BLAME THE LOT OF US!
Saints failed Keiron
ST HELENS players and coaches were partly to blame for getting Keiron Cunningham the sack.
That was the admission of new interim boss Jamahl Lolesi in the wake of Cunningham’s exit after 24 years at the club.
Lolesi, who was Cunningham’s assistant, said: “It makes it harder because Keiron is such a good person.
“But saying that, results have not been where we wanted and needed them to be and we just have not been good enough, myself and the players included.
“The players were physically upset by it because they liked him as a person as well as a coach.
“But we have all got to take some ® responsibility for what happened over the course of the start of the season.”
Cunningham was axed on Monday after three defeats from eight games left them floundering in seventh.
Worried
But Lolesi, 36, said his mate’s main concern was about getting the team ready for the Good Friday game at Wigan.
He said: “The first thing he did when he received the bad news was ring me and tell me to make sure the boys trained well.
“He said it did not matter about his personal situation and didn’t want the boys to mope around because it’s not about him.
“That’s the measure of the guy, that he was more worried about the group, because there’s nothing more that he wants than this club to be successful.”
Lolesi, ex-Saints half-back Sean Long and Under-19s coach Derek Traynor are likely to be in temporary charge for the rest of the season. They face a daunting Easter schedule, away to Wigan on Friday and at home to leaders Castleford on Monday.
Former Huddersfield Giants forward Lolesi says he’d have loved that challenge as a player and feels it’s an ideal way for Saints to bounce back.
He added: “It does not get any harder than that, so it is a good test for the squad. We will get a good look at who wants to stand up and fight for the badge.”
Fans were fed up of Cunningham’s dull style of play but Lolesi says there won’t be instant changes, adding: “It would be tough to tear the game plan up and start from scratch again.”