Could Stuart Lancaster be the man to get Northampton on the up again? | The Breakdown

Saints must avoid appointing a coach on the rebound – as happens on football’s managerial carousel – and focus on someone who can stimulate a club in declineFlying high in September, Jim Mallinder was shot down in December. Northampton led the Premiership after their bonus point victory over Harlequins in the fifth round, but five successive league defeats since then saw them drop to 10th.That run, together with three Champions Cup defeats out of three with 124 points, and 18 tries, conceded despite two of the matches being at Franklin’s Gardens, prompted the Saints’ board to call time on the …