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Brave effort...


glemiln

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...to finish 16-20 after losing Langley so early for apparent dissent.  Stupid, particuarly with the stakes.  So, well done to the remaining players for getting so close to a point. Hope that Danny Jones is ok following his suspected concussion.  More pressure now to win - probably 5 of the 6 games remaining to secure a play-off place.   A start would be a massive score over SWS next week  - York piled on 60plus on them away with half their reserves! - we need to improve our points difference quickly.

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Maybe its time for me to recalibrate my aspirations as a Hornets fan I've seen the comments posted on here over the last few weeks and stood back trying to take in the general feeling of how this year has gone before posting, at the sake of getting shot to pieces, id just like to stick my two pence worth in.

 

To say I'm gutted about about how this season is panning out would be an understatement, in all honsety Im absolutley fed up with it all and have come to the conclusion that my ambitions as a fan must be way higher than some of our fans, board and coaching staff.

Yesterday was billed as 'must win' and a 'season defining game' yet we've again come up short and as a collective produced the same old excuses:

Loads of effort unlucky lads, some bad calls from the ref, poor dicipline, as a club we are doing the best we can, we go again next week etc etc etc.

 

Im fed up hearing it now, the amount of big games over the last 3 seasons we've just not performed in is shockingkly high (with only one or two exceptions) thankfully our home form papers over the cracks somewhat. At the start of this season the board did a brilliant job in assembling a really competitive looking squad, about as good as we've had for a good few years which filled me with hope we would really make a fist of it this time around and put a concerted effort together to get back to where (IMO) we should be in the Championship, as a very minimum be challenging at the top end of table insted of scratching around just above the 'development' teams.

I posted on here regarding the areas we needed to focus on: being creative, strong defence, not slumping during our block of away games and above all standing up to be counted away from home, all problems we've suffered with for 3 years now. In all honesty nothing has changed, yes we've had injuries, yes we have had some bad luck, surely we arent our own with these problems.

Yesterday was a perfect example of that, depite all the rhetoric in the local press, we conceeded another early try after just 4 minutes and dicipline again let us down and left us clawing a way back into the game, it's like groundhog day!

 

Im really fed up right now, credit to the board the clubs off the field activities are progressing very very well, but as a fan I want my team to be the best its can be, to be winners and not somewhere I go to watch at weekend comming away dissapointed and frustrated after watching the same type of robotic performance and ineptitude. Am I asking too much?

Effort cant be questioned, the players are certainly trying but something just isn't clicking, or the approach and coaching just is'nt getting the best from a fairly talented bunch of players who are equal and better than most in this division, sadly the league table doenst lie, at the moment we are nowhere near and its tough watching for me as a fan.

 

I know I might well get shot down here by most for speaking out, I really just want the best for the team and if what we have witnessed so far this season is about the best we can expect then its not for me anymore, I for one hoped for / expected more. I realise we still might make the end of season play-off yet, but lets all be honest the 1st time we come up against a 'decent' side we will blow out again with a million and one excuses to boot. We need a change of direction IMO.

 

Am I asking for too much, is this as good as it gets for Hornets, are my expectations unreasonable?

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This is a very competitive league.This is as good as it gets, only 2 going up. So 6 of the top 8 will be here next season with Donny and Hunslet probably.

Therefore it will be harder than ever to get up.What is your change of direction with 6 games left?

 

Maybe its time for me to recalibrate my aspirations as a Hornets fan I've seen the comments posted on here over the last few weeks and stood back trying to take in the general feeling of how this year has gone before posting, at the sake of getting shot to pieces, id just like to stick my two pence worth in.

 

To say I'm gutted about about how this season is panning out would be an understatement, in all honsety Im absolutley fed up with it all and have come to the conclusion that my ambitions as a fan must be way higher than some of our fans, board and coaching staff.

Yesterday was billed as 'must win' and a 'season defining game' yet we've again come up short and as a collective produced the same old excuses:

Loads of effort unlucky lads, some bad calls from the ref, poor dicipline, as a club we are doing the best we can, we go again next week etc etc etc.

 

Im fed up hearing it now, the amount of big games over the last 3 seasons we've just not performed in is shockingkly high (with only one or two exceptions) thankfully our home form papers over the cracks somewhat. At the start of this season the board did a brilliant job in assembling a really competitive looking squad, about as good as we've had for a good few years which filled me with hope we would really make a fist of it this time around and put a concerted effort together to get back to where (IMO) we should be in the Championship, as a very minimum be challenging at the top end of table insted of scratching around just above the 'development' teams.

I posted on here regarding the areas we needed to focus on: being creative, strong defence, not slumping during our block of away games and above all standing up to be counted away from home, all problems we've suffered with for 3 years now. In all honesty nothing has changed, yes we've had injuries, yes we have had some bad luck, surely we arent our own with these problems.

Yesterday was a perfect example of that, depite all the rhetoric in the local press, we conceeded another early try after just 4 minutes and dicipline again let us down and left us clawing a way back into the game, it's like groundhog day!

 

Im really fed up right now, credit to the board the clubs off the field activities are progressing very very well, but as a fan I want my team to be the best its can be, to be winners and not somewhere I go to watch at weekend comming away dissapointed and frustrated after watching the same type of robotic performance and ineptitude. Am I asking too much?

Effort cant be questioned, the players are certainly trying but something just isn't clicking, or the approach and coaching just is'nt getting the best from a fairly talented bunch of players who are equal and better than most in this division, sadly the league table doenst lie, at the moment we are nowhere near and its tough watching for me as a fan.

 

I know I might well get shot down here by most for speaking out, I really just want the best for the team and if what we have witnessed so far this season is about the best we can expect then its not for me anymore, I for one hoped for / expected more. I realise we still might make the end of season play-off yet, but lets all be honest the 1st time we come up against a 'decent' side we will blow out again with a million and one excuses to boot. We need a change of direction IMO.

 

Am I asking for too much, is this as good as it gets for Hornets, are my expectations unreasonable?

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Reading those comments and those from fans of some other clubs in this league (most notably Keighley), there seems to be this expectation from some fans that their club should be strolling to promotion unopposed.

The league is so tight with eight pretty evenly matched sides going for five play-off places with just two going up. Six clubs will end this season desperately disappointed. That's the way it is and I think it's a great league to be playing in. We all want to go up and as a Swinton fan I'm no different but if we don't go up I won't be chucking the towel in. I'm really enjoying the competitiveness of this league and in some ways it's better than getting a tonking off the full time clubs in the Championship every other week. Nobody has a divine right to promotion and nobody has stood out as the best team by far. Good luck for the rest of the season.

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Mick so your happy where we sit currently then and how the season has gone so far, and do you think we've under performed? I'm not trying to be argumentative it's a genuine question.

I wouldn't / and nothing will change this season, it's too late to effect anything now I think.

A change of direction on the coaching side for me.

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2 points - one win - separate third from 7th. It really is that tight. I'm not sure we are 'scratching around just above the development teams' - the top eight are clearly a class above and there really is very little between them. All we can realistically do is give it our best shot. Certainly there will be at least one other team who thought that promotion would be a realistic benchmark of progress. And certainly if NW Crusaders or Keighley fail, they'll have burned a much bigger budget than us. And as for Newcastle, they look like a busted flush on probably the biggest budget in the top eight.

 

Effectively relegating a third of the Championship made League 1 significantly more difficult - and the top eight are a noticeable cut above. But it was always going to be an eight into two equation, so six teams will have to 'go again' next year whether they - or we  - like it or not.

 

Sunday would've been a different matter if we'd played on equal terms for 80 minutes. I'm not sure you can justify calling the lads graft, effort and hard work on Sunday 'robotic'. They gave it absolutely everything - and that's all I ask every week. If it's good enough, then we'll celebrate. If it's not, we suck it up and get behind them next week. Watching Hornets has always been thus.

 

This is as tight a season as I've ever seen - and we're still in the mix. I'd rather be where we are then where Newcastle are.

 

Six games to play, four of them at home. One away game v Oxford at Hemel. We have as good a shot as anyone. 

 

A Swinton Fan is doing a weekly 'update' of potential finishing places based on the fixtures in the run-in and the current week's results it's here>> http://www.totalrl.com/forums/index.php/topic/270100-mid-season-assessment/?p=3165623

 

If he/she's got it any where close I'll be happy.

IMAG0394_zpsvjvgze6q.jpg

 

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I'm in Hornetto's camp on this. Of course I'd like to be doing better but so would most of the other top sides. It is a hard league but it's not over yet, we're still in a goodish position.

The Suffolk incident was a massive setback, if there's a better forward in our league I haven't seen him. Losing Walker when he signed for Wakefield almost at the same time was a big blow. We then get Cookson back to form as an impact forward and he then goes and breaks his arm almost immediately. Three really good forwards all gone in a week or two.

What's hurt us this season is not being able to strengthen the creative positions and provide competition for places. The people who go every week will know what I'm talking about and I know the coach does.

Will I be there next season ? Well it'll be my fiftieth season I think so I suppose you know the answer to that one.

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I take all your comments on board but it doesn't take the frustration away, I've been watching Hornets long enough to see a fair few disappointing seasons, after so much promise and hope in pre-season but never have I felt as frustrated as this season.

What will be will be regarding the play-offs, maybe Tol is some sort of coaching genius and it's all part of the master plan to time our run and to hit peak form at the business end of the season.

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The "class of'63 assessment "of final league positions following our narrow defeat (and placing us 4th) certainly gives us hope still. It could present another possible Grand Final against Oldham for the second promotion spot - should they falter in the first one v York and beat Newcastle and we Keighley away!  Perhaps fifth would be better using the "assessment "and a semi v Oldham.   All idle speculation of course, first we need to become consistently better to keep up the fight to the final match. Then, all contenders will know the needs for a play-off spot.   

Where I share much of ormskirknet's frustration (even being distant from action) - and it's never been an easy ride following Hornets - is the lack of continuous real progress in key areas.  However tough this league - defence and discipline especially are still consistent problems for us - the latter yesterday so very stupid and costly. They will decide our season.

Those early home losses against Oldham and Newcastle may prove costly too. The victories at the latter and Crusaders showed what we could achieve, but not performances at York, Keighley and Oldham, and under performing v Hemel and Coventry.   How much does the Saints dual-reg factor contribute to inconsistency?    Injuries and suspensions may have forced the coach to feature some good players, but the in-out aspect cannot help.   Results/performance for the run-in will dictate any future change of direction.

So let's get in a position to meet Oldham again!

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Over-thinking can be dangerous lol ...

 

I still enjoy my match experience on a Sunday at Spotland,

we are a good professional team in a competitive league, 

I enjoy the wins , and enjoy shouting at them when we are losing....

 

Think the frustration is that we came 'so close' in so many 'big games'..

Going to be a cracking end to the season this year ......

http://twitter.com/vinnieclough

 

 

!!!!! ROCHDALE HORNETS !!!!!!

 

 

 

R

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I believe that Dave Woods' tenure at Whitehaven also involved the St Helens dual registration link, so he'll be in familiar territory again.  How Saints' proposals for an Open Age reserve team for 2016 (See my link in Forum) affects our club remains to be seen!

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