The Collingwood board at their monthly board meeting on Tuesday afternoon will finally receive the recommendations from football manager Geoff Walsh's broad ranging review of the football department.

That review is not exclusively focused on Buckley and whether he should stay or go but as the most significant figure all other decisions flow from there.

It is highly unlikely a decision will be made on Buckley's future at the meeting. It is anticipated the board will receive the report recommendations, consider it and make a decision after the weekend's game.

On Buckley the board is likely to face three choices: do nothing. That can be ruled out now. There will be change.

So then it comes down to a choice in two: don't renew Buckley and clean out all the assistant coaches; or keep Buckley but get rid of the assistants. Under either option change appears likely in list management/recruiting.

After six years in charge, the last four missing the finals with a trend of finishing lower year-on-year there is a reasonable argument for the first option of a complete fresh start.

The same problems occurred this year from start to finish: poor kicking, poor goal kicking, slow ball movement, an inability to score, an inability to keep the ball forward.

The review presumably questioned what happened during the year as a senior coach and coaching group to address the issues that plagued the team. Did drills change? Personnel? The senior coach makes the final decision on all of the program.

The second choice is to renew Buckley but not any of the out-of-contract assistants, which is nearly all of them as only new arrivals Brenton Sanderson and Bradley Gotch have on-going contracts.

This is the Damien Hardwick option - keep the coach but change the voices around him. A point of difference to Buckley was that Hardwick had two more years of his contract to run when they retained him and made changes around him. To date it has been a success at Richmond.

There is a growing sentiment that this is the way the club will go. Some players have told others they think Buckley has either been given a new contract offer or been told a new one is imminent, but no one inside the club suggests this is the case.

The conclusion to be drawn from that is that Buckley needed better advice. It also figures him to be the right man but needing a change to the mix of personalities, skill sets and voices around him.

A reasonable question of Collingwood is why they have never brought in anyone to the coaching group with direct exposure to Alastair Clarkson's successful programs?

The keep Bucks and get rid of the rest option suggests there is a belief Buckley is still the right man (r probably the right man) and they just need to find a way to help make him successful.

Doubtless after six years he is a better coach now than when he began, though the year on year performance has not reflected that.

Beyond the issue of Buckley and the coaching panel the review will address the list management department and whether change is needed.

Derek Hine constructed the list that won the flag and kept the club in the finals for an extended period, but was also part of the decision-making that saw the club deconstruct the list to rebuild it.

Walsh will consider the broader recruiting department and whether it is properly funded and structured. For instance, having been a pioneer of Irish recruiting Collingwood cut spending to that area in recent years while other clubs unearthed players.

The performance of the medical and high performance departments will also be assessed and recommendations made on personnel and budgets.

Geoff Walsh's review has been extensive and his recommendations will be compelling, but he is not making the decision.

The board and president Eddie McGuire will listen to what he has to say ??? then make their decision.