NEWCASTLE FALCONS' consultant director of rugby Steve Diamond is aiming to bring “certainty” to the struggling Gallagher Premiership club.

The club announced the 54-year-old’s appointment earlier in January and although he is not due to start officially until Monday, Diamond has already been involved for the last two weeks “behind the scenes”.

Newcastle are languishing at the bottom of the Premiership table having lost all 12 of their games so far this season and Micky Ward has taken interim charge for their last two matches against Perpignan and Northampton after head coach Alex Codling stepped away from daily duties.

When asked why the Falcons were in their current position, Diamond told a press conference: “They’ve lost some old heads. The coaching has changed from Dean (Richards), to Dave Walder, to Alex Codling, to me – so there’s uncertainty.

“Sport’s about confidence and belief and if there’s uncertainty in the world then people bottle it, generally.

“My job is to put some certainty back into the building, which we have done over the last two weeks and we will carry on doing from Monday onwards.

“Statistically we’ve not been good in the vital areas. We’ve got probably the worst scrum, probably the worst line-out, certainly the worst defence and the worst attack.

“However, they’re by small percentage points because apart from the last three or four games, they’ve lost games within a whisker, so they’ve been highly competitive.”

Former Sale hooker Diamond managed and coached at Sharks and was director of rugby at Worcester when the club entered administration during the 2022-23 campaign.

Fellow Premiership clubs Wasps and London Irish also went out of business the same season, reducing the top-flight to ten teams competing this season and Diamond believes what happened at Worcester was a “travesty”.

“I was probably more disappointed with what happened at Worcester than any job I’ve done really,” he said.

“What happened in Worcester has been a travesty really and we can point fingers at the previous owners etcetera but the administration process and what’s happened there has been ridiculous.

“That club should be up and running in the Championship as we speak, but it wasn’t to be. It’s a sad loss to the community in Worcester.”

Newcastle are not back in action until after the Six Nations and four members of the team are involved in England’s Under-20 squad for the tournament, including Ben Redshaw.

Jamie Blamire earned a call-up to the senior team and Diamond can see “a lot of positives” within the club going forward.

He added: “The ownership are vibrant. They want to make it as sustainable as they can and I think that’s understandable in the rugby world we live in.

“Being involved at Worcester, which as we know ended up being a disaster for various reasons along with Wasps and London Irish, so it was critical that point was discussed initially and Newcastle are here for the long-term. Very passionate owners and a true northern club.

“I think that with the origin counties around it, Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear, Durham that have massive internationals that have come from the region over the last 100 or so years, we can rekindle.

“We’ve got four lads in the Under-20s at the minute, one in the England team so I see a lot of positives, I don’t see many negatives.”