BATH closed ranks swiftly yesterday after announcing the departure of their coach Brian Ashton who had been with the club for the past seven years. Top officials declined to make specific detailed comment on the reasons for Ashton's resignation which are understood to involve a complex range of managerial issues affecting other employees of the club.
The prompt appointment of Andy Robinson as the new coach should make the change relatively painless in view of Robinson's long association with Bath as player and captain which began in the mid 1980s. His first task is to prepare for Saturday's important League game against Harlequins.
Ashton - mentioned among candidates for the post of Ireland coach - has been linked with a full time job at Cardiff. But the Welsh club are unlikely to part company with their present coach, Terry Holmes, who guided the side to the European Cup semifinals at the expense of Bath. Other Courage League clubs are certain to be interested in acquiring a coach who has combined success with innovation throughout the 1990s, though Ashton may have to wait until contracts come up for renewal in the spring before receiving a definite offer.
Ashton's exit after helping Bath win five league titles and four Cup finals since 1989 comes as a blow to the club's director of rugby John Hall who had hoped his coach would reconsider his threat to quit. Friction had developed between Hall and Ashton following differences of opinion on playing matters but both men continued to enjoy the support of the players.
"I am bitterly disappointed," said Ashton yesterday. "I never envisaged anything like this would remotely happen when I left the teaching profession last July. The environment is just not right at Bath and the time has come for me to do something else. There are lots of problems, though I don't want to be specific.
It will be fascinating to see whether Bath, with Robinson as coach, can avoid a repeat of the discontent that has prompted Richard Hill, Gareth Chilcott and now Ashton to leave the Recreation Ground all within the past 18 months. The growing pains of professionalism have made Bath's famed family atmosphere far more combustible as Hall and the chief executive Ed Goodall have set about redefining the way the club is run.
Clearly Bath's mediocre playing record which includes a total of five defeats in the league and European Cup did not inspire the mutual trust and confidence which might have resulted in a compromise. Ashton had only a marginal say in the vital areas of team selection and player recruitment which meant that he was frequently preparing for major fixtures without being certain that his ideas on key personnel would be endorsed.
Commercial pressures also led to demands for star players to appear in midweek games to increase the gate revenue, a policy that failed to take account of Ashton's views on player development. A lesser though significant issue was Ashton's salary of around £34,900 a year.
