Veteran prop Phil Vickery has given his backing to under-fire England manager Martin Johnson, saying that 'he is the man to do the job' until the World Cup in New Zealand next year.
Vickery and Johnson played together for England at the 2003 World Cup triumph, and in fact, the tighthead advised his former teammate to stay away from a job that he believed would always hang under a cloud of RFU politics.
"I did say don't take it when he asked me because there was so much going on with what had happened to poor old Andy Robinson and Brian [Ashton] that I just thought, 'Why would you?',” Vickery told the Sunday Express.
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Vickery is first to admit that England's performances have hardly shown much to inspire supportes, but says that fans should take heart from the promise shown in the narrow defeat to France in the final game of the Six Nations.
"Even the most ardent England fans haven't had much to cheer about, but they have something to grip hold of after last Saturday’s match against France. It was a huge improvement on previous games."
"But it's quite sad that people felt pleased that we had lost narrowly in Paris and come third in the championship – that’s not what we should be aspiring to – but last weekend gives me a lot of hope for the future. Things will move along now."
Johnson's conservative style of play has come under fire in several circles, and his record of eight wins in 19 Tests is pretty dismal, but Vickery believes it would be foolish to get another new manager in just 18 months before the international showpiece.
"It has been very tough for him and there has been a lot of negativity," said Vickery.
"[But] He won’t give up,"
"No one hates losing more than Martin Johnson, but he will be doing everything to improve matters.
"He's a good man and he has a good idea of how to get England to where they need to be. He is the man to do the job."
England's front-row was put under massive pressure by the French and drew the wrath of referee Bryce Lawrence's whistle on numerous occasions, so the Johnson would love to have Vickery to call on.
Injured but recovering, Vickery is back in training with Wasps and the plan is for him to return to bolster the country's front-row depth next month.
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