Could be a stumbling block as Lam wants to bring his own staff and that will cost a good bit

ummm, wrote: Each coach will just have to do his best to make sure he keeps his job. I don't see a downside there!

this is how it should be. perfect summation of the situation.

+1

Little snippet added to bottom of article on Heineken Cup by Gerry Thornley:

PS: If Seán Holley didn’t want the Connacht job he shouldn’t have applied, or, having turned it down, he should have kept quiet out of courtesy to them. Pat Lam is still the favourite for the job.

© 2013 The Irish Times

Thornley's just gone up in my estimation.

sea_point wrote: As a Connacht supporter I have to say, if as the media are suggesting that Pat Lam is the man to be offered the role then I'm quite happy with that

I'll be content if he accepts the role.

I personally like the current back room team of Forshaw, McFarland and Millard. I always felt that any time I have heard Millard or Dan speak, they are very honest and will say it as it is. I did feel that none of them were the correct person for the top seat. We need an external influence in. Hopefully Lam will provide this. It would have been their first time as a head coach and I am sure Connacht explained they wanted a bit of experience and outside influence there. I cannot see them being bitter about having to work under whoever gets the position.

If the coaches have to prove their worth to stay on a second season I can see very little wrong with this. We want to get the best out our players and this will get the best out of their coaches.

Each coach will just have to do his best to make sure he keeps his job. I don't see a downside there!

I wonder if the issue of coaches will end up being a mote point. Assuming Lam is named head man it puts McFarland and Millard in a tricky position. First, it obviously means they have been passed over for the job and second, their long term prospects at Connacht are questionable as Lam will likely want to bring in his own people once their contracts are up. Unless they are looking to work for a contract extension at Connacht, you'd think they would get moving sooner rather than later. Of course on the other hand Lam could be quite happy to work with the existing coaching staff and it's not an issue.

I definitely want Forshaw kept around,no matter who becomes appointed. He has been an important component in our improved competitiveness.

sea_point wrote: his Auckland Blues tenure ended in disappointment (the Blues organisation has been a disaster area for several years now, so he's well away), his coaching career with the region as a whole over the last eight years has been very successful indeed.

Some background on that:

Lam brought the Auckland provincial team from near the bottom to consistently at the top of the league table in the NPC (or whatever they're calling it this week), and achieved similar at the Blues.

His last disastrous season can be explained by the 30% budget cut that preceeded it; this included releasing the defence coach against Lam's wishes. Three quarters of the way through the season with the Blues rock bottom, the board relented and hired a dedicated defence coach. They rallied to 12th on the back of that.

As a Connacht supporter I have to say, if as the media are suggesting that Pat Lam is the man to be offered the role then I'm quite happy with that, for us the person we recruit is every bit as important as the coach. Lam has character in spades, a hugely successful playing career with extensive NH experience and while his Auckland Blues tenure ended in disappointment (the Blues organisation has been a disaster area for several years now, so he's well away), his coaching career with the region as a whole over the last eight years has been very successful indeed.

Making comparison between his application for the Ulster role, where apparently he suggested he would want to bring in his own back-room team and the Connacht role is crazy just even from the financial disparity between the two provinces. All the Connacht coaching staff are on fixed term contracts, and the PGB will have stated in the job brief that an incoming coach would have to work with the existing team initially (probably no more than one season remaining on their contracts) after which he could review replacing any underperforming personnel...

Lads, Mike Ruddock pulled himself out of the running for the job when his Irish u20 contract was extended. Nothing to do with us not giving him an interview

Little snippet added to bottom of article on Heineken Cup by Gerry Thornley:

PS: If Seán Holley didn’t want the Connacht job he shouldn’t have applied, or, having turned it down, he should have kept quiet out of courtesy to them. Pat Lam is still the favourite for the job.

© 2013 The Irish Times

The Sindo article states that Connacht decided not to interview Eddie after meeting with the IRFU, and gives Eddie's agent as the source for this info (fiar play to them, at least they're being up front about who really wrote the article). So I understand that people might be uncomfortable with this, but given Sears calling out of Leinster and the IRFU over McCarthy's transfer, if might be that there's some quid pro quo in it for us. And we shouldn't forget that Eddie has never coached a professional club side (Connacht were amateur when he coached them). He'd be more of a punt than Lam or Holley for instance.

As for Foley, he's the forwards coach responsible for a pack that got annihilated by Saracens, Connacht, and Cardiff in Cork in the last few weekends. He's not the Messiah, he's....

green-devil wrote: hope I am not reading too much into this but whatever you thin about them eddie o sullivan and mike ruddock were not given interviews, with their cv's and achievements they should have been...

personally would have gone for mike ruddock

does anyone think that if you are the wrong side of 50, then you are considered too old?

holley's record with the ospreys was reasonable but look at the quality of player that he was working with..

anyone know if anthony foley or andy robinson applied

we need a coach who is good at player development and getting the best out of them

But primarily we need a coach with a solid background in the Professional Club game, someone with the experience of dealing with players day to day for nearly eleven months of the year, not just five or six weeks every season....

hope I am not reading too much into this but whatever you thin about them eddie o sullivan and mike ruddock were not given interviews, with their cv's and achievements they should have been...

personally would have gone for mike ruddock

does anyone think that if you are the wrong side of 50, then you are considered too old?

holley's record with the ospreys was reasonable but look at the quality of player that he was working with..

anyone know if anthony foley or andy robinson applied

we need a coach who is good at player development and getting the best out of them