A DESPERATE week for Bath Rugby. The resignation of Jon Callard has rocked the whole club.

Yes, there had been some talk by supporters and in the press that JC's role was under threat but no one within the club seriously considered that we would lose the services of our head coach.

JC has worked incredibly hard to steer the club to success on and off the field. He has been desperate to turn around our poor form this season.

When the news was delivered to the first team squad on Tuesday morning by our owner Andrew Brownsword, we were completely shocked.

There can be no denying that our form has been atrocious this season and we have been unable to deliver the consistency that is required to be successful in the Premiership.

However as I have stressed in this column, the squad continued to have a strong belief that we were heading in the right direction.

JC then had a brief word with us explaining he had decided to resign. My understanding was that he was not prepared to take a backward step from his leadership of the playing side of Bath Rugby.

Jon Callard has been connected with Bath as a player and then coach for 13 years and in that time he has been unerringly committed to achieving success at the club.

Memories of him securing European Cup victory in 1998 make it all the more painful to realise that he has now finished at Bath.

Unfortunately, it is a sad reflection of the direction the game is moving that he is one of a number of coaches or directors of rugby that are leaving clubs.

Yes, it is a business now and owners and fans are impatient for success.

The role of head coach is completely dependent on the ability to attract and recruit the right players and it is no secret that this has been severely restricted at Bath.

Coupled with this, the role is dependent on the performance of the players on the field and, in this area, every player at Bath has played a part in the departure of our boss this week.

This is an uncomfortable fact and our playing squad accept responsibility for this.

With all this going on there is the small matter of a game against the league and European champions this weekend.

The events of this week have certainly rocked us this week but we will have to use it as our motivation.

We had a good look at Leicester and, as expected, the notes in the weakness column are very short.

It has been suggested this week that it will be a damage limitation exercise but there is absolutely no other thought in our minds than winning this weekend.

The least we can do to show our respect for Jon Callard is to produce a top-drawer performance.