Oh, where to begin?

So the remit in the off season is to improve the style of play in other words go against the style that Price settled on his de facto gameplan.

What if he does that and results don't follow? What if we then sack him.- is ability to play eye catching rugby top of the job description or do we bring Wane in for more of the same but an improvment in results?

The club has bottled a big decision, kicked the can down the road and potentially given itself a big problem.come May/June.

Spot on. A top coach's main attribute is the ability to get 100% from their supposed weak links on a consistent basis. One of biggest problems has been that we have too often been carrying passengers, who only seem to get up for a match on a 1 in 4 or 5 game basis & the rest of the time they go missing.

Players like BMM, Sita, Tasi, Patton, Jason Clark, are simply not contributing enough to the side & that, in the main, is down to the coach.

This inability to get the best from all of the squad is also a factor in why we struggle to bring through younger, home grown players into our side - If those younger players are to develop, they need an environment where the senior players are all playing to potential & so giving leeway for a youngster's inexperience. We simply don't have that luxury, because we already have passengers in the team & so it leads to unneeded pressure on a young player to instantly be a game changer.

Long term, to be a successful club in this competition, we need to be bringing through our own players. No club can get lucky in the recruitment market on a regular basis and we need a coach who can utilise every aspect of his squad, star players, squad players & youth players , to their absolute 100% potential.

In terms of the prop we need I'd be throwing the chequebook at Watts.

See that doesn't sit right with me, if Fitzpatrick is having a go at Price and using the media to ratchet up the pressure on Price without facing accountability himself.

The problems that we are talking about today: boring style of rugby, team underachieving, unable to win Grand Finals, poor recruitment, not bringing through young talent, were here before Price. Remember how it used to be TS fault or Agar's fault. Now it's Price's fault.

At what point does KF decide that this isn't the job for him and walk away and do something else...? Or does he just sit on top of the organisation, demand success and hold others accountable, in which case, plenty of people from this forum could do that job.

Well KF is to busy with the marketing funnies me thinks, thing is it’s funny once but kinda gets boring after, I would rather we be winning games than winding up the opposition.

KFP will be even more aware of our shortcomings after Saford, with no Academy, very limited financial clout, and few attractions other than ££ for new players to sign on, have managed to get the the GF. Well done Salford, they deserve all the credit for their achievement, but it certainly highlights our underperformance this year.

I think Dita raises a very good point about our Academy. We do need some top quality players coming through rather than constantly getting out the check book. And it's not simply that we are missing the stars, those that make it through as just squad players bring an awful lot of enthusiasm as they try and break through into the first team. Plus their salaries are typically low in the early years, we get a salary cap reduction, and they are invaluable for filling the gaps when we get a string of injuries. I think we need to get a lot more streetwise about using amateur clubs that draft in players and have strong U15 squads. From what I understand both Leeds and Wigan both provide free coaching to some clubs and then have first pick of the best kids. £100k spent on this type of exercise must surely be worth far more than £100k on a new signing - or a lot more if we have to get a prop from Oz.

I think our season has been disappointing but to be called a failure when we've won one of the two trophies on offer is a bit too far I believe......If Stains blow it next week against Salford then their season would be a bigger failure than ours even though they've entertained their fans with some great attacking rugby all year....I'm more peed off this year than I was last year after losing both finals but at least as a paying supporter I got better value for money with what Wire produced on the field....funny old game isn't it?

Appreciate that, but that was just in the case of george burgess who isn't really a gamble signing, and that ship has sailed. I don't see anyone else in the NRL fitting that category. A quality experienced prop who wants to come to superleague! Can you think of anyone? Unless Sam fancies it?

It's clear cut and healthy.
Win the GF in 2020 or you're out.
At least KF and SP know where they stand. No pressure....We don't want SP being in fear of a bold decision because he's scared of the unknown future.

That's fair enough. But can you really see Price being kept until the end of the season if we start 2020 as we ended 2019, both quality of play & results wise?

Do you honestly see the board sitting on their hands and doing nothing if we only win 1 or 2 from our first half dozen games?

Reality is, we have ended this season in the sort of form that will see us fighting the drop next year. Just remember, next season's likely promoted side won't be there to make up the numbers (not that London did that, but they were certainly expected to) and so it's not unrealistic to say that a continuation of the bad form would put the club under big pressure to act swiftly.

If we had started this season in the form we ended it, then Price wouldn't have saw Easter.. Next season, there will be even bigger pressure, so I'd expect, and want us to be, extremely ruthless.

If we keep Austin and Widdop fit
If Murdoch-Masilla loses 2st of fat and puts on 1st of muscle and plays loose
If we sign two proper decent props where Hill and Cooper aren’t sure of their places
If Currie can get his confidence back
If someone can make a contribution at hooker from the bench

Then we have a chance of that. But it’s all “if”s.

If we don’t address the weaknesses I won’t be expecting to win the GF. And we probably won’t.

For me it’s: address our weaknesses and try and challenge for the trophies playing decent exciting rugby league football.

Steve Price is on a 2-year contract anyway. So at this moment, he is out next year.

No, he isn't. He extended until the end of 2021, didn't he?

Quote ="Dita's Slot Meter"No, he isn't. He extended until the end of 2021, didn't he?'" https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/41527641 Correct 2021 https://www.wirefm.com/news/local-sport ... nded-deal/

Quote ="Dita's Slot Meter"No, he isn't. He extended until the end of 2021, didn't he?'" https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/41527641 Correct 2021 https://www.wirefm.com/news/local-sport ... nded-deal/

Well contracts in sport don’t mean diddly these days except for how much compensation you get when sacked.

It's worth a think about which other teams in the league have had a "successful season".
We supporters expect a lot of our teams.
So Salford have had a good 'un but they have the big problem of losing lots of players at the end of the year ... and I'm sure their supporters will not be happy with that.
St Helens obviously but many of their supporters were baying for blood after the Cup Final.
Anyone else?
Are rugby league supporters ever happy with their own team?

Wire had an awful end to the season but many other clubs would have loved to finish 4th and win the Challenge Cup. e.g. Wigan, Leeds, Hull, Cas.
Cheer up boys. I think we know exactly what we'll be working on during pre-season.

My list would certainly contain attacking moves and discipline and not forgetting attacking moves and discipline with additional focus on attacking moves and discipline

And when they have sorted that out lets have an aggressive defensive line moving up against the attack and not just standing still just waiting for them

Having watched a few of the games leading up to the GF, it's clear to me that most teams have adopted the 5 drives and a kick philosophy. It's boring but it does get results. The mistake we appear to have made is employing the tactic as soon as Ratchford was out injured and then never having the confidence to move away from it. I do wonder, if we reverted back to the 5m rule and hence deep attacking lines, whether the game would again become more entertaining.

I have a dream whereby we have a full box of attacking moves and when we get near the line you wonder ... which one are they going to use now or will it be a variation ... or something new.
Got to go the van has just pulled up outside my house to take me away.

A bit much to ask that...perhaps we should just work on 2 of them.

I agree with this. When sports fans take the macho attitude like "only the Grand Final is acceptable, anything else is failure" then they are set for a life of disappointment, especially if they support a team like Wire.

I think if this is your attitude you have to think hard about how much money you are going to spend on watching sport over your lifetime, how many seasons you are likely to be happy and how many you are likely to be frustrated and think is it really worth it. You're spending tons of money and tons of your leisure time on something that is only going to lead to stress and frustration.

The other thing that amuses me about this is that if these people held up a mirror to themselves and their own lives, are they relentless winners/achievers, who do everything it takes to find the edge to greatness in life? Are they Steve Jobs/Elon Musk type characters who reject sleep so they can be working on their latest entrepreneurial project in the early hours of the morning, fuelled by bulletproof coffees, so they can get an edge over their rivals. Or are they just average Joes in average jobs who work 9 till 5 then enjoy an evening down the pub or watching Netflix with takeaways, and then turn on this relentless second-place-is-nowhere mindset just when it comes to watching their sports team....

I'm not knocking average Joes because that is what I am. Also if I was having this conversation with Shaun Edwards / Ellery Hanley and they were saying no, second place is first loser etc I would at least find their mindset authentic. But it is curious that people are so keen to apply it to others when they wouldn't go near that mindset themselves....

Now I am not saying that we should all sit and clap and be happy about mediocrity and I have a lot of whinges about the club on this forum, you've all heard my moans about the recruitment, junior development over the past few years being substandard and probably most fans think the same.

But I think as a fan you can broaden your definition of success. For me it goes wider than just did you win the SL trophy and is about did the players achieve something above and beyond what you would have expected them to with their talent. Some of the most enjoyable seasons I have had as a Wire fan were not the ones where we won stuff. I really enjoyed the rollercoaster of 89/90 that finished with losing at Wembley. Probably my favourite ever Wire season is still 93/94 when we came so close to winning the league but you could look at guys like Greg Mackey, Kevin Ellis, Paul Cullen and say these were guys who you knew gave everything and stood for some values you want to associate with Wire. I got a similar feeling about Cullen's team of 2003 when they made the playoffs, with guys like Fozzard, Burns, Domic, Nat Wood. Those were hugely enjoyable seasons when I was proud of Wire.

Also although I have found 2019 frustrating I had the same feeling at Wembley. You have to respect winning a major trophy. This wasn't a team that is a well oiled machine made for greatness, there are a lot of holes in the line up in terms of quality and a lot of things wrong (hence the frustration). BUT the aim of the game is about winning major trophies, and these guys found a way to win. I've seen Wire sides before, especially in Grand Finals, who were superbly refined machines set up to win, but they found a way to lose the big game. This year was the total opposite. Now we went back to being crap again after that, but in that moment, when it counted most of all at Wembley, we beat a Saints team which is set up to be a winning machine and couldn't deal with us. That moment will last with me much longer than I will remember the frustration of our playoff loss and end of season form.

So, yes, 2019 for me was a season which has given me fulfilment as a Wire fan and I expect when I come to the end of my days and reflect on my favourite memories watching Wire there is going to be one from 2019 for sure.

Sally - surely if the CC Final win over Stains will go down as one of your favourite Wire memories then you should at least update your signature to reflect said win?

Liverpool, City, Utd fans all expect their team to be challenging to be the best because they have the resources to do so. Same for Warrington. I dont believe the average City fan is any more of a high achiever than Warrington fan yet the expectation holds. Ofcourse this expectation is fueled by the clubs custodians exclamations of what they are try to achieve. In truth is any Wire fan that far away from the CEO opinion?

I agree with the point on frustration though. There was no frustration in the 80s, 90, and pre HJ because we didnt expect to achieve anything.

From as early as Easter Monday the team hasn't been firing on all cylinders & but for a good start to the season we would have been in dire straits this year. Apart from Wembley, the team has been in terminal decline for at least half of the season through lack of Plan B, poor discipline ,poor handling etc etc. Take away Wembley & it has been a very poor season.