StandUp wrote:Is Dan the type to hold a grudge, or are Izzy and Marcus a bad influence on each other?
From what I’ve heard yes he very much is the type to hold a grudge.. eg heard he had a run-in with JTA in an early scrum session which is why he pretty much didn’t darken a team sheet until his hand was forced (and instead we had to watch Milo / our scrum get crumpled on multiple occasions…)
If this is true, and I understand it’s a very big IF, then these grudges/ petulant huffs could be preventing the right players from being on the field. This in turn, could have been the cause of the horrible results we have seen recently.
IF this is the case, he should be hung by the toes and beaten about the shins with a hard implement, before seeing the door. This is supposed to be a professional outfit, not somewhere to harbour petty grudges and the senior management should be introduced to said hard implement for allowing it to happen. IF it happened…..
Big-al wrote: ↑Thu Jan 26, 2023 3:54 pm
Well, they should mend it. Marcus breakdown ability was key to ulster last season.
Can’t mind what game … was the last he played. Look closely and M Rea was extremely soft for I think 3 of their tries. Hasn’t been seen since. He was getting turnovers last season, not so much this year.
I think he took the fall for the late connacht collapse which nearly cost us the game. I do remember Blade scoring from close in with Rea barely getting off the goal line to make a tackle. It was a fairly pathetic attempt but if we binned every player who missed a tackle we'd be lucky to play 7s each week.
Big-al wrote: ↑Thu Jan 26, 2023 3:54 pm
Well, they should mend it. Marcus breakdown ability was key to ulster last season.
Can’t mind what game … was the last he played. Look closely and M Rea was extremely soft for I think 3 of their tries. Hasn’t been seen since. He was getting turnovers last season, not so much this year.
I think he took the fall for the late connacht collapse which nearly cost us the game. I do remember Blade scoring from close in with Rea barely getting off the goal line to make a tackle. It was a fairly pathetic attempt but if we binned every player who missed a tackle we'd be lucky to play 7s each week.
McIlroy and Marcus both weakly attempted the tackled. Poor stuff.
If there was an opportunity to administer corporal punishment to the the head coach there would be a queue - a very very long queue - might even be some players who would come out of retirement or fly from the other side of the world!
Dave wrote: ↑Thu Jan 26, 2023 6:26 pm
McFarseland doesn't want to be here. I wonder will a mutual decision come when his contract ends. I wonder when that is?
Obviously a coach needs to call the shots, and needs to stamp their authority on a squad. It’s not a democracy after all. At the same time it shouldn’t be an outright autocracy, and there should be space for some exchanges of opinion, dialogue etc.
And I don’t know the details, but I heard about the JTA thing at exactly the time when we were down tightheads and he was giving starts to Milo who was then getting absolutely savaged, and it didn’t sit right with me. Literally sabotaging the teams chances because you don’t like how someone chatted to you once..
And there’s no doubt we’ve seen weird patterns of selections over the years - guys disappearing off the face of the earth for no apparent reason, guys coming in from leftfield and then disappearing again, guys not getting a look-in, no real rhyme or reason..
(In the case of Marcus, for all i like him as a player there’s no doubt he needs to up his tackling game. As to whether that justifies completely jettisoning him from the side is another question. But we certainly haven’t posed much of a challenge over the ball since he’s been dropped)
Dave wrote: ↑Thu Jan 26, 2023 6:26 pm
McFarseland doesn't want to be here. I wonder will a mutual decision come when his contract ends. I wonder when that is?
McFarland has contract until Summer 2025.
This is his 5th season in charge.
I don't think any of his predecessors in the pro era lasted for more than 4 which is probably the norm. Time for some new ideas.
Volunteer at an animal sanctuary; it will fill you with joy , despair, but most of all love, unconditional love of the animals.
Big Neville Southall
Dave wrote: ↑Thu Jan 26, 2023 6:26 pm
McFarseland doesn't want to be here. I wonder will a mutual decision come when his contract ends. I wonder when that is?
Well if he got interviewed by Leicester then that’s not a good look.
StandUp wrote:Is Dan the type to hold a grudge, or are Izzy and Marcus a bad influence on each other?
From what I’ve heard yes he very much is the type to hold a grudge.. eg heard he had a run-in with JTA in an early scrum session which is why he pretty much didn’t darken a team sheet until his hand was forced (and instead we had to watch Milo / our scrum get crumpled on multiple occasions…)
I heard a different rumour as to why JTA didn't darken a team sheet for a number of weeks before he came back.
StandUp wrote:Is Dan the type to hold a grudge, or are Izzy and Marcus a bad influence on each other?
From what I’ve heard yes he very much is the type to hold a grudge.. eg heard he had a run-in with JTA in an early scrum session which is why he pretty much didn’t darken a team sheet until his hand was forced (and instead we had to watch Milo / our scrum get crumpled on multiple occasions…)
I heard a different rumour as to why JTA didn't darken a team sheet for a number of weeks before he came back.
He was injured......
He was on the bench for the first match of the season, and didn’t get a run-out until the Benetton match in Jan - and was out injured for a couple of weeks of that time AFAIK.. but by all accounts he went great guns in training ever since he joined
