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According to GBFM this morning there will be a press conference either today or tomorrow to confirm Eric Elwood as Connacht coach.That should be an interesting one, perhaps the best chance of us hearing something concrete arising from last Friday.

Can't imagine anyone will show any honesty, it's unprecedented!

I'd love to hear them say they've signed Elwood for three years and sod the IRFU.

We need to know just who was interviewed for this position. Was it just Eric? Is Eric in fact confirmed as the appointment? Did we interview Niall O'Donovan? Was Anthony Foley interviewed? Any foreign coaches?

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al omaniya
We need to know just who was interviewed for this position. Was it just Eric? Is Eric in fact confirmed as the appointment? Did we interview Niall O'Donovan? Was Anthony Foley interviewed? Any foreign coaches?

There isn't a snowballs chance in hell that they'll name the candidates, the caliber of candidates will really say too much about where we are headed long term....

Can you imagine if Eric was the best, or indeed the only on...??

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I see the future, and it's Green again...

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al omaniya
We need to know just who was interviewed for this position. Was it just Eric? Is Eric in fact confirmed as the appointment? Did we interview Niall O'Donovan? Was Anthony Foley interviewed? [i][/i]Any foreign coaches?

Why would they interview Foley? At least Eric has U20 International success and served an apprentiship. I hope it's confimed that EE got it,at least we know he'll give it his all.Having someone like NO'D on the ticket in some guise may prove useful.

Interesting that the One Year Contracts' issue occurs upon Bradley's departure.....

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Fud
Interesting that the One Year Contracts' issue occurs upon Bradley's departure.....

Indeed that irony isn't lost among the current doom!

Edit: Conference is at 11.30 tomorrow



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/03/2010 18:55 by Borders no.2.

Elwood to take charge in Connacht

Tue, Mar 02, 2010

Rugby: Eric Elwood is expected to be named as Connacht coach for next season within the next 24 hours. Connacht have called a press conference for 11.30am tomorrow morning where Elwood is due to be announced as the successor to the outgoing Michael Bradley.

Bradley signalled his intention to stand down after seven years in charge last November and Elwood, who has worked as his assistant coach for the last four and a half seasons, is set to be handed the reins tomorrow.

It is expected that Elwood will only be awarded a one-year deal due to the unpopular IRFU policy of only permitting one-year contracts for those already on the province’s books.

The former Ireland international made 168 appearances for the province over 17 seasons, between 1989 and 2005, and has also coached the Irish under-20s side since retiring as a player.

© 2010 The Irish Times

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Conference is at 11.30 tomorrow

Where? The Connacht Branch?

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confan1

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Conference is at 11.30 tomorrow

Where? The Connacht Branch?

Yeah, usually in the meeting room upstairs beside the reception.

Nothing in the Media yet (an hour later), has the announcement been made (or does anyone outside Connacht care)..??

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I see the future, and it's Green again...

BTW , it occurs to me that Bradley saw this coming , the 1 year thing , was he tipped off by the blazerati in Dublin?

From the Connacht website


Eric Elwood will take over as Connacht’s Director of Coaching for the 2010-11 season.
The appointment of the former Irish international was confirmed at a press conference at the Sportsground on Wednesday morning.
He will take over from Michael Bradley at the end of the season and will confirm his backroom team in the coming weeks.
Connacht CEO Gerry Kelly paid tribute to the contribution made to Connacht Rugby over the past six and a half years by Michael Bradley.
Eric Elwood said he was really looking forward to the challenge and urged Connacht people to get behind the side as they continued to build the team.
Elwood, who made 168 appearances for Connacht, has been assistant coach for the past four and a half years.
Connacht will resume their Magners League campaign this Friday when they take on Glasgow Warriors at the Sportsground (8pm).




Very disappointed to hear this, I have a feeling another season of underachievement and mediocrity lies ahead. I'll still be at every game I can get to mind...............

Eric came across very well in the press conference apparently.

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Eyre Wolfe
BTW , it occurs to me that Bradley saw this coming , the 1 year thing , was he tipped off by the blazerati in Dublin?

Don't like saying I told you so but if I may go back to a post I put up a while back:

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Overstrander
Re: Bradley to leave Connacht at end of season
Posted by: Overstrander (IP Logged)
Date: 04 November, 2009 12:03

Hate to put a downer on this but has it occurred to anyone that the reason for this early announcement is because Connacht is going to be shut down and this gives Brads the opportunity to say "well i left" rather than having to say "well Connacht was shut down while I was at the helm"???

Had a sneaking suspicion that some such news was nigh and that this may have precipitated Bradley's announcement...

I wish Eric the best of luck with the job and hopefully he can bring us some success

Good luck to Eric and his backroom team in 2010/11.

here, here! Best of luck Eric, you earned the position. Let's hope Connacht can push on from here while you are in charge.

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Overstrander

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Eyre Wolfe
BTW , it occurs to me that Bradley saw this coming , the 1 year thing , was he tipped off by the blazerati in Dublin?

Don't like saying I told you so but if I may go back to a post I put up a while back:

Quote:

Overstrander
Re: Bradley to leave Connacht at end of season
Posted by: Overstrander (IP Logged)
Date: 04 November, 2009 12:03

Hate to put a downer on this but has it occurred to anyone that the reason for this early announcement is because Connacht is going to be shut down and this gives Brads the opportunity to say "well i left" rather than having to say "well Connacht was shut down while I was at the helm"???

Had a sneaking suspicion that some such news was nigh and that this may have precipitated Bradley's announcement...

Dont think thats right after all the branch went to the irfu first to say the current situation is unsustainable and that they needed to change it.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/03/2010 17:17 by packie.

Audio from the press conference on knockon.ie.Worth a listen.

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Borders no.2
Audio from the press conference on knockon.ie.Worth a listen.

Here's the link:
http://www.knockon.ie/?p=2534

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Eric Elwood
We've got to change the mindset on and off the field.

I'm really positive after listening to him.

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Packie
Dont think thats right after all the branch went to the irfu first to say the current situation is unsustainable and that they needed to change it.

Might not be right, but not beyond the realms of probability/possibility at the same time though...

It was a strange time for Bradley to decide to move on. It either indicates that he knew what was coming down the line or that his heart was no longer in the job heading into the season and once the defeat against Ulster effectively ended our ML season he decided it was time to move on.

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Borders no.2
It was a strange time for Bradley to decide to move on. It either indicates that he knew what was coming down the line or that his heart was no longer in the job heading into the season and once the defeat against Ulster effectively ended our ML season he decided it was time to move on.

Not strange, it was the same with Cheika, indeed most rugby contracts are decided upon in the period after christmas and Bradley himself said he wanted to give Connacht enough time to get a replacement

Fair enough but I think everyone knew from the summer that Cheika was giving it one more year and then heading back home.

I accept your point in fairness though as it has allowed Eric time to be involved in the negotiation of the contracts for next year for whatever thats worth!!!

Want to say fair play to Eric, and I wish him luck (I can honestly say that we all wish him luck, and lots of it). He is Connacht rugby through and through, he was always going to get it really. Im happy for him, an absolute gent and hero.

Congrats Eric, A well deserved post.

I am delighted to have a connacht man at the helm. Best of success.

Of course like everyone else I wish Eric the best of luck, primarily because I want my native province to be properly competitive in all the competition it participates in. While he wouldn't have been my first choice, I can understand why he was chosen and truly hope it works out for him...

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I see the future, and it's Green again...

After listening to the press conference about the 1 year contracts restrictions am now more positive about the review. Time will tell. Oh and good luck eric!

Thanks for the press conference.
Fair play to Eric..probably the most honest press confererence that I have ever heard, no cliches just facts and my god lots and lots of passion.
But as Eric said the passion will not win games, it is the mindset.

Must admit that I had a chuckle about his slight dig at the 'connster' brigade who go down and support munster and do not walk up college road.

Like the rest of the posters I feel alot more positive now.

Congrats to Eric and best of luck with next season. Like some others on here, I was hopeful that we'd have a new face at the helm, but having heard the press conference there is no doubt that he is passionate about changing the mindset, so I'm happy with that.

The most positive thing to me was the fact that he mentioned that he wanted to create and identity for Connacht. He said that he would be focused on expanding the academy and using native Connacht players, so that's great.

GOOD LUCK ERIC!!

After reading the piece in the Galway Advertiser, really positive stuff, reflects a lot of aspects which have been debated on this site. Hes showing passion no doubt, cant ask for much more. I think the part he says on "man-management" is good, thats the one thing I gather from Bradley that he is missing big time. A lot of positives coming from this.

Well done EE , make a good job in this role and I predict that you could well be the guy to take over the reigns from Deccie in a number of years from now.

May the road rise beneath your feet........

Well done to Eric - polished performance at press conference handled questions well...

heres to changing the mindset!