Reality Check.

Bath are possibly one of the most successful clubs in the history of the English game (if not the world game)

Exeter are nobodies, written off as cannon fodder in our first season and now suffering from "second season syndrome" in this our second season (Coincidence or serendipidy)

We are surely in our sevednth heaven, cloud nine? Safe in the Prem, pi$$ing off some serious big time clubs and in with a shout of Heiniken Cup rugby next season.

By their historic standards Bath are grossly underperforming. They have new and massive money in place but don't forget the Beatles "I don't care too much for money, money can't buy me love" It doesn't always buy success either "caveat emptor".

The Chiefs are well placed for future success so... don't worry. Be happy.

Agree Phil.we didint lose it in the scrum,we just cant make the game winning breaks.
If teams slug it out with us toe to toe like Bath did today,and come out on top ,then fair play to them.They didnt try to chase the game,they just went about their job.

We need a spark sometimes;a little bit of magic,i dont know what, but if well orginized pragmatic teams like Bath grind it out with us then we will struggle.

At Wasps last week we won a poor game,we didnt play hardly any of the game in the Wasps 22 but still managed to win.
Today was similar, only we didnt win.
We gotta find some game winning flair from somwhere.

I feel so down. We're only in a playoff position in our second season in the top flight, why oh why aren't we top?

Come on, we aren't perfect but we aren't finished yet.

I'm sure that one of the self confessed "nerds" can produce evidence to show how well or badly we've performed in our first season and a half compared to other debutants.

Any takers?7

Well folks, those "glory days" for Bath seem like an echo in inthe past at present. Maybe they will return under the new regime, who knows?.

I think that we were there for the taking today to be honest and as I said earlier fully expected us to lose today.

It was a tight game that could of of gone either way.

If your guys had been a touch bolder and stretched Bath a bit more I think that they may got a win.

We seem to have the "Indian sign"(Forgive the pun!) over you at the moment.

It won't last, we don't respect the old guard or their percieved "hex"

Play off position?

Quote:

Toomanychiefs
Agree Phil.we didint lose it in the scrum,we just cant make the game winning breaks. If teams slug it out with us toe to toe like Bath did today,and come out on top ,then fair play to them.They didnt try to chase the game,they just went about their job.

We need a spark sometimes;a little bit of magic,i dont know what, but if well orginized pragmatic teams like Bath grind it out with us then we will struggle.

At Wasps last week we won a poor game,we didnt play hardly any of the game in the Wasps 22 but still managed to win.
Today was similar, only we didnt win.
We gotta find some game winning flair from somwhere.

Completely Agree.

I am convinced we have players that are capable.
There were glimpses of it tonight from Gonzo, Shoey and once from Nic. Looked like they were just about through....but not quite.

And, having watched him develop through the A league over the last couple of years, having seen him in the LV cup game against a similar bath side & also for England against Wales on Friday...I think Sam Hill could make the step up to the senior side quicker than some may think ? And I don't think Jack Arnott will be too far behind ?
Could we be getting close to seeing Naqer & Sam Hill in the Centre ?

Why "blow the budget" on a couple of star players...when we probably already have them ?

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Be sure to treat every day on this earth as if it were your last...one day you will be right. (Jethro)

Phil..i think we have a thing going on here..i agree with you about Sam, i thought he was outstanding against Barf in his debut game,and think he should be givin a spot in `meaningful` game.

Quote:

Toomanychiefs
Play off position?

It's late...& I reckon he's been on the Sauce.

He is talking complete & utter bullocks tonight.


















just like he always does!

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Be sure to treat every day on this earth as if it were your last...one day you will be right. (Jethro)

Phil.
I didnt say that about being in the playoffs.

I was questioning Jims response



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 26/02/2012 01:12 by Toomanychiefs.

Quote:

Toomanychiefs
I didnt say that!about being in the playoffs

Aye ?

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Be sure to treat every day on this earth as if it were your last...one day you will be right. (Jethro)

Toomanychiefs
Play off position?

It's late...& I reckon he's been on the Sauce.

He is talking complete & utter bullocks tonight.


Phil.I was questioning Jims response to this.

You are implying by quoting me that your above respones relates to me, which i find really out of order



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 26/02/2012 01:40 by Toomanychiefs.

Phil I agree about Sam Hill but I think we should slowly edge the youngsters into the first team off the bench giving them time to adjust to the higher standards and physicality of the prem, the last thing we want is to damage their confidence. If things do not go well they could get some minutes in any dead rubbers we have.

We just need Serli and tatupu back! We need that extra impact in the backs. Because in my opinion at the moment when passing through the backs there's just not enough penetration like there was when those 2 where playing. Where nadolo when you need him

I thought the Chiefs looked flat last night and our backs did not look like they would meaningfully break the gain line.
According to to Rob in the programme both Sireli and Luke Arscott are not far off being fit to return - lets hope so, we need their power and line breaking ability against teams like Bath, who to be frank, lived off our mistakes. We kicked the ball away too many times and played into their hands.
Their game got better when young Heathcote took over the kicking duties, both spot kicks and out of hand - why they persist with Barclay when Heathcote is in the team is beyond me - he is a really good kicker and an excellent prospect.

It's always disappointing when we lose. Having said that some of our losses have been on the back of positive performances. Last night had plenty of good individual performances but we didn't play as a team. I've no idea why this should be the case but I'm sure Rob & Co will be going through the videos in great detail.

Whilst we didn't show much penetration I think this was as much to do with the Bath defence as anything else. They did what we so often see our guys doing and bettered us at it. There was very little between the sides as Bath also appeared to be playing as individuals and not a team. The difference with the Tigers game was that we did play as a team and this gave us supporters something to really get behind, hence the fantastic atmosphere.

We are definately missing some players badly. I think one of the key areas is the scrum and playing without a specialist loose head is like starting with one hand behind your back. Tui does a great job but the extra attention required probably takes the edge off his game. Dolly had a good game at full back but Luke has a greater physical presence. Nic tries for all he's worth and is a good player but again lacks the line breaking ability of Sireli.

As for blooding the youngsters? I personally think this season is too soon but can see Sam Hill and Luke Cowan-Dickie featuring more next once they've had a full pre-season.

But R ob has made it very clear that we are still learning this Prem business and I think the strides we have made are remarkable. It would be great to finish in the top six but even eigth with more points, better performances and a knowledge gained will do me.

Still smiling and enjoying the ride

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P156...COME ON YOU CHIEFS....CHIEFS....CHIEFS....CHIEFS

Quote:

Toomanychiefs
Phil.I was questioning Jims response to this.

You are implying by quoting me that your above respones relates to me, which i find really out of order

Very Sorry Toomanychiefs, I can see why you have mis-interpreted what I said...or rather who I was saying it to !

This is what I should of done last night.....

Quote:

Geronimo Jim
I feel so down. We're only in a playoff position in our second season in the top flight, why oh why aren't we top?

Quote:

Toomanychiefs
Play off position?

Quote:

PhilW2010
Take no notice Toomanychiefs, It's late...& I reckon GJ been on the Sauce.

He is talking complete & utter bullocks tonight.





just like he always does!

Sorry, no hard feelings I hope.

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Be sure to treat every day on this earth as if it were your last...one day you will be right. (Jethro)

sauce is for chips. I had a few alcoholic drinks along with a large number of othet people.

Not about to apologise for it or inaccuracies either.

Live the dream, one day you will wake up.

Quote:

Otto-7
If you prefer I could patronise your team, and say things like "hard luck Exeter you really deserved to win" etc.
If so, "tough luck Exeter you were by far the better team".

It was a poor game that we just edged. end of story.

You already did patronise our team saying ' how did we beat Liecester and co'
What response would you expect by saying that??
Poor game, you edged it I admit but keep your patronising comments off our board....I thank you

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Time for a pipe of Old Toby!

Quote:

Exeter lad
We just need Serli and tatupu back! We need that extra impact in the backs. Because in my opinion at the moment when passing through the backs there's just not enough penetration like there was when those 2 where playing. Where nadolo when you need him

Good point Exeter lad, and as Mabolza also said, the loss of the injured players is really beginning to bite. Without Nacker we don't break the line, we don't have the unpredictability that Tatupu gives us when he is there, without Arscott we don't seem to be able to run the ball back effectively at the opposition when they have kicked it to us. The lineout was poor yesterday (and at Wasps according to reports, I wasn't there) without Hanks, undoubtedly our best lineout player (possibly our best player). The scrum also seems to have been pinged repeatedly in the last two games, since Brett Sturgess went out with a long-termer. That's rubgy, we'll get them back and until then we just need to get behind the lads who are playing. Part of it is down to us as the 16th man too; the atmosphere at the Leicester and Perpignan games was much better than yesterday, there's no point denying that. But all this disappointment at losing one game, when a winning streak has to end sometime, shows where we are and how far we've come.