Wayne Richardson Fan Club wrote:
RC just doesn't get it does he, you & MOC are the reason he's going.
HOw can you say that when the reality is that he does not deserve a starting place ahead of Allen and Manu and he is not a fly half.
He was, apparently, looking for regular first team rugby and Cockerill was right to give him no guarantees. Other players have stayed and fought for their places - Sam Harrison could easily have gone at the end of this season but has re-signed - he has been patient and has been rewarded.
Billy has been given assurances from Gloucester and more money - I think this is the real reason he is leaving. Disappointed to see him go but that is life!!
I understand how he can say it.
RC prefers to deal face to face, he (RC) says. So he had explained to Billy how he could not select (as he does with Dan Cole and Castro) on a "sharing" basis? And why he could only offer him a one year contract at £90K as opposed to two years at £140K that Glaws offered?
I think not.
Of course assurances and £ from Glaws are the reasons - but let us not credit Cockers and O'Connor with interpersonal skills they patently lack.
It's easy to promise the earth when you are the bidding club. You have nothing to lose. Yeah. Come to Gloucester Billy.....we will appreciate you more...more game time...blah blah...and here is a chunk of money to show you how much we rate you.
Tigers just say. Well we would like you to stay and here is the offer. And nobody is guaranteed a starting spot in the club.
I really couldn't give a stuff about Billy going. I have far more sympathy with a player like Agulla who clearly wants to stay at the club and is not offered a contract.
I find it astonishing that Allen is preferred . 12 months ago Allen was playing a limited game well but nowhere near the level you would expect of a top 12 in a top HC team . Even before his injury this Season he was average at best and since his return merely poor .
mike wrote:I find it astonishing that Allen is preferred . 12 months ago Allen was playing a limited game well but nowhere near the level you would expect of a top 12 in a top HC team . Even before his injury this Season he was average at best and since his return merely poor .
Wasn't Allen last years players player of the year? There again what do the players know when compared to the infinite knowledge on this forum
If Billy doesn't want to stay and fight for his place ..... do we really want him to stay anyway?
And if he doesn't have the balls to tell cockers to his face that he is leaving, is that the kind of character we need? These negotiations have been going on for weeks yet 12T waits until he is away with the Saxons to 'announce' that he is leaving despite telling RC he was staying before he left! Pretty unclassy IMHO.
And nothing that I saw yesterday convinced me that he would be very missed.
Also, how poor was the new messiah from Gloucester that is Freddie Burns yesterday. Poor kicking, poor game management, poor defence.
Mike, we are not a top HC club anymore, sorry but performance and displays show that. Please dont fool yourself. Something is wrong in our great club, and until it is fixed we aint going to be the top club we once were.
Sadly I know we are no longer a top European Club .However I do believe that with our resources we certainly should be one - hopefully someone on high shares our view and will do something to change matters .
bluntiger wrote:If Billy doesn't want to stay and fight for his place ..... do we really want him to stay anyway?
And if he doesn't have the balls to tell cockers to his face that he is leaving, is that the kind of character we need? These negotiations have been going on for weeks yet 12T waits until he is away with the Saxons to 'announce' that he is leaving despite telling RC he was staying before he left! Pretty unclassy IMHO.
Two points:
First, he did want to stay and fight for a place. That's why he's still here this season, despite being consistently ignored last season (regardless of performance). The guy has been consistently snubbed by the club, and is no longer young enough to sit on the sidelines developing as a player by some kind of osmosis rather than actual game time.
Second, he wasn't with the Saxons when it was announced he was leaving. Look at the dates of the news.
A final point is that I am really sickened by some of the Tiger fans' attitudes here. The guy has done everything he could to break into the side, shown enormous patience and loyalty and got very little in return. And this has been predicted for some time, based on the way he's been ignored for the last two seasons. It's not as if he's thrown his toys out of the pram at some imagined slight - he has done all that can have been expected of him, and is probably very disappointed that he wasn't allowed to reach his potential at Tigers. Twelvetrees seems to be a guy who is far fonder of the club than he is of Cockerill. Weirdly, a lot of Leicester fans on here seem to be more fond of Cockerill than of the club.
The guy has done everything he could to break into the side
Except, arguably, been good enough. His reasons for leaving are perfectly understandable, but only time will tell if Tigers are really going to miss much.
Contrary to you, I get the impression that many fans are far fonder of Twelvetrees than they are of the club. Personally, I haven't seen anything from either him or Cockerill that makes me think they are anything special. Tigers can do better than both.
The guy has done everything he could to break into the side
Except, arguably, been good enough. His reasons for leaving are perfectly understandable, but only time will tell if Tigers are really going to miss much.
Even when he's been good enough, that's apparently not been good enough.
The guy has done everything he could to break into the side
Except, arguably, been good enough. His reasons for leaving are perfectly understandable, but only time will tell if Tigers are really going to miss much.
Even when he's been good enough, that's apparently not been good enough.
I am afraid, 4071, that you are complaining in a way that the 'loyalty police' will label as ' not a real supporter'.
To point out the undoubted loyalty of a player who has publicly stated he'd had enough - good enough or not - and wish him well isn't 'loyal' enough as a poster. No you have to insinuate that the player is some form of cheat or slimeball. If that is what it takes then neither of us, or indeed many other posters, are 'true supporters'.
If however you happen to point out that we have slowly declined over the last couple of years, we have lost our HC seeding and are playing an insipid brand of rugby that doesn't cut it at the highest level, and that the coaching needs some fresh input - wow do you get some abuse. I am not an RC-out man myself, but if that is what is needed to reverse the slide, then the club is more than him and he should go. IMO MOC definitely needs his papers. Hence I am not a real supporter.
Leicester Tigers 1995-
Nottingham 1995-2000
Swansea (Whites) 1988-95
A game played on grass in the open air by teams of XV.
Just to clarify, I completely understand his reasons for leaving, and probably would have done the same myself.
I also, however, understand the club's decision not to offer him more money/longer contract, and Cockerill's decision not to guarantee him the 12 shirt.
I am in no way abusing anyone, or denying that the club has problems - I am simply arguing my point of view, as are those who disagree with me.
Quite ironic that - as Castro himself was looking at leaving not that long ago wasn't he and I understand only stayed because Tigers were able to improve their offer?
Nowadays referees decide matches, players by how much.
G.K wrote:Quite ironic that - as Castro himself was looking at leaving not that long ago wasn't he and I understand only stayed because Tigers were able to improve their offer?
