According to Richard Mulligan in The Newsletter, Eddie O’Sullivan is one of the frontrunners for the vacant Ulster coaching post. We’ll I nearly choked over my cornflakes when I read that one!
O’Sullivan may be regarded by many within the Branch as a safe pair of hands and they may be salivating in anticipation of rubbing shoulders with the man who was once all powerful in Irish Rugby. However, recent Irish performances should tell us that his dated coaching regime is not what Ulster Rugby requires if it is to rise phoenix like out of the ashes of the Williams era, and it is not a position that O’Sullivan should be considering if he wants to resurrect his career.
O’Sullivan is an average coach who got a limited return from the golden generation of Irish Rugby. He may be a great organiser and a shrewd political operator and might shake up the convoluted structure of the Ulster Branch but it is doubtful that he would bring any meaningful improvement to performances on the pitch. In fact O’Sullivan would be an ideal replacement for Mike Reid if he (O’Sullivan) could be persuaded to stay away from all team matters.
At this point in time Ulster Rugby do not have the playing staff or the money to carry a self promoting coach like O’Sullivan. The team would slip further and further behind our rivals as he strove to build his own powerbase and any of the backroom staff who did show any individuality would be quietly isolated and shipped out.
Ulster need a coach who is prepared to take a risk with the players, a coach who can get the best out of limited resources, a coach who is only interested in results on the pitch and this is the type of coach that they should be searching for. It is not enough to put together a few solid performances and climb slowly up the the Magners League. This isn’t going to bring back the crowds and the corporate glory seekers. What is needed is a coach who can motivate the team for those, oh so precious, four or five big games in the Heineken Cup to get Ulster a home draw in the quarter finals. That is so much more important than another three year plan of incremental improvement that the likes of O’Sullivan would bring.
Unfortunately I think that Ulster Rugby have persuaded themselves that a coach just like steady Eddie is just what’s required and he is just the man to convince them of this in an interview situation. Despite the fact that I’ve a huge back catalogue of O’Sullivan pictures, the thought of another two or three years of limited ambitions doesn’t exactly inspire. Let’s hope that Mulligan has got this one wrong!
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