That might settle a few nerves

Not mine.

I'm less bothered about the people named as the decision to appoint

They should open the job up to applicants, perform a rigorous recruitment process and then choose the right candidate.
If that's MA then so be it......but let's do due diligence first.

If true this has to be the most underwhelming direction we could take.

What exactly more did the club expect from Poching? He achieved far more than our budget allowed and throw in injury to key players and it makes last season even more of an acceptable result. I feel nothing but sorry for him.

Had we replaced with a coach with vast experience and expertise then fine. If there was an opportunity too good to miss out on, then no worries you could understand it.

But what we are actually doing is replacing a head coach with a couple of years experience who achieved everything expected of him with someone who has ZERO experience as a head coach.

It stinks.

Poching didn’t achieve everything expected of him. Let’s not sugar coat it. We were abysmal in the third quarter of the season and were on a one way ticket to the championship with 5/6 games to go.

There was a definite shift in the teams efforts and the way we were playing. We do not know why this occurred. It could have very well not been Pochings influence. I heard a few things during our low point that wasn’t encouraging at all relating to the coaching side of things. While I have no idea if it’s true it could have been reason for issues.

I would have been okay with Poching staying but equally I’m not too fussed he’s left.

You completely forget the point that Poching had no experience as head coach before he took the reigns at trinity also yet use that as an excuse to rule out Apelgarth. Don’t understand it. Poching is gone now and it’s history and best thing to do is move on. He had his fan club but he equally had fans who weren’t convinced.

Also, it’s not confirmed about Apelgarth. If he applies then he must think he is ready or can do it.

The club should do what they think is best for direction of the club. I don’t know enough about Apelgarth to know what kind of coach he will be. He certainly seems to have promise though. Whoever the club decide they should be backed 100% and judged on performances.

Granted things looked bleak and we had poor runs of form. But do you honestly hand on heart believe that Poching didn't achieve what would have been expected of him? With the squad we had last year and injuries it was a miracle we stayed up and actually pushed higher up the league than we thought. The last 1/4 of the season we had momentum and played damn good rugby and you can speculate as much as you like about why that was, but it was with Willie and Cummins at the club.

We now no longer have those personnel and have to start again. Any momentum we could have carried into the new season is lost.

My point is not that Willie had X amount of experience when appointed. It's more that he has more experience than Applegarth and at this moment in time it makes no sense to me to replace Poching with Applegarth.

Especially when it doesn't even appear to be the case that we have marketed the job and started a recruitment campaign. Thats if as per the article hes getting announced tomorrow? We surely should have at least had a look at who else was interested? Potential or not Mark Apelgarth should not be a shoe in for our headcoach role - in my opinion of course

i find the 'too soon" thing a bit odd with Applegarth... as I understand it he is 37 years old the same age David Topliss was when he too over Trinity as head (player) coach and Andy Kelly when he became head coach. Peter fox was 38 and Ken Traill was 32.

in 2022... 37 is not young for a manager... in 1992 I was 32 when I got my first senior management role and things have even changed since then! He certainly seems to have worked an apprenticeship and is well respected.

I'm not saying he's the right man for the job (that's for others to decide) but lets debunk the age thing if he's good enough then he's good enough

It's not an age thing it's an experience thing.

Very true, and that also applies to nearly every job in every day life. You apply for a job, say on Indeed, on the vast majority off applications, there is a pop up box, asking how many years of experience do you have

He might despite been raw do an amazing job. He could form a bond with the lads and progress the team with spirit and togetherness. Perhaps been a relatively inexperienced coach but having a recent playing career too, means he can relate the lads quicker and better.

Still feels like we're robbing Peter to pay the cheaper Paul and pocketing some of the money.

If he believes in his ability as a coach to do it his way, make changes and get the team playing well then who can blame him for having ambition and throwing his hat into the ring. He will need someone at the side of him to offer some guidance because after all the clubs only ambition every season is to avoid relegation and I fear if he doesn't hit the ground running he could be swallowed up by the pressure of the situation. Whoever is chosen needs some tools to work with so let's hope the club give him them.