It's a mistake to assume every body who isn't blowing a trumpet or singing along isn't a supporter,
I think it's great, but when you are at the other side of the field with 2 kids it's not so easy to join in. Away games are rare for me simply because I can't afford them, people with kids of their own will understand all about that, I pay for Sky as a family thing so we do get to watch games on TV.

I started watching Fartown when Murphy was coach so I can't claim to be one of the old timers who can recall Devery and Cooper etc. We have had plenty of Coaches since Murphy but IMO never one better. That's not to say all the rest have been rubbish,T Smith was good and has proved it , It's a shame things didn't work out with N Brown He definitely had the ability to improve individual players , I thought we were a very good side to watch in his early days.
Bret Hodgson would be a very good man to have involved IMO Darrel Powell has done a good job at Fev and Cas with a very average team.
PA is coach now and he will be judged by somebody with more say than we have, I shall still support the team with or without him,

Thats what ive said before, if Anderson was shown the door which i very much doubt at the moment then we would get kieron purtill as his replacement.

Warrington lost 4 games on the trot?!?! did the warrington forum want smith out? hope not as he has won some trophies with them albeit not the Grand final.

We have had whole topics/debates about Grix every season!

I've been saying since the play off last year we need to change our coach. This is not a reaction to the leeds game.

I do not think PA is a bad coach, I just feel he has taken us as far as we can. We have not improved over the last 2 years, we have declined (only slightly) and seem to be stuck in a bit of a rut.

I would not do it now, I would wait until next season then give Purtill a crack. A Tim sheens would be nice but in reality it would be Purtill.

As El Diablo said, we are weak at FB and SH (also hooker for me) so let's get some youngsters in the squad, we already have Connor and Leeming with a bit of experience.

Playing the kids will take a time of transition, I for one am happy to wait and watch these youngsters grow into SL players. Let's be fair, 3 seasons with Grix and Robbo we will win nothing so might as well win nothing whilst preparing for the future. When we have injuries play Learmonth and Robertts instead of getting loan players or re- shuffling the team.

'd love to see the younger players drafted in but is it wise now that promotion and relegation is back?We are in a good position in fourth at present but we have some very hard games coming up.

Saints, Wigan, Wire, Leeds etc don't see it as unwise at any time to not give them a go...

some good points there El diablo, but to say our pack is nasty isn't true, whilst they are good players, we don't have the aggression we've had in recent years with the likes of o'donnell, mason, griffin etc, huby, crabtree and kopczak aren't anywhere near the same level as those guys were in terms of aggression.

i do think we have stalled a bit and as much as FFL says, we need to be looking to the youngsters to take over from the likes of robbo, grix etc, they have both been very good players for us and are both decent enough to have as squad players but for me, leeming, connor etc are the future now and we should be looking at using guys like these more often now.

if the youngsters are good enough they will get their chance

wardle
mcgillvary
connor
johnson
Leeming

all got their chance, if they take it they will follow the likes of crabtree, lawrence and cudjoe

wardle and mcgillvary took their chance and now are regulars, mulllally is now a regular too

unfortunately some just arent good enough to make the step up, you can tell the ones that will as they stand out like a sore thumb playing in the under 19's

I'm a bit confused with What you mean. On the one hand calling for the coaches head cause we are winning nowt-then saying you are happy to watch us not win owt whilst we play a load of kids.
If you are happy for us to bring the kids through then let anderson do it- he can only do it now as finally the quality is there in our youngsters.

Jools. We are winning nowt with the same old faces. He isn't giving youth enough of a chance. A different coach might.

As I said, I don't think he's a bad coach but would like to see a fresh approach.

Who do you think a different coach would play that would make a difference? Who would you play? What approach would you use?

Would mcdermott have put Leeming and connor in instead of Wardle and robinson? I doubt it very much given he dropped two youngsters himself for established players who had been out injured. Would smith put a youngster in over higham and Atkins?

Once again, obsessed with McDermott!

I have been saying I want a change for a while. The Leeds game is irrelevant.

Even when we have had injuries he's reluctant to give youth a chance.

I do not think it is time to change the coach, but I do think the coach needs to have a re-think about tactics and selection.
Our pack is huge yet we constantly go wide early, that is not catching anyone out, it is predictable and the defence is ready for us. At the risk of sounding like Stevo, we need the forwards to do the hard yards first. If we do that then the occasional early shift might just work.
Kyle Wood is easily our best partner for Danny Brough, he should be one of the first names on the spreadsheet. Ellis and Leeming are our best Booker combination. Robbie sadly is done, he gets targeted in defence and though he makes most tackles he loses so much yardage in doing so our defence is badly sretched - if you can bear to watch the Leeds game again that is what won them the game in that opening stint, Peacock, Cuthbertson st all just battering Robbo. Ellis does not get bullied like that.

did you not read my post on the previous page about the youngsters?

Like some on here l do not think this is the time for this topic, but l respect peoples opinions, we are just half way through the season, in a good position, and a lot to play for, naming names at this stage can only be counter productive, the last time l made a serious post was last year, the "5 to stay and the 5 to go" after only 2 comments the knives were out, everyone has their favourites. Now is the time for all fans to get behind the club, the coach, the team, be the 18th man and get into the top 4 and the playoffs.
Come September/October we can have these topics

Anderson, in/out
Next coach
Players, your 5 to stay 5 to go

Just as an add on, l am not convinced about the top level, "The Board", Ken seems to put everything in and takes nothing out, what about the others? l have met 4, apart from the fact that some have been around for decades, does anyone have knowledge about what they bring to the club, one is drawing a salary, so hardly likely to be putting it back into the pot, at the end of the day we have to except that Ken is happy with the situation, or is he?.
Maybe this should be another topic, Ken Davy is a nice man, but how many "nice men" are running SL clubs, just a thought.

ps before the knives start flying in my direction, l think he,s a saint and should stay forever.

Yeah. And I disagree. How many times has Connor put in mom performances and being dropped?

Mullally is not really that much of a youngster and gets very limited game time and Wardle and Mcgilvary were given their opportunity by Nathan Brown.

they still dont know connors best position. Think connor has had 1 mom performance when he played half back, maybe we should partner him with brough.

mullally has always been a long term project, getting more and more game time now

not sure which youngsters you want to see thrown in at this stage that we havent already seen. maybe roberts will be the next one we see play SL level for us

dickinson has gone to halifax on loan, part of the next phase of his progression on the path to hopefully making SL level

I would like to respond to this but I won't because it might bring out the knives you have mentioned.
I will say this though, People tend to like certain players whatever their form. We hear quotes like . He has Claret and Gold in his veins, He is a ledgend. Personally I don't care if his Heart is Claret and Gold hooped, If he is no longer good enough , He is not good enough.
Whether we have the money to get better ( as some body has pointed out ) is another story.

Very fair observations.

Going on what I hear in the stadium and what I read on here, Grix's praise is garnered by his support play and his ability to organise the defensive line. Regarding the former, I readily sing his praises, but don't take as easily as some to the assertion that his organisation is paramount to our defensive successes. Important? Yes, but we shouldn't over-egg his omelette. His ability to organise the defensive line is unquantifiable unless Grix is the only one instructing players, which is patently not true. To some it appears his organisation is not unquantifiable but unquestionable, a universal truth. However, just as the Sun does not revolve around the Earth, nor does our defence solely, in my opinion, revolve around Grix, and to suggest otherwise would do the other 12 players on the pitch a great disservice. Yes, he plays an important role in the defence, but so do the others: our tackle success rate must be comparable with any other team in the Super League considering the number of tackles we make and the points we concede. Our increasingly stoic determination to defend our own try line (see matches at Warrington, Hull, Salford etc.) has, with a few exceptions, been another key factor in ensuring we have (at the time of writing!) the best defence in the competition. Grix's line organisation is important but, in my opinion, it should be seen as a contributory factor to, rather than the reason for, our defensive successes.

An organiser and good support player. Usually solid under the high ball. And as El Diablo suggests, a likeable person and good club man. Good attributes, but like the goat and the goatherd, you cannot hide things which cannot be concealed, and these do not mask the issues which lead me to believe that if we are to move to the next level we need better.

As has been mentioned before, Grix's one-on-one defence is poor. Excluding Hull KR and Wakefield, who have both switched their fullbacks around, he is the only out and out fullback to be in his side's top ten for missed tackles. This from fullback, where he has to make fewer tackles than virtually everyone else. Yes, the fullback role is unforgiving in that most of the tackles will have to be made one-on-one, but this is a team with the best defence in the league, not a revolving door.

The team's creativity is somewhat hampered by Grix's lack of pace. If he could join the line at speed and deliver a killer pass we would have another (second?!) string to our bow, but too often he gets caught running laterally ball in hand with our attack fizzling out.

Our creativity is largely limited to Brough, which is not Grix's fault, but we need someone to share the role. As El Diablo suggested, our spine is not strong enough. 1, 6, 7, 9. Leeming is developing, but Brough is the only one who is top quality. We have a quality three quarter line and a good pack which should look even stronger next year but the spine is not quite good enough for a team challenging for the title.

This post has largely been in response to the comment about Grix, and I agree with El Diablo. I think we need better at fullback. However, I would not wish to single Grix out. I also think we need better at halfback to complement Brough and maybe a better hooker (as long as it doesn't impede Leeming's progress). Clearly we won't be able to get all of these, but I think that some improvement in the spine of the team is required if we are to be true contenders. In my opinion our lack of creativity is holding us back. We have a good side, but like Tantalus the fruit is just out of our reach.

Good post

Blooding youngsters is a 2/3 season process. Anderson brings them in when needed.
I have no problems with Anderson, he did his apprenticeship with N.Brown and our record over the past 4 or 5 years has been very good, finishing in the top 5 every year, and being the top team in Yorkshire for a good number of years up until this season which is not done yet. Consistency is our main aim surely, not just winning pots, which will eventually come.

Totally agree.... It's took us 40 years to get where we are now let's not get too big for our boots and start expecting !!!
Let's get everything in place behind the scenes for a successful future then we can take the next step.

Why is it a 2/3 season process?

It's not for Wigan or saints or Leeds.

Connor has been around the 1st team for 3 seasons now.

Whatever happened to "if you're good enough, you're old enough"

Like I said I am not demanding his head on a stick. If he is still here next season (which he will be) then fine,"then fine. However I would prefer a fresh approach.

Of course it is for wigan saints and Leeds. How long has singleton been about- yet he still gets dropped. keinhurst has played the odd game for a couple of seasons but not had a regular spot, swift was in and out of the team, lomax was all over the place, makinson was in and out of the team- remember we have taken hughes on loan for a season, he wasn't getting a regular spot at wigan. I think it's perception again.

Keinhorst isn't getting game time simply because he's not good enough. What about strive ward and Liam sutcliffe?

Makinson and lomax have over 120 appearances each and are only 23 and 24 respectively.

Wigan have played malfredi before charnley this year who only got his place back because of injury.

Bateman was a regular at Bradford as a teenager. I could go on forever.