Essendon champion Matthew Lloyd believes Ben Rutten should be under pressure to keep his job after the Bombers' disappointing loss to West Coast.
Coming off the back of an impressive win over St Kilda the week before, Essendon regressed to another meek display over in Perth and lost the Eagles who have hardly looked like winning in 2022.
While the Bombers have said through President Paul Brasher that they will review what is going wrong and where they can add more resources to improve performance, Lloyd has called for a more thorough external review and believes Rutten should be placed under the microscope.
Speaking on the Sunday Footy Show, Lloyd said that perhaps the club should make the call to Alistair Clarkson in a bid to return the Bombers to their past glories.
"I honestly think Ben Rutten should be under pressure for his job," Lloyd said.
"Why does Carlton last year be the worst defence in the competition under David Teague and within the space of a pre-season, Michael Voss now has his team in the top four?
"The Bombers make the finals last year and now are three wins and 11 losses and were pulled apart by a team who has struggled to score all year."
Lloyd questioned whether the club wasn't driven enough to get better and drag itself out of its current plight because of the optics that may surround admitting things weren't working.
"I think something has to give at Essendon," Lloyd stated.
"I think some will say they're doing ok because they're trying not to look like they're falling apart as a football club. But also you can be too accepting and I think they've been to accepting of where things are at the moment.
"There is a man called Alistair Clarkson sitting there looking for a job. Could he be the thing that wakes up this football club from its slumber that it's been in for so long."