Essendon lost faith in their new CEO. How did it come to this?

It would have been against the law to ask him directly about his religious views during the interview process. But risk management demands exhaustive checks before a person is appointed to such a public role. Particularly at a club whose governance failings and appointment processes caused so much agony less than 10 years ago and that treated former senior coach Ben Rutten terribly when it made a desperate, late bid to secure Alastair Clarkson as coach.

In the statement announcing Thorburn’s appointment supporters were told the “process to find our next CEO was comprehensive and led by [Ernst & Young], with the support of club director Dorothy Hisgrove”.

Perhaps a review of that process could become part of the club-wide review that remains ongoing – a review that was originally being led by Thorburn.

Add this to the debacle of having a club board member, Kevin Sheedy, publicly state he would have preferred James Hird as coach rather than the newly appointed Brad Scott, just hours after that announcement was made, having been a dissenting voice in the 6-1 endorsement of the independent panel’s recommendation that Scott was the best man for the job.

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And to think this is the board that questioned Rutten’s game plan. The hide of them to do so.

It must be hard for Essendon supporters to be angry any more.

They have almost become sad, those who acknowledge that the club’s devotion to false idols is a barrier to success tearing their hair out at the latest drama in what Barham calls “a couple of missteps”.

Now they need to find a CEO. It’s not that hard, surely. Someone who knows football, a person who can steer a ship where 80 per cent of the revenue is virtually guaranteed, as long as they don’t stuff it up.