Charlie Hodgson‘s recent decision to leave Sale Sharks after 11 years as their fly-half and talisman is a further blow to a club that has listed badly this season.

It has been a year to forget for the Cheshire club following the unpopular tenure of Mike Brewer – ended after just 10 months – poor form in the Aviva Premiership and also injuries to key men, including captain James Gaskell and then his stand-in Neil Briggs.

However, the loss of Hodgson, who is joining Saracens, will sting more than anything else because he is a genuine Sale great.

He has scored 1,753 points for Sale – a Premiership record – and kicked them to the European Challenge Cup in 2002 and 2005 as well as being pivotal in the Premiership winning squad in 2006.

If Hodgson were on the wane, or was finally proving that he was mortal, his loss would be something the club’s fans would be able to understand if not accept.

However, his showing in the 19-19 draw against Newcastle Falcons last week proved that he is as strong as ever but as far as Hodgson is concerned, it is simply time for a change.

And in a change from the usual response, the 34-times capped England player is looking at walking away from rugby altogether when he hangs his boots up.

Hodgson told the Manchester Evening News: “Saracens have proved that they are one of the best teams around at the moment.

“They are one of the top teams, they are fighting for the play-offs – they were in the Premiership final last year and, obviously, they want to be successful and I know they are ambitious though that’s not to say Sale aren’t ambitious.

“There was also the aspect of life after rugby. The contacts that they have in London and the City for me to think about work after rugby and a possible future career.

“To be honest, I don’t want to be a coach when I retire. It’s hard enough sitting on the bench when you are not playing so I can’t imagine being a coach and being unable to do anything – it must be a nightmare and I don’t want to go through that every week.

“It will be time to do something else and go away from rugby so another key factor was to think about life after playing.”

It is rare these days for any professional sportsman to consider a life entirely on “civvy street” because of the amount of coaching and media opportunities that present themselves to the retired elite.

And there can be little doubt that Sale supporters will be wondering “what if?” regarding whether Hodgson decided to walk because of Brewer’s brutal involvement at Edgeley Park.

The New Zealander’s working methods – and his man-management skills – were despised by most of Sale’s players as Brewer took an old-school approach to dealing with his men which created a culture of fear at the club.

Hodgson has always been a player who has needed an arm round the shoulder rather than ranting and raving but Brewer refused to budge and change his one-size-fits-all management style.

However, Hodgson is being diplomatic to the end, maintaining that Brewer never had a real impact impact on him.

He added: “The thoughts about possibly doing something else came before he arrived but it’s fair to say once he arrived, at that time he definitely made my mind up.

“The fact that Pete Anglesea came in as our new head coach just before Christmas and that there were other changes did definitely put a spanner in the works and made me have a serious think about the decision.

“But, from my point of view, it was no reflection on where Sale are at the moment – purely for me from a selfish point of view it’s time for a change and the opportunity to do something else while I can.”