westwinds31 wrote: ↑Sun May 12, 2024 11:21 pm
Wow this is serious isn’t it !? After multiple comments on McKellar on multiple threads we now have a dedicated thread to lay into him ! Terrific!
I’m sure that was the OP intention but there are enough wise heads on here to look at the bigger picture.
As others have said in 12 months time there will be a clearer picture.
I'm also sure, but I personally am fed up with the negativity surrounding this. To summarise, we all want Tigers to win stuff and succeed and play a decent brand of rugby. We haven't achieved that, for many reasons, McKellar is ultimately responsible, regardless of the circumstances etc - we all hope we improve.
That's all that needs to be said in my opinion. And I'm conscious that I'm adding to something that I'm no longer interested in !
Really should be an Aled Walters thread. I have ad nauseam pointed out that SB wasn't the loss, it was AW. Players who are megafit don't knock on, they reach those passes, hit those gaps, make those tackles etc., and win games in the last quarter. For various reasons we have become adept at losing, and missing that 1% - could I suggest 5% - fitness makes the difference.
Leicester Tigers 1995-
Nottingham 1995-2000
Swansea (Whites) 1988-95
A game played on grass in the open air by teams of XV.
jgriffin wrote: ↑Mon May 13, 2024 2:03 pm
Really should be an Aled Walters thread. I have ad nauseam pointed out that SB wasn't the loss, it was AW. Players who are megafit don't knock on, they reach those passes, hit those gaps, make those tackles etc., and win games in the last quarter. For various reasons we have become adept at losing, and missing that 1% - could I suggest 5% - fitness makes the difference.
It isn’t just Aled conditioning work either, it was that larger than life character that he brought to the team environment that hasn’t been replaced. Only need to watch some of the recent England videos to see the positive effect that has
jgriffin wrote: ↑Mon May 13, 2024 2:03 pm
Really should be an Aled Walters thread. I have ad nauseam pointed out that SB wasn't the loss, it was AW. Players who are megafit don't knock on, they reach those passes, hit those gaps, make those tackles etc., and win games in the last quarter. For various reasons we have become adept at losing, and missing that 1% - could I suggest 5% - fitness makes the difference.
It isn’t just Aled conditioning work either, it was that larger than life character that he brought to the team environment that hasn’t been replaced. Only need to watch some of the recent England videos to see the positive effect that has
This. Aled brought the squad to life. He wasn't a court jester but brought the ability - viewing from the outside - to bring a lighthearted nature to the coaching group and someone the players could lean on.
It all seems very coaching by process this season.
jgriffin wrote: ↑Mon May 13, 2024 2:03 pm
Really should be an Aled Walters thread. I have ad nauseam pointed out that SB wasn't the loss, it was AW. Players who are megafit don't knock on, they reach those passes, hit those gaps, make those tackles etc., and win games in the last quarter. For various reasons we have become adept at losing, and missing that 1% - could I suggest 5% - fitness makes the difference.
It isn’t just Aled conditioning work either, it was that larger than life character that he brought to the team environment that hasn’t been replaced. Only need to watch some of the recent England videos to see the positive effect that has
This. Aled brought the squad to life. He wasn't a court jester but brought the ability - viewing from the outside - to bring a lighthearted nature to the coaching group and someone the players could lean on.
It all seems very coaching by process this season.
And I would add you can’t manufacture that personality it is something you either have or don’t, so not a criticism of current incumbents. 2 other examples for me would Scott Robinson and Dan Vickerman at Sarries
Possibly a bigger discussion piece but are we losing the characters in the game, Burns or Marler for example, with players being conditioned at such an early stage in their career
Ian Cant wrote: ↑Sat May 11, 2024 9:37 pm
We might have lots of international talent but the hugely talented Henderson has been out all season; JVP, Martin and Chessum also missing through injury.
Pollard has never hit anywhere near the heights of the World Cup but I’m not sure he’s ever been fully fit. Basset, Simmonds, Watson so unlucky with injuries.
Heyes too been out as has Montoya at crucial times.
What did we all think of Borthwick first and last half of a season: well not a lot: I saw some awful thrashings away at Sarries, home v Sale etc etc but we were patient with him.p as he had assembled some great coaches.
Dan has had to work without a backs coach which if Fordy had been around I’m sure he’d have taken over.
Next week v Exeter will be another extremely difficult game but it will be the work done in the Summer that will see a couple of new coaches coming in!
Exeter had a tough time last year but stuck with Baxter and look what he has done.
Dowson and Vesty have admitted it was the work of Boyd that set this season up.
I’m happy to get down to Welford Road next Saturday and cheer the Tigers on.
Oh yes, having travelled up to Sale over many seasons last night was the best I’ve seen us perform since 2018/when surprise surprise George Ford inspired us to an excellent win on a Saturday.
Good luck Dan and all at Tigers. We have no right to be top of the table but we expect to be. I ask any fans who doubt some of the players’ attitude or the coaches to watch again last nights game. Being there some of our tackling was immense from Pollard, Steward, JVP, Kelly, Scott, Martin and Carnduff.
The overthrowing at the line out needs sorting but Montoya, FTT and Vanes are much better throwing in!
Another problem is that with so many players injured training has been difficult because we’ve not had the quality to train with and against.
Keep The Faith.
The difference with Borthwick was week on week when we were losing you could see the improvement. The whole squad had a learning mindset and Borthwick used to repeat that mantra week in week out in interviews ad nauseam. We are showing no signs of a having a learning culture anymore
Here's the article penned by Charles Richardson, who is one of the better rugby journos.
Leicester’s season has not been good enough but Dan McKellar needs more time
With a large churn in coaching staff and significant injuries, Leicester head coach has excuses for his side’s under-performance
Charles Richardson,
RUGBY REPORTER
13 May 2024 • 3:53pm
Related Topics
Leicester Tigers, Gallagher Premiership
The Monday after another dispiriting Premiership loss, this time away at Sale, Leicester unveiled a raft of new membership packages alongside a campaign involving past-and-present big names – Peter Wheeler, Dan Cole, Tom Croft, Chris Ashton – encouraging fans to “embrace the past and inspire the future”.
The concept has been dubbed ‘Tigers Together’ and the timing is apposite given it is the crossroads of past, present and future with which Leicester currently grapple. For the best supported and most successful club in England, an eighth-placed finish, with only the floundering duo of Gloucester and Newcastle beneath them, cannot be dressed up into anything but an underachievement.
The context of Tigers’ past – Premiership champions after a handful of the most abject seasons in the club’s history – resulted in Leicester re-taking its seat among English rugby’s heavyweights and subsequently expectations for the squad are as high as ever. In terms of the table standings, the 2023/24 campaign will end in melancholy and mediocrity for Leicester, with potentially four consecutive losses and no Champions Cup rugby. But enough has happened this season in mitigation to suggest that calmer waters could lie ahead.
Dan McKellar, Leicester’s highly rated head coach, has not even finished his first season in English rugby, arriving last July with the challenge of knitting back together a club whose coaching team had been plundered by the Rugby Football Union.
Matt Everard (defence), Brett Deacon (assistant) and Matt Smith (skills) are the only surviving senior coaches from the Steve Borthwick era as England head coach. Kevin Sinfield, Richard Wigglesworth and Tom Harrison joined as assistants to Borthwick, while Aled Walters linked up as head of strength and conditioning. The spectre of that past success has hung over McKellar as the judgments of his inaugural season have rolled in.
McKellar’s knitting had to take place in a World Cup season, too, with that cast of coaches having poached the majority of Leicester’s stars for their own international commitments.
A stark statistic of Leicester’s season is that the (now injured) Ollie Chessum and George Martin, two of English rugby’s most promising talents, have started just five times together for the club this season across all competitions. McKellar would have known of their absences until November and throughout February and March but would have expected to be able to employ their services more regularly throughout the season. When they have played together, their impact has been thunderous. When missing, their absence has been stark.
It is no secret that Leicester’s attack has struggled this season. Only Newcastle have fewer try bonus points. But, again, McKellar has been hamstrung. His attack coach Alan Dickens was placed on leave in October and has not been seen at Mattioli Woods Welford Road since. In his absence, club stalwart Smith stepped up from skills coach to take the reins. Amid the uncertain and under-resourced attack, the Premiership has not seen the best version of two-time World Cup winner Handre Pollard at fly-half.
Another area under scrutiny is strength and conditioning. In his past two press conferences, McKellar has lamented the way in which his side have dropped out of matches after 60 minutes this season. Northampton away, Sale away, Bristol at home and Leinster away are all examples of games in the past few months where Leicester have been firmly in the fight until after 50 minutes before finishing on the losing side. Ollie Richardson returned to Welford Road as head of strength and conditioning after a six-season stint with Tigers between 2005 and 2011 but replacing Walters, regarded as one of the best in the business, was always going to be a tall order and McKellar has detailed a post-season review for that programme in his past two press appearances.
The curious element is that there have been highlights. In a barmy Premiership season, Leicester have at times embodied the barminess. The Tigers have this season defeated both of the current top three teams in the league - defeating Bath both home and away - beat Harlequins at the Stoop and won away at Stade Francais (who, until defeat to Toulouse on Sunday night, had led the Top 14 since Christmas).
There were also two gutsy displays against Leinster where, you guessed it, the Tigers ran out of steam after strong starts.
Even with the extenuating circumstances, to describe this season as a hospital pass for McKellar would be overly generous but there is no doubt that the straight-talking Australian has had a rougher ride than what was forecast this time last year. The head coach deserves a second crack of the whip next season, with a full pre-season and a full coaching ticket. Judgment in June 2025 would be far fairer and empathetic towards the circumstances than suggesting anything rash in 2024. This is Tigers Together, after all, not Tigers Apart.
The article in the telegraph pretty much sums up how I feel about the coaching situation. Obviously it’s not been great but after coming home from the game against sale I wasn’t as down about the performance as I thought I might be in previous years especially under Murphy we would have been thumped by sale and pretty much given up in that second half but that didn’t happen which seems to mean they at least believe in something the coach is doing! There are definitely green shoots even if they are small! One more season with mckellar and if we don’t improve then I think it’s a valid argument about getting rid!
Well said amazing Tiger: I too felt there were signs of improvement as I watched Tigers from the East Stand of the AJBell.
Like all sides near the bottom we’ve not had the bounce of the ball go our way.
Exeter at home is going to be difficult but no doubt like most of us going on Saturday I shall shout Tigers even louder. And I like the players must keep my efforts going for the full 80.
jgriffin wrote: ↑Mon May 13, 2024 2:03 pm
Really should be an Aled Walters thread. I have ad nauseam pointed out that SB wasn't the loss, it was AW. Players who are megafit don't knock on, they reach those passes, hit those gaps, make those tackles etc., and win games in the last quarter. For various reasons we have become adept at losing, and missing that 1% - could I suggest 5% - fitness makes the difference.
It isn’t just Aled conditioning work either, it was that larger than life character that he brought to the team environment that hasn’t been replaced. Only need to watch some of the recent England videos to see the positive effect that has
This. Aled brought the squad to life. He wasn't a court jester but brought the ability - viewing from the outside - to bring a lighthearted nature to the coaching group and someone the players could lean on.
It all seems very coaching by process this season.
+1 all the above
Many on here, including me, derided Saracens for their so-called Wolf pack whereas the whole team ethic is difficult to achieve. The means to an end is not important as long as the end result is what's required!
As an ex Professional Sportsman, its blooming obvious that the players are nowhere near the highest level of fitness. Way way off.
The first priority for next season is to get a Beast of a Fitness Coach in, and start immediately the season ends.
Its horrible running up steps , being timed, and being sick. I must have puked dozens of times on the steps above the Park in Nottingham. But its the only way..
Last edited by fortysix on Tue May 14, 2024 6:41 pm, edited 1 time in total.
