Garry Schofield believes it is time for Keiron Cunningham, Brian McDermott and Paul Anderson to all leave their current roles as head coach.
Writing in League Express, the former Golden Boot winner said despite the fact they have overseen indifferent performances doesn’t make them bad coaches, it is time to take on new challenges.
Leeds head coach McDermott and Saints chief Cunningham have come in for particular criticism from the fans this year, with many already losing patience following their team’s performances in 2016.
Both the Leeds and St Helens chiefs have been backed for the sack by sections of their support, but generally opinion seems to be split on both.
As for Paul Anderson, he has also seen his team slip down the league following an excellent few years in which he guided the club to the League Leaders’ Shield.
And Schofield believes it could be time for them to all move on.
“Would their clubs be better off with a new coach? Yes, possibly,” said Schofield.
“Does that mean they are no longer good coaches? Absolutely not!
“Keiron (Cunningham) only finished as a player in 2010 and by 2014 he was being groomed for the top job when it was announced that Nathan Brown was leaving. He has never been anywhere other than St Helens as a player or as a coach and I’m not sure he’s had the grounding to prepare himself for such a job.”
He continued: “Another interesting thing with coaches is when they reach their sell-by date at a particular club. I’m a big fan of both McDermott and Anderson, but perhaps both would be better off at other clubs now.
“I don’t think the Rhinos will be challenging for honours for a few years and I’m no longer convinced that McDermott is the man to get them out of this mess.
“It’s the same with Anderson. He’s done a great job at Huddersfield, but it’s probably time for him to move on and enjoy the sort of success elsewhere that he’s perfectly capable of achieving.”
You can read Garry’s original column ‘Pulling No Punches’, in League Express every week. In the latest edition, Garry discusses the NRL and the late Roger Millward, while also going into more detail about under pressure coaches.