Northampton Saints open door to Mike Ford move after confirming they're in the market for short and long-term coach

Northampton Saints will consider a short-term replacement for the sacked director of rugby Jim Mallinder in order to see them through to the end of the season before making a long-term appointment, opening the door to a Premiership return for Mike Ford.

Ford, the former Saracens and Bath head coach, who also spent five years as England defence coach under Brian Ashton and Martin Johnson, has agreed to take charge of USA club Dallas Griffins, who will be one of the nine teams that form Major League Rugby across the Atlantic. But the Griffins’ delay in entering the competition – which is expected to be put back a year to 2019 – will allow Ford to eye temporary roles and, as such, has seen him heavily linked with a move to Franklin’s Gardens.

Mallinder was sacked on Tuesday following Northampton’s heavy 43-32 defeat by Ospreys on Saturday. While the gap in the scores was not exactly ‘heavy’, the fact that Saints trailed 43-8 after an hour and attracted little more than 8,000 fans to their 15,000-seat stadium in what was their eighth consecutive defeat in the Premiership and Europe proved enough to convince chief executive Mark Darbon.

Having seen Ford save Newcastle Falcons from relegation in 2012 in a short-term role, Darbon will consider bringing in someone of Ford’s ilk to rejuvenate Saints’ squad which, by all accounts, should be performing better than the 10th place in the Premiership that they currently occupy.

“It would depend on who’s available and whether they’re the right fit,” Darbon said on Wednesday. “As part of this change we think it’s right to bring some fresh ideas.

“A lot of names have been mentioned already. We’re right at the start of that process, we’re not going to speak in detail about names. We’re focussed on bringing someone in ultimately who can thrive in the conditions here. We’ve got fantastic facilities, a great squad of existing players, some really exciting new players coming in, a massively loyal supporter base, help us deliver on our ambitions next season or beyond.

“A lot of things will play into this decision. This person’s got big shoes to fill, Jim’s overseen an incredible period of success for the club. Someone who can deliver the level of success we are all striving for.”

Ford emerged as the leading candidate after former England head coach Stuart Lancaster ruled himself out of the running after committing to his Leinster contract which runs until the end of the season, while ex-Saints head coach Wayne Smith is not willing to leave New Zealand for a full-time role after resigning from the All Blacks coaching set-up in the summer.

However, with Alan Dickens, the Northampton attack coach and former Saints scrum-half, set to take charge for this weekend’s return against the Ospreys, Darbon confirmed that there will not be a complete upheaval at Franklin’s Gardens in the immediate future. Current forwards coach Dorian West had been thought to be heading towards the exit at the end of the season, but it could well transpire that he, along with defence coach Mark Hopley, assistant Phil Dowson and Dickens, remain at the club in order to help smooth over the transition to a new director of rugby.

“We’re getting behind out existing team, they’re all under contract obviously,” Darbon added. “The immediate focus is the weekend and the rest of the season. In parallel we’re running that search for the long-term successor for Jim. Our focus right now is on finding that individual and making sure we have the right conditions for that individual to succeed. We’re a long way from that at the moment at the start of this search.

“Some individuals make a lot of change, some don’t. What’s critical for us as a club is we’ve got someone in that role who can operate really effectively with our set-up and can lead us to future success.”

Of course, whoever takes the role – temporary or permanent – will inherit a squad that won the Premiership just three-and-a-half years ago and that contains the current England captain Dylan Hartley. But despite his return this season as Saints skipper, Hartley will not be directly consulted on the new appointment. “I have regular dialogue with Dylan as well as a lot of the senior players,” said Darbon. “We would be foolish not to elicit some opinion or perspective of those guys. But ultimately, it's not their decision, it's a board one.”