Keith Barwell, the Northampton chairman, said on Saturday evening that he is “looking forward to some good local derbies with Bedford and Coventry,” but the fact is, of course, that he is not. Barwell has not spent the best part of 20 years propping up the club with money and business acumen to see them descend into National Division One.

Today’s meeting of the board, less than 48 hours after the dust settled on the club’s relegation from the Guinness Premiership, will be a hard one. It must consider, primarily, policies and personnel; it must look at how the last three clubs to be relegated – Bristol, Harlequins and Leeds Tykes – have all climbed back up, the last two helped hugely by their academy structure, which is something Northampton have neglected.

There is no doubt that recruitment has been an issue but to point a finger at a particular group of overseas players, in this case New Zealanders, is simplistic. There could have been no more heartfelt promise than that made by Bruce Reihana to the crowd that their club – his club – would bounce straight back; Mark Robinson was named player of the season last week by a poll of club supporters.

“It’s a collective thing, the players have to take blame for some of the performances,” Robinson, the combative scrum half, said. “We need to be accountable. There will be one-on-ones next week, a thorough debrief and it will be pretty open and honest. A lot of senior players will voice what they think. We know that little changes can make a massive difference.

“I don’t believe there should be a complete wipe-out, we have good players and good coaches. I can remember losing in the All Blacks jersey, you sit there and feel like you’ve lost a loved one. That’s how much it hurts and that’s how much it hurts now. This is my club, I’m a loyal club man.”

Robinson is one of several leading players still under contract and Barwell insisted that no one in that position would be released. That creates difficulties for those with international aspirations, notably Sean Lamont and Robbie Kydd, of Scotland, and Ben Cohen, Dylan Hartley and Jon Clarke, of England, none of whom will attract much attention in the lower league.

Barwell argues that Northampton are one of the few clubs who can take relegation “in our stride”, though cuts will have to be made, in administrative staff and on the playing side. He will report today on individuals who have expressed interest in helping Northampton back up, which could include a director of rugby – Warren Gatland, the New Zealander who did so much for London Wasps, has been connected with the club – to take some of the pressure off Paul Grayson’s shoulders.

Grayson who, like Barwell, was with Northampton in 1995 when they were relegated [and bounced straight back] accepts that he has made mistakes. “But there are some things the club has to get right so that Northampton can live up to the support it gets and the stadium it has,” he said. His position should not be under threat.

Robinson argues that now is the time for club and players to show a mutual sense of loyalty: he believes the players are committed to helping towards a recovery next season and that, therefore, there should be one-year extensions for at least the first year of life back in the Premiership in 2008-9, though the grounds for contractual extensions are not strong.

Four months ago, John Steele, player and coach at Northampton before joining UK Sport, said that not everything at Franklin’s Gardens was lovely. “You have to surround the squad and coaching staff with the right structure to let them perform and, if they then get results, they get rewarded for that,” Steele said. “If they don’t get results, having been resourced properly and allowed to get on with it unhindered, then they have to be culpable.”

The implication was that either the personnel were inadequate or there had been interference from higher up the chain of command. “I’ll take the flak,” Barwell said. “We cannot continue the way we are.” Ironically, yesterday Steve Thompson, the club’s England hooker forced into premature retirement by a neck injury, was talking about developing a coaching career. Given that his criticism of Northampton’s overseas influx caused something of a furore, it may not necessarily be at the Gardens.

Cost of drop

£2m
Estimated loss of revenue caused by relegation
£1.8m Golden handshake paid to a relegated share-holding club by Premier Rugby Ltd