I know he's not in the same league as Hodgeson. I never said he was.

What I did say was that out of all the player that have left, Ratch at fullback is the only position we have successfully filled. Lets look at some of the quality that have left:

Hodgeson
Joel Monaghan
Chris Bridge
Chris Riley
Lee Briers
Richie Myler
Chris Hicks
Vinnie Anderson
Louis Anderson
Simon Grix
Matt King
Adrian Morley
Gareth Carvell
Trent Waterhouse
David Solomona
Michael Monaghan


Now lets look at the top quality, succesfull signings.

- Stefan Ratchford
- Chris Hill
- Daryl Clark

And then we have our decent, average signings:

- Ryan Atkins
- Tom Lineham
- Joe Westerman
- Dom Crosby


Now lets look at our flops:

- Roy Asotasi
- Gary Wheelchair
- Jordan Cox
- Ryan Bailey
- Matty Blythe
- Matty Russell
- Kevin Brown

We've lost 16 players, Signed 14 (off the top of my head), 3 of which are quality, 4 of which are average and 7 of which were/are poop.
Smith has to be held accountable when you consider some of the players that were available which is what this thread was supposed to be about.

Our recruitment is cack.

no sandow?

you also need to factor promotion from within, when looking at recruitment.

Knew there was one I'd Miss.

Promoting the youth in our club is a waste of time because if they're not playing like Johnathon Thurston, Sam Burgess or Greg Inglis in their first 2 games everyone calls them poop and wants them out.

There are warrington lads and Warrington Academy players all over the leagues and they most definitely do a better job than half the lads out on the pitch at the moment. There are some terrible ones though an all granted.

TS doesn't trust the kids bar a few. With Tony its very much either your face fits or it doesn't. how else do we explain the same team being picked in week in week out? Is Fat head wayne was in charge it wouldn't matter what your name is, certain players would be dropped like a sack of spuds.

Linham missed half the season and Russell is still there week in, week out! Patton struggles to keep his place but Brown walks in every week. Mogan Smith has achieved more at hooker in the two halves hes played than Dwyer has all season. Its a joke.

My worst mistake ever was recruiting someone who wasn't good enough.
It gave me headaches all the time I was involved with him.
A total energy drain.

Ideally you develop your own talent with occasional outside recruitment.
Overall the clubs' recruitment has shown a lot of desire but they've not got the right players enough of the time and spent a lot of money on some who have not delivered.
Clark and Hill are 2 big positives, but quite a few haven't done it.... Asotasi, Wheeler etc etc

who says all these players were available, Gidley never spoke to any other club as he wanted to play for us, how many of the players on the list were in the same situation. Barba being a prime example we tried everything to sign him including a larger wod of cash than saints but the connection with the new coach and them both sharing an agent meant he was going to saints regardless so we didn't miss out on him he never intended coming. Its such a simple thought to put a list of players who have moved and say look what we missed out on !!

Warrington lads at wire/other clubs and Non Warrington lads but have come through our academy.

Thought the list may not be wall to wall with quality and I'm not saying they'd win more games than this current team by any means. But what I would however argue, is that they would play better as a TEAM.

Jack Johnson
Sam Wilde
Gareth O'Brien
Tyrone McCarthy
Kevin Penny
Harvey Livett
Chris Riley
Joe Mellor
Joe Philbin
Morgan Smith
Mike Cooper
Declan Patton
Ben Currie
Andre Savelio
Danny Walker
Ryan Shaw
Ben Harrison
James Laithwaite
James Mendeika
T. King
G. King
Jono Smith
Ben Moores
Pat Moran
Ryan Jones
Daniel Murray

There are others I'm sure, but that a lot of local lads/academy trained lads right there.

its the Warrington way....we've done it on and off for the 30+ years I have been watching.

Take a chance on somebody...hope for the best.

It should be no surprise to anyone that when we sign quality (Morley, Carvell, Hodgson, Monaghan, M King, C Hicks etc etc) we win stuff....and when we sign hopefuls (England, Blyth, Asotasi, Russell, Brown etc etc) we win nothing and struggle.

This is not rocket science. I knew we were going to struggle this year....it was obvious to anyone who has the most basic of knowledge of the game.

That's very true and may account for some. But what we can do is look at those we have signed - very few could be described as good or excellent. We are the 5th most successful club in the entire SL era, and 3rd in the last 8 years. I'd like to think we would be able to entice a higher calibre of player.

The balance of evidence is suggesting that recruitment is poor, youth development success is low, and on the pitch we are atrocious. If it wasn't for Ratchford and Clarke we would be well and truly in trouble.

I was hopeful of an improvement with the addition of Cooper, Crosby and Savellio replacing Evans, Dodds, Cox and Bailey but as soon as Sandow said he wasn't coming back we knew we were in trouble even if we didn't admit it.

It's not Eden so much it's Shenton. Swap Atkins for him and Lineham will be bouncing like a pogo stick down Canal St.

I think the Sandow saga has had a bigger impact on the team than we realise. Not only in the fact that he is not out on the pitch but also the fact that he is not in the dressing room and the way it was handled.
He was on fire before he pulled up in that Wigan game
He then spends a bit of time "recovering from injury" which may or may not have been the way the coaches expected him to do his rehab.
IIRC he spent one game in the south stand with Key Penny.
He then makes a return from injury but was not the same player (was that still an injury or was that when the "home sickness" was kicking in)
Then he is gone and kev penny has barely been seen as well.

If Tony Smith expected Sandow to be as good as gold and not need managing then that is naieve at best (could say incompetent)
I get the impression Sandow was well liked in the dressing room and maybe it could have all been dealt with in another way.

When Smith first came here he threw his weight around and Gleeson was gone and Briers dropped but Briers was not going to run off back to St Helens saying he was home sick.
I would love to know if Hodgson, Wood, Higham and others still send Christmas cards to Tony Smith.

I am all for discipline and professionalism but I wonder if there are only so many players that you can fall out with before word gets round that Warrington may not be the best place to be.
So maybe Barba and others may have different reasons for choosing other clubs.

When Fergerson signed Cantona I reckon he knew that there was going to be times when he would have to earn his money as a manager and not just get rid because he was a pain in the arris.

Just a thought.

People were laughing when Eden was announced as a replacement for Solomona.

I actually don't think we need that many players in. A half back and a centre and I think I'd be happy.

We need that along with someone who can get the best out of the likes of King, Patton, Livett et al.

Unfortunately I don't think that's Smith. For whatever reason things have gone stale, all good things come to an end and I'd like to see some sort of attempt to save us from the quite possible threat of relegation. An injection of fresh ideas and a fresh approach to reinvigorate a stuttering squad that is mostly capable, bar a few positions.