Johnson To Take Over From Richards.

England World Cup-winning captain Martin Johnson is one of the names being mentioned to replace Dean Richards as coach to Leicester Tigers following Richards’ dismissal after 23 years service.

England World Cup-winning captain Martin Johnson is
among the names mentioned to succeed Dean Richards, as coach to Leicester Tigers following Richards’ dismissal after 23 years service to the club .Richards paid the penalty for Leicester’s poor form, which saw
them fail to
qualify for the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup at the weekend.

The Sale Sharks head coach, Jim Mallinder, has also been linked with a move to Welford Road as has Stade Francais coach Nick Mallett and Ireland assistant coach, Declan Kidney.

For the remainder of the season, team affairs will be handled by
chief
executive and former England hooker Peter Wheeler, assisted by coach
John
Wells, captain Neil Back, and former England skipper Johnson.

Leicester will be back in English Premiership action against Sale
on Friday
night, knowing that they cannot afford any more league defeats if
they are to
qualify for next season’s Heineken Cup.
The Tigers are ninth in the Premiership, with only five wins from
14 games,
and have just eight games left. They are 12 points adrift of the top
six – a
probable Heineken Cup qualification cut-off point – so the task
facing Johnson
and his team-mates is huge.

With Richards at the helm, the Tigers were crowned European
champions in
2001 after a thrilling victory over Stade Francais in Paris, then
retained
their title by defeating Munster at the Millennium Stadium in
Cardiff.