Bath’s Mike Ford pays penalty for disappointing season

• Bath fail to qualify for European Champions Cup• Last season’s Premiership finalists drop to ninthMike Ford has left his role as the coach of Bath only 12 months after guiding them to a first Premiership final for 11 years. Ford has paid the price for a torrid season, with Bath finishing ninth in the Premiership and missing on qualification for next season’s Champions Cup. Sam Burgess’s hasty return to rugby league was one of a number of off-field distractions he also had to contend with.Ford, who joined Bath as part of Gary Gold’s coaching staff in 2012 before taking over a year later, had …