The Parramatta Eels have come under fire for how they’ve handled their coaching situation this season, with the decision to sack Brad Arthur without a replacement lined up labelled a “disaster.”

Fox League’s Paul Crawley criticised the Eels’ search to replace Arthur on Thursday night’s NRL 360, believing the entire process has been flawed from start to finish.

“Brad Arthur was given an extension (and) told coach out the year. If they had made this decision (to sack Arthur) last year, they should have made the hard call then,” he said.

“Why did they have to pull the trigger on Brad Arthur when they didn’t have the man to take over. They didn’t have a replacement.

“Brad Arthur was a very good coach and if they decided he wasn’t the man they should’ve made this decision last year because it’s absolutely destroyed this season.

“This has been a disaster.”

According to the Daily Telegraph’s David Riccio the Parramatta board is meeting on Tuesday night to decide on the man to replace Arthur, with Jason Ryles, Josh Hannay, Dean Young and current interim coach Trent Barrett all in the running.

Despite the board likely coming to a decision on their next head coach during their meeting, Riccio reported the club will not publicly or internally announce who their next coach is until after their clash with the Rabbitohs on Thursday night.

“They don’t want to take the shine or the preparation away from the current playing group ahead of this game against South Sydney,” he said.

“Therefore they’re going to try and keep it in house.”

Riccio conceded doing so is “going to be hard” for Parramatta.

NRL 360 host Braith Anasta agreed keeping their decision quiet would “be tough in itself” and questioned whether informing their players “is really that big of a deal for their preparation.”

“Do you think it would impact them that much if their players knew tonight (or) tomorrow?” Anasta said.

Given the Eels currently find themselves equal-last on the NRL ladder, Crawley insisted the club should “be coming out and telling people straight away.”

“This is a side that two years ago was in a Grand Final. They’ve got a star studded roster,” he said.

“The way they’ve handled this is appalling.”

Riccio believes the Eels search for a new coach is complicated by the fact very little separates the four remaining options for the job.

“The current list of candidates, they’re pretty much even pegging as far as coaches go,” he said.

“We know they’re the best young coaches on the market. We know they’re going to be NRL (coaches) in the future.

“To say you’re more confident of one over the other, I think you’re throwing darts a little bit.”

Riccio thinks Maroons and Sharks assistant coach Josh Hannay is the front runner to take over from Arthur, while in Anasta’s eyes the Eels’ decision to keep their head coach appointment private until the end of the week means one thing.

“They’re not going with Trent Barrett.”