MELBOURNE CEO Peter Jackson says the Demons must appoint an experienced coach for 2014 and is yet to rule out a reluctant Paul Roos as an option.

He said the club needed a coach who knew what he was doing at this stage in its history.

"I don't believe we can take a risk on an untried coach," Jackson said. "I think we've got to go with experience."

Jackson said Roos has told him that he is not ready to return to coaching but the Demons' boss admitted the chase was not over until it was over.

"Of course he (Roos) is on the list. He's here and he's not coaching," Jackson said.

The club is also interested in speaking to former coaches Rodney Eade and Mark Williams. Incumbent coach Neil Craig is also in the running although he is yet to commit to pursuing the job. Former North Melbourne coach Dean Laidley is also understood to have expressed interest.

Mark Harvey and Matthew Knights, the other two assistant coaches in the system with finals experience as senior coaches, are understood to be comfortable in their current roles.

Assistants without senior experience such as Adam Simpson, Scott Burns, Stuart Dew, Alan Richardson and Leigh Tudor are considered quality coaches but Jackson indicated they were unlikely to be among Melbourne's first-choice candidates.

Jackson said there were coaches in the system - like Eade and Williams - with a good track record as senior coaches and due diligence would determine why their tenures at previous clubs ended.

"If you just take their performances on face value it's a damn good track record," Jackson said.

Jackson also confirmed he had spoken to Collingwood's former head of football, Geoff Walsh, after he announced last week he was leaving the Magpies.

He said that Walsh needed a break but had agreed to meet Jackson for lunch in a couple of weeks.

Walsh has been involved in football for 28 years and at Collingwood for the past seven. Jackson said his track record made him someone who should be approached to fill the vacant head of football position at Melbourne for 2014 and beyond.

Josh Mahoney is serving as interim football manager at Melbourne and remains a candidate for the job next year.

Jackson said the shocking result on the weekend when Melbourne lost to North Melbourne by 122 points was, in some ways, symbolic of the Demons' recent history.

"[I] don't think the Melbourne Football Club has understood what it takes to be a very strong, ruthless AFL professional sporting organisation and these things happen when you are not like that," Jackson said.

He said his instinct was that in recent eras, the club thought that early draft picks would automatically lead to success. He criticised the recent development of young players and said the club too often turned to Melbourne people when looking for answers.

"One of the things I would say about the Melbourne football club, at the risk of upsetting a few people, is that sometimes the club has gone back to too many people who have got red and blue. I think sometimes we don't have a propensity in this club to bring in the best from outside," Jackson said.

The club has not won a premiership since 1964.

MELBOURNE'S COACHING CANDIDATES
Paul Roos
Sydney Swans 2002-10