Rodney Eade will end his tenure as Western Bulldogs coach while being wooed by two other AFL clubs.

A self-described career coach, Eade emerged as a prime target of Melbourne and Adelaide when sacked as Western Bulldogs coach on Wednesday.

Eade said he was "bitterly disappointed" to not be offered a new contract by the Bulldogs, who he has coached since 2005.

The 53-year-old plans to coach the 'Dogs until season's end, although he could end his tenure earlier if the situation became too awkward.

Eade said he had yet to consider coaching elsewhere, although he is certain to attract the attention of the Demons and the Crows, who have parted ways with Dean Bailey and Neil Craig in recent weeks.

"I haven't thought about that ... I'll just maybe take a little time to settle and I think clubs draw up a list and talk to people rather than knock on doors yourself," he told reporters.

Eade maintained he had a "lot to offer" as a coach but was philosophical as the Bulldogs head towards missing the finals this year, after losing preliminary finals in the past three seasons.

"I'm not shattered or angry, but I'm certainly disappointed, bitterly disappointed," Eade said.

"I think I have got a lot to offer.

"But it's a results driven business, the W (wins) and L (loss) columns mean a lot."

Adelaide's caretaker coach Mark Bickley conceded Eade was a likely candidate to lead the Crows.

"I would expect he may very well be interested, so I guess he would be a competitor and someone who would be really strongly considered for a club like this," Bickley told reporters in Adelaide.

Melbourne is also believed to favour an experienced coach to replace Bailey.

Given his status in the vacant coaching marketplace, Eade and his manager Phil Mullen asked the Bulldogs last week to bring forward a decision on his future.

The shrewd move ensured he was not timed out of the race between the Demons and the Crows to find new coaches - Adelaide interviewed Eade in 2005 before opting for the recently re-signed Neil Craig.

Western Bulldogs president David Smorgon agreed Eade had more to offer as a coach - but at a club other than his.

"We feel it's time for a change, it's time for a different approach," Smorgon said.

"We nearly got there (a premiership) - it wasn't Rodney's fault."

Smorgon described the Eade era as "arguably probably" the Bulldogs' most successful period.

"Unfortunately we all wanted to get to the top of the mountain, we all wanted to win that premiership, we had three good goes at it, but we weren't good enough on the day - that's football," he said.

Former Bulldogs player and assistant coach Leon Cameron, currently an assistant at Hawthorn, is the early frontrunner to replace Eade.

But a field of other current assistant coaches including Brenton Sanderson, Mark Neeld, Scott Burns and Brendan McCartney also appear destined to be sounded out by the Bulldogs.

In addition to his seven years at Whitten Oval, Eade also coached Sydney for six-and-a-half seasons, highlighted by leading the Swans into the 1996 grand final, which they lost to North Melbourne.

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