Johnson - the right man but not the right now man.

Let’s be honest, who of us when offered the job to lead our country to a World Cup would have the objectivity and personal awareness to turn it down,  if we weren’t really ready. If you had been the only Captain of your country to hold aloft the Webb Ellis trophy would you doubt your ability to inspire? The simple answer is none of us. In my view Johnsons failing is not that he was not the man for the job, it was that he was not the man for the job now.

I remember the first time I met Martin Johnson. It was in a gym in Leicester, the Tigers used a weights gym up at the running track and Johnson appeared complete with a fairly brutal scar to his shoulder where he had had surgery. Even then he was a bit of a glarer. I think all good second rows have a bit of the red mist glare about them.  All great rugby players need presence and Johnson had it. Although presence isn’t enough to make a World Cup captain, you need determination and heart.

 I remember a subsequent time at the track that really spelt out the nature of Johnson. We arrived to run some 200 meter training runs, Johnson had already run 10, 400 meter runs on his own and asked if he could join us. We chatted walking up to the line and then bang he was gone full tilt, nothing held back, we over took him as we should as a combination of backs and back row players. However each run became closer and closer. Until the last few runs only the fastest of backs were beating him. The guy was seriously fit and had an unnatural determination to succeed. This is probably why he was the first English captain to raise the trophy and why everyone now knows his name and not that of the other people training that day.

This determination for excellence ran through pretty much all of Johnson’s career, matched to his loyalty – he was a one club player – and his natural leadership he was bound for success. But his history should have told him there were no short cuts. Just as he put in extra training at the track so he really needed time to learn how to coach. Many of his colleagues decided to do just that, Neil Back went with the Leicester 2^nd team Coach Andy Key to Leeds and learnt his trade there. He applied his knowledge of fitness levels to the team that took them to the Premiership. Probably the most successful is Richard Cockerill who has in many ways followed a full apprenticeship. Going abroad to France first and then coming back to Leicester and proving to be far more cerebral as a coach than his aggressive pitch persona would suggest.

Johnson had none of this training; he had to rely on the coaches already there to fill his CV gaps. Unfortunately with the exception of Rowntree, the rest were really not up to the job. Johnsons other problem was one of detachment. Many of his squad were friends from his playing days. How do you tell an old friend they are now not good enough for the squad when a few years earlier you were their Captain telling them they were the best in the world? If Johnson had followed Cockerill’s example and given himself space and time, he may have found the clear head required of a coach. It was uncomfortably obvious to most that Johnson found this detachment difficult as he continued to pick Borthwick as Captain. Borthwick a typically whole hearted bloke but who was to international captaincy what Fenton was to one man and his dog.

I hope Johnson goes away and learns his trade at a good club level, maybe abroad. Then gradually comes back to the international fold, perhaps as the forwards coach. He has much to give back but not just yet.

Is English Rugby going the way of English Football?

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/nov/23/england-world-cup-fiasco-leaked-report

Another week – another damning report on the state of English rugby. For weeks we had the debacle of the RFU hiring an intelligent and business driven CEO only to then drive him out. John Steele’s fault was to not understand the hugely political and backbiting nature of the RFU. Anyone who has played any sort of representative rugby will recognise the make-up of the RFU board. Mainly old boys who have intense interest in their own opinion and self-importance. They were subdued by the economic achievements of Francis Bacon, the previous CEO, but this was just a cloak covering what is effectively an old boys club. Once Steele hit this he really had no chance – they weren’t looking for a leader more a puppet to do their bidding. He was forced out on what was seen as a botched recruitment process for Performance Director – a job the board hoped would bring back the saviour of Rugby – Sir Clive Woodward. The RFU now stands under the Chairman Martyn Thomas – who was probably more influential in Steele going than anyone else and with all the blame for the failed recruitment process placed on Steele. Let’s not forget this is the same board that forced out Clive Woodward in the first place and signed off the all the decisions they sacked Steele for making. They are without doubt all tainted by this – perhaps it is time for a totally new board, with a better representation of players, fans and officials.

Then we have the failed world cup bid. I for one had no problems with the team out having a few beers together and building the team moral. However it now seems that even this was a false picture. The camp was divided into those who wanted to party and ridicule the effort in training of others. Worse still a core only interested in the money to be made from a ‘last’ world cup. All the rugby players who went before would be weeping for the state of a game they used to love. Up until 15 years ago the game was amateur, with players competing in International sport and on the Monday back at a desk with their colleagues. In the first world cups the drive for the English was they did not want to go out of the tournament or it meant going back to work. Now we hear of players gutted at the £35,000 they could have made from winning.

Conan Doyle captured the original amateur spirit in his Sherlock Holmes novels, when Holmes comes across a Rugby man ‘You live in a different world to me, Mr. Overton--a sweeter and healthier one. My ramifications stretch out into many sections of society, but never, I am happy to say, into amateur sport, which is the best and soundest thing in England’. In just over 15 years these ideals are being lost and we are moving towards the Football model, players detached from the crowd that support them, on money they can only dream of, interested more in their own wealth than the pride of representing their nation. Do we really want Rugby to resemble Football?

The Rob Andrew report that has leaked shows clearly we have no leadership in English rugby. Not on the board of the RFU, not from the management of the RFU, not from the Team manager and not from the captain. With the power of money threatening to destroy the very make-up of the Rugby spirit – it is now vital we find some leaders. They have a saying ‘ change the people or change the people’. Find a CEO who has experience of driving a complex and large organisation forward. Build an inclusive and cooperative board (sack the existing board entirely), find a new manager with experience and integrity, find a captain with some pride in the Red Rose on a white shirt. I dread to think of the fun Sir Gerry Robinson would have tearing apart the way the RFU is run.

Occupy St Pauls

Occupy

As the canon chancellor of St Pauls, Dr Giles Fraser resigns; it struck me that this protest has really had the reverse effect to the one the protestors intended. They are here, well in the day anyway, to stick it to the man. To show corporate greed that they are not going to take this lying down, especially not in a tent on a chilly night, that the little man can make a difference.

So to front right up to this – do they camp out in Canary Wharf where all the banks are based? No as they might get shifted out by the bailiffs. Do they march on Whitehall and insist something is done - no because the security guards will move them on. Well how about Paternoster square right by the Stock Exchange – well no because the police will soon kick them out.  Instead they pick on St Pauls Cathedral. It’s like having a go at your mates little sister. I’ll have your lunch money as there’s no chance of you taking it back off me!

Who has actually been affected by this? Do you really think Bob Diamond is sitting in his office going – Oh my god – I am not having another crack inducing bonus this year because a bunch of aussie barmen are spending the day drinking in tents around a church?? Hello NO! The only people being put out are some poor deluded spinsters in grey cardigans whose last vestige of fun was attending mass at the cathedral. Well them and all the small shop and café owners who have seen their trade fall off a cliff as the thousands of daily visitors to the cathedral no longer attend. The protestors are only there in the day and probably bring their food from home. So the poor local shop owners who have never speculated on the stock market and merely hope to pay the next rent bill are having their livelihoods threatened!

So a big round of applause for the protestors who have upset some grannies and ruined the little man’s livelihood – that really told them!

Ryanair Time Share

I am probably several months behind everyone else on this but I havejust realised the point of Ryanair. No not cheap flights - so stop screaming that - they are effectively a time share type ruse. Remember those grainy flyers posted through your hotel doors when you went on your package holiday. Win a free holiday! Come to a small talk on our timeshare complex and we will give you a free holiday - no obligation to buy!
Well that is Ryanair - you pay for a ticket and they then bomabrd you for the whole of your flight with a sales pitch.

On my flight back from Germany I received the full process in an hour and a half.

Seat Belt light off.

1. Papers - £2 for the Times or Independent
2. Snacks and drinks at the sort of prices that Harrods would blush charging for a dried up old sarnie! But wait call it a Panini and they'll think the breads not stale it's been toasted!
3. Tickets for attractions - the London dungeons - but they failed to mention the £10 surcharge for buying them on the plane.
4. Scratch cards!! Seriously the Ryanair fucking scratch card - you could win 1m Euro - but you also most probably won't as the airline can't stand that sort of BA loss.
5. Jewellery and trinkets - like a bad market stall where Diamonique is the name of the game
6. Hertz rental car discount their prefered partner - really do they expect us to believe they have done a watchdog on all others and come up with Hertz or more likely Hertz offers the biggest kick back.
7. Train tickets to london - Hold on I'm on the fucking plane to London according to you - oh no I forgot London Stansted is just a name like Bournmouth Manchester Airport.
8. The latest magazine Hello or OK at just a little more than the cover value - bargin!

Cabin crew cross check for landing!!

England's Rugby World Cup Exit

After a loss like this, that brings national disappointment, there is always the danger of throwing out the baby with the bath water. However when we look at the evidence it is clear the baby left of her own accord years ago and now has a Saturday job at Top Shop. The England side however really hasn’t come anywhere in the last 4 years.

Where does the blame lie? In the shambolic set up of the RFU with the Steele debacle still ringing in our ears? In the failure of one of the greatest on field captains to turn his strangle hold from pitch to the side-line? In the players themselves? In the off field dramas distracting everyone? In the team advising Johnson?

Well let’s look at the facts, for many years the RFU has been something of an old boys club. It is run by fairly old school principles with ex rugby players and hangers on trying to mainly manage their own agenda. I doubt this has really changed in the last few years other than being more obvious to the outside world. The players really have never cared for the RFU and in some way they have been separated. So I doubt this crossed a players mind.

Johnson’s failings are much harder to swallow or openly accept. In some sense it is like the old Labrador who starts to wheeze and limp. We all know where it’s going to end up but we just can’t bring ourselves to face it. Johnsons coaching experience prior to this was based around running sessions at Leicester. He has had no real coaching role of any substance. Unlike his ex-team mates such as the successful Richard Cockerill or the reasonably successful Neal Back – he has never faced the daily on going grind of keeping a team together over a season or making those hard calls of who to drop long term. In fact, Backs summing up of his ability on leaving Leeds ‘I’ve taken them as far as I can’ (to the bottom of the league)  could also be applied to Johnson.

Perhaps this could be covered if he had a team around him with that missing experience but unfortunately I have little faith in his team except perhaps Graham Rowntree who runs the front row.  John Wells his forwards coach has shown little tactical input as the team stutters forward. In fact Wells seems to me to epitomise the failings of the coaching team. Can he not see we lack a balanced back row? He was a blindside for god’s sake. Wales are in their pomp because they have an amazing 7 in Warburton. We have no out and out 7 - Moody is too old and carrying too many injuries to be effective, where is Wood or Fourie or any other decent 7?

They say ‘forwards win matches – backs decide by how much’ – This is England’s main failing – the front row is not scrummaging well especially with Stevens, the second row are failing to take regular command of the line out and we have a totally unbalanced back row. Easter is the only true number 8 in the squad but in the last 15 years he wouldn’t have even made the squad, far too slow and ponderous. Compare his performance to Haranordiquy of France, a human wrecking ball, smashing tacklers down, taking the ball forcefully into contact. Easter always looking to offload or backing into contact – it really highlighted the gap between the 2 sides.

I thought the backs played well in patches during the test but with the pack peddling backwards it was always going to be difficult.

As for the off field dramas, I am somewhat surprised at all the vitriol. Rugby is a brutal sport at times. It requires team mates to often do things they know are likely to end in injury or pain; this requires huge amounts of camaraderie. My experience is training sessions alone cannot build this; true friendship socially is often a massive fillip to gaining the level of closeness required.  

So what do we need to do? Well we need to start being realistic, the Labrador has to be taken to the vet along with his whole team, save Graham Rowntree. We need to realise Rugby is now a fast paced game and we need a back row that represents that. Build the backs around Flood, Tuilagi, Foden and Ashton – they are young enough and good enough.

In the forwards – find more front row players – Stevens is not a world class prop anymore – if he ever was, Thompson still can’t hit a cows ass with a banjo.  Pair Lawes with Palmer in the second row – Deacon is not in the same class. Find an open side and a no.8 to work with Croft.  Employ the best tactical coach we have not just someone who pleases the crowd.

In 4 years’ time we might then have a chance.

                                                                                                                                             

Welcome to my Blog - a user guide

Thank you for choosing the all new Suicidal father blog. If you regularly visit and care for it, it should provide you with years of vanilla bland time wasting whilst at work.
I was struck today by how shit my swearing is. When I look at Malcom tucker from 'The Thick of It' and realise the Olympic levels that can be achieved with a little effort. I resolved myself to working harder when it came to the vulgarities of the English language.
I started by revisiting one of my all time favourite swears: Miriam Margolyes being interviewed about having a parking ticket served on her - ' I turned to him and said 'you fucking bastard''. Its just the pure expression that delights me about that swear.
There have been many others during my life but all the greats are done in a rather RP type upperclass English accent, the contradiction of the posh voice and the base words really is the recipe for hte perfect swear. As a clueless litlle fucker I see I will just have to keep practicing.