IN THE end, somebody had to carry the can for the poor results at Bath.

Sir Ian McGeechan arrived with a massive reputation but I was always confused by his appointment.

Nobody really knew what role he had and it was quite clear early on that it wasn’t going to work with former head coach Steve Meehan.

Meehan left and then I got the impression the players were confused about the set-up.

What it proves is that money doesn’t always buy success. You need somebody who is accountable for everything and let everybody else get on with their own jobs.

I got the impression that you had people chipping in with little bits here and there.

I haven’t really got a stand-out name to throw into the mix for the job and it will be a worrying time for people like my old teammate Martin Haag (forwards coach) in terms of their futures.

You have to be careful though. You can’t just do away with history and I think it’s always important to have that backroom presence, like Haagy, who really understand the club’s culture.

You look back a few years when Leicester brought in the likes of Bob Dwyer and Argentina’s Marcelo Loffreda.

Much of their success came with the likes of Dean Richards and now Richard Cockerill – people who understand the club – in charge.

Whoever comes in really starts from a base of zero.

Bath have been getting their development of players in the Academy right, but even there I would say they are a couple of years behind the likes of Leicester and Saracens.

It’s an important appointment because if they spend another couple of years fumbling around, Bath could find themselves playing second fiddle to the likes of Exeter when it comes to recruiting and developing players from the south west region.

Send your thoughts to Steve via ohoulihan@newswilts.co.uk or comment below