I keep hearing this issue matter being eluded to by McD and others, anyone know what it is?
Thought we did OK on Friday fingers crossed for St Helens.

Welcome!

I watched the game back yesterday for the first time and noticed some reference to "off field issues" in McD's post match interview. I'm not aware of anything but there are plenty of people on here who allege to be "in the know". See how you go on........

I am a simple man, I thought he was just hinting at the issues with the training facilities.

Oh, come on. We can do better than that.

Who's Ferres been doing now?

He's referenced "Off field issues" a bit this year and I think the conspiracy theorists in us probably look at player misdemeanors, out partying, drinking etc etc firstly, but having thought back to other pressers and interviews in recent games the off field issues have been touched on if you listen closer.

The main one we’re all aware off is the Boxing Day floods and being forced out of our training base. No matter what anyone says it has had a massive impact on our season. I can’t remember where I read it or heard it the other day but someone said “professional sports people are creatures of habit” and minor changes to preparation, no matter how insignificant to us mere mortals, can have massive effects.

The other issue is training. Mac has mentioned there are players who can’t train otherwise they wouldn’t be able to play. Those that are injured are injured, but I fear we have a number of players who are carrying knocks who also have to play but are unable to give 100 or even 75%.

I'm thinking and hoping this is all he means.

We haven't taken the field this year with a fully fit squad and its shown. I think we've been caught on every breakaway, our chasing back has lacked and the forwards look gassed before the games even kick off. The complete polar opposite to recent seasons.

To quote the great D-ream. "Thiiiinnnnngggsss can only get betterrrrrrrr"

Yes, you might be right there. However, ss the training ground issue has been so well publicised, I just thought he would have mentioned that specifically, if that is what he was referring to.

Yes. And injuries.

Some of you on here really need to spend less time on here if you think it's anything else.

According to one of the players, the season has been disrupted by having to share gyms with all those who spend their time there mincing around with their sun tan injections.

It's most likely just referring to the disruption from the training ground being flooded.

He may have a point.

There's definitely been a concerted effort by the club to utilise all servile and unquestioning media assets available to them in order to get the MESSAGE OUT THERE!!!!

"IT WOZ THE FLOODS AND LOSS OF FAMILIAR FACILITIES THAT'S RESPONSIBLE...<insert added twist to tale of woe here>"

Given the restless and disgruntled mindset of the fanbase in recent times, that message appears to have temporarily assuaged the majority of the great replica-shirted unwashed.

For the time being anyhow.

Round 1 to GH.

Do you think the floods have had an effect?

According to JJB, folk like YOU have had an effect.

Do you think they should have had the effect of turning the best team in the competition to the worst?

Doesn't appear to have had anywhere near the same impact on the RU team - strange that.

Its a convenient excuse for the club and it diverts attention from the real issues:

1. Lack of quality young players coming through the system
2. Inability to recruit correctly to cover high profile departures
3. Pretty poor recruitment of the likes of Falloon, Galloway, Achurch etc
4. Poor coaching standards throughout the club with a first team that is seriously under performing

etc, etc

Perhaps if the club were honest about some of the above then you could take their constant bleating about the floods a tad more seriously

I think the affect if the training facilities will have an impact on the team. Fitness and conditioning are such a big part of the piece that I think messing that about to any extent week have an impact, I don't think we as fans can measure that impact. Add is often said when someone missed or season through injury it takes a number of games to get back to where they were, this is potentially happening to the whole team.

I do however doubt it is the sole reason for our demise. Losing Sinfield and peacock is huge. Id say the single biggest reason.
Injuries are part of our game and quite a lot of teams have a long injury list. As a big club we should have better depth bit it doesn't appear to be working that way

Do you think the floods have had an effect?

I don't think you can judge Leeds the worst team until the end of the season.

Do you think fans like YOU who are sharing the gym with the players and who wear spandex/mince around/sun tan injections, etc, have had an effect as JJB alleges?

I don't think your contribution is as effective as JJB and Hardaker are making out TBH.

Simple question requires just a simple answer. From that I get you don't think the floods have had as big an impact as JJB and hardaker make out, which implies you think they've had some effect.

对不对？

Schofield several times said that the Leeds players should stop sulking and just get on with it. If this was a reference to the lack of decent training facilities causing a negative attitude in the team it could have been exasperated by the loss of the team leaders and certain other key players missing from training due to injury. But it far from ideal to train in a public place.

I can also see how a spate of early season new injuries could have led some of the players to then blame the lack of usual training for this and develop a negative attitude. Certainly there has been a question regarding the fitness and lack of effort from certain players.

Mental attitude is such an important part of sport and even the most positive people can be brought down by persistent negative whispering.

However if this scenario were true it is a sad indictment on some of the squad that they could allow this to have had such a bad effect on their performances. Negative people in a team need weeding out no matter what their star quality.

The thing about the training facilities isnt that it in and of itself would cause a drastic short-term slump in form, but that it is part of a chain of events that has meant that we have been on the wrong side of some fine margins.

Leeds are a squad introducing some new players, seeing some new leaders step forward, seeing more responsibility on some new shoulders. Sports are about an extra few percent here, a few more there, a bit better stamina, a step quicker, a little stronger. Leeds have always been a team that excelled at the end of games, that had that little bit more in the well. It doesnt take a lot to lose that either in your training or your recovery. Once that starts happening then you find yourself not getting through gaps you thought you would, not winning the collisions like you should, not making the tackles you expect to. Then you start pushing the pass a bit, going a little early, thinking about stepping the defender before catching the ball, so you make less metres, turnover more ball, have to defend that bit more and the cycle starts over, then confidence drops, you dont have the trust in your outside man anymore so you start rushing out, you start making poor decisions and all of a sudden you are behind on the scoreboard. Injuries are piling up and the guys who used to get you out of these holes, the ones who know how to arent there anymore so new players, new combinations have to.

I would suggest Hardaker's lack of professionalism outside of training has more to do with his lack of form than any issues he is experiencing at Kirkstall

Their must be a comfort/familiarity factor that comes into play as well as the stated lost 2 sessions when it first happened (which you can never get back). If any old pitch and any old gym will do then why do teams nearly always in sport have better home records than away records? At the end of the day the game is still played on a pitch with the opposition having 17 guys, yet we'd all consider home advantage when thinking of match outcomes.

Whilst we are getting the use of other facilities it's not always been at the times of day that we would've normally done it at Kirkstall and even things like that need to be considered because a club like Leeds does take in account what they do in training and WHEN they do it. A bit like when we went to Catalans this year, because it was a slightly earlier kickoff we got there the day before unlike previous years when we did the travel on the day, thought goes into the timing of what you do and they don't just randomly pick a time/day to do what they want in training.

Agreed.

" It's all in the mind, folks!"
Late Wallace Greenslade, announcer on The Goon Show.

When did we go bottom?!!!





Yep, because playing 2nd division RU definitely requires the same strength and fitness as playing SL.



You said exactly the same when Leeds lost a few last season, you were wrong then too (as usual).



Sorry, aren't 2 & 3 basically the same? Are you just trying to make your list look longer?





Oh please expand on that for us, we'd love to know.



Perhaps if you didn't spend your entire time on this forum writing off the club, bleating about certain players and trying to belittle their achievements then people might take you a tad more seriously.











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