Roam Ranger wrote:
Not sure where the "young English coach" thing has come from. I don't believe I have seen anything saying as such. In fact when AP did his interview after sacking Smith he was purposely vague on that saying it could be a domestic appointment but it could be an overseas appointment. HDM have repeatedly said that they believe Hull's preference is "for a British coach, or at least one who knows the ins and outs of the Super League competition" but there's never been any mention of it being a young coach as far as I am aware.
And the key word there is preference. That's not a fixed thing. They'll be adapting based on the candidates that present themselves. In fact this is the most recent quote from Myler:
Our head coach appointment needs to be the right fit for what we want to do over this next period of time, and this person has to buy into what we want to achieve. The names of the people that we have been linked to are very experienced coaches; they will add elements to us, and that person coming in here will be vital to the vision that we go forward with. Those conversations need to be thought through to make sure we get the right guy.
Apart from saying we're being linked with experienced coaches, Myler is not indicating anything there about where the coach will come from. Personally, I'm more bothered about, as Myler says here, them being the right fit and the right guy.
Is that Cartwright? Spoken previously about not knowing much about him. Biggest con for me on the surface is that he hasn't been a head coach for about a decade. But pro's are that he seems to have been regularly employed since then as an assistant in good successful setups so will have kept up with the day to day elements needed for coaching. If he had been out of the game for awhile or involved in a higher up capacity such as being a DOR, I'd be more concerned.
I think whoever comes in it's going to be a tough gig and as we've just recently seen & experienced even one of the most experienced Coaches in SL failed to make the grade in turning us a round.
Like others I'm not that familiar with Cartwright and although he's not had a Head Coach job since 2014 he has a wealth of experience and has been a regular appointment at successful teams and winning cultures. I'd also suggest he will likely be well versed in the modern methods and techniques of the both training and the game as a whole. He also seems the type that won't and doesn't suffer fools either which is what we have lacked for far too long.
Lets be honest whoever comes in it'll be a gamble but at least hopefully a very well thought out, educated and considered gamble rather than closing our eyes and sticking a pin in a name.