Quote Exeter Rhino="Exeter Rhino"I agree that many of our players are not top 4 quality (or in several cases, are not anymore - too many have been kept on well beyond their prime).
As we all know, thinking ahead to next season, quite a few players will be off-contract so there should be space and time to get quality replacements lined-up, if not for every crucial position.
But the problem facing us is short-term. Contracted players cannot easily be removed. You'd think if it were possible, we'd have tried a repeat of the Hay, Sheridan and Pratt sackings.
Leeds have limited cap space (presumably), so it seems we'll have to make do with what we have. Perhaps there is room for another player, given the departures after the season started, and the rumours of Albert not being paid much.
Hope resides in:
a) the current crop of players performing better (we know they are capable of playing better than in the HKR game, just not for 80 minutes, Salford aside),
b) reshuffling players in positions deemed under pressure, perhaps by bringing in some promising youngsters like McLelland,
c) players returning from injury and suspension (Ward will be a huge plus, not sure about the rest),
d) speculative panic buys (not sure if Albert counts in this category, but he sure comes close on the face of it), or
e) changing the coaching staff and hoping that everything will miraculously change (it didn't happen the last two times, at least as far as our defensive efforts are concerned, and will be expensive for the club).'"
Some good points.
I think the fans need to be realistic here. We have a squad which will jag the odd win, but lose most games. That's just where we're at.
The only important things this year are that we win more overall than our competitors for relegation, and that we put some real strides into the rebuild for 2020 so we get out of this rut.
Those expecting this squad to win every game against "lesser" opposition are living in fantasy. Not all is doom and gloom, we do have a nucleus of quality to build on. The truth is that Handley and Sutcliffe probably aren't up to it at this level. Smith and Walker are underdone and Oledzki must be taking a physical and mental pounding trying to bookend that pack at his age. The young lads need much better senior players around them to take the pressure off a bit.
The last time we brought a load of youngsters through together we were also scratchy and inconsistent at times, but they came good in the end - that's probably where we are at again in the cycle.
People calling for Furner's head clearly have their own agendas: Walker was largely responsible for killing the comeback last night, and involved in some of the defensive misses in the first half too. He had been rocks and diamonds this year, as have many others.
The coach is responsible for selection and for structures, for individual player management etc. He can't be responsible for the individual errors we're seeing most weeks.
We have to be patient with the younger players, they are going to be inconsistent sometimes and will struggle with the mental and physical demands. Some senior players are going okay. And then a chunk of the squad needs changing. Nothing we don't know.
