? Former coach's return would antagonise Martin Johnson
? 'A trained chimp' could have led England to 2003 World Cup
Jeff Probyn, a former council member on the Rugby Football Union, has warned the governing body against appointing Sir Clive Woodward as performance director, believing it would antagonise the England team manager, Martin Johnson.
"I know Clive well, having appointed him the England Under-21 coach," Probyn said. "He likes to do things his way and have complete control. I am not sure how well that would sit with John Steele [the RFU chief executive] or Martin Johnson. The danger is that people get sucked in by Clive's success in the 2003 World Cup when, in truth, England would have won if a trained chimp had been in charge.
"Martin Johnson has an interesting history with Clive and it is far from a given that the two would get along. Their relationship is not as good as people think it is. If I were Johnson, I would not want to have to report to a performance director; and Clive, when he was England coach, insisted that the only person he reported to was the chief executive, not the elite director at the time, Chris Spice."
Woodward, who is director of elite performance at the British Olympic Association, has not applied for the job but the RFU hopes to interview him next month and have him in position before the end of the summer, less than a year before the Olympics. Woodward has support from key figures on the RFU and in the media, who see a return to the glory days, but Probyn, a former England prop who was on the group that appointed Woodward as national coach in 1997, feels the union would be wrong to look to the past.
"Why would he walk away with the Olympics a year away? When he left England a year after winning the World Cup, he went to Southampton and said football was the sport for him but now it appears he wants to come back to rugby because it is the only sport that will have him.
"The RFU has to be very careful in making the appointment and weigh up the potential fallout. Things are looking good for England: I fancy us to reach the World Cup final this year and we will be in a very strong position when we host the tournament in 2015. When it comes to Clive, the RFU should look at his record before 2003 and after and not focus on one event."
While Woodward looks odds-on to return to Twickenham, Probyn does not regard his appointment as a certainty. "Politics will play a part," he said. "Clive will have the support of Bill Beaumont on the three-man appointment panel. Steele will have to be convinced while Martyn Thomas [chairman of the RFU's management board] will have taken soundings. Clive has his supporters on the RFU but he does divide opinion."
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2011/apr/25/jeff-probyn-clive-woodward-martin-johnson-rfu
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