The UAFC

Dave wrote: ↑Thu Apr 13, 2023 5:22 pm So 99 was a fluke. Now I'm depressed too.

thecrouch wrote: ↑Thu Apr 13, 2023 5:36 pm

Dave wrote: ↑Thu Apr 13, 2023 5:22 pm So 99 was a fluke. Now I'm depressed too.

Dear David, that's 24 years ago.

Yesterday's news. Time waits for no man.

I don't want us to be dining out on 99 forever. Like the English soccer fans always talking about 1966, so Ulster fans will forever talk of 1999.

thecrouch wrote: ↑Thu Apr 13, 2023 5:18 pm Are we supposed to celebrate mediocrity now? It's nearly 20 years since Ulster won a trophy, but we're supposed to console ourselves with the idea that at least we aren't complete dross?

Finishing 2nd, getting a home quarter, getting a home semi, none of it matters a jot if you don't win it in the end. Are we going to get an open top bus tour around Belfast, with a big "HOME SEMI 2023" banner on the front? Who the hell cares if we're the 2nd best team in Ireland, do you get a trophy for that these days?

Personally, I don't think our barren trophy cabinet (do we even have one?) and the reliably unreliable nature of our team in big games is something to celebrate. It's something to fix.

If you're looking for mindless positivity you should try the URSC facebook, you'll find loads of it there and very little critical thinking. Honestly, some Ulster supporters have the mediocre club that they deserve.

paddybrown wrote: ↑Thu Apr 13, 2023 4:23 pm This board is starting to get me down with the relentless negativity. Where does the attitude come from that we're entitled to expect Ulster to be better than they are? It's not like there's been a period within living memory where we've been consistent champions. We act like we're Man U fans drunk off that we're not matching the heights of the Fergie era - without ever having had a Fergie era to hark back to!

We've been trading off that one Heineken Cup championship in 1999, which is nearly a quarter of a century ago, and was, let's face it, a fluke. In the first 15 years of the Heineken Cup that was the only time we got out of the group. We were inconsistent in the Celtic League as well, winning it once, but finishing 8th twice and 9th twice.

The nearest thing to a golden age we've had in the professional era was four years under David Humphreys, Brian McLaughlin and Mark Anscombe when we consistently made the knockout rounds of the Heineken Cup, and were good but a bit inconsistent in the league, making the final once and the semis twice, but finishing 6th once, outside the playoff positions.

Then we had four years under Les Kiss and various coaches where we never got out of the group in the Heineken Cup, and were semi-finalists twice and didn't make the playoffs twice in the league. That ended in the infamous basket case season, and things have only got better since then.

The last five years under Dan has been about as good as that period under Humph, McGlock and Anscombe, qualifying for the knockouts most years in the Heineken Cup, and more consistently good in the league. The standard of rugby in our league has become much higher with the addition of the four South African team, but we've kept up. Last season we only lost to the eventual champions by a dodgy disallowed try and a dodgy last second conversion, away both times. This season we had a bad run that almost wrecked our Heineken Cup campaign (we just about recovered, and went out having fronted up to possibly the strongest Leinster team we've ever faced), but we've pretty much completely got away with it in the league, we're in third, with two home games to finish the regular season, a likely home quarter final to look forward to, and a feasible chance of finishing second and getting a home semi as well.

Ulster are as currently about as good as I can remember them being. We're the only European team in the URC to have won all four games against the South African teams. We're edging it over Munster for second best team in Ireland, but behind Leinster who have a player recruitment pipeline that's light years ahead of ours. Sure, there are things that have gone wrong and things that could be improved, but honestly, I think we should be pretty happy. Much happier than the atmosphere on this board, anyway.

And there's one positive thing has come out of the bad run - the crowd has got behind the team more, and the atmosphere on the terraces is a lot better.

Dave wrote: ↑Fri Apr 14, 2023 8:08 am I thought this thread was going to be showcasing some fine art. Realism is 'mid nineteenth century artistic movement characterised by subjects painted from everyday life in a naturalistic manner'.