Collingwood president Eddie McGuire has pledged support to embattled coach Nathan Buckley and is adamant the embattled AFL club won’t turn on their own.

Tuesday’s Anzac Day loss to Essendon was inevitably a tipping point, with their failure in the biggest home-and-away game of the season leaving the Magpies floundering at 1-4.

Last August, Buckley acknowledged his coaching future at Collingwood was tied to making the finals this season.

But even though their biggest losing margin is only 19 points, their forward line is impotent and they will need a massive turnaround to threaten the top eight.

Again, Buckley put it best when he said after Tuesday’s loss that they are not far off, but they are a mile off.

Since Buckley took over from Mick Malthouse in McGuire’s controversial succession plan, the Magpies have slid from fourth in 2012 to 12th for the past two seasons and their last final appearance was in 2013.

On Wednesday, McGuire strongly defended Buckley and backed him to turn around their floundering team’s fortunes.

“Every time I’ve looked to Nathan Buckley as a player, as a person, as a coach he has never let me or Collingwood down,” McGuire said.

“There has been no greater servant of the Collingwood Football Club.

“There is no better person to have our club’s future in his hands than Nathan Buckley.

“He will do whatever is required to the best of his ability.”

And McGuire, president since 1999, said their on-field woes would not cause off-field division.

“We will rally together. Whether we get the results, time will tell,” McGuire told TripleM.

“But I tell you what we won’t do, we’ll never give up, we’ll never dog it, we won’t turn on our own.

“We won’t desolate people who give to the club day in and day out and we don’t turn on our people. We stand side-by-side.”

Collingwood’s next assignment is unbeaten Geelong on Sunday at the MCG.

“Geelong are a great club, they might beat us but I tell you what. It will be the spirit of Collingwood that will be tested on Sunday afternoon,” McGuire said.

Midfielder Taylor Adams is the latest Collingwood player to defend Buckley.

“He won’t get sacked, that is absolutely not going to happen,” Adams told RSN.

“The way he carried himself around the footy club leading up to the game and post game was exceptional.

“He handles it so well but he is only human.”