Wrong man - Probyn

Jeff Probyn told Sky Sports News Martin Johnson is NOT right for England, as other ex-players backed him.

But Uttley and Underwood back Johnson to succeed

Jeff Probyn believes Martin Johnson is NOT the right man for the England job. The former England prop believes the appointment was made on a "populist" basis and questioned the World Cup-winning captain's credentials as a coach. But two other former players backed the decision to put Johnson in total control of English rugby on the day that Brian Ashton was relieved of his duties - and was offered the National Academy role. Rory Underwood, who played alongside Johnson, and former England team manager Roger Uttley both believe the RFU have made the right choice in giving the former Leicester giant the job. But Probyn believes there are better qualified men out there. "Martin is a very big character as everyone says but it's very much a 'suck it and see' situation from an RFU point of view because Martin has absolutely no previous qualifications in this sort of role whatsoever. "He's never been involved (in management) in any club rugby or the representative rugby - he won't know his players. I think that will be an enormous problem going forward because he won't know the players coming through. "He's a smart man and a big character - everyone says that and keeps saying that - but there is value in experience, of knowing players, and having had some experience of being in charge of a team, either as a manager or as a coach and Martin has none of that. "He's captained England to success in the World Cup, he's captained England to the Grand Slam win but if the remit was to have the most successful captain as the manager, you'd pick Will Carling - he's got three or four Grand Slams. The reality is that Martin has to learn a whole new set of skills that he's not shown any attitude towards, or desire to be a part of."

Fantastic character

Uttley, who won 24 caps and is a former England team manager himself, agreed that Johnson does lack the coaching experience that the likes of Dean Ryan and even Shaun Edwards could have brought to the post. But he says that the fact that Mike Ford and John Wells will remain part of the coaching set-up means he will not be short of coaching know-how. And says Uttley, Johnson is just the man to defuse the club v country row that has dogged English rugby for some time. "You couldn't have a better character and personality to lead the English team at the elite level than Martin," he said. "He's a fantastic character, he's done a great job, his playing record is unimpingable. As Stuart [Barnes] has already alluded to, the trick now for Martin is to see whether or not he can transfer this now to the management side - I think he can. "The main thing will be for him to get the other people around him whom he thinks can rely upon. And once they know where they're going, what they want to do and how they're going to go about doing it, it's then their job to convince the players and, perhaps importantly, the Premier League clubs that it was the right way forward so that everyone benefits - not only the national side but the clubs as well."

Articulate speeches

Underwood, who played with Johnson for Leicester and England, believes the players will have no problem responding to Johnson. His motivational skills as a player have been well-documented since the World Cup triumph in 2003 and his old team-mate says he will have no trouble getting his point across. And he warned the current England players not to expect a jocular, friendly school-teacher type - a criticism that was often levelled at Ashton. "He can have fun, but he was known as Mr Grumpy - you very rarely see him break into a smile," he said. "He's not one for making long, erudite, articulate speeches, he's very much one for getting to the point. A very simple, clear message will be given out and I'm sure from that point of view the players will have no problem getting the essence of what he's trying to get across. "What he brings is obviously respect from the Premiership rugby management system and he's very much got his own ideas on how he wants the game to be played and organised. He's very much one to provide direction which he did when he was captain."