Splits within sports squads are very common, but don't necessarily always lead to a team's form being affected.

Look at Man Utd's 1999 side. Plenty of cliques in that lot, Sheringham and Cole pretty much hated each other. It never bothered their onfield results.

Lots of egos in the Wigan sides of the late 80’s and 90’s some coaches managed them well others didn’t and were pretty much ignored by the players (John Dorahay).

Man management is probably what makes a good coach great or a bad coach good, but it also works the other way.

I think Powell’s man management skills are poor and maybe his own ego gets in the way to the detriment of the team.

Yes they did seem on the surface to be enjoying themselves together, I was there practicing for the big weekend ahead. However, there is a frostiness between them as a group and it shows on the pitch. Somebody has to get a grip before another season passes us by.

Not only is his man-management seemingly poor - his excuse merchant persona is also very poor for a leader;

[i“It’s hard at the moment because I can’t take any middles out if they need resting or even dropping – I can’t do that.

“You’re then talking about bashing each other in training on five and six-day turnarounds, which is what we need to do to change what we’re doing, but it’s hard in the middle of a season.

“It’s not translating because our training time is not massive but I’m not making any excuses.[/i

You are making excuses Daryl, that's exactly what you're doing. Other clubs/coaches just seem to get on with whatever hand they're dealt. Then on top of that you've got blaming the spectators - this just cannot end well.

Middles - We can play Green and drop Dudson. If we lose we lose, we are losing anyway!

Turnaround - 8 days this week.

Training Time - Again we have had 8 days.

I wonder what the not-an-excuse will be on Friday at 10pm?

The thing is are we really surprised? I'm not as I always thought that Powell came across as a glass half empty guy with a quick call on the ready made excuse front, usually injuries, even when Cas were doing well and punching above their weight from a financial backing POV.

I was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt, as we weren't seeing it week on week and there may have been some positives in between the moaning. I thought that a change of scene across the Pennines to a club with some financial clout might just give him the platform that he deserved to showcase his talent and lift his mood.

Interesting period coming up......

Could be the squad had an hard day at Birchwood golf course on Saturday then went out on the lash and some still have hangovers, will that do?

the excuses thing was one of the reasons i didn't want him in the first place, very similar to you, it was a case of slightly over achieving and making runs when the rest of the league was shaky, 2017, us having a wobble left a gap in the top of the table, saints struggling as well.

The excuses and the full-time pizza were the red flags for me.

The Rams head must have had their busiest day of the year last Friday night with the way Lomax was buying them all drinks all night.

Fair enough - they were celebrating a superb performance the night before. Our board remind me of John Du Pont - 'look at me I'm mates with sports stars' - surprised a couple of em have never named themselves in the 17.

have a like for the john du pont reference

Fair points but lets not get too revisionist. Powell took over from Millward in 2013 with Cas bottom of the table. He didn't have resources to buy his way to success and Cas were more of a selling club - three times he had to rebuild after losing his best player (Rangi Chase, Daryl Clark, Denny Solomona) and he took Cas to the top of the table. And whilst like you say there was a bit of a vacuum at the top in 2017, that Cas side played fantastic rugby. Powell did a very good job there, which is why he was my top choice to replace TS and then later was my top choice to replace Price. Things aren't going well now but there was a reason Powell made sense as an appointment.

Perhaps the squad Powell was left with at Cas had a bit more moral fibre.

Only sorry i couldn't get to the Ram's Head on Friday . Were taxis laid on to get revellers to & fro?

Quote ="sally cinnamon"Fair points but lets not get too revisionist. Powell took over from Millward in 2013 with Cas bottom of the table. He didn't have resources to buy his way to success and Cas were more of a selling club - three times he had to rebuild after losing his best player (Rangi Chase, Daryl Clark, Denny Solomona) and he took Cas to the top of the table. And whilst like you say there was a bit of a vacuum at the top in 2017, that Cas side played fantastic rugby. Powell did a very good job there, which is why he was my top choice to replace TS and then later was my top choice to replace Price. Things aren't going well now but there was a reason Powell made sense as an appointment.'" they were playing good stuff and hardaker was pivotal to that, not unlike leigh this year with a good team spirit geeing them on, but the rest of the league was a basketcase. https://www.sportsmole.co.uk/rugby-leag ... table.html we weren't signing 2017 daryl powell, we were signing 2021 daryl powell where cas had lurched down the table, he had become ratty and bitter with things like this occuring. https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/sport/c ... out-483423

Quote ="sally cinnamon"Fair points but lets not get too revisionist. Powell took over from Millward in 2013 with Cas bottom of the table. He didn't have resources to buy his way to success and Cas were more of a selling club - three times he had to rebuild after losing his best player (Rangi Chase, Daryl Clark, Denny Solomona) and he took Cas to the top of the table. And whilst like you say there was a bit of a vacuum at the top in 2017, that Cas side played fantastic rugby. Powell did a very good job there, which is why he was my top choice to replace TS and then later was my top choice to replace Price. Things aren't going well now but there was a reason Powell made sense as an appointment.'" they were playing good stuff and hardaker was pivotal to that, not unlike leigh this year with a good team spirit geeing them on, but the rest of the league was a basketcase. https://www.sportsmole.co.uk/rugby-leag ... table.html we weren't signing 2017 daryl powell, we were signing 2021 daryl powell where cas had lurched down the table, he had become ratty and bitter with things like this occuring. https://www.yorkshirepost.co.uk/sport/c ... out-483423

just as a follow up to that, there will be some mention that they still managed to put us out of the play offs in 2019, and the cup in 2021, both those defeats had more to do with us being crap than cas being good.

Think Whizzy Rascal picked them up and took them home.

If it’s true about them going out on the lash, that could go one of two ways.

In truth, something needs to snap the cycle. We tried last year kicking the dog, tried new blood, tried tinkering with the team and even the coaches. We can’t go through that again. So if it’s a frank discussion, pull no punches chat, followed by a round of golf and plenty of ale then so be it. But it needs to work, and it needs to be evident that they are working hard for each other and the fans. If that doesn’t get displayed on the pitch, it’s just a slap in the face.

Was plastered all over Instagram. They weren’t even hiding it. Blake Austin, Mike Lomax, Daryl Clark, Ratchford and the Aussie lads.

Might just be me but after serving up the tripe they did the night before I’d be embarrassed to show my face anywhere around town after that let alone getting smashed in the local boozer.

Lomax needs to realise it isn’t a good look either. He’s supposed to be on the board and professional, not one of their mates.

I’m not on Instagram but I’d agree on the professionalism of certain board members

All very pally. Was Broomhead there with a sweet sherry?

It’s not a first with Lomax, also Walker was with them but he went to Newton after, he at least had some sense.

Is this club really just a hobby/plaything for the board.

Hate to break it to you, but yes, it probably is.

RL isn't the Premier league, you don't go into it to make money, it's basically like owning a racehorse for them. A bit of respite from the real businesses they own, or involved with.

Having a drink with the lads will be a perk, that they can brag to their mates about.

It was a leaving party for Jason Clark, wives, girlfriends and kids were also there - so this wasn’t a ‘lads on the lash’ night out. The only player I would consider to have had a few was Jason Clark himself. I saw no evidence of any ‘rift’ between the players, Dufty was there mingling with everyone Vaughan was there also (again mixing with everyone) but Vaughan left a little earlier.

Lomax generally organises one of these every year at the rams head, Lomax himself has always come across as a good guy to me, passionate about the club and RL in general.

Most companies like to get their employees together for a social, I don’t see why an RL team should be any different or why they should hide it.

Personally I think we are spending too much keyboard time looking for scapegoats. At the moment it's not surprising we are struggling; Williams is injured, Harrison suspended, Nicholson injured, McGuire and Makaele gone. But longer term I think there are a couple of important lessons to be learnt. Firstly we need to avoid bringing in journeyman players wherever possible. Sure you can get some real quality if you are lucky, but most of these guys tend to be late 20 to 30 + years of age. The sport for most of them is all about the salary and their age dictates that retirement income is uppermost in their minds, not winning silverware. Yes, they all say it's a lifelong ambition to play for Warrington, but that's only because we tend to pay well and sort out accommodation in the leafy suburbs.

The second issue is the squad player depth. We don't have many young players that can step up into the first team. It's improving because the club has finally understood that the youth system in both the Town and club is the way to go. It needs to be the prime source of new players into the team for the simple reasons that they are ambitious young kids with a loyalty to the club, and the desire and will to go the extra mile to play for us.

I am not a huge fan of "Powelly", but he seems a pretty competent and I like the fact that he is blunt and honest when he speaks. As Dita has mentioned before I think the solution to success is more about the right players and not so much the coach.