We need new HIGH QUALITY players.

If we cant get the players then any coach will struggle to turn things around.

I would like Lenegan to offer Lam the job full time and then spend every passing second of every day looking for at least 4/5 new high quality signings. Tear up the contracts of plodders like Clubb, Tautai and Isa and just pay them off. Borrow the money if we have to.

2 x half backs
2 x props
1 x Hooker are a must.

We could do with a 13 but i think we can maybe scrape another year out of O'Loughlin at a push.

A new centre is another position that can wait. The halfbacks, props and hooker are of much more importance.

Lam has been dealt a horrible gig this year with the players he has at his disposal and the injuries/off field circus.

You can’t just rip up or pay off contracts as this will count towards the cap giving us even less to spend.

I agree with your sentiments though.

I just get the feeling however by trying to be too cute and clever we have gotten ourselves in a bit of a mess with regards salary cap management.

Sorted, as long as no one had the foresight to make copies or have a computerised version. To be fair, judging by our recent dealings, maybe there are no contracts to tear up!

Where has all the money gone? I’m not having it’s been used on upgraded contracts rubbish that happens every year, that’s BS.

Greenwood repacked Tomkins.
Hardaker replaced Tomkins.
Bullock replaced Sutton on less money.
Bateman wasn’t replaced.
Sammut was a cheap option for a squad position.

There has got to be enough money left over to sign a top drawer international, there’s got to be. And if not, if Williams has taken up a large chunk and is off to Canberra then the club need to splash the cash and go and get Cooper Cronk on a 2 year deal, big money.

I doubt it can be done as easily as the OP says. However, it's true that we seem to be running in 2019 with a Dad's Army of old crocks.

Lockers, Farrell, Flower, Clubb and - I'm sorry to say - Manfredi are always injured, and no use to us given that they are endlessly eating up wages while sitting on the sidelines. On top of that we have a over-the-hill veteran half/hooker in Tommy L, a hooker in Powell who isn't really first team standard, and two total wastes of space in Tautai and Navarette, the latter of whose stats in the last match would have embarrassed an U13s player.

The 3/4s have makeweights among them too, but as the OP says, the bigger crisis is in the pack.

The sad thing about Edwards not coming - aside from him revealing his repulsive true character - is that I'd hoped it would have signalled a new dawn in which we'd have got rid of all this dead wood. Who knows what'll happen now. But we've got an awful lot of contracts to run their course before we can start replacing this ballast with something that actually has size, strength and durability.

Add to that the FPN money, I bet he wasn't on minimum wage. There has to be cap money somewhere available, throw into the mix Hamlins contract cash if and when he is sacked, plus the 4 or 5 kids that were released like Worthington, Farrell etc. that hasn't been mentioned, and the fact that Lammy was hoping to get 2 players in at the start of the season but only signed Sammut, we must have available cap space somewhere or the Salary Cap management is worse than we all thought.

without a decent coach why do you expect the players to come?
a marquee leader on the sideline attracts quality and has a network to recruit from.
a coach with little pedigree will put off players of quality who may see it as a club looking for cheap options

to me, a coach with a growing rep wanting to create a name or one with a solid proven background is essential. lam is neither of these.

The last 4 weeks we’ve been outstanding with ball in hand in the backs and Lam’s philosophy has really shone through. We’ve suffered in the forwards though and as the OP says?’, Lam has been dealt a rough hand with injuries so far this season.
The young players Partington, Paisley, Smithies, Byrne) have all stepped up to the plate and clearly have a bright future but the problem is they’ve all been thrown in together. With a few more forwards back in the ranks to help bolster our defence in the middle, we can still turn this season around but we’ll need better luck with injuries.
Moving forward, for me t season I’d still prioritise a top class scrum half, even more so if Williams is leaving.
I’d give Lam the job long term and then give him the resources to bring in players he trusts to deliver his style of play. In an ideal world, we’d see Clubb, Tautai and Powell move on, sign a class 7 and 2 props as a starting point.

Not a new coach, your , old one back. All those buffoons who said Wane was a sh#t coach should be made to clean your stadium after each match for a decade. What a bunch of sh#ts. Calling him when he kept winning despite losing his best players each year, using academy kids and having no big name imports as in the past. The man massively over achieved.
Well you got what some of you wanted you're throwing the ball about but you forgot how to defend.

How’s the weather in Scotland Shaun?

Like it or not Wane performed minor miracles with that squad it’s just a shame it wasn’t very pretty to watch at times but with these sort of players it was never going to be

We need a new spine got a1 need a 679 and 13

The Wane era has been and gone. The Shaun Edwards saga era has been and gone. The club now needs to move on, we need to move on to pastures new.

At least the new coach won’t have the hangover of the last and prospective coach hanging over him. A fresh start for the club as a whole is what’s required. We need to look forward, not back.

What we need is some forwards back what I have seen in the last few weeks is we are improving don't look like it in the results but we are playing better rugby results will come when we get bodies back.

Exactly!! Some people can’t see the wood for the trees. Wane era was successful but dull. It was definitely time for a change and the rugby we’re playing with the ball is better under Lam than it has been for years. I really hope he stays on and gets a few players he wants to take his style forward.