After the usual pleasantries, my first question was that, given where we are in the league, where we are in the European Cup, did he honestly expect to be where we are now? 

Lanny: I certainly didn't hope to be where we are now. Being bottom of the table isn't a nice place for anyone to be. I knew the size of the challenge way before the season came on; I knew how difficult it was going to be, the quality of the sides in the Premiership. And I also knew the challenges we faced in terms of a side just promoted. If you look at Derby County or Watford last year, sides that come into SuperLeague – in any sport the promoted side always faces a tough challenge. Prior to us the promoted sides, Harlequins and Bristol especially, their starts were poor. Obviously the key thing for us now is that, we've seen the level, we've improved but we’ve got to improve yet again to get the absolute necessity which is wins. This Sunday is a big game for us, but at the same time I reflect on the fact that we're not yet half way through the season although it feels a lot further than that! We've an opportunity coming up on Sunday but also more particularly in the next seven games, the quarter final and the league game after that – nine weeks on the trot and that'll be the defining period in our season. The Six Nations is on so there's disruption to other sides…. 

APB: There are opportunities there aren't there? 

Lanny: Certainly when you look at the fixtures coming up and some of our performances recently against sides that are at full strength and traditionally at the top end of the table, we haven't been a long way off to be honest, so there's plenty of cause for optimism, but we have to be realistic as well – it's tough for the side getting promoted, and I guess there will be questions about retention and recruitment that I would like to address… 

As you know I'm all for people being involved and more importantly feeling involved and understanding the plan and strategy going forward. We all need to buy in. I tried to paint a picture at the start of the season about how tough it was going to be and how we need everyone to stick together. I'm a firm believer in that with the squad and coaching staff, with the Board and senior management and of course with the supporters, both individual and commercial. 

APB: Speaking of support, are you happy with it so far this year? 

Lanny: Support as in…? 

APB: Everywhere, off the field, in the boardroom, on the field, supporters themselves shouting at you…. 

Lanny: I think obviously with the big changes during the summer – the new ownership with Leeds Met coming in. If you look at supporters coming in through the gate there's no doubt in my mind that they've had a significant impact. The pre-match festival atmosphere prior to Gloucester and Saracens in the nice weather I thought was fantastic. The money invested in that area was massively increased and that reflected in the quality of the match day experience for the supporters. And I think that stuck a bit – we were a bit unlucky in that there were a couple of Friday nights that weren't particularly the best times for the games, thrown in on top of the fact that people want to watch sides that win and play well. There's no doubt in my mind that while we did have some good performances in that six game first block, we had one or two disappointing ones that we didn't really deliver like we'd hoped, and that's something that the University, the marketing department and supporters didn't have control over. From that point of view the support's been fantastic. 

Commercially, the University's links with the commercial sector have also been useful and certainly opened up doors that we wouldn't have got prior to the arrangement. 

In terms of strategic and management level, board level, I have to say they've been nothing but supportive. I've obviously had to go in and review  the season as any DoR has to do, and if you're not winning games there are of course questions that need to be answered. But I've found them nothing but supportive. Their commitment to coming to games, coming to Castres, Calvisano, Dax etc gives me great confidence going forward. And it gives me a reassurance that everyone's in it for the long term. I firmly believe more than ever that they are which is great. Because of the nature of professional sport, there tends to be a reflection on the performance of the previous week, and the result. I constantly draw myself back to the bigger picture; I have to flip between small picture – performance, results – and the bigger picture – where we're going as a club and the challenges ahead.  

The dynamic and the nature of the Premiership has changed significantly in the last 2 years. When you look at the money available that clubs have to spend, it's almost becoming like football, and I think it will be like football in the future. There will be a top four or five clubs who have a budget that's probably untouchable to others within the league, and you'll have a natural movement of the top players to those clubs. And then there'll be a middle tier of clubs. The trick for Leeds Carnegie is to make sure we're in there fighting all the time to grow the right way, (and in actual fact, the result of being in the situation we were in two years ago and the evolution of the game while we were steadying the ship), it is the only way.  So we all need to be in it for the long term. I don't believe that going in hell for leather on a 1 year plan is destined for success, although I do recognise that staying in the Premiership will move us forward far more quickly than going back to National One and I will lave no stone unturned in order to achieve that. There is no magic wand that can somehow recruit half of the All Blacks squad. Recognise the challenges. Stick with it, hold your nerve and back the plan which is about developing our own players and recruiting top quality players, and having club, a team spirit and an attitude that everyone pulls together. 

The other dynamic that's changed is the competition from other markets. There's money in France, money in the Magners League, money in Japan. The Japanese league play 12 games, and their players are very well paid for 12 games of rugby. There are 3 or 4 players I could name that I've spoken to about coming to Leeds who've chosen to go to Japan… 

APB: Who'd rather play 12 games of rugby a season?!? 

Lanny: Yes. Because that's where they are in their careers – less wear and tear on the body and more dollar in the pocket!   

And this is where I suffered a catastrophic technology failure. My trusty voice recorder that I've been using for precisely this kind of interview for years chose this moment to let me down, and consequently the second quarter of our conversation has been lost to posterity (I hadn't been taking notes and I'm not good at shorthand!).We did discuss the mammoth task facing Lanny in terms of mid-year appraisals for the players, but we pick up the conversation on a note about the change in the nature of the Premiership. How have the new recruits – largely from ND1 – been finding it? 

Lanny: I'm happy with the players we signed. To be honest even the guys we had who'd been in the Premiership are finding it very difficult, the Premiership has changed that much. If you look at the likes of  Villi Ma'asi, Erik Lund, Joe Bedford – the impact those guys have made having been unproven in the Premiership has been great… 

APB: One of the comments I was going to make when you talked about next year was that – if nothing else – they'll be a year older, and they'll also have at least a year's Premiership experience. Which is what most didn't have before.  

Lanny: Absolutely. The learning that takes place this year is on a weekly basis. This group of players do learn quickly and we need that. What we need to do is make sure we do that even more quickly in everything, from the set piece through to what's going to give this team the best chance of winning, given the personnel we've got.  

APB: There are lots of people who seem to think there is a vast pool of world class, young, fit, highly talented players waiting by the phone for your phone call… 

Lanny: Sorry to disappoint them! 

APB: .. what sort of tack do you take to try to encourage them to come to Leeds? 

Lanny: There's a pool of about 30 agents all representing different players – some of the agencies are large, and inevitably what all the agents do is circulate the details of all the players that are potentially available to every club. And you go through a stage by stage process. Stage 1 is for you to alert the agent and the  player of your interest. Stage 2 is for the agent to come back to you and to say whether the player is interested in speaking to you, bearing in mind the other offers he may have received. I have put a lot of work in developing relationships with agents so they see Leeds Carnegie as a viable option for them, because the agents have options of over 40 top clubs they regularly communicate with, across the Premiership, Magners League, France, Italy and Japan. So I worked hard to change the perception of agents that we would be perennial strugglers, and changing that image to one that Leeds Carnegie would be a great place to send a player and the Club has the ambition to match the players desire to play in Cup Finals, play in Europe and play winning rugby in great stadiums with large crowds and great atmosphere. 

So to get beyond stage 1 a variety of factors are taken into account: consistency and performance level of the club over the years – so obviously Leicester and Wasps are right up there – ambition of the player, the location of the club, family issues, finance, reputation of the club from a coaching and playing perspective because players talk to players and they know which clubs are well coached and well run and those that are less so etc etc.  

So the player will weigh up those options, and if you get to stage 2 then your time will then be spent in conjunction with 2 or 3 other teams vying for his services. We recognise we need some A-grade players. I don't want our current squad to read this and think that they are B-minus players, because they're not. By the same token a player becomes an international because he's a top quality player, and I think everyone recognises that we need a couple of players of that quality. The challenge for us in our current position is to make sure we get to stage 2. If we get to stage 2 I think we're in with a shout. I think I can persuade and demonstrate to ambitious players that this is a club that will give them opportunity and has a package that is attractive across the board. And I could cite any number of examples of that and I know that the players who are at the club would reference that and the players that left the club who know me would reference that as well. I speak to particularly the young players that left – I spoke to Tom Palmer, Mark McMillan, Rob Webber and David Doherty at Wasps and I don't think there's a player that left the club that has a bad word to say about us. Particularly the likes of Jordan and Danny are players that are pushing for England A and England honours, and I can guarantee they will give the club a glowing reference and who knows, those relationships do and will count in the future!   

APB: Do you think there can be senior England international players while at Leeds? 

Lanny: Definitely. It will be interesting to see the recruitment and philosophy of the clubs going forward with the new agreement between PRL and RFU, some will view it that having and England player pretty much guarantees you £175,000 per season, but others will view as they won't have use of him for over half a season. What everyone has to realise at the moment is that there will be challenges, as all clubs face in retaining the top players.. professional sport dictates that players end up out of contract and at such time they have a decision to make. My job is to ensure that everything in the clubs power has been done to persuade the player to stay, because I truly believe that we are very close to breaking the cycle we are in and given the situation we were in, is some achievement given the market forces. Once we break that we will be flying and I will be fighting the top players off! 

Supporters should feel assured however that the retention of our top players is number one priority and it won’t be a lack of finance or willingness on my behalf that could result in some changes in personnel every year…. The bottom line is however one or two may go and we will replace them with quality players. But I do not see in any way a mass exodus at the end of this season, players and board members are committed. There are strong ties between players and the club, and as I say, our position as a player in the big pool gets stronger everyday, but it will take time. 

And this is where the technology finally gave up the ghost. I now refer to hastily scrawled notes in a language that looks like a cross between ancient Hebrew and the footsteps of a drunken spider that wandered through a spilled bottle of Quink.   

Lanny: The most important for Leeds is to have players with true potential. I have good relationships with the National coaches, and I'm disappointed in a way that we didn't get anyone named for the Saxons, because I think they deserve it. But of course in very many other ways I'm pleased because it means our full squad will be available for the forthcoming crunch games and whilst the players are ambitious also, their loyalty is to the club which is a special feeling. If you are good enough your chance will come if you look at how Calum Clark has taken his chances this year people can see that if you are good enough you get opportunities at Leeds and ultimately delivering in the Premiership is the best test of the form of a player. It will be interesting to see how the game goes in the next few years I have concerns for the National Game that the influx of top overseas stars takes away opportunities for young players, clubs should be rewarded financially not for getting players in England 20’s they should be rewarded more for have the courage to put young English players in the Premiership…. If that was the case it would certainly help us! 

APB: Given all the work as a DoR you have to do, particularly at this time of year in terms of player retention and recruitment, do you have enough in the way of coaches? 

Lanny: Yes. We use Phil Keith-Roache – the former England scrummaging coach on a consultancy basis and he's helped enormously in addition to the likes of Jon Callard and Simon Hardy (the England Hooking coach) we have also used guest speakers for “player psychology” and have developed our own in house “mental toughness programme”. We have a good set of coaches already within the club and these guys help to enhance it. I talk to other DoRs as well – I have particularly close links with John Fletcher at Newcastle, Dean Richards at Quins, Dean Ryan at Gloucester and we all help each other in terms of coaching.  

APB: Lets end it in a positive frame of mind, we're in the Euro Cup quarter final for the first time in the club's history. Excited? 

Lanny: I will be. When we played down at the Rec. in the league, Bath were exceptional, and I truly believe they are the best side we've played this season. We weren't that bad – they were that good. So the challenge for that game will be massive. And to be just two games away from a European final has to be motivational. The trick is to balance the selection of the side as a part of the 7 game Premiership sequence. Last year one of the most disappointing results of the season was losing in the Cup to the Cornish Pirates in front of 800 people in the snow. We don't want that feeling again, so when the game comes around we will most definitely be up for it. 

APB: And finally finally…. The future of Leeds Carnegie? 

Lanny:I'm hugely optimistic about the future but its important to set goals as small incremental steps. Our situation hasn't been helped by losing as many players as we did when we were relegated – the ripples of that are still being felt now. 

The challenge of player recruitment is 10 times what it was when we were able to recruit the likes of Justin Marshall and Braam van Straaten. This is for all teams not just us, because there is so much in the way of competition. But the bottom line is that the University and the board are in it for the long term and I believe by planning in this way we can grow the club for a long term sustainable future.

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