Realistically, if Fox goes before the end of the season it's unlikely you get more than a stop gap coach before planning properly for the following summer and a (hopefully) more long term appointment.
Fox is one of a very small number of coaches without previous UK experience (playing or coaching), who has managed to win trophies in the last 15 years or so. Majority of new to the country coaches elsewhere have not managed to do anything - even at clubs with good resources. So any unknown appointments are a big risk.
In terms of 'known' potential options there's only a few I can think of that I'd really be happy with, and then it depends whether they are looking at moves. It's a big risk and obviously not a decision to take lightly, so I expect Fox has some time to get things more settled and improve, but a couple more weekends in a row like last one and that disappears quickly
Is it time
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I find myself agreeing with ginger above.
I think Fox does have the luxury of more time to put things right, but we can't afford too many more disastrous weekends before Tony has to think about making a change.
As ginger pointed out, most successful coaches in our league are familiar with our league, usually having played here first.
Blaiser played for Nottingham before being appointed as a coach, Lord played for Cardiff and Keefe for Belfast, to name but three.
Appointments from outside rarely work, so Fox is quite unusual on that front, if you consider him to have succeeded.
On this basis I think you've got to think about appointing from within. There's only one current coach who really jumps out to me and he isn't going to leave Belfast. That leaves either appointing a current player in the league or someone who has previously coached in our league.
One name that always comes to mind for me, because I've always felt he had unfinished business in Sheffield, is.....Rob Wilson. I've no idea if he'd be available or even interested.
Paul Adey would be another, although he doesn't seem interested after his very successful spell in Belfast.
As for players stepping up to coach, I think you need to be looking at someone with high level experience and good contacts.
Hopefully it won't be necessary and Fox can get his squad to start performing how he wants.
Regards
Doom
I think Fox does have the luxury of more time to put things right, but we can't afford too many more disastrous weekends before Tony has to think about making a change.
As ginger pointed out, most successful coaches in our league are familiar with our league, usually having played here first.
Blaiser played for Nottingham before being appointed as a coach, Lord played for Cardiff and Keefe for Belfast, to name but three.
Appointments from outside rarely work, so Fox is quite unusual on that front, if you consider him to have succeeded.
On this basis I think you've got to think about appointing from within. There's only one current coach who really jumps out to me and he isn't going to leave Belfast. That leaves either appointing a current player in the league or someone who has previously coached in our league.
One name that always comes to mind for me, because I've always felt he had unfinished business in Sheffield, is.....Rob Wilson. I've no idea if he'd be available or even interested.
Paul Adey would be another, although he doesn't seem interested after his very successful spell in Belfast.
As for players stepping up to coach, I think you need to be looking at someone with high level experience and good contacts.
Hopefully it won't be necessary and Fox can get his squad to start performing how he wants.
Regards
Doom
I don't think for one minute Tony would make a coaching change even if we had another disastrous weekend this upcoming weekend. Attendances would need to drop significantly.
How long do we wait to see if Fox can turn this team around? For me, Fox has had his chances the past two seasons and his credit in the bank has run out. It's another rinse and repeat of the last two seasons already. I agree with @Jayboy that long-term damage can be done in terms of the brand and bums on seats, risking sticking with Fox and things don’t improve and we have a poor season.
I think it's too late making a coaching change at the end of the season, if it's another season like the last two, which all current signs appear to be pointing to.
My view is I'd prefer to make a coaching change as soon as practically possible, which really means that we would have to write this season off and give a new coach a chance to get used the league for the remainder of this season with a view to hit the ground running the season after.
We'd have to hope we'd challenge for one of the remaining trophies if we made a coaching change say in the New Year for example.
How long do we wait to see if Fox can turn this team around? For me, Fox has had his chances the past two seasons and his credit in the bank has run out. It's another rinse and repeat of the last two seasons already. I agree with @Jayboy that long-term damage can be done in terms of the brand and bums on seats, risking sticking with Fox and things don’t improve and we have a poor season.
I think it's too late making a coaching change at the end of the season, if it's another season like the last two, which all current signs appear to be pointing to.
My view is I'd prefer to make a coaching change as soon as practically possible, which really means that we would have to write this season off and give a new coach a chance to get used the league for the remainder of this season with a view to hit the ground running the season after.
We'd have to hope we'd challenge for one of the remaining trophies if we made a coaching change say in the New Year for example.