Bent&Bongser wrote:
All very gentlemanly this "mutual consent" thingumibob, but the "show" is given by not having a replacement signed up. If the club statement ran to the tune of:
"After considerable discussion, the board has decided that the senior coaching position at London Broncos needs to be full time. JC feels that, due to commitments elsewhere, he cannot at this moment in time commit to such engagement, but assures us that he will be happy to continue in his present capacity until a suitable FT replacement is found and installed. For that the club thanks him and, upon his withdrawal, will wish him all the best in his future endeavours"
That would smell a tad more like mutual consent.Sack the coach and his assistant mid-season? No other viable coach sniffing around but vultures circling. See your discontent with Hughes. Maybe he thought it was a la mode after Bulls & Vikings? Good luck (typed without irony).
Yes we signed a coach whose sole experience was with an unsuccessful L1 side and then appear to have been caught on the hop when he found it difficult with limited funds to get decent Championship performances. We also knew he was someone with a difficult and demanding ‘other’ job.
As you say, the fact we appear to have no one lined up is the tell. It’s also another potentially big error by our decision makers as it’s exactly now, with two key games coming up, that we want this squad to be either improved upon or to be improved. It’s difficult to see an interim fitness coach being able to do more than Coleman although possibly he will get a reaction.
Clearly Coleman wasn’t the root of our problems or possibly even a significant reason - I doubt he was responsible for our cack-handed retention efforts, but I don’t fully absolve him. I don’t think the recruits he (I assume) made covered him in glory especially if he got the post on the back of his knowledge of L1/Southern RL - O’Donnell. Coates- both left very promptly, Ramsey- never plays, ex Skolars - generally - nuff said in the words of Stan Lee. I’m also not sure the squad has developed as much as hoped/ lots of chop and change of positions. However we are where we are. Will anyone else get more out of these players?Possibly. Maybe a new coach will be more of a draw to players. Crucially if we don’t get someone in tout suite it will be too late in any event and the full time coach will be spending his free time trying to work out the quickest route to Doncaster and West Wales.
I do wish they had considered a more gentle transition from Full time to Part Time. Our planning and strategy department has been having quite a few off days recently. We desperately need to start getting big decisions right. So far it’s gone as badly as us doom mongers anticipated. And almost exactly as we did predict. Sigh.