“I’m not involved in the football club in any way. I speak to people everywhere. Have I spoken to Jeff Browne? Yes I have. Have I spoken to Mark Korda? Yes I have.

“Have I helped with sponsorships in the last month at the Collingwood Football Club and the AFL? Yes I do. Why? Because I love football.”

When pressed over who out of Korda and Browne was his preference to be Collingwood president,McGuire chose not to answer.

“I’m not buying into it,” he said.

“I still know that I hold too much weight as far as the members are concerned,I’m not blind to the situation.

“What breaks my heart is for 23 years none of this happened at Collingwood and now unfortunately it is.

“We need to get to a resolution and the way I think it should be done is I’d love to see Mark Korda and Jeff Browne sit down one more time and try and work it out and work out what’s best for the Collingwood Football Club.”

Board member Jodie Sizer spoke on SEN radio on Thursday morning reaffirming that she would not sit on a board under Browne.

“We will stand united,” Sizer said of the board.

“I don’t know why compromise is on the agenda when it comes to a governance conversation. We are 100 per cent committed to what is in the best interests of the club.

“I can’t see another example that represents good governance where you would stand down four individuals that have been selected through a rigorous process,based on the skill and diversity of what is in the best interests of the club and the club’s future,for a public statement informed by I don’t know what,that suggests without any detail on a vision or an agenda ... that we just stand aside and say ‘no worries,you take over’.

“I wouldn’t be serving under the leadership of someone[like] Jeff Browne who’s coming together with an agenda of power and privilege to suggest what an individual might know as to be his individual aspirations.”

Central to a potential EGM is the petition that has been led by long-timeCollingwood member David Hatley,who says he has “approximately 1700 signatures”,well over the mark of 650 needed to trigger an EGM.

Hatley said the current board’s unified statement did little to help disgruntled and disillusioned fans,and said theappointment of director Dr Bridie O’Donnell was the trigger for the push to cause a board spill.

“The overwhelming feedback that I’ve received from our members and my friends is the disconnect with the club,” he toldFooty Classified.

“It’s been building for some time and it isn’t just the on-field performance at the moment.

“The final catalyst for us going ahead with this EGM petition was the last board appointment of Bridie O’Donnell.

“We’re not disputing any of her claims of being a talented or valid board member,but things like her on her social media mocking Collingwood members such as myself really struck a chord with a lot of us.”

Wide World of Sports

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