Coach, coach, coach
Went to my first Premiership game - live - Wasps v Northampton in High Wycombe. Congratulations both teams - it was a good game. Found it a little hard to know who to cheer for, but I was being hosted by Wasps supporters so I felt it appropriate to support Wasps. But my heart has to go out to Bruce Reihana (Kiwi) and the Saints - the game meant so much to both - Wasps needing a win to go into the top 4 - (but they have had their fair share of trophies in recent years)!! On the other hand you have Saints who were desperate to stay in the Premiership. So - having watched them yesterday I have to say how on earth did the Saints get themselves in this quagmire (??spelling)- (shit)? Their experience, passion, commitment and plenty of points still wasn't enough - though they could have nicked it after climbing back into the game late. I certainly saw enough from a team desperate to win - so I ask again. How the hell did they get themselves in this situation? I believe it is down to the coaching staff and I am afraid Paul Grayson is going to have to take the wrap. Having been a player/coach for one season and a coach for the other, I think Paul Grayson is too close to the players having played with some of them recently. For instance - how does a Kiwi like me tell someone like Will Carling, Keith Wood, Thiery Lacroix and Jason Leonard, just to name a few,that they need to perform better than what they are - it just doesn't work. When you win it's not a problem - ie Pat Howard - but when you lose you have to draw a line in the sand and tough decisions have to be made. When your senior players don't perform it is quite hard to tell these guys to pull their f..... finger out of their arse! So it's left to the younger players who will sometimes carry the abuse from the coach, which is not good for team morale as the younger guys will see this as unfair. A good player, but having played against him I can't remember Paul Grayson having that hard nose - I just don't think he's got that brutal edge which is sometimes needed in this situation. I wish Northampton all the luck in this weeks Heineken cup.
1 comment:
Well, Northhampton have been in this situation for a few seasons now, and I'd have to agree that there must be management issues. It seems that since the players took over the management role they have been struggling in the premiership but strangely not so much in the heineken cup. But they were struggling before that aswell. How can a team that performs so inconsistantly in england perform well in europe? It really reminds me of Liverpools unbeliavable win of the champions league. Could struggling northampton win the heineken cup, and get relegated from the premiership in the same season? What are the odds?
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