cherry.pie wrote:On the other hand our performances this year have been poor. No matter what excuse is put forward for this it isn't really good enough. We really did have a terrible time with injuries during the middle part of the season and, to some extent, it excuses the poor run of form we suffered during that time, but the promised return to form hasn't materialised. Sure, we're no longer on a losing run, but we also haven't found any sort of form, and some of the victories we picked up seemed to have an element of luck. Our home win against Leeds, for example, was against a very weak side.
The problem I have which you allude to above is the fact that regardless of who is on the pitch we have the same mistakes being made regardless. Lack of form isn't what I see. I see a team being consistently poor with a coach who reacts 99% of the time saying its not a Wigan like performance and we need to fix it, but then fails to fix it. Lack of form implies something has temporarily deserted the team. It looks worryingly permanent to me.
It's as if he is saying "Well I didn't tell 'em to play like that!" and yet we don't see any evidence of him having improved the side as the season has gone on and players have returned. The same mistakes are being made tactically by Wane and on the pitch by the players.
As I have said throughout the season even the injury list is a weak excuse. We have contrived to lose games we should have won.
Not that I think Lenagan should be sacking the coach. You have to consider the implications of sacking a coach when they've won the World Club Challenge and taken the club to the final of one of 2 major trophies available that year. If you're going to sack a head coach in that situation it's not going to present a positive image for a prospective new coach.
Do you think the new coach will care? I don't. The implications of not sacking Wane are potential lost season ticket sales and potential declining crowds and another season of dross on the pitch. He gets another off season to screw up as well.
Football teams may be able to get away with it where they pay millions to their managers in the top jobs and then sack them after 6 months (albeit with a large compensation payment) but rugby league isn't in the same boat. There aren't that many jobs available and a top coach will know that one impatient chairman could mean their opportunity at the big time is over and done with in less than a season.
RL is no different than any other pro sport. A coach's job is not a job for life and do you realise what you are saying here? Which is, a chairman won't sack a coach he has decided is no longer good enough so will keep him on despite the fact he sees it as detrimental to the club in case that puts other coaches off? Really???
There aren't many top jobs and there aren't many top coaches. Sacking a coach who has brought success is a risky game.
No it isn't. Every other coach can see through Wane and plenty would love the chance to work with the resources he has at his disposal. The idea they are going to be scared off because a coach clearly taking the team backwards is fired doesn't wash.
If we were to lose the cup final and finish the season in poor form then it becomes much easier for a chairman to justify pressure on a head coach and demand an immediate response at the beginning of the following season. If change doesn't happen then action can be taken. The format of Super League allows for a more patient approach, as proven by Saints. Cunningham was a disaster, he was given a short amount of time at the start of the year before being replaced and now Saints are in the top 4.
So what sort of response has IL been demanding
this season? Has be been oblivious to all the faults that are not new in themselves but have just got worse this year? Is he the same as those fans who think everything is rosy because we won the WCC and got to a CC final?
What will IL do if we actually win the CC and carry on next season as we have this, continue to go backwards and don't even make the top 8? Give Wane yet another season because we are CC holders?
When does the past record cease to count in the face of present problems?
IL ought to know if Wane is running a happy ship and while it would be easy headlines "IL sacks CC winning coach" he has to do what is best for the club.
For those reasons I don't see why the club would be in any rush to sack a coach at this stage. As I said, losing the cup final and maintaining the poor run of form would change the outlook quite quickly.
I don't think IL will sack him but not for the reasons you state which I don't think stand up to scrutiny, particularly the notion you can't sack a coach with a record like Wane's because it will scare others off.
I do think IL has to be very careful in how he justifies keeping Wane on. Fan's can see through the injury crisis and know poor the form shown by the team is not a new thing. Plenty have also worked out the format of the two main competitions means you can win either despite pretty poor season if you can string a few wins together as opposed to being genuinely good.
Many fans are not optimistic of a CC win because of the team's poor form throughout the season. They know a CC victory won't have been part of a master plan or because we overcame an injury crisis. If the club comes out with that line, they will be treating the fans as mugs.
