ESSENDON players have continued to publicly back coach James Hird as the club begins the week under siege.
News crews sought reaction from players and club officials across Melbourne on Monday morning after the Bombers' 110-point loss to St Kilda.
Chief executive Xavier Campbell had little to say as he arrived for work at the club's Tullamarine base.
"It's disappointing obviously, that performance isn't good enough and our supporters deserve better, simple as that," Campbell said when asked about the mood at the club.
When asked if coach James Hird's job was safe in the wake of Essendon's heaviest loss to St Kilda in VFL/AFL history – and the biggest defeat of Hird's coaching career – Campbell responded: "That's all I've got to say, thanks guys."
Hird bewildered after Dons 'stopped playing'
Later, veteran Dustin Fletcher – who didn't play in the loss – backed Hird as he arrived at Olympic Park for scans on his groin.
"He's all right, got all the players behind him, he'll be fine," Fletcher said.
Meanwhile, skipper Jobe Watson couldn't escape reporters as he joined teammates for recovery at St Kilda beach.
He tried to take some pressure off his coach, insisting the players must share the blame and that Hird was the man to lead the team out of its form slump.
"Yesterday was probably as bad as what we've played," Watson said.
"I think any time when teams are losing then the pressure comes on everyone.
"You hold together, and you just try and work hard to work your way out of it.
"At the moment there's a lot of us who are underperforming and we have to work out a way to rectify it, because yesterday obviously wasn't acceptable.
Hird still believes he's the right man for the job
Asked about his own fitness, Watson replied: "Whenever you go out there you're 100 per cent."
Hird remains contracted until the end of 2016, a deal agreed to in 2013 immediately after he accepted a 12-month suspension for his role in the club's controversial supplements program.
In March this year, the AFL Anti-Doping Tribunal found 34 current and former Essendon players not guilty of using the banned peptide Thymosin beta-4 in 2012.
The World Anti-Doping Agency has appealed that verdict, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport is yet to confirm arrangements for the appeal hearings.
