I'm happy to accept that I dropped a bollock at the start of the season by pushing the team too far, too fast in terms of moving the ball and playing all-out attacking rugby We scored tries, but we leaked more. Now, we've cut out the extravagance and gone back to a much more basic style of play driven by our strong set-pieces. But we've done it in the knowledge that when put some results together, we can slowly reincorporate the expansive stuff."I want the players to take the same responsibility. They have everything they could possibly want here - the best facilities, strong administrative support, the whole lot. Today, they started training at 10am and were finished before noon It's not a sweatshop. They're treated like the adult professionals they are, and that's the way it will stay as long as they continue to behave and contribute in an adult, professional manner.

But I don't like people who take liberties, and I'm not willing to get fried because someone isn't trying. That sort of take it or leave it attitude could get me the sack, so I don't put up with it."Don't portray me as a hard man - it's not what I'm about. I'm more interested in honesty and clarity than being tough for the sake of it. If you have those qualities, you need never be scared of sacking someone.

And let's face it, there is a kind of sacking every day in professional sport because you're always telling someone he's out of the team. If you know in your own mind that you're making the decision for the right reasons, what is there to be frightened about?"Yes, it can be difficult. When I was coaching at Sale, I found myself taking charge of people I'd played alongside. These were my mates, the blokes I'd gone into battle with every weekend I hated that side of it, because it involved compromise. Here at Saracens, it's different; I have some distance between myself and the players.