WARRINGTON Wolves will not rush their search for Daryl Powell’s replacement, chairman Stuart Middleton says.
Speaking exclusively to the Warrington Guardian, Middleton has opened up about the reasoning behind why the club felt it necessary to change their head coach with seven matches of the regular season remaining.
The chairman’s chat with our Warrington Wolves reporter Matt Turner includes…
- The time he first started to have concerns about the team’s direction
- Questions as to whether or not Powell should have been given “full autonomy” to change the squad
- The search for a new head coach
- His thoughts on the criticism of chief executive Karl Fitzpatrick from large sections of the fanbase
- The prospect of the club "reviewing its procedures"
Q: How long had there been a sense of dissatisfaction at board level with how things were going and why did you feel like now was the time to act?
SM: The losses against Wigan and Saints in April started to show vulnerabilities after an encouraging start, winning our first eight games.
The loss at Magic Weekend after going into a commanding lead, too, was disappointing and raised concerns.
The Challenge Cup loss against Wigan was particularly hard to swallow and was probably the trigger that something wasn’t quite right. The downward spiral then escalated with consistent losses.
It was only fair to give the coaches the benefit of the doubt and react to our concerns by getting back on track and focussing on the business end of the season.
It is a fine balance in putting the pressure on whilst trying to build motivation.
Unfortunately, the way in which we were beaten by the current bottom-of-the-table club forced the decision to agree a change with immediate effect.
> Full reaction to Daryl Powell's departure from Warrington Wolves
Q: Daryl’s first season in charge was an intensely difficult one with the club finishing 11th, but he was given free reign to reshape the squad as he wished.
Could things have been done differently on that front and was there always faith at board level in the ability to turn things around under him?
SM: We appointed Daryl to improve things after being knocked out at the first play-off game for the previous two seasons under Steve Price.
We believed he could take us to the next level and gave him our full support with the changes he wanted to make and the personnel he wanted.
Going into this season, he had the team he wanted and the expectations were high. There could be no more excuses.
Should we have given him full autonomy? That’s a question that needs to be reflected upon.
Q: Moving forward, what is the plan in the short to medium term?
Is the intention to have a new head coach in place before the end of the season, or would you be happy to leave Gary Chambers and Richard Marshall in charge for the rest of the year?
SM: There won’t be a knee-jerk reaction or panic to bring in someone immediately. It will only happen when we feel we have the right choice to take us forward and compete at the top.
That search is already underway and we will ensure proper and full due diligence is done. It won’t just be about their coaching ability but their leadership, man management and player development.
Gary is a good motivator and disciplinarian, and he is Warrington Wolves through and through.
We are confident himself and Richard will do a great job in the interim, however long that will be.
> Warrington through and through - the man tasked with steadying the Wire ship
Q: There have been inferences among fans – and perhaps even from Daryl Powell himself – about some of the club’s issues going above the head coach, with chief executive Karl Fitzpatrick coming in for intense criticism from supporters for some time now.
Are you happy with how the club is being run beneath yourself and Simon Moran?
SM: The board only has one paid full-time executive, which is the CEO. The others are non-executives without remuneration.
Karl comes under a lot of criticism, which I feel is often unfair and unjustified. In that position, it is par for the course and a funnel to vent frustration, which we get.
We are happy with Karl – he is a grafter and cares passionately about the club.
Maybe he doesn’t get everything right, like all of us, but he will be the first to admit that and is eager to develop and learn.
He has a great relationship with our sponsors and stakeholders, which is extremely important.
The day-to-day running of the stadium operation and training facilities is no mean feat. We have a good working relationship and speak most days.
Recruitment is always going to be a contentious area – it is extremely difficult to get it continuously right with so many permutations, rules and regulations to consider, including the salary cap.
The CEO can only suggest and facilitate the signing of players. It is the head coach that makes the decision who he wants. The coach is responsible for the under-performance of players.
We strive to develop our own players and give them opportunities, which hasn’t always happened. This is something I am extremely passionate about and determined to change.
I personally have paid over £60,000 to help pay for the Academy team to tour Australia in October, to learn and develop.
The timing is right to review our procedures and policy to understand whether we need to pull in extra resource and do things differently.
Simon and I are fans and we continue to put in significant amounts of our own money to fund the club, so can you imagine how we feel?
Q: The game as a whole faces a crucial period, with IMG now on board and broadcast deals up for negotiation.
The TV deal still seems up in the air at the moment, so how big a concern is that not just for the club but for rugby league in general?
SM: Like all Super League clubs, we are faced with significant financial losses because of the pandemic and predominantly, the reduced central funding over the past two years.
As we stand today, we do not know what central funding we will receive next year from a broadcast deal – how can we set our budgets without this information?
I am told we will have communication within the next 10 days.
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