Agree

things go worn, Coach gets blame / player power again

lets go back 5 or so years again

And loop ,,,,,,

If AP were to choose to part company with Gentle, the new coach would have a fair wedge to go at salary cap-wise when this lot leave:

Briscoe
Seymour (assuming paid off)
O'Meley
Tickle
Galea

Challenge is that the next few weeks might be crucial in recruitment pre 1 May. IMO we need 2 props, a scrum half and a centre as priorities.

I'm on a knife edge with Gentle. Not only are we not showing showing progression we actually seem to be going backwards in terms of our attack. We literally have no structures whatsoever. Rovers lost Dobson late yet Hall slotted in and it looked smooth. Our game sense has not improved, we are still as dumb as ever. We also never seem to be fired up at the start of games. We looked completely clueless today and Gentle's excuse about injuries just doesn't wash with me. Yes we had key players out but so do other sides and they seem to manage fine.

Why is our halfback problem is so bad did Horne play fb, our one fit half? He got that wrong, Whiting and Westy were awful and quite why Whiting was kicking the ball god only knows. He should have been fullback and with Azza on the bench why did he not spell Houghton? Gentle panicked and just brought him on in the halves, may as well started with him.

Heard so much negative stuff in last month or so regarding Gentle and today about AP's reaction. I think he is on borrowed time but the problem is I can't see anything changing Monday. No players to come back and Wakey playing really well.

I also think that whilst Gentle has to shoulder responsibilty for buidling structures and motivating players it's also the players that need to look themselves. Right now I feel we are as far away as ever from being competitive with the top sides. It's quite depressing, there is so much wrong with our side. I only hope AP doesn't walk away and thankfully I don't think he will.

Wouldn't Gentle also have this money ?

Yes, just saying someone else would have some cash to influence the team with some big earners going. Hard to replace though.

Agreed and it's a massive problem. Quality is in such short supply.

We need some young raw boned props with serious power and a level headed top quality 7 to play alongside DJ. That despite the fact that our best player this season by a country mile is Rich Horne who delivers 2 fingers regularly to his detractors despite playing behind a weak pack.

Not really sure what replacing Gentle now would achieve especially with the current crisis of player availability however he needs to match - as a minimum - last year's play off win and improve the non existent cup run for me to have improved the team this year. It looks a long way off at the minute and if he fails I'd get rid in September.

I know.

In all seriousness about the PTB speed though, it's not just (or even mostly) about a lack of power. We just seem to have less desire and poorer technique than most other sides. Brown and Welham were getting better PTBs bringing the ball out than our players today, and they are far from brutes. Most of our players don't even stand up quickly once they've turned over.



Was it? Have we been dominant up front and lightning fast at the PTB in every other game? FWIW if he had been fit today I think he should have played & Pitts missed out. What I have actually said about Lynch is that IMO he has not been as good as last year and that in the early stages of the season he was our weakest prop, and that his place should have been under threat when Watts came back. When others seemed to miss out instead I questioned whether Gentle was sticking to his 'picking on form and not shuffling around' promises.



Did I? Think you might need to read my posts in this thread back and pay more attention. Particularly ones where I quote you directly and thoroughly agree.



Nope, I don't disagree that we desperately need a scrum half. I never have. What I do strongly disagree with is that there isn't plenty we can do to improve with what we've got and just write off most of it as the lack of a scrum half. I'm acknowledging several problems equally, not focussing on obtaining one panacea and relegating serious flaws in our basics as relatively trivial.

Well as I've said several times the SH issue won't transform us into champions but we desperately need someone with the brain and practical skill to move the team around and bring our attacking line forward towards the opposition defence. We need a varied and accurate kicking game to put pressure on the other team.

We clearly also need forwards and particularly props. Johnson and to a lesser extent Pitts are more often than not lifted backwards and dumped on their backsides. Hard to get on your front from that position. That was a much rarer event with Moa and O Meley can get over the defender onto his front because of his strength. It was shocking today how average forwards like Tuimavave and Walker easily dealt with our props but their power was too much for us in our defensive collision. I wouldn't have signed either Pitts or Johnson although Pitts might be OK wide if Tickle goes. This is where I would criticise Gentle and McRae - recruitment of average forwards to replace good forwards.

Totally agree that we lack both. I do think that the ones we have should still be doing better, though. There's no urgency or determination, that's the real problem and it's very worrying. The younger players have actually been the exceptions over the season, but Green was poor today. Today's team looked beaten the minute Rovers scored the opening try.

Johnson I actually think has done ok this season, but was another who put in a season low today. I think if we got a couple of big sods he'd make an ok 5th prop for us, but then where would that leave Green & Bowden?

Pitts simply isn't big enough for prop. I've said it from day one and I actually think he's knocked about easier than Johnson usually. Today that wasn't the case, though.

Either or both need to bulk up more IMO. Bowden's already bigger and if he keeps improving I'd pick him ahead of at least one of them.

O'Meley has been very erratic this season. Might be one of our best at finding his front, but just about everything else seems to have deteriorated and he's making some strange errors. Think his decision to retire is starting to look understandable.

Did you find my comment on Westerman?

Firstly, the squad is very average. Even with everyone fit that squad IMO is not a top 4 squad. Lots of over rated players, not least Danny Houghton who wouldn't look out of place in the national leagues. His work rate is fantastic but you need a hell of a lot more than that to play 9 for a top team. The value of Willie Manu to the side over the last few years was under estimated and he has left a gaping hole along with Moa to a slightly lesser extent.

While the squad isn't good enough to compete at the very top, I couldn't argue with AP if he did decide to relieve Gentle of his duties. If anyone has the time I'd be grateful if they went down to training next week and watch what on earth it is we actually do. Basic aspects of the game that you can only presume we work on in training are desperately missing. As others have mentioned, the PTB is painfully slow. It's no wonder when we have next to no dummy runners or men supporting the ball carrier. Defences must lick their lips as they get 3 men in the tackle and put us on our backs nearly every single time. Our attacking structures in the opposition twenty are either poorly executed or non existent. When we do rarely use dummy runners they may as well hold a sign above their heads saying dummy runner. Everything takes place too far away from the defensive line and there isn't enough purpose in the decoys to make them believable.

As for our last tackle plays it certainly seems as though we don't practice them. In general we have very poor kickers of the ball barring DJ so the very least we could do is get the preparation right with players knowing what's about to come and making the right runs. Sadly all too often it literally seems as though our last tackle plays are spare of the moment decisions that are usually poorly executed.

If all of the above is practiced and the players simply ignore the coach then fair enough but until our style of play improves, Gentle could go for me and I couldn't say I'd be disappointed.

ANOTHER assistant coach appointed their first head coach job by us , sold by Howes !

McGuire was so much younger than Gentle and HUNGRY

Very disappointed with the performance despite the players out,

Thought our forwards were poor up until we where 12-0 down, then they started to play, problem is all of our forwards are grafters, we have no one capable of breaking the line and we seem to have stopped offloading.

Gentle must take most of the responsibility for this, his recruitment has been poor, DJ and McDonnell have been good, but Arundel, Johnson and galea poor.

Once again arundel cost us a couple of try's with his poor positioning, Johnson is far too small and galea is snolid, but I'd rather play a young kid then him.

I still think gentle should be given this season and see how we finish, but he needs to pick up some wins or he might not last that long.

Wonder if Peter was telling Peter that he has a spare bedroom for rent?

Gentle didn't lose us the game yesterday, the squad did, O'Meley, Lynch, Galea et al. As much as I have criticised Horne in the past he was trying his guts out yesterday, Houghton made rare scoots and was never supported.

We are a really bad side, devoid of ideas going forward, who were beaten by a really bad side that clearly came to con the referee.and con him on occasion they did.

Also, is it me, or does Ganson get fatter every game, for a "professional, full time official" he looks like a bloody barrel!

Have you seen the size of Bomber lately?
Must be on a good wedge for all that positive input he's putting into our club.



The Green Room at SKY need to cut back on their pies.

My thoughts on McRae are well documented, he once identified a "cancer" at our club, and I see no evidence that he's every bothered himself to actually address it.

IF AP does sack Gentle (which I don't actually think he should) then he HAS to bin McRae as well, I have my suspicions as to who really pulls the strings at first team level anyway.

Having a DOR is all well and good, but when you have a DOR who brings in the "quality" of Galea an Arundel you have to ask questions.

Gaskell has gone to Salford, yet we are desparate......

My comments on Mr McRae's return were documented on here at the time.

For me, the measure of a good coach is that he consistently gets what you'd expect from the players at his disposal, regular gets more than you'd expect and rarely gets less. Gentle showed some promise last year with a largely poor squad, big injury problems and not much in the way of pre season.

This year he's had pretty much everything he could want off the pitch laid on for him by an owner desperate for success yet performances have gone backwards. We are slow and ponderous, devoid of ideas and organisation and so far behind the top teams it's just not funny. We'd be better with a decent scrum half but it wouldn't solve some of the fundamental flaws in the way we play.

Recruitment was worse than average - ellis and holdsworth apart, none of our signings would have been wanted by any of the teams who finished above us last season. As has been said, our front rowers are too small and technically poor. How did mcrae and gentle think the players they brought in would improve us from last season when it was obvious to everyone else they wouldn't?

The jury is definitely out for me on gentle but I doubt that pearson will allow things to slide much more and unless things turn around quickly I think gentle will be on his way

But we've got great achievers like Last and Radford looking after our devel...... oh, hang on.

Just seen Adamski's face on the recording.
He didn't look a happy bunny.

If you were watching £4m of your hard earned being pi55ed away, would you have been smiling?

You pays your money, you takes your chance................

Can't believe people are watching it again

I thought that. It was painful enough the first time.