Martin Johnson

What is he up to these days? Does anyone have any info....I figured he was probably leading stag parties down under as he knows all the hot spots....and I wondered if he would be free to assist with the Lions tour since apparently the 2003 RWC squad is going.

Well he'll be entitled to a drink...he can sit and polish his Premiership, Heineken Cup, 6N Grand Slam and World Cup Winner medals....

......and ponder what he will be remembered for, his ignominious dismissal from the game.

Ah i dont think so...his brief stint as England manager / coach was never really expected to bring much due to his inexperience.

He will be remembered however, As an immense player...ruthless leader and WINNER! The captain of the only NH rugby team that ruled the world...

So yeah...belittle him as much as you want...

Sadly he's still the best lock in the NH.

GeordieFalcon wrote:Ah i dont think so...his brief stint as England manager / coach was never really expected to bring much due to his inexperience.

He will be remembered however, As an immense player...ruthless leader and WINNER! The captain of the only NH rugby team that ruled the world...

So yeah...belittle him as much as you want...

no he won't...apparently he will be remembered at least by you as a great player who couldn't coach for toffee and lead England to meltdown at a RWC.....and are you serious about expectation...did anyone expect him to preside over the disaster that was England's performance last year...what a ridiculous statement and indictment of the man...i'd say that was belittling him much more!

Dear Mowgli - back to WUM school.

D-

Yawn....i think its past your bed time...

But what is MJ actually up to? I'm interested to know.

GeordieFalcon wrote:Yawn....i think its past your bed time...

pathetic response get a grip...you are the one who endorsed the England rugby coach as someone who was expected to achieve very little. Pretty sure you are talking carp, unbelievable really.

Morgannwg wrote:But what is MJ actually up to? I'm interested to know.

me too hence the post!!

GeordieFalcon wrote:

well if you don't like it, feel free to *****

mowgli wrote:......and ponder what he will be remembered for, his ignominious dismissal from the game.

I think he will be remembered as a great player, an honest man and someone who tried to fulfil a role for his country that he did not have the skills and ability for that he was persuaded to do and did out of loyalty. His legacy as a player will far outlast anything else.

I

Oh please...who persuaded Johnson to be coach...this revisionist and sentimental take on his spectacular failing as england boss is sickening and does not befit the great player he was.

He was clearly persuaded into doing it despite his doubts. It was quite obvious at the time.

no it wasn't....but yes, he would be that weak and stupid to be persuaded to coach national side with no experience...not the case at all that because he failed miserably fans now need to make excuses to explain his failure...its as sad as the whole RWC affair was. Pretty sure the man woudl tell you straight hat he thought of the prospect of him being persuaded to do it against his will

It's not so much doing it against his will but doing it because it was the will if the people. I don't think that's weak. It was unfortunate how it turned out but by no means all or even most of England's troubles were due to MJ's management though he must take responsibility as manager. If you think doing something for reasons other than your own self-gain is weak, I can't respect your opinion

oh ffs the will of the people!! what a load of baloney

i was clearly suggesting by using irony that he would NOT be weak or stupid by allowing himself to be 'persuaded' by the will of the people...the sentimentality is starting to get quite nauseous. The guy was a great player and a bad coach.

Was he really that bad a coach? It was clear to me when he was selected that it was a bad choice. Just like when Umaga coach Toulon. Just no experience.
Mind you I said that Hansen would be hopeless for the All Blacks and Hammett useless for the Hurricanes so what the heck do I know.

Hi did get home and away victories over Oz, hammer Italy and win the 6N'a so I can think of a few worse Int coaches with a lot more experience.

How many of the currant NH coaches have led their teams to home and away wins against OZ?

ChequeredJersey wrote:It's not so much doing it against his will but doing it because it was the will if the people. I don't think that's weak. It was unfortunate how it turned out but by no means all or even most of England's troubles were due to MJ's management though he must take responsibility as manager. If you think doing something for reasons other than your own self-gain is weak, I can't respect your opinion

Thing is I think this is actually true, and it says a lot, right or wrong, about what English fans think of Martin Johnson.

MJ apparently called Woodward to ask what he thought when the RFU had offered him the job, SCW said "DON'T DO IT", because MJ lacked experience. MJ didn't take that advice.

If he had spent the last six years coaching at Leicester learning the trade etc he may well have made it as a very good coach. Unfortunately he jumped the gun.

Does anyone know what he is doing these days?

Well I am curious.... but not enough to start a thread about it.
Let me know what you find out.
(Unless this is an aunt sally type thread).

He Captains his own pleasure yacht off the coast of Mauritius. His crew is entirely made up of ex-Playboy bunnies who spend their days shouting derogatory comments at passing shipping. When they come into port the locals prostrate themselves in front of him as they fear his height and strength. He is allowed his pick of the village's virgins and is thought to feed on them aboard his 'Death Ship'. He is, infact, creating a race of super women and intends to use them to gain vengence on Rob Andrew (who also has a pleasure yacht but prefers Budleigh Salterton). FACT.

Effervescing Elephant wrote:He Captains his own pleasure yacht off the coast of Mauritius. His crew is entirely made up of ex-Playboy bunnies who spend their days shouting derogatory comments at passing shipping. When they come into port the locals prostrate themselves in front of him as they fear his height and strength. He is allowed his pick of the village's virgins and is thought to feed on them aboard his 'Death Ship'. He is, infact, creating a race of super women and intends to use them to gain vengence on Rob Andrew (who also has a pleasure yacht but prefers Budleigh Salterton). FACT.

You typed fact in caps at the end as a sentance in and of itself. Therefore, it must be true according to all the laws of the interwebs.

Thanks for the update, sounds like he is doing well.
Will he put in to Milford Haven to improve their gene pool ?

MJ is married to a Kiwi isn't he so he's probably over there preparing his kids for their emergence in the ABs

Don
yes, he spent his formative rugby years in NZ. Hope his kids do well then.

some crusty old leicester fan must have a clue what he is up to...doing his coaching badge perhaps?

Not quite sure what he is doing right now but I did receive his CV in application to a coaching job the other day, I asked the U10's but they were not keen at all.

Don't know what he is doing for a day job. But mates in Market Harbarough, MJ's home town, see him showing up at a lot of local Market Harborough Rugby club matches and practices.

I think he is a columnist for the Sunday times and also does some commentary for american football for english viewers. As far as martin johnsons legacy on recent polls on rugby forums he is in most peoples greatest XV of all time...as a second row forward, captain and player there are few that will ever match him.

As a coach he will always be remembered for the world cup debacle. He should have never had the top role in england with no coaching experience and was always going to be too close to the squad with his old 2003 mates still playing. Unfortunately the whole mess started in the politics of the old boys rfu board because firstly no world class coach wants to work with them and secondly they are useless and thought persuading martin to take the role beacuse hes a natural born winner and doesnt need experience was a great idea!!

Martin then continually made some appaulling selection decisions firstly with steve borthwick, then lewis moody then finally against the french with wilko at 10 and flood at 12 and starting matt stevens at loosehead over and over again. He also had a fascination with size over skill in the centres with banahan, tindall and hape getting too much game time.

The sequence of events that made his situation untenable was partly out of his control and was down to senior players being either weak or acting like children and for the first time the media turning on rugby like it has done on football. Many players on previous world cups have said much worse happened off the pitch but in new zealand the media had its knives out and wanted a story (didn't help that tindall had recently married a royal) the resultant picture was a bad one and johnson with his old school mentality of previous rugby tours and media naivety made the wrong decision and stuck by tindall "rugby player drinks beer...shocker"

When you look at his record from his last year he won 10 out of 13 games and won the six nations for the first time since 2003 ! He also brought through alex corbs, courtney lawes, ben youngs, manu tuilagi, chris ashton, dylan hartley and dan cole, with his finest moment coming while stuffing the aussies in thier back yard.

As with all these things when the dust settles johnson will be remembered for what he was a world great player and a coach who achieved some admirable things but was ultimately out his depth with no coaching or media experience.

In interviews being the guy he is he says he holds no grudges about what happened to him and i hope he returns to leicester at some point and earns his stripes how he should of done at the club level first... because this guy has far to much to offer the domestic game to be lost.