John Kingston (JK): Dean would pick the team after consultation with all coaches - very rarely was there a situation where a team would be selected where I would have gone with an alternative, certainly last season when I took on the mantle of Head Coach.
Team was coached both on-field and in strategic off-field game plans by the coaches. I did all pre-game talks and half time talks.
Dean would do the substitutions - often after consultation with coaches but not always.

CAW 2: If Mr Mapletoft arrives (as has been suggested in the press), where do you see him fitting in to the scheme of things?

JK: Mark is helping with the kicking intermittently already but is currently with England under 20s. I have a huge amount of time for Mark as I coached him also!I know nothing about him coming on board full time!

CAW 3: Do you feel that some squad members are not fronting up this season?

JK: I think the whole summer incident has had a massive effect on the squad - each individual in different ways. The fact that we still don't have our new D.O.R. in place yet, is one example that the ramifications of that are still ongoing. In my mind, it disturbed the equilibrium but hopefully, with Conor on board shortly, we will finally be able to get back to normal.

CAW 4: How close are we to the wage cap and, with most contracts tied up for next season, where are the areas we will be looking to strengthen the squad?

JK: I am not a party to all the budgetary detail but, as I see it, the issue lies in the fact that the club has brought through a huge number of players from the Academy and also unknown players from other clubs. As they have subsequently becom household names, they clearly demand a totally different salary to their original profile and so how do you fit in such dramatic increases within a wage cap ?

Eg out of contract this season:
Academy Products - Lambert, Robshaw, Robson, Turner-Hall, Brown, Monye, Guest
Lesser Names (now star) - Strettle.

To this end, all renewal of contracts of quality players must be seen as good signings for us.

CAW 5: Will our new Training Facilities at Surrey Uni help our overall performances?

JK: Definitely. Working in a good environment can only help and Guildford is a fantastic facility which we should all be proud of beling involved in - it, for example, can prove a fantastic selling point for potential new signings.

With respect to our current facility in Roehampton, it is chalk and cheese!!

CAW 6: How much contact, if any, has there been between Conor O'Shea and the team so far?

JK: Conor has not met the team - he has had a few individual meetings with players varying from the Captain to also players who are out of contract.

CAW 7: Is it a continuous strategy to rely on the Academy Players as much as we do, or is it forced on us by lack of money ?

JK: Both - we are very proud of our Academy structure and they are brought up on the values we place on people in our Senior Squad. They clearly will offer a value for money solution until they become household names (see above!)

CAW 8: As far as progression is concerned, where do you see the club now and for next season?

JK: This season has been really tough - even before the summer incident, I believed it would be very hard to live with the expectation that would come from last year when, I felt we achieved to an incredible level given the size of squad we had. Some of that, frankly, may have involved other clubs underachieving (which apart from when we play with) we can't control.
I wasn't directly responsible for the changes made last summer but I am quite sure that Dean faced the same obstacle mentioned above - a finite sum of money and players coming out of contract who could command a much higher salary given their performances and individual progressions from relative unknowns. I have no doubt that again meant that something had to "give" and hence the loss of experience in the form of Ross, Gomarsall, Malone, Taione, Barry and being replaced by less experienced players.
It is a worry if such a trend continues but at the least, it is crucial we keep our home grown players.
With Conor at the helm, I have no doubt that we can start to make strides again. I was delighted and very proud of what we achieved last season in my first year as Head Coach - much of it emananted from a terrific spirit within the group and those qualities remain.

CAW 9: Do you feel you are the right man to bring success to Quins, and if so why?

JK: For sure. My coaching record before I came to Quins was outstanding at under 21 level and 1st team in Richmond (unbeaten season with the former) successive promotions with the latter, before Mr Levet came with his money. When the club disbanded in tragic circumstances we had reached 5th in the Premiership.
In Galway, I took Galwegians to immediate promotion and in our first season in the Premiership, we finished 2nd and reached the All Ireland Play Offs for the first and only time in their history, at which point I left for Quins.

My first few seasons at Quins were frustrating - a gradual improvement of 9th, 7th 6th came to a shuddering halt with relegation.I clearly had a major part to play in that year as forwards coach but have looked back on it often and with the cards dealt re injuries and the squad we had, am not sure we were ever going to do anything but rattle round in the bottom area - though any one of 5/6 clubs could have gone down, it was us when the music stopped.

When I was offered a new contract on Deans arrival, it was because I felt I had "blood on my hands" and that I have never walked away from a challenge, that I decided to stay. I wanted a club I have long loved (since playing for it 20 odd years ago) to go forward and wanted to be a part of it.

Promotion, 7th, 6th followed and then when made up to Head Coach, we finished 2nd and reached the Quarter Final of the Heineken Cup.

This year has been taxing, being asked to continue my job with a vacuum above and I have missed Dean immensely. Suffice to say, 8 months without a DOR has not been much fun for any of the Playing Management and I am no different!!!

CAW 10: How many signings are the club intending to make?

JK: That will get resolved when Conor is in situ but is ongoing - remember what I said re the resigning of existing stars.

CAW 11: How do you intending to improve our defence in the short term?

JK: Drill, drill and drill again on the field with those fit to train! It has been a huge focus all year - at the start of the year our defence was outstanding and we couldn't score points - it changed around the end of November. It is frustrating for all of us as coaches but we know the squad can defend - eg Irish 2 weeks ago when we were outstanding in that area but it has to be every week. Basics such as tackle technique and work in the tackle area plus line speed are high on our agenda at the moment

CAW 12: Players in what positions are Quins hoping to secure in this years transfer market?

JK: See question 10

CAW 13: What's going on in the heads of our players that they can a) under-perform and b) lose concentration at crucial points in recent matches? How are you addressing these issues and motivating the changes required to get the team performing to their undoubted combined talents?

JK: I think I have touched on this re the way all have responded to the occurrences from the summer onwards. Our psychologist Pieter Kruger is doing sterling work on this - I felt last season we were mentally tougher than others - we have many on-field triggers and these have to be our props as they have been over recent times.

CAW 14: Have the players and the club management got over Bloodgate - if not why not?

JK: I believe this has been addressed above

CAW 15: What key difference do you think Conor O'Shea's arrival will make in the short term, ie. up to the end of the season?

JK: We the Management need an identified man at the helm and I think it will help the players also - as I said we have been in a vacuum for too long.
Conor is highly energised and excited about joining the club and I know he will have a huge impact.

CAW 16: What one major thing keeps you most awake at night... w.r.t. your coaching vs team performance?

JK: Trying to find solutions to problems. Questioning myself as to if I have turned every stone and given help I can to all concerned.

CAW 17: Who are the leaders in the team on the field other than - Nick Easter, Will Skinner, Chris Robshaw, Ugo Monye?

JK: There are many as the team develops, the injuries and unavailabilities this season have forced all our squad to stand up more

CAW 18: Kicking has always been an achilles heel for Quins - who currently coaches the kickers?

JK: Mark Mapletoft has done some work and Collin Osborne oversees them each week - each player likes there own style and some prefer little intervention. Our goal kicking stats have improved hugely over recent months incidentally.

CAW 19: Do you accept that needless substitutions against Gloucester in LV cup cost us the win?

JK: Yes, but I don't think they were needless. I was running a tightrope all day trying to win a game to keep momentum after the Irish win but mindful of the massive injury list we already had to the squad and with key games coming up. It transpired, after selection but before we played Sunday, that we sadly couldn't make the LV semi but I wanted to win the game for obvious reasons. We also have to give squad players time on-field as they can't just flick a switch if suddenly have to play in a League game. I gradually removed players to fit this situation (no one would have thanked me if another key injury had occurred in a game where the outcome was no semi final progress) . I had planned at half time to remove Nick Evans at round 55 to 60 mins but to try to ensure the win, kept him on until 73 mins when we still led by 10 points. Had I known we would lose, I wouldn't have taken him off but how would we have felt had he got needlessly injured (so many injuries occur at the end of games as players fatigue).

CAW 20: Following Quins win against London Irish in the LV cup you were quoted to say "We can only deal with what's going forward and we talked all week about this being the first day of the rest of our season and to that end it's a good start." What's gone so wrong for Quins since you made this statement?

JK: We are working every week to start a run to the end of the season. With all due respect, the unavailability/injury list making 22 (yes 22) players ruled out of selection makes life very hard for anyone. Here's hoping that we can clear up several of these injury problems very quickly.

View a Printer Friendly version of this Story.

Bookmark or share this story with:

• Digg
• Delicious
• Facebook
• Reddit
• Stumbleupon