Alan Dickens - Tigers lack of attack coach.

[sapajo]

Can I just ask by attack coach do posters really mean backs coach

Well that depends if only backs comprise the attack? That is because we score more through forward play so I guess that why the club do not have or need a "backs coach"

[Rugbygramps]

Can I just ask by attack coach do posters really mean backs coach

Well that depends if only backs comprise the attack? That is because we score more through forward play so I guess that why the club do not have or need a "backs coach"

Which is really my point.

[mol2]

You wonder what job any backs coach could do with 3 of the 5 genuine wingers injured and one of the fit ones playing in the centres because of injuries. Add to that our first choice scrum half hasn’t played this season. We can’t even put 3 backs on the bench! So one of our full back plays on the wing. Whilst Steward is an international full back as was Brown, neither is top level winger.

The only positives amongst the backs is that Kelly is starting to find the form that has been missing since he tore his hamstring 18 months ago and Kata makes a useful centre.

Even the normally silky Pollard has conjured up a few brainfarts that Burns would have been roasted for. That’s the level of pressure on him when so many are playing in unfamiliar positions without the support of their backs coach.

[Rugbygramps]

You wonder what job any backs coach could do with 3 of the 5 genuine wingers injured and one of the fit ones playing in the centres because of injuries. Add to that our first choice scrum half hasn’t played this season. We can’t even put 3 backs on the bench! So one of our full back plays on the wing. Whilst Steward is an international full back as was Brown, neither is top level winger.

The only positives amongst the backs is that Kelly is starting to find the form that has been missing since he tore his hamstring 18 months ago and Kata makes a useful centre.

Even the normally silky Pollard has conjured up a few brainfarts that Burns would have been roasted for. That’s the level of pressure on him when so many are playing in unfamiliar positions without the support of their backs coach.

Totally agree and would also suggest that if your wanting flowing backs moves you don’t play Kata at 12

[GB72]

Some good thoughts on this matter on the Rolling Maul podcast this week. I think that summed up what some of use are thinking.

Interesting that I saw a request to raise the matter with Andrea Pinchen when she was interviewed for the radio Leicester podcast last night but, having listened to the interview last night, it was not brought up at all. Seeing as it is a topic being discussed among the fans and not just on here, I am surprised that it was ignored.

[Rugbygramps]

Some good thoughts on this matter on the Rolling Maul podcast this week. I think that summed up what some of use are thinking.

Interesting that I saw a request to raise the matter with Andrea Pinchen when she was interviewed for the radio Leicester podcast last night but, having listened to the interview last night, it was not brought up at all. Seeing as it is a topic being discussed among the fans and not just on here, I am surprised that it was ignored.

Difficult territory asking the boss of a company why an employee isn’t at work. We don’t know what is going on behind the scenes and I’m guessing all she could say is I can’t comment on a private internal matter

[GB72]

Some good thoughts on this matter on the Rolling Maul podcast this week. I think that summed up what some of use are thinking.

Interesting that I saw a request to raise the matter with Andrea Pinchen when she was interviewed for the radio Leicester podcast last night but, having listened to the interview last night, it was not brought up at all. Seeing as it is a topic being discussed among the fans and not just on here, I am surprised that it was ignored.

Difficult territory asking the boss of a company why an employee isn’t at work. We don’t know what is going on behind the scenes and I’m guessing all she could say is I can’t comment on a private internal matter

Did not really need any details but more just a question about what our intentions are in relation to this position. Questions can be asked about the matter without needing details of the circumstances.

[Rugbygramps]

Some good thoughts on this matter on the Rolling Maul podcast this week. I think that summed up what some of use are thinking.

Interesting that I saw a request to raise the matter with Andrea Pinchen when she was interviewed for the radio Leicester podcast last night but, having listened to the interview last night, it was not brought up at all. Seeing as it is a topic being discussed among the fans and not just on here, I am surprised that it was ignored.

Difficult territory asking the boss of a company why an employee isn’t at work. We don’t know what is going on behind the scenes and I’m guessing all she could say is I can’t comment on a private internal matter

Did not really need any details but more just a question about what our intentions are in relation to this position. Questions can be asked about the matter without needing details of the circumstances.

I take your point but she literally can’t say anything. 2 likely scenarios either it is a personal issue, or a disciplinary issue, in either case she can’t comment as it may break confidentiality. I’ve seen scenarios like this in work situations before where everyone knows what has happened, but because of the power of HR departments and legislation, management can literally say nothing

[Tiglon]

Difficult territory asking the boss of a company why an employee isn’t at work. We don’t know what is going on behind the scenes and I’m guessing all she could say is I can’t comment on a private internal matter

Did not really need any details but more just a question about what our intentions are in relation to this position. Questions can be asked about the matter without needing details of the circumstances.

I take your point but she literally can’t say anything. 2 likely scenarios either it is a personal issue, or a disciplinary issue, in either case she can’t comment as it may break confidentiality. I’ve seen scenarios like this in work situations before where everyone knows what has happened, but because of the power of HR departments and legislation, management can literally say nothing

Yep, I've been there before. Last year I had a situation where all I could say is "X is not currently at work". Anything more and you risk costing your company a lot of money, or causing unnecessary harm to a person or persons.

Even talking about temp or perm replacements can be impossible in some situations. It is what it is, we just have to accept it.

[Bunchy]

I think an attack coach is not the answer to the all the ills we face - the attack often looks blunt without front foot ball from the pack. When we fail to dominate up front, we look clueless. To change this takes time - not just for an attack coach, but for all the coaches. This is season 1 for DM - Bath are a good example of what can happen when you have time for the coaches to settle in and get the players they want in the positions they want.
It's not far away - but it won't change overnight - attack coach or no attack coach

[AViewFromLe2]

Difficult territory asking the boss of a company why an employee isn’t at work. We don’t know what is going on behind the scenes and I’m guessing all she could say is I can’t comment on a private internal matter

Did not really need any details but more just a question about what our intentions are in relation to this position. Questions can be asked about the matter without needing details of the circumstances.

I take your point but she literally can’t say anything. 2 likely scenarios either it is a personal issue, or a disciplinary issue, in either case she can’t comment as it may break confidentiality. I’ve seen scenarios like this in work situations before where everyone knows what has happened, but because of the power of HR departments and legislation, management can literally say nothing

I think you're both right. The situation is complex and delicate, which is why nothing has been said publicly, and it's a stance i have supported. However circumstances have changed over the last few weeks and the club does have a bit more room to manoeuvre and provide clarity. That said, i am not surprised nothing was said yesterday, i would not even be surprised if the topic was off limits for Adam Whitty, hence why it was not asked.

However, whilst i can understand why the club are not willing to say anything in the public domain, they could be doing something privately to resolve this more quicker than they are doing. My concern from what I can make out, is that they are not doing so.

IMO the current stance is becoming close to unsustainable, and is almost reaching a critical point in the fortunes of our season, yet my concern is that the club do not agree and are in no rush to change course. I fear it may cost us.

To be fair to the club, they still may have their hands tied, it is complex with multiple moving parts here. It is not an easy situation to navigate, however I do believe they are going to have to do something on this. I think all of us would agree that the attack is the weakest part of the game.

[AViewFromLe2]

I think an attack coach is not the answer to the all the ills we face - the attack often looks blunt without front foot ball from the pack. When we fail to dominate up front, we look clueless. To change this takes time - not just for an attack coach, but for all the coaches. This is season 1 for DM - Bath are a good example of what can happen when you have time for the coaches to settle in and get the players they want in the positions they want.
It's not far away - but it won't change overnight - attack coach or no attack coach

I would say that the attack needs resolving pretty quickly as it our weakest area of our game. i feel overall our forward play is good, our line out has recovered and is generally strong as is the scrum. We have restarted scoring rolling maul tries which dropped off last season, and we have got pretty quick ruck speed. I think we're in the top 3 in the Prem for quickest ruck ball. Our defence is pretty good, we're tough to break down and our kicking game is also strong.

So if you were to analyse us, we're ticking a lot of boxes in the positive column, but our attack is very poor in comparison to those areas. It has regressed badly since the high point of that Newcastle game in the Prem Cup. I appreciate the opposition was not the best but that afternoon was the perfect blend of really strong forward play, with the backs playing with really good shape, sharpness and accuracy. It allowed us to carve up Falcons consistently through that game. Since then, we have gone backwards and against La Rochelle, we were pretty much shapeless. We have become extremely easy to defend against when the ball goes to the backline, and that is going to cost us ultimately IMO. I think you can bludgeon your way to the top 4 and then a title, but it involves more luck and not being in control of our destiny.

[Rugbygramps]

Yep, I've been there before. Last year I had a situation where all I could say is "X is not currently at work". Anything more and you risk costing your company a lot of money, or causing unnecessary harm to a person or persons.

Even talking about temp or perm replacements can be impossible in some situations. It is what it is, we just have to accept it.

This sums things up perfectly. Even work that takes place in the background can be misconstrued by highly paid lawyers.

I do agree hat our attack needs work, but that also like it has at Bath it can take time for the pieces to fall into place. Unfortunately, and I hate to bring it up again, 3 Head Coaches in 5 years doesn’t help

[ay2oh]

Despite all of the doom and gloom on here we need to bear in mind that we had ten internationals missing for the first four games of the season and had we picked up another 5 or 6 points we would be in the top four or thereabouts .

[Rugbygramps]

Despite all of the doom and gloom on here we need to bear in mind that we had ten internationals missing for the first four games of the season and had we picked up another 5 or 6 points we would be in the top four or thereabouts .

Spot on, it was always going to be a tough season. Arguably only Exeter and ourselves are still in the running for 3 trophies