THE surprise sacking of 1st team coach Brenton Fielke rocked Braywick this week, with Maidenhead Rugby Club blaming below par performances for the split.
Chief executive Simon Edwards, who has now taken over the coaching role but not the £10,000 salary, said: “Conceding 100 points at home was worrying us.
“And the word ‘consolidate’ was starting to drift around the club. That was very worrying, considering the amount of money our sponsors had put in.
“Our ambition is and always must be promotion. Maidenhead Rugby Club is far too big to consider consolidating in South West 2. We certainly didn’t employ Brenton to consolidate.
“So the board met and we made a decision sooner rather than later, for the sake of the club and Brenton.
“There’s no animosity. He’s a very nice guy. But he hasn’t delivered what we expected.”
With the club deciding to part company with its coach, the unpleasant job of informing Fielke fell on Edwards himself.
He said: “I hated it. It’s one of the worst things I have had to do within the club. And it’s even harder when you have to take his place.
“But when you go professional as a coach this sort of thing will happen.
“At the moment I have taken control, but my intention is to actively recruit or appoint someone from within the club at a convenient moment.”
Fielke remained remarkably pragmatic about the rift, but believed events off the pitch had played an equally important role in his dismissal.
Rumours of disquiet among the players began to emanate from the club several weeks ago, with senior members of the pack grumbling the loudest.
And it appears Fielke’s focus on youth rather than experience – and his insistence that everyone train hard and often – was a major cause of discontent.
Fielke acknowledged he might have handled the situation better, saying: “Maybe I didn’t show them enough respect for their achievements in the past.”
However, he qualified his statement by adding: “That’s well and good but I don’t know them from a bar of soap and they have to earn that respect from me all over again.”
He also voiced his disappointment at the club’s decision to sack him, having recorded two wins from three starts in the league, with an under-strength side.
He said: “I don’t really know the full story, but I’m bitterly disappointed. I didn’t think we were that far off, and when we got the full pack on the field we’d be competitive.
“To me it seems a really short term solution rather than knuckling down and trying to make plans for long term development.
“I honestly don’t believe they are putting in the right mechanisms for long term success. I think they are trying to make it all happen in one year.”

The quest for promotion continues tomorrow (Saturday), when Maids face a tough trip to Chippenham, where they suffered a narrow defeat last season.
Edwards said: “It’s a massive game. On paper they’re a very difficult team to beat at home but it’s a game we need to win.”