2015-2016 what's to be done?

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Snipe Watson
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2015-2016 what's to be done?

Post by Snipe Watson »

Right that's another frustrating 'nearly season' consigned to the history books.

What do we need to address before September?
and
How do we address it?
BuckRogers
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Re: 2015-2016 what's to be done?

Post by BuckRogers »

Get rid of Clarke

Find a better TH than Bronson.

Take Lutton into a dark room and kick the sheeite out of him for being a imbecile.

A clear and coherent game plan with a back up option or two.

A bigger physio room.

Improved focus on skills.


That's all I can muster currently, first two points are the most important IMO.
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Re: 2015-2016 what's to be done?

Post by LUMBERJACK »

Coach - refer Glasgow .
BuckRogers
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Re: 2015-2016 what's to be done?

Post by BuckRogers »

To be fair I am sure Lutton feels worse about that than I do angry and to add further fairness it was the mindless penalty at the ensuing line out that really did for us not specially his brain fart.

Williams is just a waste of space. I would have taken the financial hit and tore up his contract just to get rid of him his final act of idiocy, it had been coming before then.

The concerning thing is we will actually have a very, very decent side during the RWC. If we play like we can play ie fast paced, high tempo with decent skills eg Glasgow (home) Tigers (home) and Leinster (home) we can do damage-

1-Black, 2-Herring, 3-Herbst, 4-AOC, 5-vDM, 6-Diack, 7-AN Other, 8-Wilson, 9-Marshall, 10-Humph, 11-Gilroy, 12-McCloskey, 13-Arnold, 14-Nelson, 15-Ludik

Andrew, Warwick, Lutton, Stevenson, Williams, Rowley, new Aussie, Stockdale/Owens
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solidarity
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Re: 2015-2016 what's to be done?

Post by solidarity »

Obviously a better class of team photograph is a must for the new season:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/32950796 :D
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Re: 2015-2016 what's to be done?

Post by Deraless »

We need to front up, step up to the mark, match physicality, learn from our mistakes and come back stronger blah blah blah
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Re: 2015-2016 what's to be done?

Post by Nightsoil »

What's needed -

Discipline
Smarts
3-4 players who can improve the first choice 23
A better class of dross

How are we going to get it -

Hopefully Kiss will promote a better class of leadership to solve the first two. Hopefully. I'm not quite sure where it comes from if not there.

We are only getting a better class of dross and those players who improve the first choice 23 if the coaches can take our young players and upskill them. Warwick should play a far bigger role next season, we could really use an academy back-row coming through, all of our young 12s need to turn big potential into the undoubted real deal and so on.

Think it was Kofi who asked why people assumed Les Kiss will change everything. I'm not assuming anything, but I'm really hoping it will, because if he doesn't, we are back to square one; there or there abouts come play-off time but probably not making it.
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Re: 2015-2016 what's to be done?

Post by BuckRogers »

Less lies and/or BS from the Lt Col would also be nice.

I see that auld TH with a few air miles that was all but 'finished' with 'back problems' is standing in the changing room for Gloucester in their play off final ready to take to the field...strange that.
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Snipe Watson
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Re: 2015-2016 what's to be done?

Post by Snipe Watson »

BuckRogers wrote:Less lies and/or BS from the Lt Col would also be nice.

I see that auld TH with a few air miles that was all but 'finished' with 'back problems' is standing in the changing room for Gloucester in their play off final ready to take to the field...strange that.
Sadly I have to agree with this. I was giving him the benefit of the doubt, but I fear Fit is a spoofer.
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Re: 2015-2016 what's to be done?

Post by BuckRogers »

One of his stated aims was 'developing the club game' how many clubs/club games has he actually visited...?
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Re: 2015-2016 what's to be done?

Post by Cap'n Grumpy »

BuckRogers wrote:One of his stated aims was 'developing the club game' how many clubs/club games has he actually visited...?
What relevance has him visiting to do with club development?

If you ask about improving club finances for clubs, coaches for clubs, investment in clubs, etc some of which may or may not be within his bailiwick shirley that would be a different matter.

Btw I don't know the answer to your question or the possible ones I've suggested.
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Re: 2015-2016 what's to be done?

Post by BuckRogers »

Cap'n Grumpy wrote:
BuckRogers wrote:One of his stated aims was 'developing the club game' how many clubs/club games has he actually visited...?
What relevance has him visiting to do with club development?

If you ask about improving club finances for clubs, coaches for clubs, investment in clubs, etc some of which may or may not be within his bailiwick shirley that would be a different matter.

Btw I don't know the answer to your question or the possible ones I've suggested.
Thank you for that valuable contribution, I would like to say as usual it was worth waiting for but....

To address some of your own questions-

Visiting clubs, might-

Help his understanding, however small, about the club/(s) themselves?

Seeing, first hand, the mixed fortunes/problems clubs across the province are facing.

Some positive PR to back up his spin (read bs) about 'increasing' player participation in a season where there have been record number of games scratched?

In terms of your second question, he has (unsurprisingly) done nothing in that regard either.

He has, however, chopped a number of CRO positions though because he forgot about having to pay rates.

You're welcome.
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Re: 2015-2016 what's to be done?

Post by BaggyTrousers »

Well................... the thing is you see....................you could take a view that with very little different we could well have won the league, for the reality is that we scalded Weegies at Spanners & had to try really hard, but managed it, to lose at Scotstoun V2.

If you tot up the weeks missed through suspensions you would need to be a mug not to see where the first priority should be - discipline, we use to give that big mug Caldwell a hard time, now it's a feckin' epidemic of stupidity.

If we had something between the ears as a team we would do much better, we are not Toulon, but then they don't play in our league. Fits in with discipline to an extent.

Leadership needed and I don't mean a captain, I mean all the senior players need to take some control on the pitch, not just Rory, Franco, Chad and Darren. I found it interesting that when captain's were discussed, not one mention was made of our best player. I suspect he is so frazzled by 5 years solid rugby broken only by periods of rehab, it is no surprise that he is appearing somewhat less than controlling & sharp of late and when he raised himself in Glasgow it didn't last into the second half.

Next is the off-field stupidity, we continually play our strongest or near strongest team at home & we send lesser selections to games we think we are strong enough to win away :duh: The clear evidence of the idiocy of this is in our away record this season. It is n outrage that it continues.

Rotation, I keep coming back to Big Licence, but I am dumbfounded by how little he was used this season. Black is good but by Christ he is not so massively better than BL to the extent that BL gets little to no game time. Similarly there are players who would kill for as much game time as Big Licence, for you see them dropped in to sink or swim. Like a broken record I see no reason why every home selection should not bring at the very least a couple of guys with the bulk of the best team & of course the "rested players" on the bench in case of need. That is not radical, it's sensible.

Third Quarter Syndrome, another of my regulars, why do plyers come back in state of torpor after halftime?

Talk of the players we need is an utter waste of breath, we have what we have & no scope to do anything but possibly tinker at the edges if we find someone IQ.

The off-field nonsense from Fit & his minions may boil folk's pish but unless someone wants to speak directly to him or a deputation from URSC for example, we are not going to see the back of the dress code, the bullshit & the 7 commandments. Frankly I let it wash over me with an entire absence of fu@ks given.

Les Kiss, wait and see, no guarantees, he's not the messiah, he's a very good defense coach. If he is more than that, great.

In summary there are things that can be done & there are the other bits & pieces on the wish list:

The "To dos":

1) Discipline
2) Rugby intelligence, I'm no coach but I fail to believe that even with the stupidest of players improvement can be coached & progress identified, players sanctioned for stupid acts.
3) Selection, stop the nonsense of product for the home crowd & taking chances on chubes away.
4) Sensible rotation particularly when the squad is not depleted by injury, with strong bench.
5) Leadership from senior players, not just the skipper, he should be freer to manage refs.
6) Third Quarter Syndrome, has to be sorted by the coaches, have they not noticed?

The Wish List

Everything else. It' largely unimportant, the "to dos" are what matters, everything else in it's own time, Fit & the Whoppers, dumb videos which quite obviously are aimed at clowns, 7 Commandments. These things don't impact on the pitch, certainly not significantly.
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Cap'n Grumpy
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Re: 2015-2016 what's to be done?

Post by Cap'n Grumpy »

BuckRogers wrote:
Cap'n Grumpy wrote:
BuckRogers wrote:One of his stated aims was 'developing the club game' how many clubs/club games has he actually visited...?
What relevance has him visiting to do with club development?

If you ask about improving club finances for clubs, coaches for clubs, investment in clubs, etc some of which may or may not be within his bailiwick shirley that would be a different matter.

Btw I don't know the answer to your question or the possible ones I've suggested.
Thank you for that valuable contribution, I would like to say as usual it was worth waiting for but....

To address some of your own questions-

Visiting clubs, might-

Help his understanding, however small, about the club/(s) themselves?

Seeing, first hand, the mixed fortunes/problems clubs across the province are facing.

Some positive PR to back up his spin (read bs) about 'increasing' player participation in a season where there have been record number of games scratched?

In terms of your second question, he has (unsurprisingly) done nothing in that regard either.

He has, however, chopped a number of CRO positions though because he forgot about having to pay rates.

You're welcome.
In terms of the first question, I doubt very much that him visiting clubs will achieve much - there's more to Ulster Rugby and the clubs than him. Most of the info could be garnered through the blazers and committees. He could be spending his time better than visiting clubs. Not saying he shouldn't do it, just not top of his list of priorities.

As for the second - that is exactly the sort of thing I was getting at, and if you'd addressed that question in the first instance, I would have understood it better. I also don't think it's as simple as "forgetting to pay the rates" - the re-organisation of councils undoubtedly contributed to that, as did cutting of funding from the Fools on the Hill, but it is certainly something he needs to be addressing. Maybe instead of visiting clubs his time might be better used lobbying and looking for other funding opportunities etc. On some counts he does seem to have improved funding by increasing sponsorship etc, (and that's maybe not just down to him - I don't know), but there's still lots needing done.
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BuckRogers
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Re: 2015-2016 what's to be done?

Post by BuckRogers »

Funny, maybe I'm not the only one asking that exact question?

Regarding the rates-If one extends ones house/business premises or what not, one might not unreasonably expect to pay higher rates. The notion that the changing of council boundaries had much if any impact is complete horse manure. He got his sums wrong plain and simple.

With regards to clubs I suppose it is, perhaps, where ones priorities lie.

Is the club game and professional game one entity or two distinctly separate ones?

If there are no, or certainly fewer, clubs to attract kids into minis, maxis, under age and senior level will this impact the pro game?

In Ulster another 'senior' side was relegated to junior rugby this season. This was the second Ulster side in a row to be relegated out of the AIL. Dungannon probably aren't far from making it three in a row.

I would also point out things aren't exactly rosey in the pro set up. Yes he maximised some limited recent success to get some decent sponsorship deals but these were done prior to the rates debacle. They are also long term deals not open to renegotiation for 5/10 years in most instances. I suppose that will have no impact on budgets etc...

That is before we even consider Lt Col was going to appoint Clarke as Head Shed ('cause he was Humphreys closest acolyte) until he realised he would have a revolt on his hands from both players and coaches. A man with his finger well and truly on the organisational pulse.
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