16 headless chickens

You really are a sad, obsessed person aren't you?

I gave Potter a full season. Only during his second season with us did I end up thinking he was rubbish. And I haven't changed my mind since.

You are reading the wrong thing into that comment completely. I follow Mike Appleton on Twitter and visit the Saints FB page too. That comment was a direct response to fans criticising the team for being lazy/no passion, etc. It has absolutely nothing to do with the coach. And that is a matter of fact.

After one match fine,
Two matches, well maybe it's some bad form
Three matches, maybe it will turn around next week
Four matches we seam to have deeper problems
Five matches, well maybe he should walk on the pitch because what ever he's done over the last month had zero effect.

There was an effect. We leaked fewer than half the number of points in the last two weeks than we had in the previous two weeks. So our defence had dramatically improved and but for Jamie Foster's lapses it would have been even better. Incidentally, the original plan was to drop Foster for four matches but injury to Gardner meant that Foster had to be played.

Defence righted itself first last season too. The attack would have come.

To be fair, you'd jumped on the Royce is great train just from one interview. I recall you saying you like him already from his very first interview.

But can't you see that if you change Potter in the above sentence this is exactly how the rest of us feel about Royce.

Really ? and theres me thinking he could,i know he cant do that,but he can relaye messages during the game,he can give them a rollocking at half time,but nothing was changing.You can say we leaked less points against Bradford,fact is it was a bad day to play rugby and was allways going to be a low scoring game.

Ive seen you post some bilge on this site,from Tomkins not being knocked out and faking injury to todays outbursts and many others along the way.People posted last year that he was out of his depth and more suited to an assistant coach role and the mucking around so far this year really hasnt helped.

I have to agree with you. I think many people were suffering from premature speculation as far as Royce was concerned but I don't think there was a groundswell of opinion he should go so soon with the club not having much of a plan b.

Whilst we weren't looking world beaters, the only game we were really awful was against Hull and I thought we were unlucky against:

HKR (Foster missing 3 kicks)
Cats (we should have killed the game and took a sin binning and Foster had a mare)
Hudds (Brough goal rebounding off both uprights and the crossbar before it bounces over) and
Bradford (Foster brain fart- again, and TP knock on)

We are where we are but I'd personally adjusted to a season at mid-table.

I think SaintsFan replies are based on contradiction and supposition these days. I,m sure some of the truths will filter eventually on how we have ended up with such an unsaintlike team of individuals. Optimistically a temporary one.

To be honest id be also inclined to agree with that, me for one on their current performances, im not driving up from south and paying overnight hotels anymore till I see something worth travelling for, and that i can justify my espense. Very dissapointed.

Hmmm, the clubs media officer defending a club employee, whodathunkit?. The problem is that fans have not been complaining on mass about players being lazy or lacking passion though, being yes, but not being lazy. So it isn't a matter of fact.

Fact.

Yes. So? I disagree with you. I disagreed with you about Potter too. And I can point you to another site where lots of fans hold my POV. I can take you to the terraces where other fans share my POV. To people who speak to the players, who share my POV.

So what?

He wasn't defending anyone. You haven't got a clue what was said whereas I have as would others following him.


Actually, it is. Some posters on one internet message board does not represent the whole fanbase. You may have noticed hardly anyone posts on here relative to the number of people who attend a match.

I am sure you have a brain in there somewhere. It may be useful to engage it now and again.

How do you know I don't follow him or read the Saints facebook page? Oh, you don't. Idiotic presumptions? From you? I am surprised.



Who said this board was the entire fan base? Idiotic presumptions? From you? I am surprised.



Resorting to personal insults again, eh?

There's only one of us that looks stupid on a regular basis.

I was simply pointing out that your arguement that Royce got us to a GF therefore should be given some grace, was not something that you yourself thought the club should have applied to Potter, but where arguing the club should have applied to Royce.

It was not about disagreing with you, just pointing out the juxtaposition of your arguements. You advocate it for one GF coach but not the other. Therefore not a very solid arguement to me.

Whether more people agree with you or not about keeping Royce does not make your reasoning any less of a contradictory point.

Except it was! I repeat: I only judged him in his second season and by the end of that season a lot of people had come to my way of thinking.

However, we didn't have Langtree Park to worry about when Potter was with us and personally I think that is the reason why Royce has been sacked. Very narrowly losing four games on the spin at KR wouldn't have been the issue it has been at Langtree Park where Mr Big needs his friends' money back and expectations on coach and players have been ultra high.

For what it's worth I think Royce should have been given more time. He turned things around last year and because of that I was prepared to give him time to turn things around this. I was basing my judgement upon the evidence of the previous season, just as I did with Potter. I'm entirely consistent here.

I also happen to admire the man himself for his integrity and his commitment to our team, club and sport. In light of that as well as his achievements in the face of many odds last year I think he has been treated very unjustly.

With all due respect, from the point of veiw of some one who regulary reads your posts, the difference in your stance on the two coaches has no consistancy.
A number of other posters would argue for Potter's plus points. None of us thought he was perfect, but we'd argue that he'd kept us competetive when key players had left, he'd brought through youngsters and intergrated them well without overloading them etc, etc, etc. Through said debates you would deflect any recognition of acheivement toward the players, backroom staff and the board, but never compliment the coach. Whereas, this year, through our slump, you've levelled the blame in the opposite direction at feet of the senior players, leaving very little blame with Royce. That is not consistent.

I admire that your pasionate about saints and appreciate that you think Royce is hard done to. Do I think that, come the end of the season, we'll finish up any better or worse than if we'd have kept him? Possibly not, but the coming weeks will at least see us attempt some new stuff, it willl give the players a boost in motivation (in order to prove it was the coach and not, as you have speculated the players lacking drive) but, most significantly, will chance the mood on the terrace - a poor performance will no longer be met which allegations that the coach doesn't know what he's doing, instead, we'll put it down to the two guys filling in being inexperienced and doing thier best in a bad situation, knowing that next year we'll have a shiney new coach to make everything right. Why is this so significant? Ticket sales - Like it or not, we've got Langtree park to pay for now and the mindnumbingly uninspriring attacking performances are doing nothing to attract fans, they're putting them off. The boring victories of Potter's tenure may not have had them flooding to the turnstiles, but it wouldn't have done them any harm. This was the major factor in Royce going imo and to be honest, given how annoyed I was at this point last season and how annoyed I was after the awful Hull game, I can see why people wouldn't inclined to pay for a season ticket that leaves you watching dross for 50% of the games.

Back on topic - is this season a write off? Of course not.

We have a squad that can compete and I'm sure that's what we'll do with a bit of tweaking to our approach.

Also depends what you mean by write off - are we talking just trophies or is a large part of the season as fans about enjoyment? If we see the players unchained a little and playing with a bit more enterprise, we could all rather enjoy the rest of this year in our shiny new stadium - that would make 2012 far from a write off IMO.

Well as I said, the change in coaching staff means our expectations will change.
I think a trophy is unrealistic, although you can never tell with cup competetions..
What do I want fromt he rest of the season, to finish comfortably in the top 8 and give the playoff a decent crack.
I'll take whatever we get from the CC.

Excellent post, in every respect.

There is only one inconsistency: I voted against Potter and for Simmons. That's all your rambling is about at the end of the day.

OK

I think what he's trying to suggest is that you weren't that vociferous towards Simmons because you'd already pinned your colours to the mast very early on that he was going to be better than Potter. That he hasn't is perhaps a reason to reflect on such things.

Btw I'm not suggesting any of that is accurate or true because that's your call not mine.

As for this season? If somebody hasn't said it already "Never write the Saints off."

I know what he was trying to suggest but short of me digging up copious posts from three years ago, his efforts are wasted because his suggestion is bollox. I supported both during the first season; it was during the second season that I found myself unable to support Potter and until our defence tightened up, I was having doubts about Royce's defensive capabilities too (and indeed noted the same on here).