vastman wrote:
I’ve been shot down a few times for this but I think Smith was a tonic. He wasn’t the right coach but his brutal attitude to the players meant anyone else was better. I think CC benefitted from this to start with as he seemed so much more enlightened and above all friendly.
Now many have forgotten and are too comfy. I honestly don’t know if BV is a holiday camp but it gives off the feel of being one. Rightly or wrongly this is how many are seeing it, such a shame after some really good seasons.
One way or another we have to toughen up either on or off the field.
For me the issue with Smith was, he was probably used to a certain level of support from the clubs he has been at to implement the change he needed to to make a club successful, that's not a dig at our club, as MC stated publicly we gave him all the support we could financially but based on the position we was in at the time, I don`t think that was anywhere near enough.
I genuinely think based on what I have heard from certain people involved with the club at the time that members of the playing squad were not a fan off the level of work Brian Smith come in and demanded, especially in the pre-season, for me that's all about balance and again from what I hear the we are completely the opposite right now in terms of our demands and expectations of our players and it shows now. As you say, I think Chester had that period when he first come in of players reacting really well to the change, he talked a lot about allowing players to express themselves and play with a smile on there faces but uplift in performances based solely on that was only going to last so long.
We badly miss an experienced head at the club in my opinion, people can tell me how much experience Chester, Last and Poaching have between them but someone like John Kear, just having him at the club is priceless in my opinion, he has been around the block, he has found himself in some dreadful situations, he has found himself in some very good situation and he knows what to do to get things moving. If we aren't going to budge on Chester, I would genuinely jump at the chance to have someone come in as a director of Rugby.