, with Dylan Shiel and Will Snelling among those closest. The group largely liked him, but their connections were indifferent compared to that of other senior coaches and their players around the competition.

Rutten barely had his full list available this year – another factor for the Bombers to assess in their external review – but the use of Zach Merrett as a back-half midfielder in the first half of the season, and the juggling of roles Andrew McGrath played each week, were coaching decisions that didn't work.

Internally, Rutten leant heavily on mental skills coach Dave Reid, who also helped steer the Bombers' leadership program in recent years. The Bombers were modelled on Richmond's success early on, but Rutten changed some plans that didn't work in 2019, which weren't transferable to the Bombers' list from Punt Road.

The club's lack of process this week caught all the attention in a dysfunctional display. But it's the team's lack of progress which ultimately cost Rutten his job.

Barham said it was time for the Bombers to be "bold and courageous again" and in doing so, their review must be thorough and extensive.

They have made several big decisions over the past week, but many more await.