It's peculiar..
I joked with my mate, when we went 10 nil up that we need to score more before Doran comes on the pitch and then bang!!
I'm not saying he is to blame for the defeat tonight or even most of the tries that went against us.. but just look at two incidents.
the first he gets a penalty and then starts handbags with the Leigh player which could have seen him walk for 10..
Secondly he takes Durbin out clean and we miss out on a score as a result... I like/d the player but something is not right and if Fletcher was back he would not get near the 19 for Gateshead for me at the mo.

Like I said...Apathy is the the only word to describe how I watch the matches now.. a proper malaise has set in... there is no more anger or anguish.. just...well nothing.. it's now just a habit to go to the matches.
But...
We know that we have been subjected to a............bizarre.. is the only word I can think of for it.. training regime. This is now changing and like I said there were times that I genuinely took heart from what was happening on the pitch..
Smith and Webster played well tonight for the first 15 mins and we looked decent.
When we moved the ball from side to side we looked good. Let's do it more often though.

Widnes are POO

We're not that good

Your not beating around the bush are you ??

What ever give you that idea??

We can all have our suggestions and to be fair its the truth.

Sorry Widnes. I hope things get fixed for next season but this fan cannot take any more and what a dull dull season it will be if it carries on .

I have better things to do with my time at the mo .
I`m too tired of it all now.

Respect to the hardcore fans you defo deserve it and good luck .

its not like we were playing a great leigh team, there a average side and we started like a house on fire, only then to give away about six penelties in row, alongside some errors and shocking defending which gave leigh control.

i wish those [ibell[/i [iends[/i at the back would have just sat down.

there new ground is great compared to hilton park.

heard a rumour we might be signing gleeson from fax for next season.

there average players but we are average players as well who are on decent money i would to play for widnes unlike most of these players tell you what know i wud ov put more pride in that this shower/

Keep yer bloody mitts off.

I heard the same rumour...........

He will still be playing for us but you are signing him as a hooker coach for Mark Smith.

Other than that its the funniest thing ive heard in a while.

the way to solve the widnes problems altogether, sign the full fax team.

I was a lee fan but the lad needs his bottom kicking.

As for apathy - I used words watching last night that wouldn't be in my sermons



We looked great going forwards at time and looked far more skilful than Leigh (who look poor to say the least). I just don't understand how we could make so many dumb errors and take wrong options - like kicking into the corner when we have a 4 to 1 overlap!!!!!!!AAAAARRRRGGGGHH

Sorry - I had one of me moments.

Frustrating, but a damn sight more green shoots than the economy is showing!

Still graceful in defeat I see, but by implication you have at least got your assessment of Widnes' abilities right

Touchy.

You aren't really convinced Leigh have a good teaam at the moment are you? It was a cracking game to watch but the overall quality is not going to have any other side in this division quaking in their boots.

It wasn't vey good was it, great start yet dicipline let us down big time AGAIN!

And i'm sorry but that is CULLEN's fault. He's the coach so should be teaching them better discipline!

I'm sorry but that was your game to lose last night. It was quite a spectacular self-destruct. Too much dropped ball and pressure you put on yourselves really. You'll still finish above Leigh though.

Hope you are right Dors, but your analysis is spot on. I think bug Barrie used the expression brain explosion. Brain

Widnes threw the game away after being 0-10 up and having the momentum. Poor discipline (Dropped Ball & silly penalties) meant you gave Leigh possession and chances to get back in. Poor defending allowed Leigh to capitalize on these chances. Widnes lack Team Spirit and charactor and have no leader to take the game by the scruff of the neck. Smith and Webster were good in the first 30-then disappeared.

Passing the ball well from one side of the pitch to the other is good but often pointless if you are not making good yards- that was Widnes often yesterday. Cullen is not the man for you. You may not have a couple of decent props but you still should have a team playing better than they are!

Have Widnes improved under Cullen? NO! Do Widnes play as a team? NO! Do Widnes play on their strengths? NO! Does there look like much team Spirit at Widnes and players playing for each other? NO Most of the reasons why NO is there is down to Cullen whether you like it or not. Signing a couple of players is not the anser to your problems. You need a coach who will get your players playing as one and who will give 100%. You need a Coach who will get your players cutting out the basics they are doing wrong and get them playing using a simple gameplan that is effective. The games on SKY I have seen Widnes do not seem to have much of a game plan as your backs seem to do more drives than your forwards!! Best of luck in sorting your problems out but feel under Cullen you will struggle.

CULLEN OUT PLEASE !!!!

We can all say that he has not got the players to build a good team but HE HAS !!!

Its not working , he`s not doing a good job thanks but no thanks.

By all means I`m not on a I hate Cullen thing its just he is full of shat and its not working out.

Chalk ( Cullen ) Cheese ( Widnes Vikings )

Give stanky another chance he did a great job and is Widnes through and through .

CULLEN TO STAY PLEASE

Point proven with this one coming from a dirty leyther

What exactly our are strengths that we should be playing to? And as for the reasons being all down to Cullen why did they exist before he arrived?

The game at Barrow away showed that Stanny would have faced exactly these same problems?

Having watched the team all season and not just the televised games I will say that I think we have improved in some areas. We now look like we can get over the whitewash during a game.

Webster and Varkulis are two players whose game is improving week on week.
We are now throwing the ball around quite nicely at times and quite often like the first try last night it does have a purpose.
We were very broken and we are slowly being fixed...
If you ask the players then Cullen is well liked and a change of the training schedule is being put in place that will see us meet up as a squad for more than twice a week. (something put in place by McCormack)
Our injuries have hit us hard this year.. Fletcher is a big miss and Morrison is a massive miss. both impact players that have a great say in our defence too. Gaskell's injury is a big loss to us too and other players are trying desperately to get their match fitness.
There is unfortunately a lot of work to be done but we are getting better and a few signings will make us more competitive again.

They'll be serving lobbys with words in soon enough.. I am now quite sure of it.

You have a pack that is small-but they could use that to their advantage in trying to get quick play the balls which Widnes do not seem to do much. Yesterday for example you go 10-0 up yet you ended up playing most of the game in your half and making mistakes. I personally would have been looking to get your quicker players running at the likes of Hobson-a penalty machine and kicking to keep Leigh mainly in their half and let them work themselves out of there-that did not happen! Big forwards do not like wet weather especially when fast and little guys run at them. All you had to do really last night was play basic Rugby and use your kickers better. Leigh with respect are an average team that outenthused Widnes and played the game in Widnes half and let them make the mistakes.

Wet weather means often mistakes yet Widnes were making mistakes always in their half and letting Leigh attack 40 metre or less from the line. Yesterday was perfect for a 40/20 kick due to the wet slippery surface but was never really used.Widnes just did not look to have a game plan last night.


You cant blame Cullen for everything that is true but why are they not playing as a team and with any enthusiasm? Widnes just did not really look up for the game especially when the going got tough in the 2nd half. That for me is where Cullen is failing. I would want Cullen to mould the team in to one unit playing with passion and pride where players would dig deep no matter what. That does not come across. There is no shame in losing. But losing when your players seemingly show little passion and pride hurts. I would guess why many Widnes fans are unhappy is the manner of the defeats rather than the scores themselves. If Widnes lost and you felt the players had given everything and lost out on luck then its easier to accept a loss. But from what I have seen on TV and the reaction on here its the way Widnes are losing which is annoying people. I also feel the way Widnes are losing is Cullens fault as they are not a team just individuals who look lost and have little interest in fighting for each other. This leads likely to frustration leading to the many penalties/poor options you were giving away as mentally your players are not right.

First 20 we looked good, had good momentum and were starting to get control of the game.

Off goes Gannon, Tyrer, Ostick and Patterson and on come Thackeray (to the wing, moving Dodd to centre), Kavanagh, Thompson and Doran.

At that point things started to go wrong. We lost shape on Thackeray's wing which Leigh exploited and we lost the momentum in the middle of the field. We were unfortunate to lose Tyrer and we simply didn't have the fire power on the bench to continue the work the starting pack had done.

We can't compete against big packs over 80 minutes and win the contest up the middle. It had nothing to do with being "out enthused", we were out muscled.

Get Morrison back and hopefully a couple of big players on loan and that will solve a lot of problems as long as our injury list doesn't continue to grow.

Paul Cullen stated at the POTM that the current training regime meant that the squad did not train together completely, the same regime he inherited along with the same unbalanced and inexperienced side he inherited from SMc. He also stated that it is going to change.

You can't expect Cullen to turn around this mess with a click of his fingers to so be calling for his head after 2 months a bit ott to be honest. Certain individuals really need to have a word with themselves regarding their discipline because it really is our downfall though other individuals are starting to show their class and are improving every week.

I'm as despondent as everyone else at the moment but there's no point ranting on about players, calling for the coaches head or threatening to turn your back. I don't expect us to improve greatly any time soon but I do see us making improvements, certainly since the mauling that Barrow gave us. We're just going to have to be patient. PC and the team need our support if they're going to turn things around.