Quote: Tommy Duckfingers "1st year in, on the back of the year we just had - I think this is the year when Agar would have the lowest expectations and the most slack from both the board and the fans, and this oppertunity should have been taken by him to change the culture and find a balance between an experienced(ish) first 17 and a sprinkling of our own youngsters and those who should be ready for it most weeks (Davey, Morton, Wildie, Moore etc) and those who are ready for a taste (Walshaw etc) every now and again.'"
That's a really interesting point.
My own view is that the hardcore minority (represented on here) might well be tolerant of a transitional season next year, where we still get mullered on a regular basis but have a squad full of young talent; the former stay-aways and news fans however, who've shown faith in the new regime by buying ST's in record numbers, will be much less tolerant and are very likely to shrug and say, "No, they're still 5h1t" and stop bothering again after 1 season of heavy losses where we don't compete. The inclusion of young, local lads will mean absolutely nothing to them, as they're not likely to be following the squad or the game itself in as much detail as we happy few.
So, whilst I accept that there may have been an opportunity to make a step-change away from imports immediately, I believe the potential cost of that opportunity was simply too high; there are lots of plates in the air at present, so I can understand a decision to take a more gradual approach that tries to achieve the same result over a longer period of time.
