Transitional period : Fri Feb 09, 2018 4:45 pm  

....it is not.
This current team has one element missing above the fact that the team just doesn't gel what so ever....A leader.
There is no one in this current squad who's born to be a leader
Hills been chosen purely on his GB status and current international performances
He is not a leader he's a grafter
There's no one to steady this ship , it's completely rudderless
I don't live in the past but between 2009-2014 wire had an abundance of leaders that could step up when needed
We knew if we dropped 12 or even more points behind we were always confident we could step up to the plate due to leadership and belief none of which we have had last year and believe me this will happen again this year.
The signings look good on paper but that's it
BBM.Roberts, Akoula,M Brown all injured or fatigued pre season.
It's not too soon to judge as the bells rang last year early on and do you here them again? I do.
My guess is we got price on the cheap,a big mistake .
No true winning pedigree and with the money more than likely available we could have done better .look at our home grown coaches everyone has a price.
I think the board bought into Prices thinking and I've seen absolutely nothing new from last season.
I myself say Mr Smith you are exonerated from some of the choices you made,but were his decisions worse than what we're seeing now?
We will struggle this season but I'm praying not another bottom 4 please Wire ,the fans don't deserve it.


I

Re: Transitional period : Fri Feb 09, 2018 4:58 pm  

Well said, totally agree.

TS earned (oh yes he did) the right to time to try and turn things round last season, by virtue of having the pedigree and achievements of a top coach.

Price does not. He seems like a nice bloke and I really want him to succeed, but the management will have to act quickly if we don't see an improvement very soon or we'll be in a situation that will make last year look like a holiday camp.

Re: Transitional period : Fri Feb 09, 2018 5:15 pm  

Smith stuck around too long & damaged his reputation. We have been left with a very shoddy set up that will take some sorting out. He should have taken a leaf out of Fergie's book & gone 2 or 3 of years ago when he started falling out with the experienced players.

Re: Transitional period : Fri Feb 09, 2018 5:36 pm  

I have an opinion (and I might be wrong) but the downfall coincided with the loss of Andy Gatcliffe.

With him we had a successful business, a desirable and stable environment and seemed to be setting up for the long haul. Emirates were on board, and if rumours are believed wanted to buy the naming rights to the stadium, which would have created more income and a little prestige. Facilities wise, training ground was being improved.

Since then we’ve had 2 CEO’s, board changes (additions and leavers) a change in coach and coaching set up, change in main sponsor and nothing to show for it. Still posted a loss (from memory) after making 2 major finals in 2016.

Poor leadership has been discussed on other topics but that starts at the top. The board should have made a decision sooner on Smith to back or sack, instead we left it to the last minute, which restricts the time a new coach has to get his people and players in place to start the year right. We look under prepared, and that could be why. Saints on the other hand bit the bullet early, had a rocky few weeks when Holbrook first came over and started to click at the back end of last year, and ready to go this year.

Re: Transitional period : Fri Feb 09, 2018 7:19 pm  

Barbed Wire wrote:

I have an opinion (and I might be wrong) but the downfall coincided with the loss of Andy Gatcliffe.

With him we had a successful business, a desirable and stable environment and seemed to be setting up for the long haul. Emirates were on board, and if rumours are believed wanted to buy the naming rights to the stadium, which would have created more income and a little prestige. Facilities wise, training ground was being improved.

Since then we’ve had 2 CEO’s, board changes (additions and leavers) a change in coach and coaching set up, change in main sponsor and nothing to show for it. Still posted a loss (from memory) after making 2 major finals in 2016.

Poor leadership has been discussed on other topics but that starts at the top. The board should have made a decision sooner on Smith to back or sack, instead we left it to the last minute, which restricts the time a new coach has to get his people and players in place to start the year right. We look under prepared, and that could be why. Saints on the other hand bit the bullet early, had a rocky few weeks when Holbrook first came over and started to click at the back end of last year, and ready to go this year.

Other timing coincidences

1. Appointment of Lee Briers into "Assistant Coach"
2. Appointment of Jon Clarke to "Head of Performance"
3. Steady decline of player quality since Gatcliffe left.

Re: Transitional period : Fri Feb 09, 2018 11:49 pm  

lefty nailed this on another thread:

lefty goldblatt wrote:

There seems to have been a malaise about our club, since our last Wembley win. Get to the top table, but seem to be complacent, ever since. Gatcliffe left. Just happy to be chugging along with Leeds, Saints and Wigan, but not moving on to the next level.
Spending big transfer fees on Brown, Lineham and the other fella from Hull (genuinely forgotten his name) was to me, an ego trip...... simply because we could. Lineham's try scoring return aside, I'm still shaking my head over all 3 of them.

Poor recruitment / retention of players. Buying jack of all trades players. Smith staying those couple of seasons too long, AND bringing his mate Agar in. The fall out with senior pro's and the fitness coach from a few years back. Getting an ex RL pro to go and sit a few business exams at the local tech college, stick a tie on him, and class him as your COO, shouts smalltime, to me.

Something's not right. If we don't fix it, we'll be coasting back to mid table mediocrity, where we were 20 years ago.

The club has been going backwards since Gatcliffe left. Neither Draper nor Fitzpatrick have been good appointments.

But when silvertail says "transitional period it is not" I wouldn't be too sure.

Steve Price has got a two year contract. If he's going to be here beyond 2 years we would be hoping to be a side that is actually competing for honours again by 2020.

So in 2020, which of these players do you see as being part of a Warrington team that is competing for honours:

Ratchford
Lineham
Goodwin
Atkins
Russell
M Brown
K Brown
Patton
Cooper
Hughes
Murdoch-Masila
Westwood
G King
Philbin
T King

That's 15 players from the current first team squad. Do you look at that list and see at least 9 or 10 players who you think will be moved on by 2020 if we are serious about challenging again. If so, we are in transition.

Re: Transitional period : Sat Feb 10, 2018 2:44 am  

sally cinnamon wrote:

lefty nailed this on another thread:

The club has been going backwards since Gatcliffe left. Neither Draper nor Fitzpatrick have been good appointments.

But when silvertail says "transitional period it is not" I wouldn't be too sure.

Steve Price has got a two year contract. If he's going to be here beyond 2 years we would be hoping to be a side that is actually competing for honours again by 2020.

So in 2020, which of these players do you see as being part of a Warrington team that is competing for honours:

Ratchford
Lineham
Goodwin
Atkins
Russell
M Brown
K Brown
Patton
Cooper
Hughes
Murdoch-Masila
Westwood
G King
Philbin
T King

That's 15 players from the current first team squad. Do you look at that list and see at least 9 or 10 players who you think will be moved on by 2020 if we are serious about challenging again. If so, we are in transition.

Bit harsh on Fitzpatrick. He's pulled his finger out over the last 6 months.

Re: Transitional period : Sat Feb 10, 2018 6:47 am  

The term "transitional period" really makes my poop itch.

Unfortunately, due to the structure and poor standard of SL, where you can coast for the first couple of months, but you need to be hitting the heights come late June, and hold it til the end of the season, there is an excuse for transition.

No. We need top notch, now.
New coach, who we "coveted"
Players who we paid BIG transfer fees for, recently
Internationals/MoS winners
This isn't Strictly Come Dancing, where celebrities who've never danced before, learn a new skill, and improve week on week.. These are highly paid professionals, and it's their job. We should be expecting more.

The term "transitional period" merely cuts them some slack. Basically, an excuse to be poor.

We fans deserve better

Re: Transitional period : Sat Feb 10, 2018 9:08 am  

It's bollox
Said it before. The transition was the period they developed from amateur youngsters to modest paid young men....there's no transition when you've made it a pro.

You get a pro builder round to do a job, do you expect him to take 1 to 4 years to go it, and then do it again 3/4/5 times to get it right?

Re: Transitional period : Sat Feb 10, 2018 11:19 am  

Sorry for another association football analogy but Pep Guardiola has shown with City what a transitional period is. Year 1- see what’s what, Year 2- transition over it’s the real deal now

Saints had a transitional period when Holbrook first went there