two more entering into the home straight of the season without contracts in place for next year
Henderson and ........ Cave?
second marquee import playing just one game thanks to yet more substantial surgery
fans told a former All Black was signed only to be injured before he even arrived
There have been misfires in the market for sure - when one recent signing wasn't fit to play for the Ulster second string this season, the opposition coaches were heard expressing their disappointment having seen him in the reverse fixture
I've no issue with NIQs not being marquee signings, just ensure they have a history of being durable. Thinking of Pedrie Wannenburg, Franco Van der Merwe in recent years. Miles per gallon required from these squad fillers. Bringing in someone with an eye on finishing his career and looking a stepping stone into coaching would be no bad thing.
head coach Jono Gibbes, heading for the exit door due to what were described as family reasons.
All the best Jono, bon voyage! If you're not prepared to hold your hand up when your backs against the wall good luck in your next position wherever that may be. A new Director of Rugby if appointed will most likely want to bring in his own men, if Gibbes contract can be terminated via mutual consent then we've avoided a compensation event. Goodbye also Dwayne Peel, Aaron Dunden, Jonny Davis, Niall Malone and anyone else in the management setup I've left out. A culture change whether it turns out in the long run for better or for worse requires a complete removal of the entire current incumbents.
Tickets are priced based on categories, with top tier status given to top tier European competition. Quite how that equates to the same final price should Ulster find themselves in the Challenge Cup remains to be seen. A fight for another day perhaps.
But it's no doubt something that will come up when Bryn Cunningham faces a group of season ticket holders next week.
I would like URs reasoning for this also before renewing. Add to that the non announcement of a marquee signing which normally comes hand in hand with the renewals, I'm hoping the 400-500k is being spent on the best Director of Rugby / Head Coach the world has ever seen.
Why the two year renewal option? What is the major investment next year that requires this money up front? Is there not a fear this additional season ticket money will be spent in the first twelve months leaving us financially crippled for the 2nd season. Does Logan want to now financially ruin us also?
Bryn Cunningham faces a group of season ticket holders next week. Again, it's the same man left to face the music. It's a gut feeling, but it certainly doesn't seem as if the former full-back is to blame for the malaise.
Bryn will do for me, he's one of our own, talks like a fan and it's evident he has the clubs interests and not his own long term aspirations to the forefront.
but when Kiss made his exit, an Ulster statement read: "Operations Director Bryn Cunningham will manage the off-field operations of the professional team," with the implication being that had not previously always been the case.
Thanks for the clarity Bradders, hopefully that will exonerate Bryn from some of the mud being flung at him.
Less prone to waffle than most, his frankness post-match shows how much he's hurt by goings on - one only hopes he is given the freedom to be part of the solution. There remains a feeling that it's not him who should be facing the music.
LOGAN OUT, it's time for the banners all over the terraces. Hoping the rumours are true from what I've read here that he is in fact gone/going. He has created so many layers of management to put between himself and the issues it's disgustng. What is he now accountable for on a day to day basis that he can't put a pleb manager out to the wolves to answer questions?
Names like Tana Umaga and Daryl Gibson are already doing the rounds,
Snipes already summed it up, on knees over broken glass for McCall, would Piutaus 500k bring him back? Likewise Lancaster has pedigree for creating a conveyor belt of academy graduates.
I'll go as far to say that's the best article Bradley has penned.
, even if most targets are either, in terms of Ulster Rugby, deceased or dead men walking, man journalists fear burning too many bridges, so the truth is seldom fully written.
