Eddie McGuire says Collingwood’s messy board stoush has made the club a ‘laughing stock’

Ex-Collingwood president Eddie McGuire has taken aim at his former club, saying the messy board stoush had become an ‘embarrassment’.

Former Collingwood president Eddie McGuire claims the Magpies’ messy board stoush has made the club a “laughing stock” as he delivered his plan to restore unity.

McGuire said he had been cut “to the core” by the off-field conflict since he stepped down from the presidency in February as he outlined his “peace plan” for current president Mark Korda and challenger Jeff Browne.

While he has preferred to stay out of the boardroom fight, the long-time Magpies president said Browne needed to “pull the pin” on any plans for an extraordinary general meeting, which would be a “debacle” for the club.

And he wants Browne to be invited into the selection process for the Magpies’ next coach by the current board so Nathan Buckley’s successor knows they have the support of whoever was running the club next year.

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Current Collingwood president Mark Korda. Picture: Getty Images

McGuire said the off-field struggles had become an “embarrassment” to the club.

“There has been some things that I have been very dismayed about in the process to this particular moment in time,” McGuire said on Footy Classified.

“The first thing is that whole EGM nonsense, it was just a debacle and an embarrassment to the Collingwood Football Club.

“And people running around threatening to go to ASIC – the Australian Securities (and) Investments Commission – just cuts me to the core that anyone who would say they are a Collingwood supporter would go to ASIC or go to the law before you sort it out at the Collingwood Football Club like we’ve been able to do for the best part of a quarter of a century.

“I can see this going on and on and on unless something happens. It’s time for people who have the love of Collingwood as their main mantra now step up.

“The first thing I want is I want Jeff Browne to pull the pin on any EGM. I don’t want an EGM at the Collingwood Football Club, (I want) the AGM to go ahead as planned in December but with a twist.

“It has made us look like a laughing stock. The reason why we have the best sponsors and things is because we are a professional outfit that doesn’t carry on.”

As the Magpies search for a replacement for Buckley, McGuire said bringing Browne in on the selection process would give the new coach conviction he had the support of either candidate.

“What I would do as a bit of a peace plan with Jeff Browne is get him in … on the process,” McGuire said.

“So that when the new coach is appointed at Collingwood, he knows he has got the imprimatur of both the candidates who are going to run the club next year – either Mark Korda or Jeff Browne.”

McGuire also wanted the appointment of an independent electoral officer or ombudsman to oversee the club’s election process.

“I’m starting to hear too many hall shenanigans happening around the place of stacking and branching and threatening and all this other routine that I thought I had exterminated out of Collingwood 23 years ago,” McGuire said.

Eddie McGuire says Collingwood has become a laughing stock. Picture: Alex Coppel

“The only thing that will bring me back to the fray is if I see people vandalising the Collingwood Football Club going forward.

“I want an independent electoral officer and an ombudsman appointed from this moment on and a line of sight on how this election is going to be called whether it’s an EGM or an AGM.

“I want to stay out of the courts … I want a battle of ideas, I don’t want people sniping around the outside. I want the incumbent board to tell me what the future of this football club is all about and I want Jeff Browne to step up and tell us what his idea of a future is.

“It’s a sophisticated process, for sophisticated people for a sophisticated football club.

“There have been too many lunatics running around the fringes in the last six months and we are not copping it anymore.

“So that is it. The only objective for now is the best for Collingwood, it worked for 23 years. And that’s not having a crack at any person individually, it has just got out of shape, now let’s pull it together, look forward to the future.”

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Richmond has given senior assistant coach Adam Kingsley its blessing to pursue the vacant Collingwood coaching job.

While former Adelaide Crows coach Don Pyke is seen as the front-runner to replace Nathan Buckley at the Holden Centre, Kingsley has impressed the Magpies in its preliminary discussions.

Kingsley, 45, has been an assistant at Punt Rd since 2019.

He played 170 games for Port Adelaide between 1997 and 2006 and was a member of the Power’s 2004 premiership side alongside Tigers coach Damien Hardwick.

A graduate of the AFL’s level four coaching program, Kingsley was an assistant coach at the Power from 2007-2010 before spending eight seasons at St Kilda.

Richmond has given Adam Kingsley the all clear to pursue the Collingwood coaching job. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images

Brisbane Lions great Michael Voss, now an assistant coach at Port Adelaide, has also been sounded out by the Magpies as has Demons assistant and 2004 premiership coach Mark Williams.

Pyke, 52, who joined the Sydney Swans as an assistant this season, confirmed last week he was considering applying for the Collingwood job.

“There’s conversations I’m having with my wife and myself, to be honest,” Pyke told the ABC.

“Is that the next step for me, is the timing right for me? It’ll be an alignment of all those things, and I’ll reach a decision on what it is and whether I throw my hat in the ring, time will tell.”

Collingwood’s coaching subcommittee includes football boss Graham Wright, CEO Mark Anderson, football director Paul Licuria, board member Peter Murphy and 2010 premiership star Luke Ball.

Originally published as Eddie McGuire says Collingwood’s messy board stoush has made the club a ‘laughing stock’