Powell has managed to reach new heights though. It's not just that every defeat will be blamed on him for some way or another, it's that the dislike of Powell has reached the level of conspiracy for some. His very presence in the team the result of Kris Radlinski not only seemingly forcing every coach to play him against their will, but also to praise him whilst doing so, as every coach has. And of course there's Powell's law, which states that the longer a thread is active on this forum the chances of Sam Powell being blamed for something approaches 100%.
I thought Eagle your thread was very good but i have to say i think it lost its way on the Powell part and its subtle parts of the story being re-written that create this divide
One of Powells biggest problems is he is a hooker - therefore by the very nature of the game he touches the ball more than anyone else, therefore again the amount of times he is interacting with the play is exponentially greater than other players.
Also every play when you are attacking starts at the play of the ball therefore your 9 who will be effecting that 70-80% of the time has the ability to start that well or not - any problem in the very first touch is going to be the most notable as it has the fewest amount of variables involved.
That said i dont think that defeats are blamed on Powell - in fact i would say they rarely if ever are - however when the team are struggling for traction in attack where-as other teams have 9's who can mix it up and run and break it up we dont so again this stands out more in losses than it does for other teams because you see the incredibly limited range Powells attack has. However again its never pinned on him - its simply highlighted as a contributing factor a large one maybe but still a factor in a bigger picture. You can tell this is the case because even in victory the same points are there - its consistent so we arent talking about winning/losing we are talking about improving the team.
To the second point i dont think anyone is suggesting Radders forces coaches to play Powell - or at least this isnt the main theme, but its never been a targetted area of recruitment despite him being a single point of failure in that position, the majority of clubs have backup hookers we've never had anyone who can really challenge Powells position and thats been an issue for many people. Again it comes back to improving the team - a team mus have competition for spots the moment you have a undroppable player (which it does appear Powell is) then you are weaker as a team than if you have healthly competition or options.
And the last point again subtle difference but every coach has praised Sam for the way he trains and the type of person he is, you will notice you never see a comment like "he can change a game for us" or "the skillset he brings" or "he dominated the game". Its always around the none game elements.
Again we go round in circles because people seem to think that there is a campaign against Powell and its simply not true, what there is, are fans who want Wigan to be the best team possible and Powell one of the most average players (not people, players and i struggle to see how anyone can say he's better than average) is in the most important role with the most touches of the ball.
Again i ask this question every time and shockingly no-one ever answers but if Powell leaves Wigan tomorrow what other starting 13 does he realistically get into?
). We had many players like those over the years, Ian Lucas, Ian Gildart, Ged Bryne, Mick Cassidy included, who arent flashy, but you got 100% out of them every week and were invaluable to the team
