Richmond president Gary March has admitted the execution of Greg Miller's dismissal was messy, but has steadfastly defended the timing of the controversial sacking.

Miller, the Tigers' football director for the last six years, found out on Friday from media calls that his position at the AFL club might be in jeopardy.

March regrets that the story broke on Saturday, before he was able to talk to Miller in person, but said the club had to act now so it would be ready for the crucial post-season player trade period.

A Richmond spokesperson would not comment on a Channel Ten report that the club had commissioned a recruitment firm more than a week ago to start looking for Miller's replacement.

"We felt that once we made the decision, we needed a new person to come into the organisation, that we wanted that person in the chair to be part of those decision-making processes," March said.

"What we wanted to do was not be behind the rest of the field, it's well-documented there are a lot of clubs out there looking for different people.

"The timing was right now for us."

Asked at a media conference if the handling of the dismissal had embarrassed the Tigers board, March admitted it could have been handled better.

He would have preferred for Miller to stay until the end of the season.

"It wasn't ideal - in an ideal world, I would have sat down with Greg and we would have discussed it and worked on his departure," March said.

"It hasn't been ideal and I would have to agree with that.

"I'm disappointed it came out that way and I expressed that disappointment to Greg when I met with him yesterday."

March spoke repeatedly of a new "skill set" that was needed for Miller's job.

"Greg came at a time when he was doing everything, that's evolved," he said.

"His role has changed, it's become a more managerial role, and Greg is more hands-on football person.

"Maybe that didn't suit his style."

March praised Miller for his work and strongly defended him for keeping a low profile over the weekend as the story gathered momentum.

March and Miller finally met late yesterday and the club then confirmed the sacking.

"Greg showed his true colours in terms of his respect for Richmond, I think he acted admirably," March said.

"He didn't want to bring a whole lot of angst on game day (Saturday night) to Richmond and I respect him greatly for that, I actually thanked him for that.

"I've got nothing but respect for Greg as a man ... you could never question his commitment to Richmond.

"This is about a skill set ... we felt Greg didn't have the right skill set for what we were looking for."

March denied telling Miller via telephone on Friday night that he was sacked and also hit back at speculation over the weekend that the position of at least one assistant coach was in jeopardy.

"We need to add extra people," March said.

"I would be confident that all of our assistant coaches would be there next year, hopefully with some other people there to assist them."

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