Quote: Pete B "nhs1984 asks was Cullen unfairly treated - yes he was. The guy took us from a side facing relegation, saved us and guided us into the new stadium and built arguably the foundations for the current team and what it is achieving. Yes I am sure he made mistakes ( signings, handling of certain players etc ) but there was no doubting that his heart was all Wire - anybody who ever saw him play in the p & b will know that.
He took the club as far as he could and it became obvious that a replacement was needed to kick on to the next level however the circumstances in which he left were disgraceful and anybody involved in the infamous sit in ( bunch of scrotes who will never know as much about the game that Cull hasn't already forgotten ) should forever hold their heads in shame for the way they hounded out a 20 year plus servant of their club. I was embarrased that day for a good player, a good coach and more importantly a nice guy - shame on you all.'"
He was not unfairly treated at all. He had more than enough time to deliver, post money, than we would have given any other coach in professional RL including Tony Smith following his arrival. It's also open to debate whether he "saved us from relegation" (facts suggest that Plange did just as much if not more). The simple thing is he could not deliver SL results vs salary cap and lived in a delusional world where he thought he could and would brush away any criticism whatsoever and allow players he was far too close with to get away with absolute murder off field. We also had a very poor defence (on average conceding 22-25pts per game) and a 'pick and choose' attitude to games in which his players would compete.
He should have resigned, with grace and dignity, a long, long, time before the inevitable hounding out/sacking (which came far too late). It felt a lot like him desperately clinging on by his fingernails to the levers of power. I believe it hurt every wire fan just as much to see his protracted, almost tortuous, demise and how he would not fall on his sword when he could see the writing on the wall. I've never thought him the real deal and I've always maintained he was coaching at the biggest club he would ever coach at and I see nothing to change that view. It's no surprise I guess why he desperately clung on to it for so long.
He dined out on currying favour (despite adverse results) with being a hard centre/second row Wire player in the 80/90's for far too long which is sad for us all. He was my childhood hero. But he was given a very generous amount of time to deliver and he didn't. TS had us winning a cup within months, simple as that.
Does anyone really think if PC was still in charge we would be CC winners 2009 and 2010?
