Ford MUST replace Flood

[fleabane]

As I saw it, he had one chance when the speed of Sarries' defence meant he had to sidestep, and then he was seen waving his arms in frustration when the ball didn't come out again, and eventually Smurf moved in along side Toby, and it was Smurf who got the pass. Bottled it? Absolutely not!

Ford is for the future, at which time he too will doubtless have a thread like this to bear.

[sapajo]

My whole point of the criticism aimed at Flood was corroborated by every single pundit on the Television screen

So I am not alone..

He literally FROZE in the last few minutes and there was absolutely no way whatsoever we were going to win with him in the driving seat..!!

If you dont believe me---then re run the video and see for yourselves
It does not make for happy viewing..

In black and white---HE WENT AWOL !!!!!

Sorry, nice lad that he is, he is not an International Fly Half
Pressure gets to him , big time

Who is an International World Class fly half---O'Gara
He stands up to be counted when it matters --even if he tackles worse than me...

No you are not alone! but then we were watching reality whereas others have chosen to invent their own unique version of events.

[Bill W (2)]

My whole point of the criticism aimed at Flood was corroborated by every single pundit on the Television screen

So I am not alone..

He literally FROZE in the last few minutes and there was absolutely no way whatsoever we were going to win with him in the driving seat..!!

If you dont believe me---then re run the video and see for yourselves
It does not make for happy viewing..

In black and white---HE WENT AWOL !!!!!

Sorry, nice lad that he is, he is not an International Fly Half
Pressure gets to him , big time

Who is an International World Class fly half---O'Gara
He stands up to be counted when it matters --even if he tackles worse than me...

No you are not alone! but then we were watching reality whereas others have chosen to invent their own unique version of events.

Even if you are right - and I am not sure you are - then what should be done? By Cockers? By O'Connell? By Lancaster? By Farrell?


Hee hee - by Murphy?

[sjm]

One thing that has not been mentioned is the fact that it seems Flood plays better with YBY,but i must agree that his kicking out of hand was badand not up to standard in a AP match let alone an england match

[Will S]

In black and white---HE WENT AWOL !!!!!

How old is your tv?

If you watched it on a more modern colour tv you will have noticed:

- he didn't call for it when they were way out (when Barnes started saying he should) as he trusted his pack to improve the position which they did.
- when they got close he did call for it but for some reason Grindall was just looking left and right and wasn't looking for Toby.
- next phase Grindall himself took a dart which ruled out that phase and the next (don't want a slow pass from a forward when you are trying to get a drop away)
- then it did go back to Toby but the drop wasn't on so he did the smart thing and took it back in rather than rushing and missing the kick (when Nick Evans did this in the HC the press were purring over his patience)
- when Toby got back into position Murphy had already stepped up and called it.

Don't see he did anything wrong myself - especially as it worked and we won!

[4071]

My whole point of the criticism aimed at Flood was corroborated by every single pundit on the Television screen

So I am not alone..

He literally FROZE in the last few minutes and there was absolutely no way whatsoever we were going to win with him in the driving seat..!!

If you dont believe me---then re run the video and see for yourselves
It does not make for happy viewing..

In black and white---HE WENT AWOL !!!!!

Sorry, nice lad that he is, he is not an International Fly Half
Pressure gets to him , big time

Who is an International World Class fly half---O'Gara
He stands up to be counted when it matters --even if he tackles worse than me...

So when you say he "froze", what you mean is that he guided the team forward for phase after phase, standing pflat and making the right plays to get runners over the gainline and moving forwards into a good drop-goal position. When in position, he dropped back into the pocket and called for the ball. As you saw on your replays, he was right in position for several phases, and gesticulating wildly every time Grindal chose to pass side to side rather than back to his FH. When the ball eventually came back to him, he saw that the drop wasn't on because of the pace of the defence and so realised he'd need to reset, which is pretty clear thinking under pressure.

After a couple more phases, with Toby again waiting in a decent position to attempt the DG - just having to wait for the SH to get in position and play the ball - Murphy stepped up and directed Flood elsewhere so that he could take the drop instead.


Just because the TV commentators had one interpretation of what was going on whilst the game was live, it does not mean that they were correct. But their commentary was obviously going to influence the interpretation of everyone who was watching.

Which is a shame, as Barnes in particular is known for seeing what he wants to see, and will cheerfully commentate to what he imagines is happening rather than what is ACTUALLY happening.

[Johnnyg]

Just because Barnes suggests he may have froze does not mean he did, and not every commentator agrees with him on the point. Flood had a good game. He was screaming for the ball to take the drop goal, and when it came it was slow and at a poor height; sensibly he bailed out, and as a result we won when his Captain decided to take the kick. I really do despair at this (IMO) ill-founded criticism. Ford missed 2 crucial drop goals against Exeter in September, we lost the game because of that, yet I wouldn't dream of criticising him as a result. We won this game, no-one played poorly and we won not least because of a beautiful fast flat pass from Flood to Manu in the 79th minute that allowed him the space to break out and kick to a position in their own half. I rate Ford quite highly but if he had played in that game I doubt we would have won. He isn't the messiah either.

[sapajo]

He was screaming for the ball to take the drop goal,

Thats very strange indeed as I could not hear anything the players said during this match save when the Ref spoke to them. Let alone a scream?

[Johnnyg]

The footage shows him waving his arms at the scrum half with his lips moving. If that isn't enough if you look carefully at the screen you will see the subtitles of players' comments. They are found just to the left of the "bottling" meter that objectively identifies players' emotional reactions. They put wireless implants in the players' brains now so we can identify their actual emotional behaviour.

[sapajo]

The footage shows him waving his arms at the scrum half with his lips moving. If that isn't enough if you look carefully at the screen you will see the subtitles of players' comments. They are found just to the left of the "bottling" meter that objectively identifies players' emotional reactions. They put wireless implants in the players' brains now so we can identify their actual emotional behaviour.

Excellent explaination now I understand the technology or do i?

[SpanishTiger]

What a chicken right? He chickened out in the last minute of the game from his own 22 to do a jump pass, quite risky with the opposition in front of his face to set up superiority for Manu to explode.

We all know that's the easiest thing to do. Yet Billy had a nightmare of a game earlier this season, missing all of his kicks, we lose and he's still the Messiah.

I have the feeling some people will never change their opinion no matter what. No matter how much evidence I show, how elaborated my argument is, or how many stats I show, they will still think Flood panicked.

[kend]

Felt the need to comment - lots of stuff in the press about Sarries training for the charge-down following Hodgson's exploits for England - so Tigers were absolutely right to be patient. Flood could have snatched at his kick, but drove on and kept the ball alive - nothing wrong with that - he has a fraction of a second to make the right call, and the eventual outcome shows it was the right call!

Excellent decision by Murphy to move into position as well - defence now have two potential kickers to think about - gives that extra second?

[adamv6]

Most of the content of this thread is unadulterated drivel of the highest order.

I loved the way that Flood (the no good, not international class, drop goal shirking lazy good for nothing flyhalf) used all that skill and experience he clearly doesn't have to recycle the ball cleanly when the first drop goal wasn't on. The bloke needs hanging from clock tower by his entrails. Disgrace to Tigers.

Given the choice in all the European teams, there is only maybe 3 fly halfs at most I would rate as good or better than Flood.

[Jose]

I understand that criticism is an essential part of modern sport and that fans have every right to comment, but it really does take quite a special type of fan to complain about an international fly half who had a good game, scored 12 points, played a key role in the moves which led to the scoring of the other 8 points and correctly chose not to get charged down in the build up to the crucial winning score, which was subsequently kicked by his captain.

Seems like excellent decision making all round and clear thinking under pressure (particularly by Flood and Murphy) resulting in a good away win. I'm not sure how continuing to kick when being charged down resulting in us losing the game would have represented 'bottle'. Surely making the correct decision under pressure shows more 'bottle'?

I presume if we had a two on one and our player tried to go round the last defender and failed, costing us a try, you'd applaud him for his 'bottle' in trying to do so, rather than berate him for his poor decision not to pass?

[Jose]

My whole point of the criticism aimed at Flood was corroborated by every single pundit on the Television screen

So I am not alone..

He literally FROZE in the last few minutes and there was absolutely no way whatsoever we were going to win with him in the driving seat..!!

If you dont believe me---then re run the video and see for yourselves
It does not make for happy viewing..

In black and white---HE WENT AWOL !!!!!

Sorry, nice lad that he is, he is not an International Fly Half
Pressure gets to him , big time

Who is an International World Class fly half---O'Gara
He stands up to be counted when it matters --even if he tackles worse than me...

The same O'Gara who managed to cost the Lions their chances of a series win in S Africa in the space of 5 woeful minutes of p*ss poor tackling and decision making as a replacement?

The same O'Gara who Healey made look stupid to score a crucial try in a HC final?

If you play in enough big matches, then you'll look good in some of them, and in others, not so good.

I'd never have put O'Gara in a team in front of Flood in the last 3 years and still wouldn't.