Mallinder sacked

[Experimental]

Idiotic decision to sack one of the very few Englishmen to ever have a premiership team in a ECup final because of one or two bad results. I hear they have their eye on our very own Stuart Lancaster. Will be interesting to see how this one pans out.

[paddyor]

Idiotic decision to sack one of the very few Englishmen to ever have a premiership team in a ECup final because of one or two bad results. I hear they have their eye on our very own Stuart Lancaster. Will be interesting to see how this one pans out.

This isn't one or two results. Did you see the crowd at FG?

[OTT]

He was there 10 years and I think they needed a change. They were a shambles when we played them last year and look worse this time around. Their core is getting old like Myler, Hartley and Foden and they don't seem to have the money (maybe sensibly) to replace them. It is tough to keep a team at the top, COS was similar with Quins he just got out early enough to not damage his legacy which maybe Mallinder has not been so lucky.

[Experimental]

Yes, they been playing badly, by their standards of previous years but it was a bitterly cold night, im not surprised there was a small crowd. Still a bigger crowd than was in Allianz Park!

[cormac]

Yes, they been playing badly, by their standards of previous years but it was a bitterly cold night, im not surprised there was a small crowd. Still a bigger crowd than was in Allianz Park!

They're playing badly by anyone's standards and have been on the slide for some time. Their fans were grumbling about missing out on getting Pat Lam when we were there last season. Mallinder won't be the last of the coaches to leave Northampton if the rumours are true.

[molloyjh]

Yes, they been playing badly, by their standards of previous years but it was a bitterly cold night, im not surprised there was a small crowd. Still a bigger crowd than was in Allianz Park!

Northampton have been on a steadily downward slope for a few years now. Do you not remember our big wins against them last season? Castres hockeyed them last season as well. They set new records for heaviest defeats in Europe twice last season, first with Castres and then with us, IIRC. And then this season they've lost at home to an Ospreys side who can't buy a win in the P14 as well as yet another record defeat (a record home defeat this time) in Europe to Saracens. In the AP they were beaten at home by Newcastle only last week and are on 8 losses on the bounce in the league and Europe including all 4 of their most recent home games. They currently sit 10th in the league above only Worcester and London Irish having finished 7th last year and 5th the year before. Prior to that they had been in the play-offs a few years in a row. So there's a clear downward progression there.

[paddyor]

Yes, they been playing badly, by their standards of previous years but it was a bitterly cold night, im not surprised there was a small crowd. Still a bigger crowd than was in Allianz Park!

Northampton have been on a steadily downward slope for a few years now. Do you not remember our big wins against them last season? Castres hockeyed them last season as well. They set new records for heaviest defeats in Europe twice last season, first with Castres and then with us, IIRC. And then this season they've lost at home to an Ospreys side who can't buy a win in the P14 as well as yet another record defeat (a record home defeat this time) in Europe to Saracens. In the AP they were beaten at home by Newcastle only last week and are on 8 losses on the bounce in the league and Europe including all 4 of their most recent home games. They currently sit 10th in the league above only Worcester and London Irish having finished 7th last year and 5th the year before. Prior to that they had been in the play-offs a few years in a row. So there's a clear downward progression there.

It's been a cold Novemebr though!

[Peg Leg]

Lmfao

[riocard911]

The Ospreys played very well vs the Saints. If they do as good on job on them in the return fixture, it could kickstart their season. Sam Davis was excellent at ten. Anyone know if Biggar was out injured, or if his current club just didn't want to start him against his future employers?

[cormac]

The Ospreys played very well vs the Saints. If they do as good on job on them in the return fixture, it could kickstart their season. Sam Davis was excellent at ten. Anyone know if Biggar was out injured, or if his current club just didn't want to start him against his future employers?

He was injured during the Autumn Internationals

[harblstuff]

Idiotic decision to sack one of the very few Englishmen to ever have a premiership team in a ECup final because of one or two bad results. I hear they have their eye on our very own Stuart Lancaster. Will be interesting to see how this one pans out.

Let's nip this in the bud now, firstly Lancaster won't leave:

- He praised our academy as being unrivalled in the AP, something he loves and is good at
- He praised our player loyalty, something that doesn't exist in the AP to the same extent
- Leo Cullen is the media (to an extent) and politics man, Lancaster is sheltered and doesn't get bent over by our media
- Saints are not performing and have not performed for several seasons, they're a team in need of rebuilding and will have a transition period
- This is high risk in an exposed position: he will bear the responsibility for the success or failure of the Saints in the same country whose media destroyed his reputation
- He won't be sheltered like he is here, he won't have the burden of coaching shared amongst a quality coaching staff, there will be more politics and the influence of a private board bearing down on him and his coaching style
- He won't have a stellar academy that churns out quality players like a conveyor belt with a huge amount of income
- He will have to deal with players leaving more often than he does here, he will also have to look elsewhere for talent in the money driven rat-race that is the AP
- He is contracted for this season and next season (http://www.punditarena.com/rugby/smcmah ... -leinster/) which is another disincentive to leave
- He does not mind the commute to his family once a week (or sometimes two), saying it's easier to visit them from Dublin than it is from London - while the Saints are a Midland team and are closer, I'm using this point to illustrate he does not see Dublin as a problem

tl;dr, he is in his perfect comfort zone and I cannot see him leaving for any reason, on top of that he still has a contract to honour which makes it even more difficult.

Lancs ain't going anywhere.

[FLIP]

- He does not mind the commute to his family once a week (or sometimes two), saying it's easier to visit them from Dublin than it is from London - while the Saints are a Midland team and are closer, I'm using this point to illustrate he does not see Dublin as a problem

Northampton doesn't have any direct rail links to Yorkshire, and no airport - so he'd be driving to and from there several hours on the M1. If that was me - no thanks.

[harblstuff]

- He does not mind the commute to his family once a week (or sometimes two), saying it's easier to visit them from Dublin than it is from London - while the Saints are a Midland team and are closer, I'm using this point to illustrate he does not see Dublin as a problem

Northampton doesn't have any direct rail links to Yorkshire, and no airport - so he'd be driving to and from there several hours on the M1. If that was me - no thanks.

Quick check says 2 hours 40 minutes of driving with no minimal traffic delays - that can be tiring.

Taxi from southside to Dublin airport can take 30 minutes, a flight is 1 hour - he will only have a carry on, arrive 45 minutes early (even 60 minutes early to be safe) - I don't know how far he is from the airport to his house, but let's conservatively say he'll be at home door to door in slightly over 3 hours with no driving done on his part.

Even if that was the biggest factor in him moving home, he's not exactly getting much improvement.

Edit: Let's be honest, if he stays here and performs well, I think he could be a candidate for Ireland coach - he was successful at England but had his hands tied in selection, with 12 private clubs and with the RFU's input. He could (again, could, not will) do better in Ireland if he stays here - so he has a potential goal for a "promotion".

If he moves back to England with the Saints, what would his endgame be? Stay at Saints for 5 years? Then what? He's f%~ked for England, the media will hate him until he dies.

[neiliog93]

They've been in decline for years but he has a contract to the end if the 2019 season. I think they should have waited until the end if the season, feels a bit soccer-esque to dump him now especially after his long history of good service to the club. I wonder if harry mallinder will move on now, 21 yr old, 6'5" 110kg out half and very talented. Could do worse than go to Exeter.

[Experimental]

Some pretty hard taskmasters on here. He won the AP only 3 years ago, 5th and 7th is not bad enough for as some one said above 'a soccer style sacking'. The man deserves more respect being one of the most successful coaches in English rugby and his history with the club. He'll get a big job now in france or somewhere and come back beating the cr@p out of english teams. Then they will be foaming at the mouth to get him back, just like SL...

[paddyor]

Some pretty hard taskmasters on here. He won the AP only 3 years ago, 5th and 7th is not bad enough for as some one said above 'a soccer style sacking'. The man deserves more respect being one of the most successful coaches in English rugby and his history with the club. He'll get a big job now in france or somewhere and come back beating the cr@p out of english teams. Then they will be foaming at the mouth to get him back, just like SL...

6th & 5th(?) was enough to get Foley and MOC the sack. But 5th, 7th and now 10th isn't a couple of bad games there's a clear progression there.

He's there 10 years anyway, could probably do with moving on.

[paddyor]

They've been in decline for years but he has a contract to the end if the 2019 season. I think they should have waited until the end if the season, feels a bit soccer-esque to dump him now especially after his long history of good service to the club. I wonder if harry mallinder will move on now, 21 yr old, 6'5" 110kg out half and very talented. Could do worse than go to Exeter.

He's not a great OH more a 12 or 15 and apparently a little tackle shy.

[domhnallj]

Seems Ford is being touted as the man to beat for the Saints job

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/42333106

with Lancaster being un-touted for the job

[St.Kenneth]

Jim's time had come to an end.

We met you guys in the HEC final as the side was being built. That side went onto it's pinnacle by winning the Premiership in 2014 and instead of re-building and forging a dynasty, we patted ourselves on our back an awarded players who should have been moved on, with new contracts, even though their best days were probably behind them.

Jim and Dorian were being sniffed around by the RFU so the Saints handed them 5 year contracts, forgetting to put any form of performance criteria in.... well after all, we had just won the Prem and we were brilliant..... well that's what the board thought!

Since winning the Premiership our form has declined year after year. 2013 - 92% games won at home... 2014 - 88%.... now we are down to around 50%! We got beat in the playoff semi final in 2015, missed the top four in 2016 and in 2017 we finished outside of automatic HEC qualification in 7th, sneaking in through the playoff system to take the 20th (last) position. The decline has been happening for over 3 years. This is no knee jerk reaction.


ANYWAY.... it has recently been announced that Alan Gaffney is joining to oversea all rugby matters until the end of this current season..... I was wondering what your thoughts would be on Gaffney? Have the Saints made an interesting interim appointment or have we gone from frying pan to fire? On paper, he looks like the kind of guy who could save a sinking ship, but is his CV out of date? Would like to hear your considered opinion on this appointment.

[artaneboy]

His reputation in Ireland was primarily as an excellent backs/ attack coach. He may be a bit off the pace now though. But a decent man. He would probably be worth the punt to rescue the season.

Good luck with the long term replacement in any case.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk