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Martin Johnson's Successor

Martin Johnson's Successor

  • Richard Cockerill

    Votes: 3 10.3%
  • Connor O'Shea

    Votes: 4 13.8%
  • Jim Mallinder

    Votes: 22 75.9%

  • Total voters
    29
  • Poll closed .
Is Mallinder even available? Surely he's contracted to Saints...?

Judging by a majority of the articles I've read, which include Leon Barwell saying "Clearly I would not want him to leave - I would try to persuade him to stay,"

I presume he's coming to the end of his contract.
 
Presumably his contract will run out at the end of the season though, which would leave England without a HC for the Six Nations
 
Presumably his contract will run out at the end of the season though, which would leave England without a HC for the Six Nations

Which I presumed why there was talk of getting a temp replacement in Henry (which won't happen). I think Martin Johnson leaving early may have put a spanner in the works of the RFU.
 
I doubt that Mallinder's contract will be too big an obstacle. If it's a short contract, Mallinder will probably be released early and if he isn't, the RFU have money. From Northampton's perspective, souring their relationship with Mallinder would be a bad long-term move. Mallinder is young, and will have a lot of time to go back into club coaching if he were to coach England - in which case, Northampton would be favourites to regain their coach. Also, Graham Henry is interested in coaching a European club...

Northampton do need to work this in a way that they'll be able to keep their assistant coaches though.
 
I like Lancaster - He has had a decent run with the Saxons, and makes good selections with regards to the youth coming through the system. He's turned the Saxons from "old farts and players who can't make it into the main squad" to "youngsters and players pushing for the main squad", which is what it should be
Would be interesting to see what kind of squad he'd pick for the Six Nations
Then again if he knows he's only there for a few months he might not make too many changes (especially with RA breathing down his neck)
 
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Am fairly sure that Johnson had a substantial voice on the selection of the Saxons. He bloody well should have anyway, gods knows what was going on if he didn't.

Not that it particularly deflects from Lancaster's suitability one way or the other.

Oh, and nickdnz, if the RFU weren't prepared for the possibility of Johnson leaving at this juncture, they're cretins.

...

Ok, so you're probably right when I put it like that, but still...
 
The reason Johnson never got shot of Wells, Ford and Smith is their payoff would have been far too substantial. Oddly enough, they renewed their contracts not to long ago. Go figure.
 
The RFU should appoint Alain Rolland or Nigel Owens. They might be able to explain to the England players how to contest a ruck or a scrum without giving away a penalty. On a more serious note, if we want to compete on the world stage and not just in the Northern Hemisphere we have to sort out the perennial problems around the breakdown area. It was obvious from the very outset of the World Cup that we were still naive and sitting ducks for giving away pen after pen. I reckon our Premiership refs need to apply the rules the same way that they do in Super14 to get the ball rolling.
 
Given today's leaked review reports who would want to coach England? No doubt many potential candidates had already heard these stories on the grapevine and it probably explains why so many have already intimated that they wouldn't touch the job with a bargepole.
 
Eddie O'Sullivan has said he's definitely interested,
So it's between: Him, Mallinder and Eddie Jones as people who have said they want it (I think?)


If that leaked report does it's job then they'll be working with/bringing with them a new backroom staff (minus the scrum coach) as well
 
Eddie O'Sullivan has said he's definitely interested,
So it's between: Him, Mallinder and Eddie Jones as people who have said they want it (I think?)


If that leaked report does it's job then they'll be working with/bringing with them a new backroom staff (minus the scrum coach) as well

The head coach should pick the coaching team. No ifs no buts. If the Really Feeble Unit at HQ can't comprehend that, I despair.

Most of the people I know are laughing their arse off at the idea of EOS getting the England gig. That, and praying desperately for such an outcome.
 
I wouldn't be too averse to it, to be honest
And not only because I stand to make a tidy sum off of a small bet made the day Johnno quit :p

Sent from my HTC Incredible S using Tapatalk
 
Considering the farcical, money driven attitude displayed by the RFU over the past few (read: 8) years, is it really a surprise this has filtered its way down?

Anyone would be a fool to take on the England job these days considering the crap they'd have to suffer from the media, the board and apparently now also the players.
 
It's becoming more and more blindingly obvious what should happen with the RFU. The profit they're making means that they must be running the business side of England very well, so someone's doing a decent job.

What has to happen is a total and utter separation of the England rugby setup and the rest of the RFU.

This needs to have a trusted overseer to be the director of rugby - no coaching role at all, not accountable to anyone and simply the guy in charge of appointing the Head Coach position for the seniors, Saxons, U21s etc. This is such a small job, it needs someone popular within the game but also with the ability to be ruthless when necessary.This person's job would be so minor they could do it part time/ from the other side of the world, and it might be better if they weren't English and didn't have any loyalties to people/ clubs in the English game.

With the senior team, then I'd say given all the people who've said no, Mallinder is the only option (I also think he's the best anyway). He must be contacted, and contracted, soon. If he accepts, then he must be given full reigns to appoint his own coaches. Hopefully a proven coaching team doing what they want to do, with a nice young team (who can be molded in the coach's image) will be far less of a shambles for England.

It's so obvious I'll be surprised if it happens.
 
^ I like this, but not the overseer part. It works if you've got someone who knows rugby and cares about the English game in the role, but what if they put Rob Andew in the role?

I'd like to see a panel used to make these kind of decisions, but I'm not sure how to select who should be on the panel.
 
Yeah, a panel could work. The position(s) should exist purely in order to choose and assess the Head Coaches of England's different teams. It shouldn't be anything at all more than that.

In order for such a power to work, the personality of the overseer/ panel has to be very specific.

They cannot be overly loyal - for example, Johnson had to go after this world cup but loyalty would have kept him in the job (if he hadn't resigned himself).
They cannot be overly ruthless - the explicit aim should be to build for 2015. It's performances, not results, that should matter for 2012 at the very least.
They cannot demonstrate bias to clubs or personnel. This is why the position should potentially be someone from oversees.
They must be a well-known figure that everybody trusts, one that is not likely to abuse his position and one with no RFU ambitions.

Just off the top of my head, someone like (I'm not suggesting him at all) Will Carling.
 
Bit of a non-story really, isn't it?

They say he's contracted until September, but then say a new coach and backroom staff will be in place before the tour to South Africa, several months before.
 
Bit of a non-story really, isn't it?

They say he's contracted until September, but then say a new coach and backroom staff will be in place before the tour to South Africa, several months before.

Yeah maybe.

If they did go to him with the job offer would he say no?

I was just wondering if he was any good was my main point. Not the quality of the BBC and the press reporting on a slow news day.

Is it any different to Mallinder saying I am interested in the England job, but I am contracted to Northampton Saints and at this time I am commited to them.
 

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