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| Bates was confirmed as the Falcons' boss earlier today |
| © Getty Images |
| Bates sets out vision for the future |
| 20 May 2008, 3:47 pm |
| By Scrum.com |
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| Newcastle director of rugby Steve Bates today set out his vision for the club, having been installed in permanent charge of the Falcons. |
The former England scrum half, who has signed a three-year contract, revealed that he will add to both his playing and coaching staff, stating: “I'm extremely pleased to be in charge of a great club like Newcastle Falcons, in a fantastic competition like the Guinness Premiership.”
Having taken the reins full-time after two months in acting charge, Bates said: “It is time to draw a line under what everyone knows has been a difficult season, and having met with the players both collectively and individually over the past fortnight, they are all buying in to what we are trying to achieve here looking forward.
“We have big improvements to make in a lot of areas and that gives me plenty of optimism, because when we get it right we know we will be a very tough side to beat. We are starting to implement changes in terms of how we play and how we approach the game, and from the meetings I've had the players are really positive about the new direction we are taking.
“We are talking to people at the moment on the playing and coaching side who will add a huge amount of expertise to what we already have in place here, they will bring a lot of experience to the club and I am very excited about their arrivals which we hope to announce in the coming weeks.”
Having installed Bates in temporary charge for the end of the season to take stock, club chairman Dave Thompson said: “A decision like this is always a big one, and during the two months Steve has been in the interim role we have looked at all the options before deciding on his permanent appointment.
“We have considered applicants from all around the world, talked to people about it and in the end decided that Steve's experience and knowhow made him the prime candidate for the position.
“He will be given the resources he needs to recruit both on the playing and coaching front, we are talking to people about joining the club and that is progressing well, so we are all excited about the prospects for the future here.”
Despite Bates' time in temporary charge including a victory over Guinness Premiership champions Leicester and securing a European semi-final place, Thompson admitted: “Steve inherited a team in very difficult circumstances, and with the season effectively over with no danger of relegation or making the play-offs he took the opportunity to look at implementing some pretty fundamental tactical changes.
“That is never an easy thing to do, especially in the middle of a season, but in the victory over Leicester here we saw the players really adhere to the game plan that was being asked of them.
“With a full summer to work on that, and some more quality additions to the playing and coaching group, we believe we are putting things in place to achieve our aim next season, which is qualifying for the Heineken Cup. It is a goal which I firmly believe is achievable, and that is where we are setting the mark for the coming year.”
With the club's summer recruitment set to include some new faces on the coaching front, Bates revealed: “What we need to look at is how will we work together most effectively with the two new people we hope to bring in, but what is clear to me is that we need to strengthen that coaching group to really get the best out of the playing talent that this club possesses.
“We need somebody who will look at defence in a very specialist way. We are one of the only clubs in the Premiership which does not have a person in that capacity, and I think that has shown this season when we have leaked tries and put ourselves under a lot of pressure. The other position in which we need support is our forward game, primarily the line out, and those are both roles we are actively in the process of filling at the moment.”
With new players also on Bates' shopping list, he said: “We have allowed two young international backs to leave for strategic reasons which we have already discussed at length, but having said that, we cannot simply afford to lose two quality players and not replace them.
“We will certainly look to recruit in that area, we are very close to finalising one key signing at the moment and then we will also look to strengthen a little bit in what I believe is an already strong pack. We are speaking to two or three more players who have made very positive noises about coming here, but at the moment we are just at the talking stage and looking to progress down that route.”
Reassuring fans that homegrown talent still plays a vital role in the club's plans, he added: “The quality of players coming through the academy is as good as ever, and we will continue the policy of giving our top young prospects the chance to break through to the senior level.
“Even though two of our local players in Mat Tait and Toby Flood have left the club it doesn't change the importance of our academy set-up in the slightest, and we will continue to be committed in that regard given the amount of talent in this area.
“We have already seen the likes of Tim Swinson, Micky Young, Rob Miller and Peter Browne break through this season, I am excited about those guys and then we have the England Under-18s fly half Rory Clegg who looks a very special player, joining the senior squad for the coming year.”
With that all-elusive consistency once again the key word for the Falcons, Bates is taking the pragmatic approach, stating: “Consistency is about having a structure to your game that is easily repeatable.
“The structure that we have had in the past is absolutely fantastic when it works, but it is not easily repeatable. We need to understand that in order to achieve the desired level of consistency our game needs to be a bit simpler, but we have an extremely talented bunch of players here which is a great foundation to build on.
“The central theme at this club for a long, long time has been pace. Because we will play a simpler game that doesn't mean a loss of pace, in fact quite the opposite, but what we need to achieve is to play better in games for longer, and then to string together those better performances over a longer number of games.
“There are good solid rugby reasons behind that change of emphasis, and rather than turning round and saying let's be boring, what we are saying is let's be more competitive in the tight exchanges and really give ourselves the launch pad to release our attacking game when the opportunity is there. The players are fully on board with these changes, and there is a renewed desire and commitment from them which has been expressed to me during our meetings, to make this coming season a success.”
Looking to the next campaign, Bates added: “One of the best things about sport is that, come the start of the season, everyone is equal again.
“A perception exists outside of this club that perhaps we will struggle next season. Well if teams want to come to Kingston Park with that sort of attitude then I'm all for it, because it will play right in to our hands.
“It will be a season heavily disrupted for some teams by the new EPS agreement for England players, but by having predominantly the same group of people available to us for the whole season we believe that puts us in a much stronger position to gain the sort of consistency that has not always been present here.” |
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