Leave? I’ll be b ****** d if I’m letting somebody take over
Cockerill hands Gunners a boost by insisting he’s determined to finish job
EDINBURGH have been handed a massive Covid comeback boost after boss Richard Cockerill revealed he is on the brink of clinching a new deal.
The coach spilled the beans in the build up to this weekend’s derby showdown with Glasgow at Murrayfield.
It is the most inspirational news possible for the Gunners, who have been transformed into a top European force since the arrival of the ex-England tough guy. Cockerill said: “We are having these conversations with the SRU now. They are positive.
“Nothing is decided at this point with the pandemic situation but they have every intention to want me to stay here.
“I also have every intention to stay, so it looks positive.
“Hopefully in the next few weeks we can sort something to make that work and start looking at building our squad through to the next World Cup and beyond.
“I’ve invested a lot of time and effort, physical and emotional, into this project.
“I will be four years in when my contract runs out. At this point, the age demographic of our squad and where we are at the moment means that if we are going to get to the end of it and see some success then I want to be here to see that.
“All of us here have worked very hard to build this team over the last three years.
“I want to see it come to fruition. I’ll be b ******* if I’m letting someone else take over and ride on the back of what we’ve built!
“It’s a good place to be and getting better. We are improving and we have good young players who want to work hard.
“We’ve brought some really good foreign players in who have done really well and two or three of those are now qualified for Scotland.
“This club are now respected in the Pro14 and when we’ve played in Europe, we’ve done very well.
“I’m happy here and the challenges still for us is to do even better. That’s a good reason to want to stay.”
New Glasgow co-captain and rookie dad Fraser Brown has joked about his mixed feelings on the Covid lockdown.
As he stepped up preparations for Saturday’s comeback clash with Edinburgh, the Scotland hooker chuckled and said: “The past few months have been strange in many ways. “It was fantastic to be able to spend so much time with my wife Gem and our new baby son, Theo, and to watch him develop. “But there were no Warriors training sessions that I could escape to when he cried for 12 hours non-stop!” Meanwhile, Scotland flanker Gary Graham has clinched a new three-year deal with Newcastle Falcons. Graham – son of ex-Murrayfield hero George – said: “I love it here at Kingston Park. I was brought up around the club.”
I’ve invested a lot of time and effort, physical and emotional, into this project RICHARD COCKERILL ON STAYING PUT