Where do we go from here.

[Ramboy]

After yet another late disaster show where do we go from here. I understand that Mr Greenwood didn't have the time or money to get the players he wanted pre season, but we didn't look in bad nick at the start of the season.Should have beaten York,Toronto and Sheffield at home and probably Barrow away. So why are we looking so poor now ?

The two games agains Batley have been a disgrace. It seems we have half dozen players who give everything and the rest just filling space.

Our using of subs is a mystery to behold, it would seem that either a players face doesn't fit,or he is injured, either way it's a waste of a place on the bench.

Lastly I would like to see Jacob Thomas given some game time,he did ok in pre season..in fact he had a great game at Bradford in the Yorkshire Cup on a pig of a night, then played 20 mins v York, never to be seen again...another face not fitting ? Toby Richardson is another player been pushed aside after looking a top prospect last year.

Lets hope for a Paul Sykes return to avoid the drop or perhaps promotion to player coach ??

 

[Moscow01]

It’s important to remain calm. Yes constantly losing games we should have won is incredibly frustrating but having a go at the players and coaching staff doesn’t help anyone. 

This division is nuts. You’ve got teams signing players from the NRL and Super League and teams like York bringing in top notchers at the drop of a hat. I know Lee is dead against dual-reg and I applaud his stance on only bringing in players on loan deals rather than just getting players to play once. 

 

On our day we’ve shown not only can we compete with the best but we can actually beat them. We’ve got good players and a good up and coming coach but things aren’t going to get better overnight. At the start of the season I thought there were probably 2/3 squads weaker than ours and I still stand by that. 

Up the Rams. 

[Blind side johnny]

"Where do we go from here?"

To the match on Sunday I would hope, and support the team.

The coach is paid to select the best team for each occasion, according to his opinions and belief. The teams that we "should" have beaten, we didn't, and that showed up an inherent weakness in game management. This has been our key problem all along and I am sure that the staff and players are working hard to overcome this. The suggestion that some of the players didn't care on Sunday is just plain wrong, as you would know if you had looked into their eyes as they came off the pitch. No RL player goes onto a field intendng to lose and ours are no different.

If the timings of coaching changes had been better then maybe we could have been more successful in the market, but it wasn't and we weren't, so it is pointless going over old ground again.

Victories over Fev and Widnes weren't accidental but, so far, we have failed to reproduce that form. But we can and we must all hope and trust that we will. All that we as fans can do is suport the team and cheer them to the rafters when they succeed, as they must.

[Moscow01]

19 minutes ago, Blind side johnny said:

"Where do we go from here?"

To the match on Sunday I would hope, and support the team.

The coach is paid to select the best team for each occasion, according to his opinions and belief. The teams that we "should" have beaten, we didn't, and that showed up an inherent weakness in game management. This has been our key problem all along and I am sure that the staff and players are working hard to overcome this. The suggestion that some of the players didn't care on Sunday is just plain wrong, as you would know if you had looked into their eyes as they came off the pitch. No RL player goes onto a field intendng to lose and ours are no different.

If the timings of coaching changes had been better then maybe we could have been more successful in the market, but it wasn't and we weren't, so it is pointless going over old ground again.

Victories over Fev and Widnes weren't accidental but, so far, we have failed to reproduce that form. But we can and we must all hope and trust that we will. All that we as fans can do is suport the team and cheer them to the rafters when they succeed, as they must.

Very well said sir. I agree with every word. 

[gittinsfan]

How long ago were a lot of Batley fans screaming for Diskins head.It seems (hopefully) that he or the players have managed to change things around.

Give your new coach a chance.Half a season is not enough.

[Wakefield Ram]

The concern is the team's performances seem to be getting worse and Lee Greenwood has less than half a season to make sure we stay up. Relegation won't care that he took the job late on. On the Swinton board one of their fans couldn't believe they'd won and how badly we played.  If we were putting in decent performances and getting beaten by better teams, then it's disappointing, but we are beating ourselves. Relegation to League 1 would be a financial and playing disaster. And the treatment of Jordan Andrade is baffling. Use him or drop him in favour of Richardson, who looked a good player last season. If the players aren't organised or expecting a short kick off, then why don't they practice it? Why isn't he screaming on the touchline? 

[NickD]

15 hours ago, Moscow01 said:

 

On our day we’ve shown not only can we compete with the best but we can actually beat them. 

Up the Rams. 

You mention this like its a positive...To be its the biggest negative.  If we can win these games and then throw so many away what the hell is going on?

I do disagree with the earlier point that many of the players don't care or aren't trying.  I think the vast majority of them are but they are lacking confidence and are just playing pure dumb rugby half of the time..

Our lack of attacking is most depressing and we are back to one man stuff for whole chunks of the game...Swinton moved quicker, passed it better and (sorry I know I go about this) offloaded far more.   We maybe offloaded 2/3 times, they were at it contstantly..

We need Sykes back as we are super weak at HB..

Agree about that short kick off.  Lucas looked like a flying saucer was coming his way when it came towards him and everyone of the 50 of us in the crowd had been shouting,,"watch the short kick off"...Pity the players didn't hear us.

 

[youngun]

13 hours ago, Blind side johnny said:

"Where do we go from here?"

To the match on Sunday I would hope, and support the team.

The coach is paid to select the best team for each occasion, according to his opinions and belief. The teams that we "should" have beaten, we didn't, and that showed up an inherent weakness in game management. This has been our key problem all along and I am sure that the staff and players are working hard to overcome this. The suggestion that some of the players didn't care on Sunday is just plain wrong, as you would know if you had looked into their eyes as they came off the pitch. No RL player goes onto a field intendng to lose and ours are no different.

If the timings of coaching changes had been better then maybe we could have been more successful in the market, but it wasn't and we weren't, so it is pointless going over old ground again.

Victories over Fev and Widnes weren't accidental but, so far, we have failed to reproduce that form. But we can and we must all hope and trust that we will. All that we as fans can do is suport the team and cheer them to the rafters when they succeed, as they must.

I agree with the vast majority of what you say BSJ but the victories over Widnes and Fev were more down to those particular teams having an off day other than us being outstanding. Fev have proved that and are finding consistency. 

We as supporters will turn up week in week out and cheer the lads on and I agree none of them go out there with the intention of losing. As I have said before the squad just isn't good enough to compete at this level on a regular basis. The void left by Sykes injury proves that. 

But I do get a little bit miffed when all I hear season after season is the importance of avoiding relegation. The emphasis should be to entertain the fans with some exciting rugby along the way. 

We have had 3 coaches over the last few years, none of them lacking in quality, yet still we are playing the same style of rugby we were playing 4 years ago.

The problems for me regarding performance and ambition lie a lot deeper than coaching and effort on the field. Put our fingers on that conundrum and we may just start to see things improve.  

[coolie]

We lost good players like Brown,Josh,Glover ,speakman a late appointment before the season opened have all added to the woes.

I do think this slide in form started when we started shipping loan players in.

But that was the best option for Lee a kind of quick fix that doesn't seem to work,the big balls of the team ain't standing up and taking the lead .I still believe will turn it around,but a change of approach may be needed,we cannot rely on a seasoned pro like Paul Sykes to bail us out the sh.it everytime ,4 more wins could see us safe,my concern is Swinton are on a roll,Barrow always have an edge at home, Rochdale are always capable of throwing in a good performance...and we have to play them twice if we lose them 2 games better start getting your sat-nav out for visits to places like Wales,Cumbria, Newcastle, London,Coventry ,staying positive is very difficult when a double barrelled shot gun pressed hard against your forehead.

[J Phil Loxton]

1 hour ago, youngun said:

I agree with the vast majority of what you say BSJ but the victories over Widnes and Fev were more down to those particular teams having an off day other than us being outstanding. Fev have proved that and are finding consistency. 

We as supporters will turn up week in week out and cheer the lads on and I agree none of them go out there with the intention of losing. As I have said before the squad just isn't good enough to compete at this level on a regular basis. The void left by Sykes injury proves that. 

But I do get a little bit miffed when all I hear season after season is the importance of avoiding relegation. The emphasis should be to entertain the fans with some exciting rugby along the way. 

We have had 3 coaches over the last few years, none of them lacking in quality, yet still we are playing the same style of rugby we were playing 4 years ago.

The problems for me regarding performance and ambition lie a lot deeper than coaching and effort on the field. Put our fingers on that conundrum and we may just start to see things improve.  

Fev are probably a different beast to when you beat us but it goes without saying that Dewsbury played as well as I could remember that day. That was due to two half backs playing together so well. I have seen Dewsbury on clips since and in my opinion you are missing Sykes or someone of that ilk alongside Finny. The rumour coming out today is that only one club is being relegated and the championship increased to sixteen. So a bit of pressure will be lifted there.

[silverback]

dont beat yerselves up about losing to swinton fellas, i think they are playing some real quality rugby and the last few games have been great to watch in last 30 minutes, plenty a young lads coming thru but if they keep them next couple a years should be good for swinton fans,good coach too. i know sykes is a class act but you cant pin yer hopes for much longer i wouldent a thought so maybe a new face for hrad bit a season. crack on with job and you will be fine. our corners turned but maybe theres another bend or two to come..all the best with it all,

[Ramboy]

5 hours ago, Wakefield Ram said:

The concern is the team's performances seem to be getting worse and Lee Greenwood has less than half a season to make sure we stay up. Relegation won't care that he took the job late on. On the Swinton board one of their fans couldn't believe they'd won and how badly we played.  If we were putting in decent performances and getting beaten by better teams, then it's disappointing, but we are beating ourselves. Relegation to League 1 would be a financial and playing disaster. And the treatment of Jordan Andrade is baffling. Use him or drop him in favour of Richardson, who looked a good player last season. If the players aren't organised or expecting a short kick off, then why don't they practice it? Why isn't he screaming on the touchline? 

 

[Ramboy]

This was the point I was trying to make,we are going backwards at an alarming rate and we should have enough experience in our team to win tight games,if not I'm afraid the only way is down. Having said that I believe 4 wins will see us safe,then we can look to build a team for next year .

[EQUALIZER]

If fev and Widnes had off days against us than so did we against Batley swinton Now Batley was embarrassing and I spouted as did a lot Its funny yes we hear when we win its always our opponents form Widnes and fev played as good as we allowed them

 

But on a reality check its the first season the  coach did well to put a squad together. His first aim was to compete against all  teams all be it an handful of games we have. Stop up we will and we will pull another surprise out of sack trust me There will have been worse seasons than this.This coach knows where he wants to be and I for one back him. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[youngun]

2 hours ago, EQUALIZER said:

If fev and Widnes had off days against us than so did we against Batley swinton Now Batley was embarrassing and I spouted as did a lot Its funny yes we hear when we win its always our opponents form Widnes and fev played as good as we allowed them

 

But on a reality check its the first season the  coach did well to put a squad together. His first aim was to compete against all  teams all be it an handful of games we have. Stop up we will and we will pull another surprise out of sack trust me There will have been worse seasons than this.This coach knows where he wants to be and I for one back him. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I am certainly not criticising the coach, it's still early days. Time will tell. My point is that if our ambition as a club at the start of each season is to survive we are gradually going to lose support and with that income. The atmosphere in the South Stand is currently mind numbing. The standard of rugby being played at the moment is far from entertaining and no better than Glens days. Look at our points scored, only one team Swinton have scored less and they beat us at the weekend. We didn't have an off day against Batley or Swinton, we had a normal day. Think about it played 14 lost 10. Thrashed in CC by Fax, teams we beat were both amateur. The club needs to start speculating to accumulate, creating a buzz and stop using excuses before the season starts. I think Coolie mentions we lost Brown, Guzdek, Glover etc and also a decent coach. The root cause goes back to why we lost them. NK made his decision known before the season ended.

[the old nine ole]

In my opinion we are only a decent stand off away from a decent team .... Sykesies absence has been devastating to our performances with no adequate cover .... Finn has never been quick but finds space ......  the problem is Brown can't exploit the space like Sykes can.... its a shame we can't get a 6 on loan..... it would be so much different if we had someone playing off Finn rather than Brown who is more or less another Finn ( but not as good ) .... Brown can cover Finn but he can't cover Sykes!!  Not seen enough of Thomas so couldn't comment if he would be better .... could Hooley or Gabriel do any better .... they couldn't do much  worse!!  Still LG is paid to find a solution and he knows far more about the game than I do .... its much easier as a fan sorting the problems out!!  I don't envy LG but he has to find a solution or get Sykes back quick!!

[youngun]

I agree we have missed Sykes without doubt. But we have still only won two games when he was playing. One of which was Swinton at home. We have 2 very good interchangeable hookers in the pack but the rest, as much as they put in the effort, are just not good enough at this level. Let me ask the question. How many times have you seen one of our forwards run onto a ball at pace this season and knock somebody over? How many times have you seen them release the ball in attack and it go to hand?  Defensively the pack are good for 70% of the game but after being dominated for long periods they tire and are bound to drop their guard. A lot of issues for LG to get right but a decent stand off is only the tip of the iceberg.

[EQUALIZER]

54 minutes ago, youngun said:

I am certainly not criticising the coach, it's still early days. Time will tell. My point is that if our ambition as a club at the start of each season is to survive we are gradually going to lose support and with that income. The atmosphere in the South Stand is currently mind numbing. The standard of rugby being played at the moment is far from entertaining and no better than Glens days. Look at our points scored, only one team Swinton have scored less and they beat us at the weekend. We didn't have an off day against Batley or Swinton, we had a normal day. Think about it played 14 lost 10. Thrashed in CC by Fax, teams we beat were both amateur. The club needs to start speculating to accumulate, creating a buzz and stop using excuses before the season starts. I think Coolie mentions we lost Brown, Guzdek, Glover etc and also a decent coach. The root cause goes back to why we lost them. NK made his decision known before the season ended.

 sorry mate no way did I mean to suggest you was having a go at the coach 

 

[NickD]

13 hours ago, the old nine ole said:

In my opinion we are only a decent stand off away from a decent team .... Sykesies absence has been devastating to our performances with no adequate cover .... Finn has never been quick but finds space ......  the problem is Brown can't exploit the space like Sykes can.... its a shame we can't get a 6 on loan..... it would be so much different if we had someone playing off Finn rather than Brown who is more or less another Finn ( but not as good ) .... Brown can cover Finn but he can't cover Sykes!!  Not seen enough of Thomas so couldn't comment if he would be better .... could Hooley or Gabriel do any better .... they couldn't do much  worse!!  Still LG is paid to find a solution and he knows far more about the game than I do .... its much easier as a fan sorting the problems out!!  I don't envy LG but he has to find a solution or get Sykes back quick!!

From what Ive seen Brown has been outplaying Finn..

 

13 hours ago, youngun said:

 How many times have you seen one of our forwards run onto a ball at pace this season and knock somebody over? How many times have you seen them release the ball in attack and it go to hand?  

spot on....very rarely...I would just modify your second question to "How many times have you seen them release the ball......"

[Blind side johnny]

18 hours ago, youngun said:

I am certainly not criticising the coach, it's still early days. Time will tell. My point is that if our ambition as a club at the start of each season is to survive we are gradually going to lose support and with that income. The atmosphere in the South Stand is currently mind numbing. The standard of rugby being played at the moment is far from entertaining and no better than Glens days. Look at our points scored, only one team Swinton have scored less and they beat us at the weekend. We didn't have an off day against Batley or Swinton, we had a normal day. Think about it played 14 lost 10. Thrashed in CC by Fax, teams we beat were both amateur. The club needs to start speculating to accumulate, creating a buzz and stop using excuses before the season starts. I think Coolie mentions we lost Brown, Guzdek, Glover etc and also a decent coach. The root cause goes back to why we lost them. NK made his decision known before the season ended.

Last point first: NK made his decision known as the season ended and after most players had been signed by other clubs. He left for personal reasons well known to most people. The players left for money and can't be blamed for that, it happens all the time to clubs like ours.

How much do we need to speculate in order to accumulate what? It's an oft-quoted cliche and never been proven to succeed; in fact I can cite a host of examples where the opposite eventually occured.

Our main weakness is that the chairman is too honest. Many clubs state clearly unattainable ambitions at the start of every season then fall well short - repeat for however many seasons you might like. In reality their objective, like ours, is to continue providing RL entertainment for the public in the Championship. Personally I have no problem with that.

I would agree that the atmosphere in the South Stand is gloomy. Sadly, if you travel to other grounds you will encounter the same: there is a glum malaise covering much of lower level RL at present and very little happening to improve the state of the game short-term. I also believe that it is difficult, if not impossible, to compare our support with that of many other clubs. Figures being published throughout the game are questionable at best.

Our situation is both difficult and frustrating for all of us, but there is no obvious quick fix in my view.

[Reverend Ram]

It does not matter how bad it gets - the true supporter keeps the faith and turns up no matter how bad the fayre on the pitch. Not that it should prevent criticism of course as these posts testify but as BSJ says we dust ourselves down and look forward to the next encounter. At least we can say that we have a good chance of beating the Lions as all our recent encounters have been very close. I will be there in spirit as a wedding takes unfortunate preference this weekend.