Buckley is out of contract at the end of the season. McGuire,who orchestrated Buckley’s appointment through a succession plan in 2012,was viewed as one of the coach’s supporters and his departure raises the question as to whether it will affect the degree of support for Buckley.
Club insiders insist,however,that it does not. Sources say the strongest backers Buckley had when the club last extended his contract were the two men who authored the searching review of the football department in 2017 – Peter Murphy and Geoff Walsh – and not the board members or president.
Walsh and Murphy pushed heavily for Buckley to be recontracted and for other changes to be made within the football department. Having commissioned the review,McGuire and his board strongly backed its recommendations.
Walsh departed the club at the end of last season and has been replaced by Graham Wright as head of football,while Murphy,who was then a consultant,has since joined the board and is nowhighly likely to be elected by the board to replace McGuire as president.
The club anticipates the more immediate impact for Buckley of McGuire’s decision to stand down is that it will redirect criticisms and calls for leadership change at the club from McGuire to Buckley.
Former player Heritier Lumumba has been highly critical of Buckley’s handling of him at Collingwood and those criticisms are expected to intensify with McGuire gone.