Hugh McGahan: Whether Kemp stays or goes, do it quickly

Who is next to leave the Warriors club? The last 14 months has seen the exit door permanently open with players departing with regularity.

With speculation running rampant about the coach, the club now needs to decide on the future of Tony Kemp immediately and then close this door.

How will the coach be judged at the review?

Will he, or should he be, judged on results only or should he be judged on whatever is in his contract in regard to Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)?

Was he ever given an outline of what exactly was expected of him at his appointment? Whatever and whenever it is, please make it quick?

The club is currently hemorrhaging and the most senior person at the club must be seen to be leading the joint now that Mick Watson has finally fallen on his sword. The chairman, Maurice Kidd, is the public face of the club now and should be seen to be making the decisions while the search for a CEO is underway.

Is Kidd a person who can make an assessment on the coach, as I see it as ridiculous that Mick Watson may still be at the club during this review process given he has been the cause of a lot of the problems regarding the coach?

Unless Tony Kemp has had a direct involvement in the departure of players, I think he has been hamstrung in his role of trying to find quality to fill the vacancies of those departures.

If he has had no involvement, then you need to ask why a coach has no say on what players are to leave the club. He cannot expect to perform as a coach if at any time players could be plucked away from him. It is a question he needs to address before the appointment of a new CEO if he is to continue, as his future is determined by another person. If Tony had no involvement then Mick Watson had to depart, but if Tony did have involvement then unfortunately he has made his own bed and must lie in it.

How could he expect to contest next season with lower-quality personnel and finish higher than this year?

Kemp's attitude in the latter half of this season has not endeared him to a lot of people with an arrogance bordering on similarities of Mick Watson and unfortunately some of his quotes have a sense of grasping at whatever positives he can to justify his continuation as coach. My view is that he should not continue if player departures are linked to him. 
 
My other concern is that of the leadership of this club during the transition of the CEO?

Kidd appears to be a sound, level-headed person who articulates extremely well to the media. His passive responses have an air of grace and thankfully he emerges with an aura of a man in control of the situation. But will he lead the way in the short term or will Eric Watson step in and stamp his authority as the person the public have come to expect from the owner of this franchise?

Either way, someone needs to clearly be seen steering this ship in its time of need, without the provocation of the previous CEO who, as reported, may still be in the background over the next few months.

If you are looking to make changes you may as well sweep clean every room in the house and not just the one that people are looking in.

It will be an interesting 4-6 weeks for the club and one that will determine whether there will be air of anticipation for the new season and real success in 2006, or just another frustrating, nail-biting campaign with lower than expected results.