It is a seriously arresting thought that we will be able to predict so much of England’s future under Martin Johnson on the very day that his signature is announced - and that day will come soon, provided the final details do not get in the way.

We will know almost immediately if he has been given total control over team affairs, if the proper reporting lines in the Twickenham hierarchy are of crystal clarity and, in fact, that there is only one line - direct to chief executive Francis Baron. We will also know if he is really to be allowed to bring in his own men, instead of being saddled with any remnants of the previous regime.

If all this comes to pass, and if the post therefore fulfils all the criteria which Johnson, in the views of Sir Clive Woodward expressed today, should have demanded, then the future is bright. All that will then need to happen is for the inspirational and iconic Johnson to become a brilliant world-class coach who follows the latest thinking in elite performance, from a standing start. Well, nobody said it was easy and while he is a great man, he is not yet a miracle man.

What will represent success for him? How many games of the 11 which England face in the next calendar year does he have to win to call himself a triumph? A lot. Patience is a rarity in today’s sporting world. And let’s be fair, we are talking about England here, not Malawi. England still have vast playing numbers, and coaching and financial resources. Fair enough, they have to start with two Tests in New Zealand in June, whether Johnson is in the saddle by then or not. Granted, New Zealand will be steaming for some kind of revenge and self-justification following their ignominious (glorious?) exit from the World Cup.

But they will be missing a whole raft of key players who have left to play in Europe. They will be returning to real rugby for the first time after playing under the nonsensical experimental law variations in their domestic rugby. England are meant to be taking a full squad and it will be disappointing if they are not ferociously competitive.

The autumn series of internationals is where the Johnson era will really kick in, and he has at least a six-month lead-in period. He will also by then be reaping what some see as the benefits of the new agreement between the Rugby Football Union and major clubs which gives England more access to players.

I am on record as doubting whether this will be anything like the boost that it is predicted to be. Too many coaches blame lack of access for too many failings and it is possible that an England team which spends even longer in camp will be more bored, rather than better.

But by November, when England play the Pacific Islands, New Zealand, Australia and South Africa at Twickenham, Johnson’s men should be bedded in. Woodward’s England saw it as a failure if they lost any of their autumn internationals, even though they were always against dangerous opposition. Just to take the pressure from the shoulders of our Martin, we can suggest that one defeat from those three matches against the southern hemisphere giants in the autumn might be deemed careless, but not disastrous.

As far as the 2009 RBS Six Nations is concerned, the end must be signalled to the desperate years of mid-table mediocrity. England must win the tournament, or must come close to doing so.

No doubt, the face of the team will change. The understandable sympathy for Brian Ashton’s fate and the gross mismanagement of the RFU has tended to obscure England’s poor performances under him. Frankly, apart from one victory over one of the worst Irish teams for decades, England have managed only to embarrass themselves. At least the embarrassment factor should now be lower - and expectations should become more realistic - for a country the size of England, and for a supremo of the stature of Martin Johnson.