Leading lawyer David Galbally, AM QC, has called for Collingwood to have a major clean out of its administration.
Galbally, who served on the Magpies board from 1974-83, told the Herald Sun he believes its time for president Eddie McGuire to step down.
โYou can be in charge of a club for far too long. It happened with Tommy Sherrin. It happened with John Elliott,โ he said.
Collingwood members who want to get rid of Eddie McGuire have demanded the club use โDominionโvoting machines.
— Farmer โSTRAIGHT SHOOTERโ 3086 ๐ (@GoalkickingGuru) November 19, 2020
โThere are plenty of other examples, and they all lose sight of what is going on and get consumed with the belief that the club is theirs.
โThey really need a new administration at Collingwoodโฆ Eddie needs to step downโฆ Heโs not there for life.
โItโs not healthy for the club to have the same person serve in that role for as long as he has.
โThe presidency of the Collingwood Football Club carries with it enormous imprimatur, right across the community โ and itโs very hard to let go and give it away. But itโs time. The club has got to look to the future. It needs new ideas and a fresh approach.
โAnd that is not to say that Eddie hasnโt been a tremendous asset as president to the club.โ
McGuire has been president of the Pies since 1998, but Galbally said the list of problems should begin to come down to the sort of culture that the club is driving from the top.
โYou start to really question the wisdom about the way in which the players are being communicated to and being treated,โ he said.
โHow do you let the salary cap blow out to what it is with good governance? How do you let the Treloar situation arise?
โAnd how do you expect to have a strong fabric and a strong playing unit that will take you into a finals seriesโฆ stand side-by-side each other and win you a premiership, if you treat people like that?โ
Gallaby continued by taking aim at vice-president Mark Korda and going so far to call the club's administration 'the worst in its history.'
โTheyโve got Mark Korda from KordaMentha on the board โ and they are one of the biggest accounting firms in Australia. So how can they stuff up the salary cap like that?โ Galbally said.
โI am very concerned and very upset about what I am seeing.
โThere seems to be a problem with the culture of the club. Culture is an easy word to throw around, but there is no real strength or backbone associated with Collingwood.
โThis is turning out to be the worst administration in the history of the Collingwood Football Club โ and one of the worst in the history of the AFL โ it is absolutely appalling.โ
Responding to Galballyโs comments, McGuire said on Triple Mโs Hot Breakfast that he would walk away from the club moment the club tells him heโs not required.
โIโm not going to be the one being dragged out the door. I am there as a servant of the club that I love and a servant to football,โ he said.
โI have no worries whatsoever for anyone asking questions and understandingโฆ people who are actually open to getting the answer.
โPeople are just being a bit hysterical at times. We donโt want that, but at the same time, you have to be questionedโฆ I donโt think Iโve missed out on being questioned along the journey.
Despite widespread fan backlash over Collingwoodโs trade period, McGuire is adamant that the Pies are tracking very well.
No comment is 2 stupid for the Herald Sun if itโs against Eddie McGuire. โWorst administration in the history of the Collingwood football club & one of the worst in the history of the AFLโ says lawyer David Galbally.
Which wouldnโt stand up in court #irony pic.twitter.com/DlJr0iAHxG
— ralph horowitz (@rtralphy) November 19, 2020
โWe had to get things going and weโve done it and I think weโve prepared our list and our season for next year,โ he said.
โCertainly the finances of the club are in very good order and weโve got some fantastic announcementsโฆ planned announcements and things I did earlier in the year with (CEO) Mark Anderson and our whole team there.โ
