Johnson camp furious at RFU's coaching denial

The man himself was understood to be 'confused' over chief executive Francis Baron's denial that England were on the verge of signing their former captain as head coach in succession to Brian Ashton.

Confused: Johnson fears his name will be tarnished

Sources close to Johnson are in no doubt that their man has agreed a deal to take complete charge of the national squad, not as team manager but as head coach.

Johnson and the RFU's director of elite rugby, Rob Andrew, held a fourth meeting on Tuesday to thrash out the details of a contract understood to guarantee him carte blanche over selecting his own team of specialist coaches.

Johnson has proceeded with plans to pick his own men, starting with the head-hunting of Shaun Edwards following his return from Wasps' training camp in Spain.

He set up talks with Edwards yesterday, which will increase Wales' anxiety that they might be losing the defence coach who contributed so much to their Grand Slam.

Baron's denial of Johnson taking over in a coaching capacity has annoyed the chosen few among his inner circle who say they are increasingly dismayed at the 'back-tracking and negativity' surrounding the whole issue.

'Baron has thrown a spanner into the works and Martin's representatives are livid,' a source close to Johnson said.

'Martin is still 100 per cent committed to the concept of becoming the main man in English rugby but the last thing he wants is to have his name tarnished by the poor way that this whole business is being handled.

From the very start, Martin has acted with complete sensitivity. If he'd had his way, his involvement would never have got into the public domain in the first place. He had been led to believe that events would move fairly quickly.'

The RFU Management Board will meet next week to approve Andrew's recommendation for England's new coaching-management structure.

With Johnson unavailable to lead England to New Zealand for their two Tests in June because his wife, Kay, is expecting their second child, the intriguing issue remains as to who will be responsible for picking and preparing the team.

Meanwhile, Ospreys are so distraught by last Sunday's shock 19-10 Heineken Cup defeat by Saracens that they have launched an inquiry headed by performance director Andrew Hore.

Ospreys yesterday announced that merchandising sales at the Liberty Stadium have gone through the £1million barrier for the first time.

They play in the EDF Energy Cup Final against Leicester on Saturday. Leicester hope to field Seru Rabeni, who is two weeks into a 14-week ban for gouging.

The Tigers will appeal against the length of the ban at an RFU hearing tonight.

Fly half Freddie Michalak , currently playing for Natal Sharks, wants to return to Europe.

Michalak said: 'If I want to play for France, I have to return. I have offers in England, others in France.'