We lost today to a team that ran from deep onto the ball and looked sharper than us an wanted it more.
They gave their forwards the ball running onto it at pace from deep which hurts you when you have a flat defence like ours whereas we chuck it to Big Frank or Aizue or whoever standing flat who then trying to get going.
It doesn't work, so who is at fault?
Come on it has to be the coach when it happens week in week out.

I am sick of losing to teams who just have the bit extra in organisation and as a result beat us.
Calland HAS TO GO sooner rather than later so we can start building for NEXT YEAR.
This season has to go down as one of the most disappointing in the last 15 years if we don't win anything with what on paper is the best squad in this league.
Thing is we cannot afford this team now so we will have to let some of them go.
Rebuil with players that have a desire to play for Fax and a coach that can organise them.

1 Northern Rail Cup performances.
2 Turning up to a postponed cup tie after travelling to the ground.
3 Signing Holroyd again.

Will seriously consider my options for future games.

As said previously I do not usually climb on the sack the coach bandwagon but enough, today was an insult to all the travelling fans.

Had a few beers myself so got to keep it simple:

Basics = incapable
Team Decision making= shocking
Discipline = poor
Communication= poor
Fitness = poor
Players Technical Ability= good
Entertainment value= high
Performances= below par
Crowds = sure to diminish under current setup
Super League = why?
Chances of winning major comp: low (unless discipline instilled)
Time to sort it: now

Bit simple but why not



ps ref: no comment

Hey you guys have just got Holroyd back,next coming are Brendan Hill,Colin Dixon,and Johnny Freeman,HAPPY DAYS.

I, and I suspect most fans of other championship clubs will be quite happy if matt stays on!!

I don't see what is so amusing about Holroyd coming back. At age 34 he is the same age as Keith Senior who is still playing for Leeds in SL on a regular basis so I would have thought that playing in the Championship at 34 would be quite acceptable.

i though GH had a good first half, his kicking class showed, and if luke branigan can learn from the old master, then even better

a couple of times the link up between LB and GH was excellent, and i saw LB try a new kick, based on what GH had done

GH might just turn out to be a good short term signing, even better if he is doing some kicking coaching with LB,BB and LP

going off thread, LB need to stop kicking from hand for touch, he just does not have the distance!

Brannigan is more of a positional kicker and Beswick should kick for touch when we get penalties.Mr Calland is going to come under some severe criticsm because of the Dewsbury defeat,his motivation and man man mangement skills are a lot to be questioned.Why does he repeatedly choose to coach the game from the stands when its on the touch line the players are looking for some leadership of direction and hes simply not there.If we are not careful this season is going to be out of our hands befre we know it,after all that was the only second time Dewsbury had won all season.

The seasons already gone, time to wake up, now, Matt Calland is rank! and all those that disagree have their right to do that, but one thing i do know is were going backwards, how lame to make excuses in the worrier like he has, they are his players, they cant tackle, he has no cover, they dont show enough pride.

Get real, the players are not looking at the bench during the match! and if they do Bally is there

Jowiet was in his glass box yesterday and came down to the pitch side with ten to go about the same time as mat did! much like Eaton did at Keighky the other week, did u ever see frant endecot at wigan and new zeland in the dugout, no he sat in the stands, were does Karl Harrion sit at Batley, in the stands, do u watch Sky, when they pan to the coaches, were are they! sat in the bluudy stands!
A larger number of coaches in many sports watch from an elivated position to get a better view of the game

STOP Press

Matt Calland wears jeans on his day off therore he ust be a bad coach becase he does not wear his fax tracksuit!

where his commitment and passion, jeans i ask u the club is doomed, doomed i say doomed!



Double stop press, Matt Calland only has 14 firt players and has to play 3 players who are not fir, he must be a bad coach beacuse of this!

STOP PRESS: When Calland has a fully fit squad we make the same silly, basic errors and throw away possession, Not to mention we simply can't defend to save our lives on a consistent basis. You need only look at Fev away, Hunslet at Home, Leigh at Home this season (to name just 3 games) . . . . . . . . What excuse can you come up with for those games? - Entertaining at times but mostly downright frustrating that we can't close down a game. At 16-6 up yesterday we should have had the game sewn up but errors and poor defending allowed Dewsbury to get a head of steam. All I ask for is pride and passion and he simply doesn't seem capable of getting Halifax RLFC to show this. I'd watch us lose every week just to see some pride in the blue and white. If a coach can't motivate you might as well give up. - I just wish Calland would admit defeat and do the honourable thing.

another discraseful performance, built strongly round clueless defence..

standing and waiting for the attack to come to you is not defending, its schoolboy stuff!!!

im sorry, have backed MC as far as i can!

i dont understand how you can go from a team that reaches the GF in 2009....go out shopping and buy some of the best performers in last years championship ( nash, branners) and still come up so far short..

we've got n ideas in defence, and our attack is hit and miss.

we deserve better as paying fans.....

the 1st time iv said this but im afraid youv used up all your lives mr calland!!!!

Okay if we accept that you are indeed correct and it is time for Calland to go it raises two questions.

1. Who will fund the remainder of his contract, will it be you or the rest of the fans who are calling for his head on a stick?

2. Who are you going to bring in to replace him right now and how are you going to afford it?

i dont know if its a fax thing, but we seem to do far too much calling for coaches heads, it solves very little in the short term, and just casues a whole lot more cost, coaches should be judged on a season not a loss or two, we are in a play off position after all!

no i am not happpy at the loss yesterday, but it was a contest right up to the last ten minutes and could have quite easily gone our way!

i would love to be the manager of some of the posters on here and see how they perform at work!

There in lies the problem - I agree that something needs to be done but as per your post above begs the questions Who and How? - I would rather have Billy & Bluey doing it if they can get an improvement (which wouldn't be difficult) but appreciate we are in a catch 22 scenario at present.

Saying that why openly say in the press we need to dip into the transfer market rather than the "loanee" market?? I suspect it is loanees we are after rather than spending cash we don't have.

I can't believe how people are falling for this injuries crap. Its just excuse after excuse.

I'd have thought the Hunslet farce and the coach not knowing what was needed to go through thus not informing Pats to take his time and run the clock down to zero and Ostick thing would have been grounds enough to terminate the contract. Me and a mate rushed back from Nottingham early after a night out and got a taxi from wakefield, missed first 15 minutes but still paid in to watch that shower of e.

Changes now may rescue the season, yes we may end up being worse but we wont know until we try, rather then just ambling along like we are, jeez our defence is shocking.

When I think of the income lost makes me shudder.

I like rich and tonyfax are forever coming on here defending the team/staff/matt but yesterday was truely truely awful. Something has got to give sooner or later.. If the players are not sticking to the gameplan then ship them out and get some in that will.. If the players are just not responding to the coach anymore then there maybe lies the problem.

Injuries are a real problem right now so I can understand positional changes etc but that team we had out yesterday should have put 30-40 on that lot yesterday. I would love to know some of the stats.. Particularly the 1 on 1 tackle stats as I lost count how many we didn't make..

In a way we were a little unlucky not to sneak a win as Shads try was a definate try with a couple minutes to go which I think we would have won from there if it had been given but it wasn't so hey ho...

I am bored of trying to defend people and I won't even try after yesterday it was that bad. I don't know the problem, I don't know the solution but what I do know is that we have a group of players who collectively should batter teams like Dewsbury and for some reason it just didn't happen.

Its not who we lose to its the way we lose and the way things are done. We have so much potential but we are not seeing any signs o it happening. I support the coach as long as I see evidence that he knows what he is doing and that the team are trying their best and that we are heading in the right direction.The signs have been there since day 1. Calland has had 3 years and simply is underachieving. The question is how long do we wait before Calland actually is costing us more than be getting rid of him? Nobody knows that answer. But I know several people who refuse to watch Fax under Calland.Here is what I feel the problem is with Calland and Fax and why we will never win anything under him

DEFENCE
Players miss tackles but there is no way teams who are way below our budget should be scoring over 35 points like Hunslet and Dewsbury have done. The problem has been for the past 3 years the System. Calland has brought in various players and the same problem exists. Calland cant coach how to defend properly. If you cant defend its unlikely you will win any trophys. In defence we never seem to have the first man in stopping the player and ball and then a second man working him slowly down on his back. Teams seem to find it easy to get us offside probably because our players are often too old and especially on warm days struggle to keep up with younger more enthuiastic teams.

ATTACK
We look clueless often especially against a good defence. We seem to rely on one play and off the cuff Skills of players. It works up to a point. When we are struggling and lacking confidence. we should go back to basics and do a simply 5 sets and a good kick. We need to build pressure. You need to respect the ball and have confidence in the moves you are doing.We need somebody who will say OK lets do the basics. We need 1 Captain who everybody respects-not 13 Captains who do what they want. We need less panic and rush and more composure. Playing off the Cuff like we seem to do looks good at times but simply will not win us any trophys

DISCIPLINE
Discipline has been a problem on and off the field under Calland both for players and Staff! Blackpool last year for example. Calland threatening people in Clubs. Players often drinking 24 hrs before a game. We give so many needless penalties away in defence its pathetic. We have players who need a strong Coach who will not let them do what they want on and off the field. In Pro RL you need a team that is in control of itself and can control games through discipline both with and without the ball. I fail to see that with Fax at all.

SQUAD
We have a small old Squad. As you get over 30 the injuries increase and they take longer to heal. In the heat you struggle due to the body not being as sharp as somebody younger. So you get caught off side more or give away silly penalties. The knowledge is in the head but the body is not able to adapt as it used to. An old squad like us will struggle in the heat and at the end of the season.
How come Hunslet, Keighley, Dewsbury etc have a reserve team on a budget a lot smaller than us? Any Pro team MUST have a reserve team to keep ALL players fit and also to give youngsters a chance. We have young Fleming sat away doing nothing. No way will he play first grade for Fax. So we send him somewhere for a month. Cheeryholme is sent to Swinton for a while. What a waste of money and talent! We have wasted money IMHO on Aizue and Gene as well as Holroyd now ,when that could have gone on having a reserve team. If we have injuries then give the reserve players a chance instead of playing a few crocked players.No wonder we are struggling

Biggest load of codswallopp ive heard. There were players yesterday who were fit to play but didnt. How does he explain this?

Exactly!! - Where is MArk Roberts? He must have had his legs amputated as he hasn't been seen or heard from in 2 months+. Surely he could cover? Why haven't we recalled Danny Flemming if injuries are that bad? I always get the feeling Calland is full of excuses.

Totally agree mate!!

From what I heard, Danny's been back at 'fax for a few weeks.