Exeter team

[POSTIGER]

Okay so that was abysmal.
However we won't be relegated like some are suggesting. We got battered by Exeter, not Bristol or Worcester

based on that performance the Tigers can easily get relegated!!

I thought that watching the game. That Saints side of Carlos Spencer et al probably never thought for one second they would go down.

[POSTIGER]

I don't question the players' commitment, I question the competency of the coaching which is clearly massively sub-standard to anyone who has eyes. Sadly that includes Geordie. Can anyone honestly say, hand on heart, that there's been any discernible improvement in the players' skill level? If I was being brutal, I'd say it's worse than it was before he was appointed.

[trendylfj]

It doesn't much brain power to say that this was the worst tigers performance I have seen in over 20 years. The blame for this must lie squarely with the "plan" devised by our coaches. The lineout returned being a shambles, I assume the defence instruction was do not compete at the breakdown, the substitutions showed no appreciation of what was going on in the game or how to change it and there appeared to be no leadership on the field.

I thought Dan's and Manu's defensive frailties were exposed all game, Ben was back into his slow delivery mode, George seemed to have no idea how to get his 3/4's working and going forward, O'Connor did not look fit and was given a lesson in back row play by all three of the Exeter back row. I thought Spencer and Denton did OK without much support, Toomua and Manu seemed to be on a different wavelength with the ball in hand and I didn't really see any threat from our attack at all.

We must start looking at what the players are actually producing on the field and basing our selection on that rather than what they are supposed to be capable of.

I don't want any sacking at this stage but think it must be on the table and seriously looked at after the Wasps game. I said that if we won 3 out of the first 4 I would be happy but I have grave doubts about our ability to do so.

[Smudger67S]

Reminiscent of Saints start last season.
Doesn’t bode well for Tigers.
Fortunes turned for Saints when Mallinder left.
I suspect the Tigers board will act more swiftly than the Saints board last year.

[WhitecapTiger]

I don't question the players' commitment, I question the competency of the coaching which is clearly massively sub-standard to anyone who has eyes.

It all needs to be questioned. A group of international quality players should be able to read a game on the pitch and change things when a plan (or lack thereof) isn't working. Easier said than done? Possibly.

Maybe they're scared of losing their place if they go against the coaches directions?

If they are meekly accepting this path then they are as culpable as the coaches.

[sam16111986]

I don't question the players' commitment, I question the competency of the coaching which is clearly massively sub-standard to anyone who has eyes.

It all needs to be questioned. A group of international quality players should be able to read a game on the pitch and change things when a plan (or lack thereof) isn't working. Easier said than done? Possibly.

Maybe they're scared of losing their place if they go against the coaches directions?

If they are meekly accepting this path then they are as culpable as the coaches.

If you've spent the summer drilling a certain style of play it's then very difficult to get 15 people on the same wave length and co-ordinate a different approach entirely with only a pause in play to do it. Now a top head coach would have plan A, B and C and the leaders on the pitch would move between the plans based on opposition and the point in the game etc. Doubt our head coach has that foresight or ability.

[BFG]

No-one should really be so surprised at today's result or capitulation.
There are several primma donnas about whose commitment does not match that of players like Cole and BOC, and unfortunately they are big names.
They may possess qualities as players but that counts for little without the required level of commitment.
See Exeter's White and Steenson's commitment today.
Unfortunately this also combines with some genuinely past their best and the occasional player of promise.
Leicester are running to catch up, with their laces tied together whilst carrying excess weight!

[ourla]

That has killed all my hope and enthusiasm for the season stone dead.

[POSTIGER]

That has killed all my hope and enthusiasm for the season stone dead.

Same here. It's not the defeat. I'd have taken a loss if it was on the back of a decent performance but that was diabolical.

[jgriffin]

That has killed all my hope and enthusiasm for the season stone dead.

Agreed. Mrs G said why did we renew our STs? Same old rubbish.

[Latecomer]

I don't think they looked fit today. Too many very out of breath at the end of the first half, especially amongst the forwards. Compare and contrast to Exeter who looked very energetic.

[POSTIGER]

That has killed all my hope and enthusiasm for the season stone dead.

Agreed. Mrs G said why did we renew our STs? Same old rubbish.

This is why I'm so hacked off too. I renewed mine too but had to really think about whether to or not because I don't have money to throw around. That was pathetic.

[RagingBull]

Reminiscent of Saints start last season.
Doesn’t bode well for Tigers.
Fortunes turned for Saints when Mallinder left.
I suspect the Tigers board will act more swiftly than the Saints board last year.

Not how I remember it.
Maybe in the odd game but the standard was still pants.

[MrPartridge]

All I want to say is that those of us who attended the Castres trip last year and the subsequent ‘watch the team train and have lunch on us event’ at the club will remember Cohen and MOC’s Q&A where they boasted about our talented youngsters.

Today with the game firmly out of sight we bring on Eastmond instead of Jordan O. What does the score have to be to give the kid a chance.

For me MOC, Cohen and Murphy can all go now. I’ll never knock GM as a player but read his book. It is all about how he loves attacking backs moves etc. What has he been doing with our backs over the Summer? Was there one line break today? Amateurish. But hey, Eastmond might come good. Let’s make sure we bring him on every chance instead Jordan O.

I can take being awful, but awful and with no attempt to try anything remotely exciting or fresh is not acceptable. If we can’t win we could at least try to entertain.

[RagingBull]

GM isn't the backs coach though.