Who should replace Andy Robinson? (Part 2)

We did current SRU lackeys and candidates with successful international experience yesterday.

The most interesting list of candidates is that set out below in my opinion. Plenty of posters have been asking who would want the Scotland job. The answer, of course, is a young ambitious coach that may have had lots of success with regional franchises who wants to put themselves in the international shop window in the future.

There are plenty of possible candidates but the most interesting ones are set out below. All have the potential to take a head coach's job and also to form part of a wider coaching team:

1. Dave Rennie

i. Arguments for: took the Chiefs from 10th in the Super 15 to 1st in the space of one year, became the first rookie coach to win the Super tournament, quasi-international experience with New Zealand national under-20s whom he guided to three consecutive World titles from 2008-2010, seems to be able to coach forwards to punch way above their weight, excellent record in bringing on young players.

ii. Arguments against: still has another year left to run on his contract with the Chiefs.

iii. Realistically?: coaching the Chiefs would still be attractive (having retained the likes of Cane, Cruden, Kahui, Messam and Retallick) but with no new recruits, could be the time for a move to be made.

2. Wayne Smith:

i. Arguments for: assistant coach to Rennie who played a major part in taking the Chiefs to the S15 title, should actually have added Smith to Part 1 as I forgot he was All Blacks head coach from 2000-2001, assistant coach to 2011 ABs World Cup winners, 35 cap All Black himself so understands the international scene well, took Crusaders to 2 Super titles, spent 3 years with the Saints so has NH experience, by all accounts a superbly judged tactician and smart fellow.

ii. Arguments against: seems he is wedded to NZ, turned down an offer in May 2012 to join England's coaching staff and from the Western Force and Waratahs.

iii. Realistically?: his Chiefs contract only lasts for another year, so there is hope, possible that he wasn't offered the full head coach's job by the RFU - hence turning down England, would be a superb capture by the SRU.

3. Brendan Venter

i. Arguments for: World Cup winner in 1995, solid experience with London Irish and Sarries (taking Irish to the Powergen Cup in 2002 and Sarries to the Jeff title), very good record with the Stormers, absolute enforcer and will kick backsides as required.

ii. Arguments against: downsized to Technical Director at Sarries and is only in the country occasionally, patchy behavioural record - allegedly tw@tting a Tigers fan in May 2010 (LondonTiger - it wasn't you, was it?), intentionally giving a weird interview to ERC last December for a laugh, being publicly critical of the ERC, the tournament and its match officials (for which he was fined 22 grand), may be a bit of a loose cannon for the SRU.

iii. Realistically?: reason given for leaving role as DoR at Sarries in January 2011 was to take his young family back to South Africa, have read nothing to assume that this will change and so presumably may be a deal breaker.

4. Joe Schmidt

i. Arguments for: everything he touches seems to turn to gold, held the Log with the Steamers for 2 years, Top 14 winner with Clermont in 2010, Top 14 runners up in 2008 and 2009, Heinken Cup winner with Leinster in 2011 and 2012, Magners league runners up in 2011 and 2012, well organised, likeable, huge web of contacts in the game, seen to be a winner, well respected by the players, very good knowledge of Scottish rugby and players.

ii. Arguments against: intimately involved in all things Leinster, may not give up one of the NH's most plum franchise coaching jobs, would surely be expensive to buy out of a vice-like Leinster contract.

iii. Realistically?: having achieved everything at club/franchise level in French and Celtic leagues, may well be the time for a new challenge for him, would be an excellent choice, still quite a young man so it's feasible.

5. Vern Cotter

i. Arguments for: excellent club credentials, turned Clermont from croissant-like flakies to a team to be feared, good record with Bay of Plenty and Crusaders, winner of Top 14 title in 2010, only 50, well respected in the game, no nonsense flanker who has a reputation as a solid disciplinarian.

ii. Arguments against: how much of his success at Clermont was down to having Schmidt beside him?, has spent a seriously long time in France now as a player and coach and should be well settled there, possibly too settled to move?

iii. Realistically?: perhaps not as garlanded as other potential coaches, he would be a left field, but solid, option.

6. Guy Novès

i. Arguments for: long time coach of Tolouse, astonishing longevity and domestic record during his tenure: won the French championship ten times, the Heineken Cup four times (1996, 2003, 2005, 2010) and the French cup twice, many people still astonished that the French national team coaching job went to Lievremont after the 2007 world cup instead of him, arguably the most decorated coach never to have coached a national side, the Alex Ferguson of rugby.

ii. Arguments against: see above - why would you move from the south of France to Scotland? Tolouse's overall club budget this season in excess of 33 million euros, which is more than Perpignan’s and Biarritz’s put together.

iii. Realistically?: So very hard to see a career manager of the best NH club move to coach Scotland - what would make him move from a club that he's devoted 20 years to?

7. Todd Blackadder

i. Arguments for: 25 cap All Black so knows the international game well, only man to ever lift the Super rugby trophy three times as captain of the winning team, already has experience with SRU set up as forwards coach under Matt Williams and assistant coach to Edinburgh in 2004-2005 under his honour Franklyn Haddock, still shows a keen interest in Scots rugby - not least as a coach of young Scots players under the MacPhail Scholarship.

ii. Arguments against: would be a wrench to leave control of the Crusaders, may feel that he has already done his time in Scotland and wouldn't gain much by returning.

iii. Realistically?: depends entirely on whether he remembers his time in Edinburgh fondly. Closest of all these coaches to the Scottish game and his effort taking Scottish youngsters through the Canterbury coaching set up is very encouraging.

8. Steve Meehan

i. Arguments for: one of the best backs coaches in the world which is clearly what Scotland need desperately, has superb NH experience having worked as backs coach at Stade Français under Nick Mallett and then Fabien Galthié and with Bath, Stade reached the Final of the French Championship three years running under his tenure (winning in 2002/03 and 2003/04 and losing in extra time to Biarritz in 2004/05) and were 2005 Heineken Cup runners up, took Bath to their first silverware in 10 years (the European Challenge Cup in 2008), still remembered fondly after 5 formative years at the Rec.

ii. Arguments against: just joined the Western Force as the Super Rugby side's attack coach for the 2013 Super Rugby season. Oops.

iii. Realistically?: Force are perhaps not the magnet that they once were and it may not cost too much to buy out the contract, could be a very feasible option indeed and many felt that Mallett and Meehan was a classic coaching combination. Many fans first choice.

9. Jamie Joseph

i. Arguments for: his mark seems to be to make a great deal out of little resource, took the reins at a very unfashionable Wellington club and coached the team to consecutive domestic finals in 2008 and 2009 both against Canterbury, was appointed as New Zealand Maori Coach and in 2010 guided the team to a clean sweep against the NZ Barbarians, Ireland and a famous victory over England, definitely an attack minded coach, very much a rugby man and much liked.

ii. Arguments against: it's an exciting time to remain right where he is - Highlanders have signed Ma'a Nonu, Brad Thorn and Tony Woodcock in the off season who join an already incredibly impressive stable involving the likes of Aaron Smith, Tamati Ellison, Hosea Gear, Colin Slade and Ben Smith in the backline and Andrew "whoops sorry Bradley, didn't see all 6' 6" of you there" Hore amongst the forwards, his Highlanders started strongly but ultimately placed 9th in the Super 15 table this year.

iii. Realistically: perhaps more untested than many of the coaches here, he would be a fine choice for bringing on the younger players.

Great articles George, lets hope the SRU has a little read of them both.

Thanks Manky - the point of these was to try and demonstrate that there are genuinely a number of choices for the SRU - they just have to brave enough to look at the full gamit of possibilities.

We can but dream.

George Carlin wrote:Thanks Manky - the point of these was to try and demonstrate that there are genuinely a number of choices for the SRU - they just have to brave enough to look at the full gamit of possibilities.

We can but dream.

Yeah, excellent work!

Scotland may not be the dream job for most coaches, but I don't buy into the school of thinking on here that says "Who would want the job". Its still a National job, with plenty room for improvement. Providing the SRU can offer a competitive salary, I don't think they will be short of good candidates.

George,

Good list mate, only small pedantic point is that Sir Alex has coached at international level, taking over the reigns at Scotland when Jock Stein sadly died.

From the list, Blackadder would be my preferred choice, but I think it would be hard to get him over. I belive he moved back to NZ because he has a young family who are settled over there, so would he want to move them over for potentailly only a couple of years. Still no harm in asking.

Agreed Dorothy. International Rugby is the pinnacle of the sport and the ambition of any coach worth their salt. Scotland offers 6N and RWC participation (not to mention tours and annual Tests against the best in the world). Ample opportunity for a professional coach to showcase their abilities. Scotland are also producing more exciting young players now than anytime in the previous 10 years, which is also an added incentive.

Remuneration will also be significant, I believe Robinson was well taken care of over the last 3 years or so.

I think there are some unknown parameters that would be helpful to know in advance:
1. Personal circumstances - ie kids at school age, etc (the main reason that Blackadder went back to NZ in the first place if I remember right); &,
2. Ambitions - ie where ultimately do they want to get (ie presumably Rennie and Blackadder have ambitions to ultimately take over from Hansen, altho Foster must be in poll position, and Gatland and Deans would also be in competition) and how do they view the Scotland job in terms of a stepping stone along a path to fulfilling those ambitions

Difficult to know where these worthy individuals stand on either issue - any help from our NZ cousins?

Personally I'd like a NZ-er, and of the list above Wayne Smith is the most experienced and recently has shown interest in helping out Scottish rugby. Of the younger generation, I'm indifferent between Blackadder, Jospeh and Rennie, and would be delighted with any one of those three

I would think that the names on this list should be the ones targetted rather than your first thread. Younger club/franchise coaches who are long term hoping to be the NZ coach or wherever they are from. They may look at Scotland as a stepping stone, much as Wales has proved to be for Henry and Hansen. Wayne Smith would be the odd one out there, but he would be a real coup.

With regards to the younger coaches, would some of them see it as a tough gig which may long term damage their cv's? On another thread it was shown that the best Scottish coach in terms of wins in recent years was at just over 50%. Clearly some would be up for the challenge but would say Fern Cotter think that actually taking Clermont to the french league again would be better for his long term career than a couple of years of winning a few, losing a few with Scotland?

I don't know the answer, I would think that the chance to be an international coach would be a big draw, but it would be a big change and challenge for coaches used to having huge playing budgets.

Bathman, interesting point - is it potentially a career-damaging gig? I would argue not - 2 wins in the last 3 6Ns shouldn't be AB insurmountable target, and improving on 12th in the world rankings should be eminently possible given the players at their disposal today and those coming thru imo

Just one word on Guy Noves: he actually refused the France job that went to PSA, that is how strongly he's committed to Toulouse....so no offense to my Scottish friends here but the SRY could erase his name from their wishlist just as well...

It would be a gamble but a good coach should be able to make a difference and bring Scotland back to consistent and competative

I noted in the Hootsmon that Robinson has agreed not to take his remaining salary entitlement for the unexpired years of his contract. The SRU know that they're going to have to spend some money on a replacement and this is a Very Good Thing indeed (furthering Robinson's reputation as a gentleman and a team player in the process).

They may even have to dip into their reserve wine cellar for a couple of years. By jove, the horror.

Whocares - as noted above, that doesn't surprise me one bit. I wouldn't move if I was him.

Dorothy_Mantooth wrote:

George Carlin wrote:Thanks Manky - the point of these was to try and demonstrate that there are genuinely a number of choices for the SRU - they just have to brave enough to look at the full gamit of possibilities.

We can but dream.

Yeah, excellent work!

Scotland may not be the dream job for most coaches, but I don't buy into the school of thinking on here that says "Who would want the job". Its still a National job, with plenty room for improvement. Providing the SRU can offer a competitive salary, I don't think they will be short of good candidates.

Completely agree, and with Scotland 12th in the rankings having just lost to Tonga, there's a really good opportunity to take this team forwards. The arrivals this year of Maitland and Visser give us firepower on the wings we haven't had for a long time, and one of Hogg or Tonks completes a very strong back three. According to some, Bennett is twice the player Brian O'Driscoll once was, and Matt Scott has a reputation of promise quite distinct from his indifferent performances for Scotland thus far. The pack is, as ever, a pretty solid proposition, and in Gray, Rennie and Denton, has a handful of players who really can shine bright on their day.

In sum, this is not a crap job. A good coach could do well here and build a very decent reputation, whether with a view to moving on or not, the key is to get the best possible appointment. Step forward Nick Mallett and/or Steve Meehan.

Great pair of articles.

I suspect Wayne Smith isn't the answer - he resigned as ABs coach because he wasn't enjoying the head coach role - and he's managed to avoid being a head coach ever since.

Wow - you must have been really bored!

Great articles though, I am completely out of touch with this kind of thing and was fascinating to see the options.

I think we're going to end up with Lineen or Johnson, but preferably not Johnson.

Perhaps bring Lineen in for hte 6N then appoint someone in the summer.

I really hope this doesn't affect the Lions chances of the likes of Ford, Gray, Brown, Rennie, Denton, Laidaw, Visser etc

I forgot to add that from a Bath fan's point of view, Steve Meehan is a very good backs coach and during his reign Bath were one of the more attractive teams to watch ( I think!). But he needs someone else to head the figure head I think, very similar to Brian Ashton. Very good at getting some attractive rugby, but less good on the overall detail.

I know I could research myself, but as the SRFU have had money issues recently, will there be enough to throw at the best coaches around?

Bathman_in_London wrote:I forgot to add that from a Bath fan's point of view, Steve Meehan is a very good backs coach and during his reign Bath were one of the more attractive teams to watch ( I think!). But he needs someone else to head the figure head I think, very similar to Brian Ashton. Very good at getting some attractive rugby, but less good on the overall detail.

I know I could research myself, but as the SRFU have had money issues recently, will there be enough to throw at the best coaches around?

the money situation is OK now - and if Robbo really has foregone some salary then that will help.

Surprised that Bryan Redpath hasnt been mentioned. Not sure how good he is but he does have some good experience as a head coach.

Wouldn't say he's covered himself in glory with his recent coaching career, Guns

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:Wouldn't say he's covered himself in glory with his recent coaching career, Guns

Not saying he is a good option but he is an option and someone that Scotland may end up with.

Well if we are going to go for a Scot, then Redpath is a pretty likely option. The fact that he was a disaster in his last role won't bother the SRU.

Brilliant article! One of the most interesting that i've read all year.

One other coach that may be worth looking at is Gary Gold, did wonders by all accounts at the Falcons before they were relegated. Geordie and the other fans swear that they'd have avoided the drop if he had come in sooner.

Has brought some real physicality and nastiness to a pretty flimsy Bath team but may not be enjoying the yoyo results and i'm sure pressure from Craig.

RDW_Scotland wrote:Wow - you must have been really bored!

Great articles though, I am completely out of touch with this kind of thing and was fascinating to see the options.

I think we're going to end up with Lineen or Johnson, but preferably not Johnson.

Perhaps bring Lineen in for hte 6N then appoint someone in the summer.

I really hope this doesn't affect the Lions chances of the likes of Ford, Gray, Brown, Rennie, Denton, Laidaw, Visser etc

Yep I agree I think it will be either Lineen or Johnson. Neither would be my preferred choice though, Johnson is a good coach but not a
head coach and Lineen I would have my reservations about.

My choice would be Dave Rennie as head coach with Wayne Smith as his assistant. Wayne Smith was over for a couple weeks coaching with the scottish pro teams about 3 weeks ago and seemed to really enjoy it and the players liked him. His family originate from Peterhead so he could be quite a strong possibility as the links are there.

The other candidate I would not mind being head coach would be alistair coetzee the stormers head coach, he has been pretty good at the stormers and has really got them competing. His forwards coach is Matt Proudfoot the ex Scotland prop who is really highly thought of there.

I think the SRU will have a tough job attracting anyone on your list. Not just for financial reasons but i think that the current emphasis has swung away from interntational rugby towards club rugby. Look at the power of the English and French clubs, for instance.

Who, in their right mind, would want to step down from coaching say, Clermont Auvergne, where the team play in front of a home crowd of around 20 thousand commited, knowledgeable fans who create an amazing atmosphere to coaching Scotland? 6 home games in front of a large but lack lustre crowd with a small player pool to choose from, playing 6 Nations countries with bigger budgets and player numbers?

Unless you are looking for a stepping stone to a bigger Int coach job, and dont have kids settled in schools, who would want it?

Unfortunately i think that the SRU strategy is to do the following:
1) pretend that they are scouring the globe for the very best coach
2) Give the role to Scott Johnson for the upcoming 6 Nation's and retaining the services of Matt " we're focuisng on tackle technique and its all been going well in training" Taylor.

3) Continue to throw as much money as possible at Townsend's Glasgow in the hope that the team can match last season's achievement of making the Robocop play offs
4) Assuming point 3 occurs offer the job to Toonie in the summer
5) Toonie accepts the role and Scot's fans prepare for complete meltdown over the coming seasons!

What about Craig Levein or Craig Brown?

I think that posters are falling into one of two camps here:

A. People who believe that as the Scottish game is in crisis, the SRU will take time to consider all possible candidates internationally and seriously consider a new entry into the Scottish rugby scene from scratch.

B. People who believe that the SRU will look no further than its own backyard and appoint someone already involved with the Scottish game, hoping that an 'anyone but Robinson' approach will win favour and hope to sh!t that we have a reasonable 6 Nations.

When we appointed Robinson, there was no doubt whatsoever that position 'B' was the approach adopted.

This time, though, I'm not so sure. Perhaps I'm just desperately hopeful (a typical Scotland fan's characteristic) but the search process may just be different this time.

1. Different personalities

If the insular lickspittle Gordon McKie was still in charge, there would no hope for anyone other than Lineen or Johnson. But with Mark Dodson, we are talking about a different man entirely. Dodson talks a good game and likes to see himself as a board member unafraid to make tough decisions. His time with Guardian Media Group has given him some good contacts and as an Englishman has a broader frame of reference than many in his position - I would think more than Moir Lockhead, for example.

This is a man who stated in writing his ambition for Scotland to win the next world cup and publicly chewed out Premiership Rugby Limited in the press for their attempts to push through a European TV deal. He clearly has a very high opinion of his abilities, which is almost a pre-requisite for this job and is one of the reasons behind the push to improve the lot of the two Scottish clubs.

Although he didn't choose it, he is already associated with the promotion to Glasgow head coach of the Scotland attack coach whose methods had failed to produce a try in 18 of the 34 international matches for which he had that responsibility and it may well be that Dodson chooses to go off piste with this decision just to avoid the criticism this time.

It's time to see what Dodson is made of and how well he knows the international game, not just the domestic one.

2. Different circumstances

It's been well documented but worth repeating that this is not just the normal attrition of a long term coach. Scottish rugby is in the worst place it's been in my lifetime (35 years) and a short term fix or reliance on the usual cabal would be a dreadful statement of limited ambition and make the earlier protestations that Scotland can win the next RWC as embarrassingly inconsistent flatulence.

Robinson was loved and successful because he came onto the Scottish club scene and did well with Edinburgh and it will be remembered how a fresh statesman can give the entire team a new outlook.

The SRU has every excuse to take its time with this appointment (the talk of an interim coach is nonsense - the 6N is months away) to make sure that it gets its man. Whether Scottish international rugby continues to slide or stabilises depends on this - whom they choose really, really matters this time.

On this note, the media circus has just kicked off and will have to run its course but press reports from (i) Kenny Logan recommending Johnson, (ii) Andy Nicol recommending Lineen and (iii) Craig Chalmers who, as always, took great pleasure in recommending himself are not helpful in the slightest and those concerned should shut their collective yappers and realise that they're helping in pushing the insular, unambitious approach.

As in the 'Who Should replace Andy Robinson (Part 1)' pst I am still willing to help fund the air fare for you guys to have Howley.

Pleaseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee

I think Jim Telfer is still living in the early 2000s, judging by this crazy suggestion...

http://www.scotsman.com/sport/rugby/top-rugby-stories/telfer-backs-george-graham-and-pat-lam-for-scotland-1-2660861

Todd Blackadder would be my pick. Followed very closely by Nick Mallet.

Who'll get it? I don't know.

Kudos to Robinson if he hasn't taken his pay off salary.

RDW_Scotland wrote:I think Jim Telfer is still living in the early 2000s, judging by this crazy suggestion...

http://www.scotsman.com/sport/rugby/top-rugby-stories/telfer-backs-george-graham-and-pat-lam-for-scotland-1-2660861

Sh!tting hell Jim. You are a ligind but the world has moved on, man. I like Lam but would be amazed if knows anything about NH rugby, much less the Scottish game.

"I’d be very surprised if Scott Johnson doesn’t take over with Matt Taylor, to try and keep some consistency."

WE DON'T WANT CONSISTENCY OF THIS KIND.

George Carlin wrote:I think that posters are falling into one of two camps here:

A. People who believe that as the Scottish game is in crisis, the SRU will take time to consider all possible candidates internationally and seriously consider a new entry into the Scottish rugby scene from scratch.

B. People who believe that the SRU will look no further than its own backyard and appoint someone already involved with the Scottish game, hoping that an 'anyone but Robinson' approach will win favour and hope to sh!t that we have a reasonable 6 Nations.

When we appointed Robinson, there was no doubt whatsoever that position 'B' was the approach adopted.

This time, though, I'm not so sure. Perhaps I'm just desperately hopeful (a typical Scotland fan's characteristic) but the search process may just be different this time.

1. Different personalities

If the insular lickspittle Gordon McKie was still in charge, there would no hope for anyone other than Lineen or Johnson. But with Mark Dodson, we are talking about a different man entirely. Dodson talks a good game and likes to see himself as a board member unafraid to make tough decisions. His time with Guardian Media Group has given him some good contacts and as an Englishman has a broader frame of reference than many in his position - I would think more than Moir Lockhead, for example.

This is a man who stated in writing his ambition for Scotland to win the next world cup and publicly chewed out Premiership Rugby Limited in the press for their attempts to push through a European TV deal. He clearly has a very high opinion of his abilities, which is almost a pre-requisite for this job and is one of the reasons behind the push to improve the lot of the two Scottish clubs.

Although he didn't choose it, he is already associated with the promotion to Glasgow head coach of the Scotland attack coach whose methods had failed to produce a try in 18 of the 34 international matches for which he had that responsibility and it may well be that Dodson chooses to go off piste with this decision just to avoid the criticism this time.

It's time to see what Dodson is made of and how well he knows the international game, not just the domestic one.

2. Different circumstances

It's been well documented but worth repeating that this is not just the normal attrition of a long term coach. Scottish rugby is in the worst place it's been in my lifetime (35 years) and a short term fix or reliance on the usual cabal would be a dreadful statement of limited ambition and make the earlier protestations that Scotland can win the next RWC as embarrassingly inconsistent flatulence.

Robinson was loved and successful because he came onto the Scottish club scene and did well with Edinburgh and it will be remembered how a fresh statesman can give the entire team a new outlook.

The SRU has every excuse to take its time with this appointment (the talk of an interim coach is nonsense - the 6N is months away) to make sure that it gets its man. Whether Scottish international rugby continues to slide or stabilises depends on this - whom they choose really, really matters this time.

On this note, the media circus has just kicked off and will have to run its course but press reports from (i) Kenny Logan recommending Johnson, (ii) Andy Nicol recommending Lineen and (iii) Craig Chalmers who, as always, took great pleasure in recommending himself are not helpful in the slightest and those concerned should shut their collective yappers and realise that they're helping in pushing the insular, unambitious approach.

GC, some excellent points, my friend. My only point of comment would be that in fairness to Chick he did propose Lineen rather than himself!

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:Todd Blackadder would be my pick. Followed very closely by Nick Mallet.

Who'll get it? I don't know.

Kudos to Robinson if he hasn't taken his pay off salary.

pls to Jeebus that the SRU learns that performance-related clauses should be inserted in ALL contracts

http://www.scotsman.com/sport/rugby/top-rugby-stories/sean-maitland-backs-todd-blackadder-for-scotland-post-1-2663344

Maitland has automatically become my favourite player.

hmmm yeah but then we see this article, fairplay to the man though if I were a well renowned coach I wouldn't touch the Scotland job with a barge pole right now!
http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/sport/rugby/8016743/Blackadder-not-interested-in-Scotland-position

That's unfortunate but yet expected and Maitland called it for the correct reason too. Better crack on with Mallett and Meehan then. I always did love M&Ms.

Do we have an idea of when a coach is likely to be appointed or even a short-list of candidates announced? I think it would be better to appoint an interim coach now to give them as much time as possible to get ready for the Six Nations and then spend the spring and summer getting the right man for the job.

I really do hope we have Lineen as interim over Johnson. Johnson can keep his job, but I do think we need to have someone 'Scottish' who is familiar with Scottish rugby, and has the respect of players and fans alike.

If Johnson is in charge I can see us lacking identity a bit.

Johnson has to go - he is a proven known failure. save the money - sack him. Another of Robinsons stupid decisions appointing him

Who should replace him? Kris Kringle?

sacking Johnson wouldn't save us any money - the opposite in fact. We'd have to pay him out of his contract - i.e. paying off his ~200k a year for the next 3 years or so

Why? Just sack him for incompetence. No pay off. If they really gave him a contract with no notice clause it would be very unusual and incredibly stupid of the sru

Don't care anyway - he is useless and no asset. get him out of there pronto. His entire career is failure

Why? Contract law unfortunately. I'm not expert but I think it would take for him to stand down - like Robinson did - for us to not have to pay him off.

Craig Levein is still on the SFA payroll for instance.

Stupidly written contract then. Most employees can be given notice - and any employee can be sacked for incompetence.

It would be open season if you could sack sports coaches for incompetence - would never happen!

They get sacked for incompetence, but you still have to pay them off. If the contract had a results clause in it then fair enough, but no one would sign up to that kind of contract.

Look at Quade Cooper - he rejected an ARU contract cause it was results based.

I'd love to see it in a court of law.

Well the fact that it's never gone to court suggests that its pretty clear cut. There's been plenty numbers thrown about for how much Chelsea have had to spend on paying off their sacked managers out of their contracts.

RDW

The issue of sport coaches is so interesting, on one hand they are generally those who have become extremely lucky or have known the right people to progress to a certain level, and from what Ive seen are hardly ever just been the best man for the job. However does that mean that in such an uncertain industry they should be thrown onto the heap without consideration without any sort of renumeration? Or have they ridden their luck, gotten the big payoff enough to be results based.

|The sporting industry works like no other, which never made sense to me, and in any other sector Robinsons performance would have been judged and the problem rectified ages ago!!

I'm not saying I agree with it - just telling Tj that we can't simply just dump Johnson without paying him off!

Im not sure though, does he deserve the remainder of his contract when performing so badly?

Does this all lie in the fact that performance can't be quantified enough when the usage of so many variables are there, ie players ability!

Mybe if Robinson was dumped with no pennies he would go to court and claim players weren't up to scratch, or governing body wasn't aiding him adequatley?

IMHO man for man this is probably the best Scotland side Ive seen for ages, and on par with Ireland England and Wales who are all very similar quality wise.

To be fair Johnson probably hasn't been that bad in terms of what he was brought in to do - attack, skills and player recruitment. The facts are we scored 4 tries in 3 games, and a lot of players have spoken out about his good ideas he's brought in

Duncan weir went out his way to to praise Johnson and the new ideas he's brought

I don't think he should be head coach, and don't think he's worth the money, but it would be very difficult to accuse him of incompetence considering what his role is