England will decide on the future of England manager Martin Johnson before the end of the year according to England’s director of rugby operations Rob Andrew.

As the England players headed home from the rugby world cup with the heartache of being beaten 19-12 by France in the quarter-finals, Johnson wanted time to reflect on what went wrong before deciding on his future.

It was England’s worst World Cup performance since 1999, although Johnson wryly noted that, after the side lost in the quarter-finals that year, they went on to win the the Webb Ellis Trophy at the next edition in 2003 when he was captain.

But his contract is up for renewal, and Andrew wants a management structure in place by the end of the year to take the side through to the next World Cup, which England will stage, in 2015.

Former England fly-half Andrew said the decision would be made after a “very robust” review of the failed 2011 campaign involving players and management.

He added he would spend “the next four to six weeks” in discussions with Johnson and “between now and Christmas will make a recommendation (to the Rugby Football Union) about the England management team going forward.

“At the very, very latest on January 1, 2012 we’re ready to pick the squad for the Six Nations and start the campaign for 2012 and on for 2015 because that will come around very very quickly,” Andrew explained

“We will do it quickly and openly and our recommendations will be made to the management board in as short a space as possible so we can actually set the direction to travel very quickly towards 2015.”

He said it was made clear to Johnson when he was appointed after Brian Ashton was sacked when England lost the 2007 World Cup final that he would be supported until the 2011 tournament and his position then reviewed.

“That’s what World Cups do. You are brutally thrown out one day and start thinking about the next one the next day.”

Although Andrew would not be drawn on whether he thought the latest campaign had been failure he offered ” from a performance point of view we haven’t done as well as we hoped”.

The England players came off the field after the France defeat in Auckland on Sunday immediately throwing their weight behind Johnson, believing he should continue in the role.

The manager repaid their faith in him saying he believed he had moulded a group of young players who would carry England forward as the older brigade, including Jonny Wilkinson, Mike Tindall and Lewis Moody moved on.

“Certainly, whatever happens, this teams in a better place than it as three years ago,” Johnson said of England, the reigning Six Nations champions.

There’s a lot of work gone into that,” the former lock added.

“It’s not just about tactics, in fact I say to them (the players) all the time, it’s not the strategy that’s going to win the game, it’s how you execute it.”