ESSENDON CHAIRMAN Ray Horsburgh has made a big impression in a short time. After less than a year in the top job he staked his claim in Australian rules history by becoming the man who sacked Kevin Sheedy after denying his board had even discussed the issue several nights earlier.

Remember Horsburgh late at night departing the Windy Hill boardroom and famously challenging the media to check the his hand-held minutes if they didn't believe him? It was vintage stuff.

But these are more politically correct football times and Horsburgh, once again in trouble for being too honest to the football public, later conceded he had done the wrong thing by lying to the media.

Now Horsburgh has publicly ended — sort of — the senior playing careers of two loyal and popular club servants in Damien Peverill and Jason Johnson. This is not a shock, but what is surprising is the fact the president has spoken to the media about the details of a report by coach Matthew Knights.

Horsburgh has a history of frustrating staffers at Essendon. Who could forget the day Sheedy's departure was announced with the outgoing coach and his CEO Peter Jackson in tow. The media then departed but, some of us, then fortuitously bumped into the chairman in Napier Street for another spin on what the Bombers' damage controllers had worked so hard to minimise. Mrs Horsburgh had just vented her spleen on talkback radio as well.

Later he caused more trouble by suggesting the coach had become a bit "bitter" in his last weeks. Sheedy banned him from his farewell function but never publicly questioned him. Nor have the various Essendon executives, staff members, directors and even players who have shaken their heads at his honesty at times while — most of them — pointing to his skill in other areas. And his obvious charm. "That's Ray for you", has been the general message. No one at the club has ever spoken out about Horsburgh's mouth.

Until yesterday.

Divisions in the ranks were read into Knights' relatively outspoken challenge to his chairman over the Johnson-Peverill revelations. The young, struggling rookie mentor was clearly upset for the players involved and probably filthy at such a blatant breach of club policy.

It is disappointing after just seven rounds of football that so many clubs are virtually writing off the season and talking bottoming out. This is a legacy of the draft system compounded by the looming 17th and 18th teams and the privileges that will come their way.

But that is another issue. Yesterday a young coach stood up to his boss and good on him. That is not a sign of internal warfare but something much more healthy. By coincidence another young coach with an outspoken president, Alastair Clarkson, was re-signed for three years. It is no secret that he and Jeff Kennett have had their issues but clearly those issues — which will continue — have been resolved by healthy debate.

By standing up to his boss and declaring himself a players' man, Knights has quickly healed what could have become a festering sore. Essendon has just been through an emotional divorce after 27 years of marriage. For Knights to prove himself as more than the mere "transitional" new partner, he needed to put Horsburgh in his place. And knowing Horsburgh, he will have no issue with it.