I've said all season that the only point in all this season is as preparation for survival in Prem next season. Something I would suggest we are behind targets on as this is the weakest Champ we've ever been in. Promotion with our resources and players without the risk of the play-offs will be no achievement, not even a min requirement for this season.
Pat has now had 80% of a season with this team and there are still major problems from the first game that have not been addressed. That is not good enough, with a host of new players how are we going to solve this in pre-season for the tougher challenge at the start of next season. This is the job is here for, and he must be good enough to meet it.
Hopefully there is something magic in Pat's plan that will turn this round over the pre-season, that isn't just sign another raft of expensive players. My worry is that as with Robbo, who is going to be strong enough to audit Pat and hold him to account at the end of the season. Throughout this season there is a "In Pat we trust" mantra in the same way as there was a "Hilly know best" when things were going wrong. Pat's main coaching achievement was to build an under funded club to be competitive in a league with no relegation that took a number of years, its a totally different challenge at Bris under SL.
The one thing his game plan needs to have any chance of working in the Prem is a stable forward platform to give us front foot ball as he had at Connacht. The backs magic will not get us out of jail in the Prem like it has in the Champ so many times. There lots of short term views on her blaming the players as not good enough which ignores that we have plenty of front 5 players that have done it at this level, Prem or international level so why are the coaches not getting them to perform? Or in some cases even using them e,g, JackO'C started most of our games when we were last in the Champ and did well in all aspects yet hardly got a game this season. We had one of the best forwards coaches in the business already making a different at the Cheaters so why have we been weak in the forwards!
Graham
C'mon Bris,
Stand out in a crowd, wear the Hoops!