RAY Horsburgh will be remembered as the man who ended one of football's dynasties. The president who told Sheeds his time is up. Football's man who shot Bambi.

When he arrived at Windy Hill yesterday after the press conference had announced Sheedy's departure, Horsburgh was set upon not only by the media but by at least one irate fan who wanted to badger him about the decision.

The fact Horsburgh had looked down the barrel of television cameras after Monday night's board meeting and declared that Sheedy's position had not been discussed, and no decision had been taken on the coaching position, seemed disingenuous in the extreme.

Seemingly being lied to made it more difficult to wrestle with such a difficult decision, so Horsburgh bore the brunt of those who were angry that it had been made.

For those near and dear to the Essendon chairman, it became unpalatable. So much so that one caller to radio station SEN yesterday introduced herself as Pam Horsburgh, the wife of the man of the moment.

With her husband locked in talks, he would have been unaware of the vitriol that was being directed at him, she said.

"You should be looking into the Essendon Football Club itself to find out who is leaking this information. The media are responsible for this carry on. My husband can't walk out the door without a camera or a microphone stuck in his face. His word was his word; it was not to be decided before the end of the year. He is on a board with nine other people and if their word is they wish to remove Kevin then what else is he to do?" she said, evidently suggesting her husband had been hustled into the decision.

"People can ring up and bag Ray all they want but he is not the only man responsible. It was the consensus of the board that Kevin was not performing and the list was not good … and it was time for a change."

Pam also defended her husband's post-board meeting comments suggesting a decision had yet to be made on Sheedy's future.

"That was exactly true. And I can tell you precisely the decision was not made until after the board meeting and he did want to wait until later in the year as was agreed by the board."