Melbourne coach Steven King admits he was just as blindsided by the club's latest off-field turmoil as anyone.

The Demons are preparing for a legal battle with former chief executive Paul Guerra, who was sensationally axed from his role in the lead-up to the club's 17-point loss to Sydney at the SCG on Sunday.

Guerra was sacked on Tuesday, a year to the day since the former Victorian chamber of commerce boss was named in the role and only seven months into his tenure.

Stan streaming executive Daniel Taylor was named as his replacement, with club president Steven Smith admitting a plan to remove Guerra was orchestrated "a week or two ago".

Guerra flagged legal action in the immediate aftermath of his sacking.

Veteran club administrator Brian Cook, who had been mentoring Guerra at Melbourne, is the interim chief until Taylor takes over in some three months' time.

It is the latest chapter in Melbourne's plentiful off-field challenges.

Before Guerra, the club had an interim president and CEO for much of 2025 and that proved a factor in the sacking of former coach Simon Goodwin.

Guerra was integral in Melbourne's decision to appoint King as a replacement for 2021 premiership coach Goodwin.

King said the on-field staff and players weren't distracted in their preparation to face ladder-leaders Sydney.

"When things like that occur, footy moves on pretty quickly," King said at the SCG.

"It's probably a good time to get away and come up here as a group.

"Once the decision's made - I don't think anyone expected it on a Tuesday when it happened or Wednesday, whenever it was.

"But you just deal with it, move on and train the next day and prepare.

"There's no better distraction than coming up here trying to play Sydney.

"It didn't really play too much of a part inside the footy department."

A gallant Melbourne outfit accepted defeat at the SCG after slamming through four-straight goals in the final quarter to set up tense finish.

A 5-3 record and sitting seventh to start the season has left King confident the Demons are on the right path.

However, they are set to lose Brody Mihocek after the key forward hurt his left hamstring in the first quarter against the Swans.

"If you're a Melbourne supporter coming to watch the way we play, you'd be pretty proud of the way the boys are trying to take the game on and be aggressive," King said.

"Mistakes are going to happen, and I'm willing to accept mistakes.

"Even though today, we're not going home with four points, I think we go home with a bit of belief.

"We walk away with more belief that what we're doing is on the right path.

"And if they're (Sydney) the best in the competition, then we should see ourselves up there with that group as well."