John Mitchell

[Timbo]

That is the nature of the man!

Whilst not disagreeing with that sentiment, books written post career tend to be a little more forthright! Having said that, I can't see Sharpie dumping on anyone ......

[Sheikh]

Having said that, I can't see Sharpie dumping on anyone ......

From what I've heard he does that during training - a bit of a perfectionist is Sharpie!

[jt12]

Sale, England, Waikato B's Waikato Chiefs, AB's, Waikato NPC, EWF and now the Lions

You're all right - the only common denominator is JM. Each team has its own sorry stories and all have ended in tears.

As one who comes from the same province, who knows him and has seen and witnessed first hand what he has done from being a great player through to coaching colts, then senior rugby club teams and onto professional teams- Not an easy man to deal with, let alone converse with - I will say that techically and tactically a very astute coach - but he has never really ticked all the of the boxes needed in the pro environment to succeed.

Historically, none of his teams have won anything except Waikato B's and Waikato NPC - both teams know what he's like and he could get away with his character flaws because of that provincial tie.

Sad for him because he can coach. As one well known WA Rugby official said to me once " if we could put him in a bottle and access him on game day and for trainings, he'd still be here" - harsh words not spoken in jest.

Where to for him now if this situation in SA is not resolved?

I do not think NZ is a viable option so he may become a "hired gun for sale '...

[hertryk]

What's he doing in France?

You KNOW it was a typing error..Right?.....just keeping everyone on their toes...

[hertryk]

[quote=jt12;319064]Sale, England, Waikato B's Waikato Chiefs, AB's, Waikato NPC, EWF and now the Lions



Historically, none of his teams have won anything except Waikato B's and Waikato NPC - both teams know what he's like and he could get away with his character flaws because of that provincial tie.

JM took the Lions to win the Currie Cup last year....

[onions]

Win,lose or draw I was proud of the way the Force played under Mitchell.Now.......

[jargan83]

I am proud of the job John Mitchell did here with the Force. To set a team up from scratch cannot be an easy task it obviously did not end as well as some would have liked though
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[AndyS]

My take was that, of all the candidates we had for the first Force coach, he was far and away the best and probably the only one realistically capable of creating a new provincial team from nothing upwards. But I can't say I was always proud of our play under him - there were plenty of times we failed to close games out in those early years and I think much of the culture of conservatism and lack of ruthlessness we suffer from has deep roots in those early years. It is a shame we can't get him in charge of youth development or the academies; youth development was always his strongest suit.

[jt12]

Sorry Hertryk, you're right about the lions in Currie Cup - that was a coup for him but its hasn't transferred into S15 with basically same players.Once again player revolt has reared its ugly head whenever JM is involved.

Someone mentioned youth development for JM, they obviously don't know hiim well enough. He'd never take backwards step to do that as a stand alone job.

I've never said he cannot coach; he can but there's a hell of a lot more to it in today's pro environment compared to when the coach was "god" and all and sundry did his bidding

[sittingbison]

...there's a hell of a lot more to it in today's pro environment compared to when the coach was "god" and all and sundry did his bidding

so it appears the real problem for Mitchell is he is unable to adapt. Given he has apparently repeated the same mistakes several times, this is the character flaw - intransigence? A real pity.

What I have never understood are the accompanying assertions that his teams are undisciplined with drinking problems, the ABs in 2003, the Force in 2007, now the Lions. He comes across as such a hard case, a no nonsense type (which we presume is his downfall with player management), so why are his teams losing the plot?

[jt12]

he's never been able to adapt - his way or the highway, even when he played it was like that.

[SNOB]

So what's happening with Mitch? Nothing in the press for a couple of weeks now.
Is he available? Lol

[normie]

So what's happening with Mitch? Nothing in the press for a couple of weeks now.
Is he available? Lol

I wish you were joking, SNOB!

[onions]

I wish he would come back and sack everyone that can't work with him-including management

[Sheikh]

I wish he would come back and sack everyone that can't work with him-including management

The Force could do a lot worse...