James Hird will be put to work in front of the TV and glad-handing sponsors when he returns to Essendon.

Handed a 12-month coaching suspension by the AFL for his role in the club’s supplements scandal, Hird could have resumed coaching from round 23.

On Friday last week, the club confirmed he would not be a part of the club’s game-day coaching regime this year, fearing the attention would be a distraction from the club’s campaign.

Hird’s work at the club’s Tullamarine base will instead be focussed on beginning Essendon’s 2015 campaign: list assessment, planning and recruitment.

The club’s 2014 coach, Mark Thompson, said watching all of Essendon’s games this year would be a good place to start.

“We haven’t put him on the outer, we haven’t isolated him, he’s going to be doing a lot of work,” he told Fox Footy’s AFL360 program.

“The day he comes back, he’s going to be watching tapes, talking with list management, talking to sponsors, looking at a lot of kids’ tapes.

“He’s going to be busy, we’re going to busy him up.”

Hird returned to Australia last week after spending much of his suspension overseas, sparking a fresh media frenzy around the club legend.

Thompson criticised the never-ending circus around the coach-in-exile.

“Football people in general don’t want the show to be about James Hird,” he said.

“They want it to be about footy. We feel like we’ve done the right thing.”

Thompson said the coaching decision ensured the players could be left to what they do best – playing football.

“We’re all pretty happy that he’s back,” Thompson said.

“Nothing’s changed in our lives, the only thing that’s changed is because we feel if he does get seen out on the oval, at training or a game, the story will be about him and not the football.

“I don’t know every player (is happy about it) but I would say that they understood and they’re happy.

“I actually don’t know… but he’s back, they’re going to be coached by him, they’ve enjoyed being coached by him before.”

Thompson said he hadn’t made a decision on whether he would stay involved in the football club in a different capacity beyond 2014.

The club and Hird will have their case against ASADA’s investigation into the club’s supplements regime heard in the Federal Court from August 11.