If anyone was in any doubt as to why Agar has been shown the door, apart from the first 10 mins last nights performance was the perfect example. Apart from a few individuals, our performance reeked of averageness.

I fully expect Bomber and the incoming coach to get more out of our current squad of players, but I also hope that they don’t keep certain players purely for sentimental reasons. If we genuinely want to be challenging for a top four finish then the simple fact of the matter is that players like Washbrook and Dowes will bring nothing to the table and at the risk of being controversial I will also throw Whiting’s name into the equation.

Whiting has been a great servant to the club but has always struggled for pace, fortunately other positive aspects of his game have far outweighed some of his flaws, but this is no longer the case and Whiting has been found out on too many occasions for my liking this season.

What are other peoples opinions on what does the new coach need to address to rid our club of the stench of averageness that Agar has created?

Whiting had a poor game but has runs aplenty on the board this season. I'm not one for being harsh about FC players, but I find it incredible we've offered Washy a 2 year deal. I just don't see what he brings to the squad at a club that is looking to challenge the top 4 before too long.

Agree entirely. Those expecting some quantum leap in performance from our existing squad under a new coach are delusional. I expect improvement certainly, but if we have ambitions to challenge for honours over the next 3/4 seasons than a huge injection of quality is required across the entire squad. IMO the likes of Dowes/Washbrook/Sharp/Radford/Obst/Phelps/Lauaki/Horne/Whiting and a few others have to be phased out over the next couple of seasons.

Yes fully agree get rid of Dowes,Washbrook,Obst and Sharp. Although I have had a go at golden boy Whiting in the other thread he is a good squad player but wouldn't make my 17. We need a good right hand side and ours is very poor. Like Turner he has had a good season but would still try and sign a good right centre and give Lyne a go or bring in another winger too.

I'm not wanting to be harsh about any FC player, just being realistic. If Will Sharp had made some of the errors and missed some of the tackles Whiting has this season some sections would have called for a public hanging.

Will Sharp's meant to be a winger , Whiting is a loose forward playing on the wing.

One of Whiting's stregths over the years has been his versatility, so please don't use the "playing out of position" excuse where Whiting is concerned.

Correct, and done a very good job of it too. He made a bad error last night that led to a try, and because he hardly ever has a bad game, or makes many mistakes, when he does they stick out like a sore thumb.
I've always said Rich maybe would have developed better as a player with another club, but I'm very glad he stayed with us, and I hope he continues to do so!

Before we all get too carried away, we are playing against the best team to come to the KC in about 3 years. Warrington took their chances (some of which we made very easy for them to take) and we didn't. Our best chance of making a real game of it was in the 5 minutes after we made it 6-6. Unfortunately Westerman and Yeaman wanted to score for themselves and not the team.

That being said, Washbrook, Lauaki, Dowes (although I actually thought he did ok last night) and Sharp imo have not done enough to warrant a further contract.

Solely on the basis of last night Whiting and Yeaman were poor, but over the course of season they have done well.

The lack of halfs killed us again this season, Horne is too predictable and doesn't have the burst of pace needed to threaten the line. Hopefully the introduction of Seymore and Ellis will remidy that.

Whitings main strength is his defence, which was poor last night. He also got himself in to poor positions when carrying the ball which allowed the warrington defence to push him back.

As above.

The warrington defence pushed everbody back. Our ptb and acting half play kills us against good teams because we're so slow and predictable. Our marker defence is also disorganised and too often we have our tackler laid on the floor while the opposition play the ball or in Hames case he's stood looking like a lemon as players walk past him. It's tough enough to defend 13 on 13 but 11 or 12 defenders against a team with "brains", skill and organisation is impossible.

How the hell is Radford escaping criticism? Should have gone last season and unless we pay him off we've got another year of him thinking he's a halfback and taking about 3 hours to play the ball. We have half a dozen players who could be replaced by a cheaper younger option without any loss of "quality"

He isn't escaping criticism from me. Thought he was poor and the game effectively went when Moa and Ogre departed first half.

I like Washy, good squad player

it came as no surprise to me that we went to turd when Moa and O'Meley went off, Dowes and Radford haven't been a "force" for a long time, we should never have given Radford two seasons.

If we don't recruit a real top notch prop next season we're in trouble, Warrington were swatting us off like flies at times last night.

Our kicking game was terrible again as well, like I said the other week, beating Cas and the likes is one thing, but when the big boys come calling we're hiding in the attic playing with Barbie Dolls.

I said exactly the same thing when they went off at the same time. We lost all of our push.

Delete Obst from that list and replace with Radford.

Good, you can have him in your squad then

The Rovers squad for next season has a stench of averageness without Washbrook.

Just a note on Washy. Our backrow next season will be Tickle, Manu and Westy. What happens if one gets injured? We need squad players which is what Washy would be.

I would, he is a player who can slot in a few positions and do a decent job. He's abit like Scott Murrell just thinner

I'd like to see Whiting hit the Ginsters in the off season, put two stone on and then be interchange back row for next season. I have always thought he would probably go best in the pack. A versatile player he is (which has also been his downfall) but a winger he is not. Lets have him somewhere he has the chance to make an impact in, or influence a game, not left holding the baby when Turner is missing in the defensive line.

I agree. If, as rumoured, Washy has taken a pay cut on a, presumably, low salary anyway then it's a good deal. Just look at Wire's team tonight; Riley, Grix and Blythe. Not star players but do a job for the team.

We need to have more specialist players, less utilities and use young players as back up and not carry players on decent salaries just in case we get injuries.

Agree about the dummy half. I know houghton is a local lad and puts in 100% every game, but he isn't a top class hooker and we've missed one of those since swain left. I think heremia will be a massive signing for us and show us what we've been missing.

Fitness and strength conditioning need to improve massively too. wire looked fitter and stronger than us all across the field and their defensive technique is much better. Hopefully a new coach will bring about the improvements in the simple areas we should have been doing all along and pearson can find the cash for us to assemble a squad capable of challenging the likes of wigan and warrington