Have we lost our way?

[WiggoTiger]

Their lineout was so telegraphed yet we didn't make full use of our attacking steals. Too many times the ball was tapped back to no one. Apart from Wade and TV i thought Wasps were very poor......Robinson was dreadful at 10.
We weere again bish bash bosh players.............where has all the slick handling gone!! Oh yea when Agulla left, and Tuilagi A!!
Sadly unless we start to pass through the backs hands to creat overlaps and space for wingers we are DOOMED!!!

[GEH]

....if we are so poor how come we are a (the) leading supplier of players to the international team?

[WiggoTiger]

....if we are so poor how come we are a (the) leading supplier of players to the international team?

Have you seen the national team??

As bad as the Tigers!! No ideas, poor leadership and crash ball mentality.

SL doesn't pick the players on form ie Burns, TV or Wade etc

[youngtiger]

where has all the slick handling gone!! Oh yea when Agulla left, and Tuilagi A!!
Sadly unless we start to pass through the backs hands to create overlaps and space for wingers we are DOOMED!!!

So we lost our handling ability when we lost two WINGERS? Neither of whom are renowned for their ability for particularly "slick handling". You then even go on to say that the problem is that we need to create space FOR the wingers, so it's not even the hands of the wingers that is the problem...? Though I agree that we need to make use of our backs, this stinks of criticism for the sake of it.

[tigerburnie]

I now realise that I have mis-interpretated the title of the thread, I assumed it was about the Leicester Tigers team.
Having read some of the posts it is obvious and I'm somewhat surprised it took me this long to work it out. The lost souls are the unrealistic ambitions of some of the fans on here, the ones who write us off before Christmas and have the same low regard for the national team,who we supply a large share.
A national team with fewer caps between them than I can remember in recent years, the team all and sundry were crying out for when Johnno was in charge and still no understanding of what is actually going on.We have a world cup to plan for and a lot of trial and error will happen prior to bringing the team to it's peak at the right time. How do I know this,well that is exactly what we did prior to 2003.A young team getting better,narrowly losing to the second and third teams in the world and described on here as trash and by inference our own Tigers players.

[WiggoTiger]

[ this stinks of criticism for the sake of it.

So you are quite happy with the way the backs have played for the last few years then?

[Tigerbeat]

I think that the backs have played well in the past few years.....Tigers have been top try scores. The problem has been consistency. The players have the ability but have failed to deliver.

[Smurphswillgetya]

Have we lost our way? Perhaps it is some on this forum! Perhaps time has clouded people's memory. We go through phases where after years of development a group of really good players come together and we win a few trophies in a row. We then go through many years of change where we stay near the top but not win much and then we win a few trophies. 3 JP trophies but generally lost to Bath and nothing much for years. 2 HC and 4 championships then nothing much for years. Perhaps in 3 or 4 years time when T Youngs, Cole, Kitchener, Parling, Mafi, Youngs, Ford, Tualagi, Allen, Morris, Tait and a few others have matured we will start dominating Europe and English Rugby again. I remember the Brive defeat where the likes of Johnson played and were expected to win but got beaten badly. I happen to think that defeat helped a few years later in 2001-2003 when Tigers and England dominated.
I have faith we will come good -no pain no gain! This is a marathon not a sprint. Man U one manager 26 years, is it Chelsea 26 managers in same period. Yes other teams have had their day but Man U are ever present! Ring a bell?

[fleabane]

Smurfswillgetya, are you suggesting we should not have got rid of Fergies rugby equivalent, Deano?

[youngtiger]

this stinks of criticism for the sake of it.

So you are quite happy with the way the backs have played for the last few years then?

That's not what I said. What I said was that I don't believe that we have lost our ability for slick handling, especially not because of the loss of 2 wingers at the end of last season.

[Smudge]

Well as an old Tiger let me assure you that me and my generation are of
the opinion that we have seriously lost our way.
We certainly don't play like we used to.

I have no doubt that we have the talent within the club to put us back
on top. The trouble is, we are too often a shambles and not singing from the same hymn sheet.
Organisation and leadership, both on and off the field, are our nemesis.
To make the most of our assets, above all we need a top class captain like MJ.
And a set of top class coaches

[Hull Fan]

I would agree with Smudge on the captain front, Geordie is great but now Tait is fit and Morris playing well is he likely to be first choice for us?
Probably not, so as i've mentioned on another thread regarding England, i feel Geoff Parling is a top captain in the making and in the mould of MJ.
Give him the job his name would be be first on the sheet for Tigers and not far off for England as well.

[tigerburnie]

I too would like to see Geoff Parling as captain, he seems to be a natural leader and as has been said our top lock at the moment. I have always preffered a forward as captain, he seems to have a steady temperament and would I'm sure, be good at the decision making in the heat of the battle.
No slight on Geordie, he has been a superb leader, but as has also been said, he may now find it hard to hold onto his place in the side. I would like to see Geordie take a role on the coaching staff as his awareness and skill is something we need to pass on to others.