The shock stepping down of Jess Thirlby, with Anna Stembridge stepping up as interim head coach, has left the England Vitality Roses in unknown territory heading into the most important two years of their cycle.
Stembridge will lead the side into the Commonwealth Games this summer, but interviews for the permanent head coach role will promptly take place after its conclusion as the team build towards the Netball World Cup in 2027.
Thirlby had been head coach for nearly seven years, leaving a significant gap for her permanent successor who will be appointed after the Commonwealth Games with just one year to go until the Netball World Cup in Australia.
Tracey Neville had been a popular choice amongst fans after her success with England. During her tenure, the Roses won England's only Commonwealth gold but she has .
Tamsin Greenway was another potential choice to take on the role, with a great background as a player before moving into coaching where she has coached the Scottish national team and is currently head coach for London Mavericks.
However, Greenway recently signed a long-term deal with Mavericks where she will continue to lead the NSL side.
So with just four months until the Commonwealths, where Stembridge will take charge, and then Thirlby's permanent replacement appointment, who are some of the potential choices?
Now the interim assistant coach on a secondment from her role with Loughborough Sport, Olivia Murphy is an interesting option to become head coach as she would come with a wealth of experience as a player, coach, and sport director.
Murphy is one of England Netball's most notable players with 95 international caps, she also captained the side at the 2002 and 2006 Commonwealth Games as well as the 2003 World Netball Championships.
As a coach she has been part of the Loughborough Lightning set up since its inception and served a stint as the side's head coach, seeing the team grow into the dominant force it has been in recent years.
However, despite her extensive experience within the sport - Murphy has not taken on a head coach role for quite some time, so stepping into the role with only year until the Netball World Cup could be a challenge.
Sharni Layton is England's current specialist defensive coach, a role she has held with the Roses since 2024.
A two-time Netball World Cup winner with Australia and Commonwealth Games gold medallist, Layton brings extensive international experience and crucially a unique perspective to the England set up.
Australia has always dominated world netball, with 12 Netball World Cup titles and four Commonwealth Games golds, an insight into how to tackle the Diamonds in their own backyard could be crucial.
However, while England Netball are looking for a change, bringing in a non-British coach could be beyond their aspirations for now.
Alternatively, England may look to former international Jo Harten, who is joining the coaching team as a specialist coach for the Commonwealth Games but is also based in Australia within the New South Wales Swifts' coaching team.
The former England international retired from playing last year having spent the final nine years of her career at Giants Netball, who are based in Greater Western Sydney, and served as the sides' captain for five years.
While she is only at the very beginning of her coaching journey, she is an interesting option with her wealth of experience within both the England set up and domestic leagues abroad.
In her current role with Swifts, she is coaching some of the best attackers in the world at the moment, England's Helen Housby and New Zealand's Grace Nweke.
Although appointing her as head coach of England in, what would be, just one year after retiring may be too ambitious for now.
Sonia Mkoloma is very familiar with the England set up having served at the England Netball Pathways head coach before leaving to coach Birmingham Panthers this year in the Netball Super League.
Prior to her pathways role, Mkoloma was also assistant coach to Thirlby and played a key part in England's historic silver medal at the 2023 Netball World Cup.
Last year, she led the junior roses to bronze at the Netball World Youth Cup to close out her time in the role.
She will be very familiar with many of the current and upcoming Roses due to her time within England, so could be a reliable option to lead the side with very little preparation time.
As a player she also represented England at five World Cups, taking home three bronze medals, and three Commonwealth Games and earning a total of 123 caps.
Mkoloma also spent a lot of her domestic playing career in Australia for Swifts after a short stint in New Zealand's top league, the ANZ Championship
Some may also recognise her from being a referee on Gladiators, and has spoken previously about how she would love to see netball sell out arenas just like the tv show does, so could her possible head coach appointment help build towards that?
Sara Francis-Bayman, the England international with 84 caps, is also another option for head coach post Commonwealth Games.
She is also currently based in Australia where she has taken up the role of General Manager at West Coast Fever after two years as Assistant Coach for the club and Scotland.
But she was also part of the Loughborough Lightning coaching team after retiring in 2017 for four years, including two full seasons as head coach, and led the side to their maiden NSL title.
Francis-Bayman's insight from down under within one of the Suncorp Super League's top teams last year would potentially shake up the style of netball played in the England squad to improve their chances at challenging Australia and New Zealand.
She also works with England captain, Fran Williams, and Sasha Glasgow at Fever which could aid a smooth transition if she were to take the role.
Some of Jamaica's best players have also worked with Francis-Bayman at Fever, also allowing a potential insight into how they could surprise the Sunshine Girls and disrupt their game.
Overall her combined experience as a player and coach would make her a great choice of England head coaches, but Francis-Bayman may not wish to move away from the sunny coastlines to take the role.
Particularly as her side came very close to a SSN Premiers title last year, losing to Melbourne Vixens by just one point, she may want to stay with Fever and keep developing the team there.
