The Bombers start the next chapter under Dean Solomon with many questions to answer

No-one it seems but James Hird, the premiership skipper and club legend who last coached the club in 2015 after one of the most ignominious coaching tenures in the game’s history.

The 53-year-old spent Sunday afternoon under grey clouds at Port Melbourne coaching the Borough’s forwards as they kicked the final three goals of the match to run down the Tassie Devils and win by four points.

Footy people were watching on from different AFL clubs, most convinced the Essendon job was going to be Hird’s when next year rolled around.

Adam Simpson, Ken Hinkley and a flock of assistant coaches who seem happy turning lifelong ambitions to be a senior coach into anywhere but Essendon while Hird is in the frame.

Hird’s good friend and premiership teammate Dean Solomon, who has taken the gig on as interim after Brad Scott was sacked on Tuesday with 18 months remaining on his contract, showed little enthusiasm for becoming coach full-time either.

He said he was too busy getting his head around coaching to worry about being a candidate.

That’s fair given he is one of three people who have gone from club director to bigger roles in 12 months.

Andrew Welsh is now club president, Tim Roberts club CEO and Solomon the coach, the only one of that trio who have done their job before. It’s just as well they have confidence in the club’s strategic direction. They decided it.

Welsh and Roberts were also part of the decision to move on Scott and the post-Scott era started on Sunday night against West Coast, not only without Scott but his loyal assistant Ben Jacobs who decided he didn’t want to coach Essendon any longer either, departing his role as midfield coach on Friday. Jacobs departure was symbolic, whether intended or not, as it gave the impression of a defeated crew escaping an invading army.

Post-match Solomon, who is known as a connector of people, said he wants the team to follow a new game plan (most interim coaches use the word tinker to describe their change but he and his players went with new) in his stint warming the seat. They will focus on the contest, team defence and he will swing his players around in different roles.

He began that second period as interim coach after average losses of 68.66 points in his three matches as Suns interim in 2017, by moving maligned defender Ben McKay forward. It was his first big move as Essendon senior coach. The key defender found himself in the rare position of not being near the ball for the first 10 minutes as West Coast recorded the first nine inside 50s.

The Bombers were kicking into a fierce breeze and then los