I really wanted Toulouse to stay up but things are so bad I’m now at the stage of wanting them to lose so we’re not relegated.

On Powell - Briers made an interesting comment on Sky last night saying at the big clubs you don’t need to make big changes when a new coach comes in. Peet has come in at Wigan and seems to have evolved the team well without any ructions. There are parallels with us in they were competitive but were poor in attack and fans complaining about the style of play etc. So they promoted internally and recruited our assistant coach to work on attack…..
I think Briers was inferring and I suspect Powell has come in and tried to change everything and bought into the culture needs changing narrative but I’d suspect the culture that Smith took on was far worse than the one Powell has. And picking a fight with Cooper seems bizarre to me - Cooper should be his chief lieutenant. Maybe changing things subtly over time is a better policy - it’s easier to get people to buy into things when you’re winning. Clearly things aren’t right - you don’t perform like we have - there’s zero spirit in the camp and some of the signings we’ve made have been abysmal - plus likes of King just been dreadful. Clark seems like a pale shadow of the player he has been. I’m still with Powell for now but we get sucked into a relegation battle then we really need to consider our options. Danny Ward is still available and maybe Briers wasn’t so bad after all…his time at Wigan could end up serving us well…..!!

Interesting to consider this in the context of Currie and King. They emerged from our Academy to become leading SL players in their position and get the backing of the club with big contracts. There wasn't a problem developing them from youth/reserve players into first team regulars, nor was there a lack of willingness in the club to invest in retaining its home grown talent.

But now they are two of the players getting the most stick on here.

What did the coaches/club do wrong?

Well Currie has been “cruelled” by ACLs in both knees, thus no lateral movement. King? Dunno? Maybe Price’s one trick pony attack move of high kick to the corner on the 5th showed him at his best?

Bit of a naive post to say the least.

Why blame the coaches and club, when most of the fault is likely with players who probably lack both the ability and dedication to become as good as it was hoped they would be?

Yes, the club gave the contracts, but ultimately its upto the player to knuckle down and make the most of their opportunity - in the case of a number of our players, they have simply not been upto it and they only have themselves to blame.

Yes Currie was exceptional before his knee injuries. But I don't see why his tackling is so half hearted this season both against Wigan and Leeds.

Currie's debut was in 2012, King's in 2014 (same year as Philbin) - and the lack of any 1st team regulars coming through the ranks since them highlights the potential issue (unless I've made any glaring omissions - aside from the younger players who've been given a chance this season under Powell).