Former Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy returned to his old AFL club for the first time since his sacking to find the man who axed him and the man who replaced him patching up an embarrassing public leak.

Sheedy resurfaced at Windy Hill on Wednesday to be named the club's honorary 40,000th member as the Bombers celebrated passing the membership milestone for the first time this week.

But his return was overshadowed by the fallout from the demotion-by-media of Bombers veterans Jason Johnson and Damien Peverill by club chairman Ray Horsburgh.

It emerged on Wednesday Horsburgh and new coach Matthew Knights met with chief executive Peter Jackson on Tuesday to patch up their differences, and draw their lines in the sand.

Jackson said the Horsburgh-Knights impasse had been resolved, with Horsburgh to no longer comment on coaching matters.

"He (Knights) was disappointed, I was disappointed," Jackson said of Horsburgh revealing to News Ltd newspapers this week Johnson and Peverill would play little senior football for the rest of the season as the club looked to youth.

"We had a chat the three of us. The coach will talk about coaching matters and that's it, we'll move on.

"Ray said he was disappointed as well and wished he hadn't said what he did."

All of this was playing out as Sheedy - told by Horsburgh last year his 27-year tenure at the Bombers would not be renewed - walked back into the club for the first time since his departure to be named Essendon's honorary 40,000th member.

The four-time premiership coach, who was already an Essendon life member, said he was honoured and had no axe to grind with the club.

"There's never been sour grapes," Sheedy said.

"When you're a life member, you're a life member. And when you're a life member you'll always be back at the club."

Sheedy said he had been keen to distance himself from the Bombers initially to allow the new regime to establish itself.

"It's most important that when you leave, you move away and let the next step of the club grow," he said.

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