Eddie McGuire will return with a bang: ‘No longer conflicted’

He left Collingwood with his tail between his legs but now he’s “no longer conflicted” Eddie McGuire’s rivals have been told to look out.

Look out footy world, Eddie McGuire is free to shoot from the hip again.

If, indeed, he ever curbed his tongue.

The now ex-Collingwood president has endured a horror past six months as his beloved club lurched from disaster to disaster, but now he’s free of a role he held for more than two decades his rivals have been told to look out.

“Eddie McGuire, for the first time in 22 years, is a businessman and a media personality only,” former AFL player turned media identity Kane Cornes wrote this week.

“He doesn’t have to worry about upsetting players, supporters, sponsors, members of Collingwood and he’s not answerable to his board.

“That makes him the hottest AFL media ticket in this country and he would have several big names, who ground away for years to get him sacked, firmly within his crosshairs …

“Never has the term ‘must watch’ been more apt.

“No one could blame him for taking some weeks or perhaps months off and going underground a little bit. One thing is for sure though, we haven’t seen or heard the last of Eddie McGuire and when he returns, I suspect he will return with a BANG!

“Will it be Eddie who has the last laugh? Who will be his main targets? For he is conflicted no more.”

Will Eddie be everywhere again soon? (AAP Image/Stefan Postles)

During his final speech as Pies president in front of Pies players and staff, as well as his family and reporters, McGuire said “with the indulgence of my media partners, I’m going to take a break for a little while to regroup and heal”.

McGuire in 2020 was a host and commentator for Fox Footy, while he also joined the Wednesday night edition of Footy Classified. He left the Triple M Hot Breakfast program late in the year, but the station at the time indicated he’d still play some on-air role in 2021.

McGuire on Monday gave his critics a parting whack, claiming his position as Collingwood president became untenable after they made him “a lightning rod for vitriol”.

“People have latched on to my opening line last week, and as a result, I have become a lightning rod for vitriol but, worse, placed the club in a position where it’s hard to move forward with the implementation of our plans with clear air,” he said.

“When I came to Collingwood, it was a club riven with rivalries, enmities and division. That has not been the case in my time.

“So I do not want any of this to cause rancour or factions. It’s better then to fast track my leaving the club from the end of the year to now.”

– with foxsports.com.au