Although it wasn't really necessary for him to mention it at all, he couched is as 'young players like to play long passes, don't they?' or words to that effect. However, even a backdoor criticism was unnecessary, unless he was also going to apply the same approach to say LMS, who gave away penalties at crucial moments or others who missed tackles at important points.

It really annoys me when coaches pick on one player to cricitise, even by the backdoor.

Lomax is hardly slow himself is he, and his ball playing ability and footwork make him such a threat out the back. Although he isnt a 7, his stint at Scrum Half will help him massively as a Full Back, and that was evident when he played there. Makinson reminds me of Lomax when he first burst onto the scene in 2010 in the fact that he doesn't quite have the ball skills to play in a pivotal position, but is slightly wasted on the wing. As I say, Lomax's decision making is generally pretty good, and the experience of playing at 7 has improved him enourmously.

Makinson looks as though he is a winger playing at Full Back for me, and although he is doing reasonably well, it's not his natural position.

In terms of his pass selection, that will improve with experience. You tend to find that young players look to play the long pass before the short pass, but as I say, the decision making side of his game will improve the more he plays there. Whether he gets those opportunities long term is another matter, and the answer is quite obvious IMO.

One needs to be careful about players becoming overnight sensations when covering positions. Usually it has a lot to do with that player's ability but there are other reasons they can sometimes shine:

They see things differently from the previous player, not be constrained by years of playing that role/position
They may be completely hacked off in their previous position and relish the chance to be away from it
They may just be better than the player they have replaced
They may just catch the opposition unawares as there's less information for them to prepare against this 'new man'
Anyone can have a run of good games (in any position)

In Lomax's case, he's clearly a very good player and no doubt can cope with full back on a longer term, career basis but there have been many 'revelations' if one only looks at a short representative timespan.....in fact, Lee Smith once won the Harry Sunderland trophy which earned him a place in a World Cup and he was, is and always will be, dog dirt.

I'm presuming SaintsFan is talking about the Academy system, where we seem to have played a number of players in a number of roles to develop aspects of their game.

The coach may regard it as the best way to motivate the player, he knows his mentality more than any of us on here.

Maybe. It doesn't sound particularly nice though.

Yep, that's what I was referring to.

Well I would expect that's a given. You wouldn't expect a coach to ask a prop to play like a fullback would you? ( Highly exaggerated to push a point before saintsfan gets on her high horse ).

Makinsons skillset is different therefore he could not do what Jonny does. He will play fullback in his own way to his strengths. Is it then all down to opinion who is the better fullback.

Good coaches know what buttons to press with certain players. This could possibly be a way of getting a reaction from the player.

Some players need a arm around them, some need to be left to their own devices, some need to me told straight and some need to be told one on one. As a player I liked to be pulled to one side and told straight if I was doing something wrong, my mentality was, " I'll show him".

A little off topic. Brown has done all the above with Gaskell and seems he's burnt all his bridges at saints.