Essendon great Matthew Lloyd believes his former club lacks culture and doesn't know what it takes to be successful.
Lloyd was a pivotal member of Essendon's golden era, finishing his career with a premiership, five All Australians, three Coleman Medals and 926 goals.
Since 2004, the Bombers have not won a final and have finished bottom four on five occasions. Off field, the club has faced the supplements saga, which haunted them for most of the last decade, a coaching succession plan was the current 2020 leadership group selection being questioned.
"They don't know what success is," Lloyd said on Channel Nine's Footy Classified.
"I think sometimes you've got to taste it and build to it. What culture? They wouldn't know what culture is.
"But what gives me hope is I don't think [Jack] Riewoldt and [Alex] Rance when they were arguing, for a period of time, weren't even buying in to each other's areas. Trent Cotchin, to me, wasn't a great a great captain. I think Trent, whether he was asked to do it or not, was getting a lot of possessions, but it wasn't what's best for the team.
"[The Bombers] got to find something that's clear and decisive and stick with it - not chop and change year after year and get somewhere."
When Lloyd began his career in 1995, he believes Essendon had a culture that demanded success; something the current team is lacking.
"The club I walked into, that was a team that just demanded [success]," he said.
"Gary O'Donnell got me into a room and he said to myself and Scott Lucas and [Justin] Blumfield and [Blake] Caracella, [Gary] Moorcoft—we all played in a premiership five years later—'nothing but preliminary final is acceptable at this football club.'
Lloyd noted Essendon's ability to consistently play final between 1995 and 2004, even winning the premiership in 2000.
"That's all we were used to," he said.
"Since I've gone and retired, the frustration has built and grown at the mediocrity that has happened at the Essendon Football Club."
The interruptions of the supplements saga and coaching changes had played a role in the club's lack of success, according to Lloyd. But, he added, there was no excuses going forward.
"I think from this year, next year onwards, I think we're now starting to get a clean slate," he said.
"People said it would take ten years to recover and they're going to be spot on."