I'd like to see us have 2 friendlies only. (One in London would be great) and only use the 24 first team players who are most likely to feature next season. Have the spine 1, 6, 7, 9, 13 play at least 60 minutes in each game.
If the 19s need games then fix friendlies for them. They should be playing the same system as the first team, so if they are needed in mid season they can slot in. That's how Saints survive with so many injuries year after year.
My only other wish is no derby.
Pre season last year IMHO from afar was poor and set the tone for the season. Damaging defeats which continued into the season. Players hung out to dry and the finer points like goal kicking (as has been alluded to previously) completely ignored. I maintain a decent kicker may have won us one or two extra games at crucial times this season. That would have provided confidence boosting morale and may have led to a half decent season. The sight of Richard whiting kicking with a carefree attitude stunk and may well have affected him as well.
If we get the off season right then we can hit the ground running and who knows what effect that will have on the whole club in what will be a very important year for the club.

I understand why you feel the players shouldn't be rewarded for failure , why they need a kick up the backside etc but in fact from the man management point of view and the psychology it's much more about who's doing the managing and how than where you're doing it. Radders apparently came in to rule with a rod of iron after Gentle's softly softly approach but it didn't have any effect. This is a disparate bunch of individuals , some of whom did well last year , some didn't , some weren't involved and are new and some are still maturing. There are Aussies , locals , experienced and inexperienced players with a real cross section of personalities. If Tenerife gives more daylight hours in a warm climate which helps the sports scientists and physios to keep the players fit and helps with bonding then I can't see it does any harm. How each individual player is handled whilst out there and before reporting for pre season , during the friendlies , socially , publicly and privately will have a much bigger effect. Success depends on the skills or otherwise of the management group as you quite rightly say.

I know more about man management than Lee Radford would ever do in several lifetimes, not giving them a jolly out to the seaside abroad is hardly ruling with an iron rod and nor would I suggest doing so in any case. balance of course but giving out candy for being naughty or not doing your chores is just a crazy way to go about bringing up your kids.
As I said, you can do the bonding thing and still give a 'reward' on home turf, it's less disruptive, it's less costly and it doesn't give the impression that the fans are cash cows for players whom are already being paid quite well to have a fair few days abroad with little if any benefit (aside from the usual PR nonsense spouted to justify it) . afterall it is at our expense which frankly given their performances would stick in the craw for me.

As for Gentle I think he was onto a loser from the off, fighting a battle he was never going to win and having Radford as his 2IC was a huge mistake. Gentle wasn't one of the lads, his methods and his way of thinking just too much of a stretch for a club with a mindset still stuck in the 70s.
He 'stupidly' expected grown adults to follow a plan/methods and to be 'professional' about it whilst giving them some latitude because if he hadn't being the outsider he was onto a hiding to nothing anyways. That he got us to two 6th place finishes and a Wembley after the Agar debacle was nothing short of a miracle IMO. However Gentle's methodology clearly didn't sit well with some including Radford.

The pressure of playing pro sport is not really any different to other working environments that have aspirations of being successful & having to work under pressure to achieve that success. You work hard, perform well and you get rewarded. You should expect to be supported & given all the tools necessary plus a set of firm instructions/policies to work with. You communicate and input, it seems that rugby players (especially at our club) are far different and like to set their own rules that sit outside of what I would deem to be professional. The club as a whole has a long long way to go, it misses so much it isn't funny (some of which I've pointed out already) and frankly we won't get anywhere with Pearson & Radford at the helm I'm afraid.
Niether of them are qualified enough to do what we actually need to be successful, Pearson is pretty much bipolar, well more on the mania side if I'm honest and well Radford is just clueless.

Fewer friendlies next year apparently.

Donny away, Rovers at home plus possibly one more.

Really not keen on another derby friendly so will definitely be giving that one a miss.

Within a professional sports team? I highly doubt it.



I'd rather they did the best for the squad than what 'appears' best from a fans POV.



Agar also took us to Wembley, he also guided us to 6th in the table, on both occasions we performed better than the Wembley & Hudds debacle of last year. Rumours of players basically 'taking the pi$$' and doing what they wanted under Gentle were rife. Then there's the ridiculous contracts he handed out to certain players as well as almost losing Jamie Shaul because he'd promised his mates lad McDonnell a new deal.



Ridiculous.



Strange that, because they think you're a stand up guy!

So a professional sports coach AND a medical man? How do you find time for everything else?

I think you need to declare your hand before commenting any further.

I'd guess he's trying, like many of us, to get behind the current coaching and playing roster we currently employ at [iour[/i club?
Doesn't seem that alien an idea seeing as we'll be going into 2015 with them.

There are some people on here who are behind the coaching staff and the playing roster.

There are others who blame all our failings on the coaching staff.

There are others who are behind the coach and blame everything on the prevous coaching set-up.

Surely there is room for everyone, provided they support the team and want it to be successful?

You missed out the people whose sole goal in life is to reward mediocrity and failure.

I'm glad that there will be fewer friendlies.
I didn't bother with the joke derby friendly this year and wont bother with it next year either.

Disagree!
There is only room for my viewpoint, and that's the way it should always be.

With such a high opinion of your man management skills and insight into the failings at FC I cannot for the life of me see why you are not a top coach. It must have been difficult turning down all the offers. Haven't either of our teams been beating down your door?

According to today's HDM it is possible we might be having only two pre-season friendlies - Doncaster and Rovers.

It was only a few years ago that a former coach said that we were going into the season "undercooked" having played only two friendlies.

Personally I think that while four is too many I don't think two is enough. Three is about right - and none of them should be against Rovers. That fixture appears to be played for just commercial considerations and in the past has led to lengthy injury absences.