Essendon is seeking an experienced AFL coach and is confident it can juggle the recruitment process with an impending external review of its football department.

The Bombers sacked Ben Rutten after a three-hour board meeting on Sunday, having previously failed to lure Alastair Clarkson, and will now search for their third coach in four seasons.

President David Barham said Essendon would finalise its recruitment process, to be run by internal and external figures, in the coming days and “have a new coach in place as soon as possible”.

That means the recruitment process will start before the club receives the findings of its impending review.

“We can do both things at the same time. We can effectively manage both processes at the same time,” Barham told reporters.

“So we need to get on with it because this is where we are. We also need to do a thorough review of the football club, so we can do both those things successfully at the same time.

“We think we’re after a more experienced coach. We think a more experienced coach might be able to get more out of this list and we really want to give our list the best chance.”

Coach needed before trade, draft periods

Chief executive Xavier Campbell indicated the coach would need to be in place ahead of the trade and draft periods.

“We’d love to think that by the end of September, we’re in a good position to have found the next coach of the Essendon Football Club,” he said.

“Which positions them well enough to certainly have a positive impact on some critical industry timelines.”

The Bombers have already been linked to former mentor James Hird but Barham said he hadn’t “sounded out” any options.

Barham dismissed concerns over the club’s culture and was confident the upheaval at Essendon wouldn’t deter a senior coach from the job, saying it was a “fantastic opportunity”.

“We’ve got a good list. We’ve got some room in our salary cap, we’re a big club,” he said.

Barham said he’d spoken to skipper Dyson Heppell and fellow leaders Zach Merrett and Andrew McGrath about the club’s decision on Sunday.

Rutten departed after coaching the Bombers to 17 wins and 26 losses across two seasons, including leading them to finals in his first campaign in 2021.

Club starved of success for decades

Essendon have been starved for success over the past two decades and haven’t won a final since 2004.

Barham cited “uncompetitive” performances this year as a key reason for terminating Rutten’s contract a year early.

Campbell didn’t expect paying out Rutten’s contract to have a significant financial impact.

Rutten was emotional after Saturday night’s 66-point loss to Richmond – and lamented his treatment by Essendon, which included Barham failing to initially notify him of the club’s interest in Clarkson.

“It’s been disappointing. I probably think I deserve better,” Rutten said.

Barham, who apologised to Rutten on Friday, admitted the club had been far too late to the party with its botched pursuit of Clarkson.

He rejected the suggestion the delayed approach had been arrogant, saying the Bombers would have been “negligent” not to speak to the decorated coach.

Barham replaced Paul Brasher as president on Monday but didn’t expect any further upheaval, while he also said Campbell, who had been a Rutten supporter, had the board’s “full support”.

-AAP