England Netball: Tracey Neville admits she is ‘absolutely not’ right choice for head coach job after Jess Thirlby’s departure
Tracey Neville has admitted she is not the right candidate at this time for the role of England Netball head coach, while Tamsin Greenway has revealed she was not asked if she would want the job.
Anna Stembridge will be stepping into the head coach position until after the Commonwealth Games in the summer following Jess Thirlby’s decision to quit due to family reasons.
However, after the Games all eyes will be refocusing on the Netball World Cup, held in Sydney from August 25 to September 5, where England could find themselves under new leadership.
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Tamsin Greenway reacts to the news of England Netball head coach Thirlby stepping down just four months from the start of the Commonwealth Games
“Am I the obvious choice? Of course, I’m the obvious choice,” Neville, who last month became managing director of Stockport County Women football team, said on Sky Sports’ Off The Court Podcast.
“But am I the right choice? Absolutely not.
“Before I even got the Stockport County Women’s job, I’ve had some great conversations with Sue Campbell [England Netball chair] and Fran Connolly [England Netball CEO].
“And Sue Campbell is very clear about where I am in my career, what my intentions were, and from my perspective now, the challenge I have in my particular role is exactly where I want to be.
“I absolutely love working at Stockport County so she would 100 per cent have known that [returning to England Netball] would not have been the next step.”
Neville had been a popular choice to return long before Thirlby’s decision was announced, as she was the only coach to lead England to a Commonwealth gold medal before stepping down in 2019 to start a family.
Meanwhile, Greenway, who coaches London Mavericks and would be another popular choice, revealed she was not contacted at all about the decision and believes no coaches in the Netball Super League were spoken to.
“No, I wasn’t asked,” Greenway said.
“I think maybe my phone’s dead or something, there’s no reception in London, that’s why.
“I don’t think there was any phone calls put to any of the current England coaches in the Super League at the moment – I don’t believe there was anyway.
“Do I think that should have happened? I don’t know. I don’t know what the protocol was.
“I don’t think anyone saw this coming, I think it’s all been a very quick turnaround to whatever’s happened.”