We’ll get Cipriani settled in – then it’s up to him

Steve Diamond is not a man for standing still. Since returning to Sale as executive director of sport in January 2011, life under the former hooker has rarely been dull as he has ruffled the feathers of officialdom on more than one occasion.
During a whirlwind 18 months back at the club he calls ‘home’, Diamond has appointed a new coach, Tony Hanks, and sacked him, incurred a lengthy touchline ban for hurling a few verbal grenades at referee Wayne Barnes, signed the mercurial Danny Cipriani, qualified the Sharks for next season’s Heineken Cup, become chief executive, relocated the team to a new ground at Barton and seriously upset Gloucester by employing Bryan Redpath as his head coach.
So, what’s next for the man who tells it straight?
Neale Harvey: How do you reflect on a rollercoaster first 18 months back at Sale?
Steve Diamond: I wouldn’t say it’s been a rollercoaster, it’s only gone one way really… and that’s up. I’m pleased with the way things have turned around at Sale. We’ve moved out of Edgeley Park into a new stadium and qualified for the Heineken Cup, and you’d hope that will have a positive knock-on effect. You’ve seen with many clubs before that when they move into a new stadium it boosts crowds and the commercial side.
Sale averaged crowds of 7,200 last season… are you looking for a significant uplift?
7,500 would represent an improvement and we’re looking for a modest increase rather than a vast one because it’s a slow process. Hopefully we can increase our crowds over the next three years and a lot depends on how the team does, but we’ve sold more season tickets now than we did last year and we’ve still got three months before the new season starts.
Not many people would have envisaged you in a chief executive’s chair… how has the transition been for you?
I’ve always done it. I’ve got a finance business that employs 185 people and a building business that has 40, so being chief executive is no drama to me. Being in an office is the opposite of what I do because we’re always out there preaching the gospel of where we’re trying to take the club.
We’ve had 180 new businesses through the place in the last fortnight and have another 58 coming to see us, so we’re very active in terms of sponsorship and corporate events. That’s the new job for me and the rugby side is handed over to Bryan Redpath.
Are you going to be one of those interfering chief executives who likes to pick the team?
There’ll be none of that. Bryan Redpath picks the team and I’ll let him get on with that, absolutely. If he needs my assistance, though, I’ll be there.
What qualities attracted you to appoint Bryan as head coach?
He’s got a successful track record at Gloucester, he was captain of Scotland, captain of Sale for five years and he’s a leader of men.
Danny Cipriani and Richie Gray are impressive new signings by Sale… are you excited by their impending arrivals?
Yes, that’s been very pleasing and with Eiffion Roberts returning and Hendre Fourie fit again, it’s like having four quality signings. We’ll be looking for Richie to carry on in the same vein as he’s started his career. He’ll be coached well and hopefully he’ll keep improving.
Do you view Danny Cipriani’s signing as a risk, given that he made so little impact on the field during his time in Australia?
Danny’s talent isn’t in question, it’s a case of getting him settled down and hopefully he can play well for us and his career will take off again. There’s no real risk for us and no real risk for him. He’s coming to what’s deemed an unfashionable club, but we’ll keep our heads down and see how we do.
Sale ‘unfashionable’…really?
I think we are compared to some of the glamour clubs who spend a lot of money. We can’t afford to be classed in the same bracket as them, but there aren’t too many clubs in the Premiership who’ve got a new £28m stadium on their hands, are there? We’ve qualified for the Heineken Cup so progress is good.
Going back to Cipriani, his old mentor Brian Ashton is living up the road near Blackpool… might you employ him to look after Danny?
We’ll look after Danny ourselves, to be honest. We’ve got our own coaching staff in place. Brian’s a good mate of ours at Sale and he comes along occasionally to help, but that’s it at this stage. A lot of what Danny needs is down to the right environment and when he arrives here in three weeks’ time it will be down to him.
Would you expect Bryan Redpath to adopt an expansive style of rugby that will maximise Danny’s talents?
Bryan played in a very expansive team when he was at Sale before and Gloucester’s backs played a lot of expansive rugby as well. But we sometimes forget about the weather. You can’t always play great rugby, sometimes you’ve got to be sensible.
Sale’s recently published accounts for 2010-11 show an operating loss of £563,000 compared with £1.6m the previous year… that must be encouraging?
I don’t think this club has ever been anything other than sustainable and in cutting over a million pounds off the deficit we’re striving to make it more viable.
When you see some of the other sides that are spending probably double the salary cap in the league, you’ve got to cut your cloth accordingly. What we’ve decided to do is get the infrastructure right. We’ve now got state-of-the-art stadium and training facilities and we’ve got a good, competitive team which is under the salary cap.
Toulon have apparently spent 20 million euro on their team and won nothing, so it’s more than just about money.
I’ve no issue with the salary cap, it’s a great thing to have in the sport. It’s difficult to police, no doubt about it, but I know we’re within it and that’s all I care about.
Are you planning on making any more signings this summer?
No, we’re done.
Wouldn’t you like to get your hands on Wigan RL’s golden boy, Sam Tomkins?
Not particularly. He’s obviously a good Rugby League player but we’ll just stick to what we know. The only club that’s ever successfully converted Rugby League players is Sale but I don’t think Sam’s in the same breath as Jason Robinson. He’s a good player, no doubt, but I think Saracens have got a tie-in there and his brother’s with them, so he’ll no doubt be playing in north London when he converts.
Is there anything Sale can learn from Rugby League’s ‘Magic’ weekend or the ‘Big Games’ involving Quins and Saracens?
We’re a bit out on a limb here, aren’t we? What Harlequins and Saracens have done is brilliant and the ‘Magic’ weekend is great, but we need to build our own support base at our own stadium first before we look any further. If we can start getting 12,000 people regularly at Barton then we’ll look to expand the stadium there.
There’s been a lot said about rugby in the north being neglected… do you feel that it is?
I don’t know about being neglected, but Newcastle finished bottom of the Premiership and Leeds have gone down and they’ve got to look at themselves, it’s no good blaming everybody else. You’ve got to put the community issues in place and the academy structure has got to be right. In all sports now everything is dying out at grassroots level unless you put investment and support into them.
Are you confident Sale’s links with junior clubs in the north-west are strong enough?
I  am confident because numbers are improving. We have 90 clubs affiliated to us who each have 250-plus kids playing every Sunday, so the potential is there, we just have to ensure we tap into it.
Finally, you received a lengthy touchline ban last season for having a pop at referee Wayne Barnes, so how happy are you with refereeing standards now?
Refereeing standards are improving. I had a pop at a referee who didn’t have a good game and I got heavily punished for it, but the same referee then got dropped by the international board so maybe what I was saying was right.