As if to prove their touch remains none the worse for the passing years, the capital region marked the new one with a scenario all too familiar to followers of a once great club. John Mulvihill’s abrupt exit as head coach on Monday demanded an urgent official reaction, however terse.
There wasn’t one, which raised the possibility that the board under chairman Alun Jones had checked en bloc into the nearest Trappist monastery. The silence grew louder daily and by the time the Blues eventually got round to saying something, everyone knew not only that Mulvihill had left but that Dai Young had returned.
At this point it might be instructive to spool the tape back some 30 months. Having seen the writing on the Arms Park wall, Danny Wilson turned down an extension to his contract before guiding the Blues to a Challenge Cup victory over Gloucester as thrilling as it was implausible, the only trophy the region has won in the last ten years.
Mulvihill arrived in the summer of 2018 to the customary roll of drums. Blues chief executive Richard Holland said: “John will be the perfect fit.”
The 52-year-old Australian could have been forgiven for wondering what he’d let himself in for. The Blues lost their training base to be followed by their ground and while the requisitioning of the Arms Park as an emergency field hospital left the club no choice, neither was conducive to a winning environment.
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