Eddie McGuire has been put in a blender over his bizarre disappearance as his football club burned down over a messy divorce.
Collingwood president Eddie McGuire has been given another bake over his disappearance during Collingwood’s trade period from hell.
The salary cap dump that quickly turned into a fire sale late in the 2020 AFL Trade Period has seen the Magpies booted from pillar to post following the messy departures of stars Adam Treloar and Jaidyn Stephenson.
Collingwood was criticised for staying largely silent during the Trade Period as angry members questioned why popular players were being shown the door. Coach Nathan Buckley addressed the player exodus in a wide-ranging radio interview on Monday, but before then, brief snippets from list manager Ned Guy provided the only information about the Magpies’ situation.
In a radio interview with SEN’s Gerard Whateley on Monday, Buckley said the decision to punt key players was “brutal” but necessary to ensure long-term success.
McGuire also finally spoken openly about the scandal on his Triple M breakfast radio show in Melbourne this week.
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Football reporter Damian Barrett on Tuesday tore strips off McGuire for refusing to speak out when fans were screaming out for an explanation for why the club suffered such a fall from grace this trade period.
“It was pathetic listening to Eddie over the last three weeks,” Barrett said on The Sounding Board podcast this week.
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“He either did not engage in conversation around the biggest story we’ve had in this period or chose not and then when he did offer contributions to it, he gave nothing.
“This is a man who has bought into other clubs’ issues regularly over the journey.
“Of course he is (in a tough spot), but that’s part of the point. He’s on radio himself for three hours every single day and he didn’t want to contribute to the biggest story going around?”
He said Collingwood got itself into trouble when it failed to explain its salary cap squeeze before the trade period – leaving fans at a loss when the horror deals were confirmed with rival clubs.
“They’ve got a president who is one of the biggest media personalities in the history of this country who was muted, who muted himself throughout the period,” Barrett said.
“I would doubt very much that it was (Eddie’s decision to stay silent) and if it was, it would fly in the face of everything he’s ever done in the media space.
“I don’t know and I don’t care to know because it doesn’t matter. We covered it on Trade Radio and clearly that became an issue on the inside of the club, that trade radio and other platforms were talking about it.
“I still don’t believe one word anyone has said about this publicly by the way 100 per cent. There’s obviously truth in the middle as there always is somewhere, but to think that Nathan Buckley mopping up via an arrangement to think he can come out and say things and everyone’s going to say ‘there’s the version we’re going to take forward’, I’m not buying that aspect of it even.”
McGuire, meanwhile, said his team’s disastrous month had been treated unfairly by media outlets.
McGuire said the media put a target on Collingwood’s back because of its silent approach as the club vowed internally to remain tight-lipped during the Trade Period.
“It’s a ‘big story’ because the other stories have been done to death for 10 days and Collingwood didn’t do a whole lot (of publicity) on Trade Radio and things like that,” McGuire told the Triple M Hot Breakfast.
“The media always like to come after people who aren’t racing to be on those types of things.”
