Will Greenwood says Stuart Lancaster would be his pick to take over at Northampton following Jim Mallinder's sacking.
Saints announced on Tuesday that Mallinder would be leaving the club in the wake of their loss to Ospreys in the Champions Cup over the weekend, their ninth defeat in their last 10 games in all competitions.
Greenwood said he was not shocked to see Mallinder fired by Northampton, believing that the players had lost faith in the 51-year-old.
"It's always difficult to say exactly what's going on behind those closed doors, but it just looks as though the changing room aren't responding to what the management are asking," Greenwood said on The Offload.
"It's very similar to Andy Robinson back in 2006 - brilliant coach, but sometimes the players have decided it goes in one ear and out the other. What they've decided is that what they're hearing is not who they want to hear it from.
"What tends to happen is that a new man comes in, says virtually exactly the same thing, and you get an immediate response."
Greenwood says the players have to take some responsibility for the current run of form at the club.
"They've got to take a long, hard look at themselves in the mirror. They were appalling for long periods of that [Ospreys] game, and for long sections of important matches this season.
"They have, as individuals, abdicated responsibility in key games, and with it the losses have followed, they've become a habit, and with it the top man eventually has gone."
The Sky Sports pundit said that it was important to acknowledge the efforts of Mallinder, who was the Premiership's longest-serving rugby director, having taken over at Franklin's Gardens in June 2007.
"We mustn't forget what he did with the club; he brought them back up and then delivered the Aviva Premiership title, and they were very nearly the first team to go unbeaten to win the European Champions Cup."
The 2003 World Cup winner believes that the best man to take over from Mallinder is former England coach, Stuart Lancaster.
Lancaster is currently an assistant coach with Leinster, and signed a contract extension at the club in May, but Greenwood says there are ways for Lancaster to approach it if he interested in the job, and says the 48-year-old will bring plenty of experience to the role.
"My favourite - Stuart Lancaster," Greenwood replied when asked about potential candidates for the job.
"I suspect, as with all things in life, if a coach goes to Leo Cullen or Leinster and goes 'There's an opportunity for me to go home', there's no impassable mountain in terms of that.
"Extraordinary learning to have taken out of 2015, a tremendous amount of wisdom he will have picked up on that in terms of how to make the big calls - I think he's conducted himself admirably.
"He's gone over to Leinster, he's part of a coaching staff that now produced a team that were quick brilliant at Exeter Chiefs."