I've seen it all before too, poor performances, disappointment, relegation yo-yo team. Back then I remember the fans showing their distain from the Scratching Shed and no doubt in the pubs and working mens clubs the discussions taking place would have been exactly the same as what appears on here day after day.
My opinion is that Calland is not the man for the job. I'm not saying that because we lost 3 on the bounce. I'm saying that on the back of so many poor performances and the lack of reaction to those bad performances. But the deciding factor for me was the behaviour of Mr Calland and Mr Hall whilst in Toulouse last season. Anyone who was there at the time probably thought it was funny but in reality we had a game 5 days later and we all know what happened from there on.

I'm not sure what to say,obviously very disappointed about the result. I can't knock the effort especially in the first half, defended and tackled well andat least completed our sets although our final tackle options were generally poor. 2nd half a lot more concern.how many times did we lose the ball in the tackle,gave away soft pens etc. Confidence is low; there's no apparent leadership out there, we are
missing brannigan and Gleason dreadfully while Nash would add weight and punch to a small 2nd row. I also thought fev went very well. Big pack (that's a recurring theme) , half backs dictating things and a well executed game plan.def top 3 material

Some help for Matt, hes my review of your side, im afraid some of your coaching and selection was on the optimistic side, perhaps the board and Mr Hall should take some blame too for allowing us to have a good side on paper, when the reality is a little more complicated. We look tired in more ways than one. Read a book on Brian Clough or something to see how its done

Starmen
Branighan and Gleeson, without doubt our 2 best players. Great to see Luke get better after the first couple of weeksn.

The young guns - The positives
Ostick - Looked very game indeed, there was a set in the first half where he and Maloney took the first 4 drives between them, thats the spirit, needs more bulk. We made yards and attacked the line, its a simple game isnt it?
Maloney - As above, i was really impressed with his effort, he looks to be getting bigger, and we look better with these guys on.

Dads Army - The not so positives (would have been a great pack 5 years ago - getting out muscled and enthused as a unit now)
Azuie - Not had the expected impact, maybe Hull KR saw this coming, lucky if we get half an hour out of him. Not made hardly any breaks and spilt the ball plenty.
Watene - I keep being reminded of the Blackadder goes Forth '20 minuters' Franks 10 in each half, his couple of drives look good, is that enough? are we expecting too much?
Larder - I feel for Dave, I shouldn't but he looks genuinely cream crackered after a warm up, its a shame because one thing we could never question about Dave was his commitment and effort, i dont want to remember him as a tired defender allowing people to dance past him.
Wrenchy -Dave was never gonna set the world on fire, but he puts in so much effort, id have him in the squad for his enthusiasm, lacks bulk though.
Said -He gets himself about, lacks control though.
Stanley - Still enthusiastic, father time catches us all up though, even Stan.

The others - The er!
Bannister - I still dont know his strengths, i dont dislike him, he doesnt seem to make mistakes, i just cant see what impact he has on the game.
Roberts - The days of people cheering as he bounces off 6 defenders, runs 40 yards back and forth, and gets tackled a yard behind where he started seem to have gone, thankfully, seems to an aversion to dipping his shoulder and running straight., probably due to his size, or lack of it.
Cherryholme - Neil, Neil Neil, take some time off and go backpacking or something, find yourself, just doesn't seem to have becoming a hardened big RL forward on his radar yet, well, the mental toughness side of it anyway.

Saved by the bell
We all know Penkys strengths. we all know his weaknesses, while he is chucking silly passes and trying stupid offloads, its not his fault the pack isnt going forward and not his fault a coach has played him in stupid positions, if we started making in roads, he would come to the fore again with his natural game. I feel the same about Black, hes a match winner and not effective if we cant break sides open in the middle.

The backs
Not having a pack thats laid a platform means they have fed off scraps, very dangerous when we do get parity in the forwards though.

But the problems from last year when we collapsed- Poor Defence, Poor Discipline, Poor Leadership, No Confidence etc are still there. After a full off season and nearly 2 months in to the new seaon we look just no different to the slump last year. For me, no real work has been done to sort out our problems over a 6 month period. All that has been done for me is to bring in some old heads etc rather than sort the problem out with individuals and as a team. Our team is top heaby age wise in the forwards. The players have to shoulder the blame alongside the coach. But the Coach is responsible for the team, its tactics and signings (Who he wants). Its these areas which concern me.
I also must question some decisions-like playing an out of form Goddard in the Second Row or shoving Penky in at 6 when he cant play there. If we had a 2nd team we could use Fringe players who are Match Fit. We could drop players and promote those playing in form. We would have somewhere for young local players like Fleming who is forced to play on loan. We have the best amateur team in the Country at Siddal, but how many youngsters are going to sign for Fax when we have no proper Academy or Reserve team to play in?.Its All these things that make me feel Calland is not the right person and the club needs to look at things in the bigger picture not just over this season.

Now who does that remind you of at the moment...

Absoutely. We need to turn in to Whitehaven (or at least the way I've always percieved them to play) and build on it.

If we scrape past Toulouse, will he say 'We've turned the corner' ?
If we lose will he say 'We saw some improvements we can build on' ?

The real question is how much longer can this go on. I sincerely hope something is going on behind the scenes to find a solution, and thats more than trying to get an all weather pitch block booking and telling them to work harder, i think work smarter has a lot to do with it, and that goes for the BOD's too. A new coach would re energise everything connected with the club, a breath of fresh air, and few home truths for players wouldn't go a miss.

If we lose the next 2 it will be game over!

A loss to Keighley on SKY would be a frightening outcome, our fan base would drop by a 1/3 over night.

Right, first things first. Something needs to happen down at the club, otherwise we are going to find ourselves losing fans, dropping league places and losing the respect for our SL bid.

Do we sack the coach?! I don't know. Yes, we all know the "off field" things that have been going on with him, Blackpool, Toulouse, Jacks et al do all speak for themselves. But he has taken our team to a grand final, something that no other coach has. Up until 2 weeks ago, everything on the surface was fine and dandy.

People, including myself will argue that this has been going on for a while.

Our defense last year was pants, but we managed to outscore teams. Our last tackle plays last year were unstructured and off the cuff, opposition teams have improved and they are defending a lot better. Our forwards last year, did however set some form of a platform for players like Black, Penky and Gleeson to do their thing, something which we haven't had this year.

Are the players playing for their coach? Do they have professional respect for the coach?

2 weeks ago we were top of the league and in all competitions we were entered for. Is it a form blip, or is this run of results and performances the accumulation of 2 seasons of bad coaching and training styles?

On the flip side, to sack Calland would cost the club money, something which we don't need. Also, in Calland we have a young British coach, something that a lot of professional clubs do not have. Should we not be encouraging his development for the good of the game?!

As faxfan said on a different thread, Hall and Calland don't come as a package, and although I do not agree with a lot of decisions that the board have made this season (dual registration, no reserve grade team, investing in old foreign players rather than young british), we need to keep hold of Martin. He attracts quality players to the club and is a good business man. People in RL respect Martin, he has done everything in the game, and despite his alleged behaviour on certain away games last year, I think he is an asset to our club.

As for the players, last night certain individuals simply weren't good enough. I didn't feel cross, or angry like I felt last week, because I genuinely felt they were trying. We were just clueless.

I am no coach, or player of the game, but can you coach forwards to run hard and break tackles?! I thought that would be insitinctive at this level. Yet, in the first half, going down hill, we failed to break tackles. Except Ostick and Maloney, I thought our front row was dire which unfortunately is a trend that we have kept going from last year.

The problem lies in our cohesion, or lack of it. Last tackle plays were poor, with players not knowing what to do.

Penky, Black, Ostick, Maloney and Worrency all stood up last night in my opinion, and appeared to bust their a$$es for the team. It's a shame that the team aren't gelling, and there isn't a solid platform being set by senior forwards.

So, what to do? Booing the players isn't going to do anything for their confidence, and as I have said, there were players on the pitch last night who definitely didn't deserve booing. They looked like lost puppies walking off the pitch last night, and I felt quite sorry for them. They don't appear to have any guidance on the pitch, and by having 5 captains on the pitch at once, there is no clear leader on, or off the pitch at the momment.

Calland on the other hand, is in the firing line, and I'm afraid it does come with the territory. Blaming training facilities is wearing thin, forwards looked slow and unfit, pretty sure fitness first has treadmills??!

I think we should give Calland until the Keighley game and see how we perform. I will always back the club as long as I feel they are giving 100% for the shirt and the fans who watch them. If Calland feels the same way about the club that I do, he will surely inspire the players to fight for us and we will come through this bad patch.

But if the coach cannot inspire the player, then maybe it is time for a change.

Very well put post

I wonder if the 'Fax fans in the "Strikers Bar" in Tenerife are still as enthusiastic in their support of Halifax - "Come on Shad Lad!" As a Leyther it became a little monotinous being surrounded by the "Yorkies".
See you in November 2010 and March 2011.

Some great points raised Claire. As somebody who has played the game for a number of years, I will try and answer some of your points as I see them. I do nozt know everything about the game but these are just my thoughts on your points

This is why I do not think Matt can take us any further. We have had problems with defence, attitude, Discipline and playing for 80 minutes for many years. Matt has had 2 years to sort the problems out and we are still struggling with these problems. Yes he did get us to a Grand Final-but it was a close run thing with a group of some of the finest players outside SL.


Is Matt costing the club more money though? Out the Rail Cup, People staying away as fed up with the attitude and performance of Matts Players and his comments. A negative is like a cancer, that can destroy much of what is good that has happened at a club. The question is when do you remove the problem?
To be honest I do not care about developing Young British Coaches for the good of the game. The people running the game have not helped the Championship teams, so why should we look to develop Coaches? I want a Coach who gets his team playing with 100% and has a good knowledge of the game. One who has a number of tactics to break a defence down. One that has the players tested and learning all the time. Calland is not doing that for me.


I see no reason why Martin should go. His job is to bring in quality players. In most cases he has done that. Due to the Salary Cap teams are always going to have players who maybe are not good enough. Other players maybe just do not fit in or simply have been a let down for whatever reason.


If the players are clueless that is the fault of the coach in most cases. The team and individuals should have certain goals to reach-look to complete sets of six with a good kick. Player X should aim to make XX Tackles and XX Hit ups for example. There could be small Individual/team awards/penalties depending. The players should receive a detailed report of the players they are most likely to face in there position. What good and bad points the opponent has. What hand they hold the ball in. Whether they can tackle with the left shoulder well or not,Whether a player can step or not etc. That for me is not happening at Fax


According to Phil Clarke, Maguire at Wigan has got his players running harder and faster and with more purpose in to tackles both in defence and attack. I also believe you can fine tune players. Better fitness and discipline for example will mean your players can run harder and faster as well as have more stamina. They also have more strength in the tackle and last longer.
This also goes down to preparation. By knowing certain opponents have fitness problems or weaknesses you get your team to work at them areas. So for example if you have somebody who is lazy and gives penalties away after 15 minutes through being tired you target him that you want your forwards to aim at. Also look to aim runners at halfbacks. Partly to tire them out, but also the size difference between a Prop and Halfback is often 15- 20Kg difference


Do not think Booing achieves much to be honest. The players need a strong leader on the field to get them to play how the coach wants. Also to set an example when needed as well as encourage the team and individuals. They need a General off the field who can send the message down when he sees a weakness in his or the opponents team. They need to feel confident that the game plan they have will work most times. They need to feel the Coach knows what he is doing and what he has to do to get the team back on track when the form dips-which happens with every team! If somebody was booing you all the time whilst playing you feel negative and dejected a lot of the time. Plus it adds more pressure on the players when something fails and the crowd just Boo them. I suggest gett behind the players and give them the feeling that we are on their side.


Calland has brought the players in or kept them. For me he should be backing them not saying "some are in the last chance salloon" even if that is the case. For me a coach should never blast his players in public-that should be done if at all in private. If somebody criticized me on the Radio and paper I would feel sod you. If he said to me privately or in a group in training then I would have more respect for him. I think sadly the time is up for Calland. Even if we do beat Toulouse and Keighley.

Unfortunatley it does look like Hall and Calland come as a package and I doubt the BOD would want Hall to withdraw his money afterall hasn't he put more money in to the club than all the other directors combined?