After the game one thing occurred to me which I think speaks volumes.

We were all raving over Mark Percival - the main reason was that I can't remember the last time I've seen one of our centres make a break from within our own half. That's a major problem and indicative of our reliance on a forwards game that just isn't working anymore, mainly because we don't have the personnel to execute it.

I fear that NB won't be given a free reign to wipe the board clean and start over, I just can't see where we are going to get 3 props to replace Perry, Laffranchi and TP. I can't see where we will get a 7 from to replace Lomax (who I'm guessing is now our long term replacement for Wello) or where we will get a 6 from to replace Hohaia - especially as we will need to compensate him if we terminate his contract.

Koukash has got a bucket load of cash to spend at Salford and doesn't have the baggage we do - and look how difficult it is to find players of the right quality to bring in. Add to that the fact we need at least 5 players in key positions and its near on impossible.

We are now paying for some poor recruitment decisions and whilst its never easy to predict how well a player is going to turn out when they get in your side, we have made some bad mistakes it has to be said.

I know it would be hard to measure but players contracts really should have some minimum performance criteria attached to them which put the club in the position of being able to fire consistently poor players without paying full compensation. Lets face it, more real life situations would see people fired for not producing the goods so why should sports people be any different?

What annoys me most is our style of play, like I said earlier very un saints like. Despite our lack of half backs we should be playing with a lot more committment and intelligence.

In offence its all one man rugby with very little offload, if there is a chance of offload there is no one up in support. Passing along the line is very slow and lateral and most of the time stops at centre position, no dummy runners, angled plays, change in direction, all very easy to defend against.

In defence we have very little line speed, the oppostion making a minimum of 10 metres on every play, we can,t wrap up a player which means they either offload or get a quick play the ball.
There is very little grunt in the pack which has basically made Roby very ineffective, we always had our second rows playing out wide with our centres ready to support. Soliola and Manu are basically lone rangers and we don,t create a half break opportunity.

We know superleague has changed and its become a kicking game, Saints never had a kicking game because they played with ball in hand. This has dissapeared now so we have become a team very predictable, uncreative, boring, dumb........combine this with the lacking of any visible game plan, then we have a saints team that is very ALIEN to me, something which personally win or lose I can,t accept at the moment.

Lastly one other important factor is the younger future supporter over the last 4 years there is a distinct lack of personality and character in the team something the younger supporter can identify with, perhaps we need a bit of luck and get 3 or 4 young players to suddenly take the superleague by storm, hopefully Percival will become one of those for starters.

I have to admit there are a number of players in the team I do not like as people.

Wello with has arm waving.

Wikin putting his media career before the club

Perry being a lazy Aussie on holiday.

Meli and Puletua being just lazy.

LMS and Ade are probably the only ones I would offer you buy a beer for.

The team I watched in the 80's and early 90's were a good bunch of lads that tried hard and even when they lost it was difficult to fault the effort. You just feel that a lot of the players in the current squad just don't care enough.

LMS was blowing out of his @rse 5 mins after entering the pitch on Friday.

1. I don't think the players' union or their agents would take to kindly to that.

2. If we did it unilaterally how much harder would it make recruitment?

hah nice one we lose at home to the whinos,no atmosphere, no cladding, and ur on about out of date choc, love it least that made me laff things can only get better or at least in date

You lot are starting to sound like Liverpool fans thinking that your have a god given right to win every week. If all you glory hunters want to watch good winning rugby every week then bog off down to Warrington. You'll be back in a couple of years though when their team blows out and Saints start to look like their old selves. I,ve been watching for 30 odd years and have seen them play some proper dross. The rugby being played at the moment doesn't even compare to some of those performances. Support the saints or bog off.

P.S. Sad end should be forcibly removed ASAP. he is the biggest whinging hole I have ever come across.

Rant over.

love it here here ups and downs support your team in both....you get my vote

So, you are criticizing the comments on this thread for wanting good rugby? Why do you think that's a bad thing?

Not criticizing comments about the standard of rugby but comments about the club in general. All the comments regarding how they don't want to go watching because of various reasons. Constantly whinging about the ground. It just riles me when posters would rather complain on a constant basis than get behind the team. That is why I said bog off and watch someone else. I have watched them home and away since the very early 80's and have watched some dross rugby played. I have complained about the standard of rugby along with everyone else, but the difference is that I have been, and always will be a SAINT. Proud until I die. This club is now better set up than it has ever been and now the stadium is finished the team can once again become the priority. We will rise again to the top and I will be there. Even if they sank to the bottom I would still be there. I AM A SAINT!!!!!

To be fair I think there was alot of unwarrented comments about us being poor this weekend.

I actually thought we played ok, but as we did not win, in the age of SKY where only winners play well and losers play like dross, it's an incompatable philosophy.

And unfortunately the 'jonny come latelys' believe the 'Sky Idiots'.

I think you have got the wrong end of the stick on this one Top Saint, the comments are not from people who demanding to win every week or your descriptive of Glory Hunters. Almost all the posters on this thread are STID members who have recognised the structure, culture, "saints way", entertainers DNA, etc etc is dissapearing.
If you have acceptance of poor performance, lack of creativity, failed recruitment, etc then thats fine, other people will have an opinion on it and perhaps a different threshold of acceptability. I suggest you re read the original post.

Well said.

I was just saying I liked the guy as a person. I was not commenting on his ability.

He tries his best which is a lot more than some of our players do.