christopher wrote:That fan last week at Hull who was swearing at people for enjoying the win must have been apoplectic today, some people really do need to chill out and remember it’s just a game
That just about sums up the attitude at Headingley , even some supporters are accepting the below average performances
KaeruJim wrote:You could equally ask whether a really rubbish coach could have taken that poor squad to a GF?
Really impressed with RS post match presser today. I know he polarises opinion on here but that’s a mature response, he’s not hanging teenage players on the line and some real honesty about where we are at.
Still has my backing into next season; but no excuses not to be in a play off position and much more competitive in 2024.
So with the players we have and the garbage we are signing you expect a play off place , well maybe we will ,but sneaking in to 6th place in this league is hardly a success story
Well its felt like the wheels were going to fall off for a while, and they have. Next week likely to see a similar result and scoreline as well. Lots of injuries but also the players who have left without being replaced have caused chaos.
We'll no doubt bring in some more signings, but Smith will start next season in the opposite position to this one, with almost a negative goodwill balance. I hope he learns from his mistakes this year, starting with the messing about in pre season and starting the season way off the pace. He'll be under pressure from the first game, as nobody is going to have any illusions about a mid-season turnaround which probably a fair few of us imagined would happen this year.
I hope that our one or two remaining signings will be big names as well. While accepting this is still a transition (and that Smith wasn't responsible for the previous years of that), we need a sign that the club has drawn a line in the sand. I like Miller, and from now on in will give Frawley a chance, but neither of them or Goudemand move the dial much. Without signings to get excited about I wouldn't be surprised if crowds drop off next year.
While Smith (and others) rightly say that the market is tight etc, the fact is that right now Sts and Wigan have far better players on their books than we do. No doubt some of them (especially at Sts) might be on slight unders as they want to win things, but we are fundamentally playing to the same cap. There is no excuse other than poor cap management to not have a team that has the ability to compete with them. Yet I look at the players they have vs us and its night and day in some positions.
Joined: Aug 02 2002 Posts: 7267 Location: Wakefield but near to Leeds!
KaeruJim wrote:Where are you going with this?
We got well beaten in the GF really.
This year’s team has beaten all the top sides and we’ve had a couple of really gutsy performances.
Those of you that have knives out for RS will use today as per of that you’re right, fair enough. In the vast majority of games we have been close. The standard of the whole league isn’t what it used to be but I still think RS can take us up the ladder if given support and resources.
Not sure you can say I have the knives out for Smith as I have ben prepared to give him a chance right up to around the 10th game of next season. My question on the squads is to find if we have a better squad now than we did last year and if we do have a better squad then why are we not doing better? On the other hand if our squad now is inferior then it goes some way to explaining why we failed to qualify for the playoffs which by our standard should be the minimum one should expect.
Joined: Nov 19 2002 Posts: 13618 Location: West Yorkshire
chapylad wrote:Not sure you can say I have the knives out for Smith as I have ben prepared to give him a chance right up to around the 10th game of next season. My question on the squads is to find if we have a better squad now than we did last year and if we do have a better squad then why are we not doing better? On the other hand if our squad now is inferior then it goes some way to explaining why we failed to qualify for the playoffs which by our standard should be the minimum one should expect.
We don’t have a better squad because 3 of the high level players have left during the season.
I think it’s surprising what a difference a few different players make to a result like yesterday.
Individual errors and a lack of kick pressure were the main difference by all accounts early on: we apply better pressure to Wigan early and tire them out in the heat it could be a very different game.
We don’t have those difference-making players yet. I still think we might need a 9 as well as a 7.
You cannot post new topics in this forum You cannot reply to topics in this forum You cannot edit your posts in this forum You cannot delete your posts in this forum You cannot post attachments in this forum