Mike's Minute: I still have questions over Razor's departure

I’m a bit exercised about Scott Robertson, because I like him and I thought he was a good coach. His record at Canterbury spoke for itself.

The trouble in this country is that we can’t have a sensible conversation about All Blacks coaches, because so many of us come to it with myopic, emotional views driven by idiocy like geography and personality expectations that have nothing to do with the actual job.

Hansen had pro and anti camps, as did Foster, and now Robertson. It all wastes too much energy.

Also, we might just be a bit too energised because we’re a small country with not a lot else to think about. In the NFL at the moment, there are nine head coach vacancies — after eight sackings and one resignation. Over a quarter of all jobs in the NFL are up for grabs, and that isn’t unusual.

As for the EPL, there’s a sacking every second day.

What I can’t quite work out is this: when David Kirk says we aren’t where we need to be at this point in the cycle, what does that even mean? Where specifically do we need to be?

Once upon a time, when the All Blacks won every test as of right, we still didn’t win the World Cup. So presumably, when we won everything, we must have felt in a good place.

Also, how is it that Robertson is banned from going elsewhere? Not good enough to coach us, but too dangerous to ply his trade offshore? Apart from paying him to not work… I wouldn’t have taken that deal.

I also can’t quite work out how much of this is player driven — and of that player feedback, how much is personal versus professional. How much responsibility does a player have for what happens on the field, as opposed to the coach?

Back to the NFL — a bloke called Vrabel was sacked from Tennessee because they weren’t winning. After he left, they still aren’t winning. But the team he went to, New England, were hopeless until this year… they might be in the Super Bowl. So was that him? Luck? Or other factors?

Someone always seems to have to pay the price whenever someone decides things aren’t right.

Which is the other weird bit: the All Blacks’ winning record, in an increasingly competitive world, wasn’t that bad. So why the panic?

Loyalty, consistency, and longevity are all traits of value. But you have to recognise them.

If you don’t, you tend to make mistakes by going around sacking people with no real, obvious next step in place.

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