Agree, said the same as we left.

You are Lee Radford and I claim my £5.

Fair comment. The first 5 games were an improvement on last season in my opinion. Obviously yesterday was a disgrace but as I've said elsewhere I don't think a large portion of blame can be apportioned directly at Radford. I haven't agreed with some of his selections and it is strange to say the least not to use all bench options in a game unless you lack confidence in individuals. Regardless of yesterday's selections the team on the field created more than enough to win the game easily and the majority of blame lies with the individuals who couldn't execute to the basic level required of pro SL players. The biggest thing that should be changed going forward is to stop the practice of what seems almost like auto-renewal of contracts of players who do this time and again IMO.

Never since the reign of Sharp have we seen attack like we have in the first four matches this season. Agar was incapable of building on Peter Sharp's - handsome - legacy and we endured moribund monotony for years. Radford has shown he is capable of making a difference, he has given us the structure and the systems that score tries. I've been to every match this year and, until last week, have not been as encouraged by a run of games since 2006.

What Radford has to do now is find a way to return to that structure and not fall into the trap that Agar did by swapping the whole team around to fill a problem area. Shaul back to fullback, pick the halves from the 3 halves we have, Houghton and Heremaia spelling at hooker. He's got a temporary prop crisis but the pack yesterday stood up much better than expected, for me. Major issue there is to ensure Westerman retains the freedom to be that pivotal LF.

Next week shouldn't be about dropping individuals for errors or perceived lack of effort. Radford merely needs to return to his basic principles and, as far as he can with the forwards he has, put people back where they should be.

That's about the size of it. Stop tinkering, play people in their natural positions. And hope it isn't raining.

This. A thousand times this. We have a long and inglorious history of sticking with players who repeatedly fail. Radford alluded to it in his post-match comments so I have some hope that this is going to change.

Current examples?

I'd go a step further and tell some players they can start looking for other clubs.

I'd agree with this to a large extent, with the caveat that, if it continues, Radford has to take ever more responsibility. If players aren't doing the basics on a one-off basis, it's probably their fault (or an off day, at least). If they're consistently doing the wrong things, there's likely to be a failure in preparation or management somewhere along the line.

I think Agar got about two years longer than he ought to have done because of the "it's the players, not the coach" mantra. I'd hate for us to end up in a similar situation this time around.



Absolutely. Recruitment/retention is an area we've struggled in since the Smith/Smith/Barnett/Prescott etc days came to an end. We seem to sign loads of mediocre players, fail to address key areas time and time again (scrum half, anyone?), and retain players solely because they're here and it's easier than trying to find a replacement. When you look at the value the likes of Leeds get out of the salary cap, it's thoroughly depressing.

Agreed - but by definition that's looking over longer term. My post related to yesterday's game in particular. Over the first 5 games we've looked better without pulling up any trees. If the next 10 games are like yesterday's then questions must be asked.