It is not Mick Potter we need, it's HARRY POTTER!

Sorry, but I'm not falling for this 'inherited team' line that people keep defending Millward with. We've all seen coaches in their first season at a club where most of the team is that which was formed by their predecessor. We've all seen coaches, temporary coaches and assistant coaches take charge of teams mid season...yet we don't see that lack luster, out of position, un-fit, uninterested performances that we are seeing with Millward. So tell me what the difference is between these players at Cas and the many other teams that we've seen....Wakefield, Bradford and others, where the players have had even more reason not to perform. The one difference that I see, and we were warned about it before the season had even kicked off.....Ian Millward!

The real proof of any professional is getting the best out of the hand that you've been dealt.

Further more...let's be honest the cronies that he has brought in from Leigh have been a waste of money, and would not make the grade at any other SL team. Added to which one of the good assets that we do have...he's put out on loan at Leigh. Next year we'll be hearing a load of bull that Brierley hasn't got SL experience etc etc. Yet here we are with the perfect opportunity to give him that experience in a season where we no longer have anything to lose.

No more Aussies please, the last decent one we had was Adrian vowles , the former coaches signings are currently killing the club and our resident new zealand super star can't stay off the drink long enough to get to training.
I could go on but can I say well done to Jordan Thompson , who along with danny Orr and jonny walker tried really had tonight.

Being a Wakey fan we often have similar posts to your original one on our board, at the start of the season I think most of our fans would have rather taken Millward!

Chin up mate, if you get fed up with Cas you lot are always welcome to follow our lot

What about Brian Potter aka Peter KAY Personally i think Basil is a good coach , and i cant see you getting rid of him because he has a very high paid contract for a couple of years , which would cost you a fortune to terminate .

You might as well spill the beans...it cannot be any worse the the rumours alreasy doing the rounds!

DEVILS ADVOCATE: Becoming increasingly difficult to see what IM's next move can be,is he waiting until end of season for a clear out then a major rebuild ? have the players got wind of this and rather than play for a new contract, have some of them thrown the teddy out out already and started a mission to get rid of him before he get's rid of them ? If a clearout and rebuild was on the cards is/was it to be funded by the sale of Rangi and could all of this have been now put in jeopardy if the rumours,and I stress rumours are to be believed.
Two things I do know are that on Sky IM looked like a man with all the cares in the world, which begs the question,given the tragedy in his personal life should he perhaps have taken a sabbatical/less high profile role at the club for a longer period but that's probably a question only he could answer.The second thing is that it's a hell of a long time since I saw a Cas side look more more dispirited and dare I say it disinterested.
I am from wrong side of common but have family and friends who are Cas to the core,I love the local derbies and want to see both Cas and Wakey do well and prosper if only so we can raise a huge two fingers to the morons at the RFL who have systematically undermined both clubs over the years.I know it was bad but chin up fellas and there's always a bit of light at the end.

Completely agree. I despair when I hear the crap some of our fans come out with saying it is an inherited team. Matterson took us to the top of the league after 10 games and a cup semi final with this team, they also looked fitter and more interested in playing for the club when he was here.

Griffin and Millington have to go for me, they bring absolutely nothing to the side other than mistakes.

Danny Orr is the oldest man in the team and still shows more passion, pride and honour than anyone else. Week after week he is playing with injury and is the only one tracking back and trying to get the ball .

Something needs to change and quick, whether that is the coach or an overhaul of players I don't know, but we need to do something about it. Why play Ferres at half back when we could have Brierley there!! As has been said he is more than capable and we have nothing to lose

PS - What is this light you speak of?

Mick Potter - jesus I really do give in; I live in fear at the moment that the mindless fervour and all people's conclusions being formed on supposition, rumour and watching 80 minutes a week and there is going to be a forced change for the sake of reacting and it will make matters worse in the long run.

Our team, and I use that word very sparingly, from juniors through to SuperLeague is changing in structures and planning and methodology. You appoint coaches for a variety of reasons including 1st 17 performance but not exclusively.
If you think back to the Matterson era without the rose specs on - he was accused of old boys network and looking after his boys, he was accused of complete ineptitude and if I heard the expression "dead wood" under Matterson once, I heard it a thousand times.
So you bring in a man who in the long term has a reputation for improvement, albeit usually that is at the expense of short term gain. He is clearly not one for reputation or sentimentality, he is simply only prepared to play who earns their spot in his view. Hudson, Jones, Orr, Jackson, Snitch are all ready for off and that is time now.
Goldy and Ferris seemingly will go elsewhere - Arundel has featured so little it makes no difference.
Mitchell has given the indication he doesn't want to move from what I understand, hence he is not featuring.
(Not to mention the calls to "play the kids" Clare was hugely shown up tonight and I understand Basil wanting to let him stay on his confident high in comfort at Leigh and bring him in from the off season and build to the season, as opposed to throw him in and potentially burn him like Clare was last night)

So look at the backdrop of change and look at the tries we conceded in the mid-park. The Winterstien try would have earned the 3 players around him a bollocking at the Panthers on a Saturday afternoon - simply awful - but the players were there. The Davies try - a step right pass left simply awful defending - he ran far enough to get onto the pass, players ball watching not player watching.
The Cross try I think it was too, a simple second man play, Wellsy showed it, there was beconning, shouting and pointing but still Jordy's colleagues failed to react.
Those three tries suggest to me there is/was a plan, the players knew the plan, but didn't effect it. That is the easy part.
Tricky bit is didn't they do it becuase they suck, becuase they don't care or what.

Millward is in exactly the same situation as Royce Simmons was actually, where the squad he has was used to doing things a certain way and it suited them and when someone changed that, the players sulked.
Now when you are Saint's with their accolades, it is difficult as a board to back the coach for the long term and accept some distruption, so they appeased the players and gave them the comfort of doing what they like again to top 6 effect, but not the stellar heights they have been used to.
We on the other hand have been mediocre at best for years and yet our players and supporters seem to want to iron out this disrupted period and get back to gutsy 8th or 9th finishes again? Calls for Kear and Potter make me laugh, Bradford as your excample? A side burining cash faster than Greece and still couldn't BUY a place in the play-off's!

Short term gain over long term evolution? Not for me thanks. I am no apologiser for the heartless twaddle being served up - but you either aspire to do some thing different, change systems, evolve and build or you bring in a tub-thumping no nonsense players man to get you some really modest over achievement occasionally, but ultimately doesn't improve your overall level.

My view, for what it is worth.

I was embarrassed watching our team last night, but this is a great post and I agree with every word. I'm no fan of Millward, but he's clearly trying to change a few things fans have been whinging about for years (players out on the pop, unfit etc). Sure, things aren't changing yet, but once the winter clearout is complete, we might see some results.

The major problem is clearly the players. It's one person's fault that the man of steel wasn't on the pitch last night, and that person isn't Ian Millward

Even without Chase, losing 40-10 to Widnes is NOT acceptable.

When? 14 years ago at Leigh or with a team full of Internationals at Saints?

Nice as it would be to give a coach the luxury of time to build his team, the clock is ticking with regard to a franchise and with no signs on the stadium front, the on field perfomances are crucial.

Of course "people's conclusions being formed on supposition, rumour and watching 80 minutes a week", -but it is the 80 minutes a week that is the key. Do you think people have the patience to watch that dross with their hard earned money every week? Young talents players are continuing to drain away, and with performances like last night who can blame them.

This is not a case of panicking or 'throwing the baby out with the bath water', it is the case that he is not the right man for the job and the attitude of 'well it will be fine in the long run' means that there is a fair chance we will be in the National Leagues. And I personally do not think that the club, the area and the economy will support us coming back to ever been a competitive team.

MDean may think this is a hysterical, knee-jerk reaction but I do not want this club to become another Swinton or Oldham or Fev (no dispresect intended). We are being mis-managed off the pitch and if that happens on the pitch also then I really do fear for where will end up.