Lions coaching panel in disarray
26 Jun 2012
Forwards coach Johan Ackermann has been officially appointed as the interim head coach of the Lions, with Carlos Spencer continuing his duties as backline mentor.
In the aftermath of John Mitchell’s suspension for his alleged brutal coaching methods, Spencer and Ackermann were last week handed the interim coaching role, a responsibility they would share. Spencer did not dispute this when keo.co.za spoke to him on Monday about the current dynamics at the embattled franchise.
However, it has since come to light that Ackermann has been appointed as the official interim head coach, with Spencer continuing in his role as backline coach.
‘I’m not sure when the decision was made, but I was made aware of [the new coaching structure] late yesterday morning,’ Spencer told keo.co.za on Tuesday. ‘I was only ever under the impression that I would continue to coach the backs.’
Should Mitchell get his marching orders, this could affect Spencer as well as fitness coach Wayne Taylor on a contractual basis. Spencer and Taylor’s contracts are linked to Mitchell’s contract, allowing them to leave the Gauteng franchise at will if Mitchell gets the axe.
‘I haven’t really thought about that to be honest,’ Spencer added. ‘I’m contracted to the end of the Super Rugby season. I guess I’m going to have to make some decisions over the next three weeks.’
If Mitchell and his coaching team are not retained, this would result in the GLRU having to scramble for a new coaching set-up before the Currie Cup, which starts on 11 August.
By Nick Pawson
273 Comments
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26 Jun 2012, 21:44 pm
@Transformation(Transformation)-250:
Are you insinuating Herr Gunther is lazy?
26 Jun 2012, 22:09 pm
@victoriabok(victoriabok)-251:
it’s true.
I specialise in outsourcing.
the lumpen proletariat.
26 Jun 2012, 22:21 pm
@the artist formerly known as gunther(gunther)-252:
So does Mavis “give you a hand” if you catch my drift?
Or are you strictly DIY?
26 Jun 2012, 22:32 pm
@the artist formerly known as gunther(gunther)-252: I’d keep an eye on that lumpen proletariat. Could develop into something nasty.
26 Jun 2012, 22:39 pm
@>^..^< katman(katman)-254:
He’s yanking it too mach, hence the nasty lumpen
Maybe he should loosen his grip a bit?
27 Jun 2012, 07:22 am
Yo love birds, Victoriabok and others, why don’t y’all swap skype addys and discuss the weather and food amongst yrselves. This is rugby blog ! I am tired of reading your Canadian Weather posts for the last few days…
27 Jun 2012, 07:41 am
although i’m a wp fan i have always wanted a strong lions team as part of a strong top five sa teams…
but i can help feeling their is more to this than meets the eye… quite unsubstantiated and nothing more than the random thoughts of a feeble mind on the outside…
players coming out so strongly accusing their coach of misconduct is quite unprecedented in saffa rugby (as far as i am aware) … sure there have been hassles between players and coaches but not to the point of having a coach removed with immediate effect…
have the players taken a cue from the force players…? with the now apparently inevitable drop of the lions in favor of the kings (my post is not about the rights or wrongs of that move) these players would be stuck in a franchise for the the length of their individual contracts… unable to perform in next year’s SR tourney…
however, if the players could ‘prove’ the coach guilty of misconduct would they be able to break those contracts and seek employment at other franchises…?
yeah, i know this sound crazy and paranoid and conspiracy-theory-seeking… but it’s just not adding up for me… there is something rather wrong with the whole picture…
just late last yeah all these players were touting mitchell as an amazing coach… as were many many others… even suggesting he become the bok coach… the lions struggled through the early season due to injuries… but mitchell kept plugging away with his team and josh kept putting a cheery face on everything insisting all the players were still committed to the cause and and feeling that they could turn things around etc etc… then they played an amazing game against the sharks… virtually everyone was pleased for the lions as it appeared they had finally turned the corner….
then we go into the international window…
and…
the wheels come off…?
just as they taste a really significant success…? surely these players would have been convinced by mitchell’s methods after such a win…? why react now…?
why not react when things were going really badly…?
is it not possible the players have concocted a ‘plan’ that shifts the focus from their own performances and onto their Mean Mr Nasty coach… so that potential future employers are not discouraged by the lack of form of the individual players…?
very strange to me… can’t wait for the ‘truth’ to emerge…
but sure as death… something is not kosher with this whole story…
27 Jun 2012, 08:13 am
@brains_trust(brains_trust)-256:
Who pissed on your battery
27 Jun 2012, 08:18 am
@brains_trust(brains_trust)-256:
Just like if anyone is opposed to watching porn Then Dont watch it
Same here If you dont like the posts. Dont read them
Life is not all about rugby And rugby is not life
Sure its a rugby blog and we talk rugby but its ok to talk other Kuk
Oh by the way the weather in California is Sunny and warm
27 Jun 2012, 08:27 am
@ufo(ufo)-257:
More likely is that Mitchel has been driving them hard and abusively out of desperation to save his own job.
The players S15 contracts would surely become null and void if the Lions lost their S15 Franchise?
27 Jun 2012, 08:28 am
@brains_trust(brains_trust)-256: You must be new, sonny. This probably isn’t the right place for you.
27 Jun 2012, 08:29 am
@David(David)-260: Surely these were binding contracts? So someone must be responsible for compensation – I’m guessing that someone is whoever pulled the plug on them.
27 Jun 2012, 08:42 am
@David(David)-260:
quite possibly david… but i don’t think so… aren’t coaches supposed to push their players… to get them fit and functioning optimally as a unit… how many times haven’t we heard people talk about the ‘fittest team’ in the comp etc… ??
is is pushing players hard really such a crime… i remember stories of kitch christie… and many other coaches… pushing their players to extremes… to vomiting from exhaustion extremes… making them run up and down the aisles at ellis park… till they felt like puking or their legs gave way they were so wobbly… stories are legion of teams being put through koppestamp mondays after bad losses…
this is rugby… fitness and pushing the players to their limits is a intrinsic part of the game …
if mitchell is bad for giving his players the verbals… what about mallet kakking our gaffe and dave in the hotel foyer in full view of the public…?
must every coach now address his players through lawyers and counselors… and put them through their paces via the medical staff…??? the poms make swearing a part of the culture (if you’ve seen those videos of the LIons in SA) to gee themselves up… will a coach be canned for swearing…? (there goes skops coaching career…)
just doesn’t add up for me…
27 Jun 2012, 08:46 am
@>^..^< katman(katman)-262:
definitely something fishy… along those lines makes lotsa sense…
27 Jun 2012, 08:48 am
@ufo(ufo)-263: Good thing Straeuli isn’t the Lions coach. Nuremburg trials?
27 Jun 2012, 08:58 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged by Mad Eye Productions.(The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food)-265:
yeah…
great pity all round… was really hoping against hope that the lions would still somehow be involved in SR next year… that last result was an indication of how good the really are…
while i still hope for that…
now i ask myself is there any point…?
27 Jun 2012, 09:16 am
@ufo(ufo)-266: It is heartbreaking, and it should be heart breaking for any rugby lover in this country. I have always been very pro the Kings getting their chance in Superugby in a fair and transparent manner. How anyone can say the Lions deserve to be in the S15 through history alone, is clutching at straws.
The Kings deserve their shot, and that time is now.
The Lions have honestly brought 90% of this on themselves, and quite possibly need to be relegated in order to sort their ***** out because something stinks up there full stop.
Most of the Lions players are already negotiating with other unions (100% sure of that) so it’s game over.
Now because of what I have written the Lions will probably bumbadger my Stormers on Saturday. Sigh. (Hope we aren’t complacent)
27 Jun 2012, 09:31 am
@The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged by Mad Eye Productions.(The Sharks rugby pedigree is packaged as dog food)-267:
i think it’s way more complex than ‘ the lions bringing it on themselves…’
i am for the kings too… have always been… but as PA always says (paraphrased by me) the process should have been a sustainable rugby one not an expedient political one…
anyway… work to do…
later
27 Jun 2012, 09:55 am
Word on the street: Paul Willemse signed with the Bulls.
27 Jun 2012, 10:46 am
@Brentie1(Brentie1)-194: why do most south africans like to equate rugby with the old nasty regime ‘s army, was the indoctrination that successful?
Well transformation Super 15 is a different kind of war in which only the fittest
survive,just as in real army training.
You’re never going to complete that river crossing with full pack and rifle if you aint fit or route march 25 k or survive on a ration of dog biscuits.Nor will you be able to leopard crawl through narrow spaces such as dongas or run an obstacle course.
If there is one thing the army taught me and undoubtedly many others that
team work and the ability to think on your feet and extreme fitness are crucial elements of survival.
Watching the Lions in action in the Super Rugby must for the most ardent supporter be a painful experience especially to see a team successfully
defeat the Sharks, one of the top contenders, but flounder against lesser opposition.
27 Jun 2012, 11:04 am
Sounds like the complaining players are far to in touch with their feminine side and need to butch up a bit.
27 Jun 2012, 11:33 am
@Treehugger(Treehugger)-271: yes I agree. If I played for a team like the Lions I would expect regular öppies”on a Monday morning.
Imagine of Mallet was coaching them. It would be worse.
27 Jun 2012, 12:18 pm
Huzzit Stormersboy…… Maybe they a bit like the guys in that new reality show, (Something Essex) hate reality shows, but these people just blow me away.
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