By BatQuin
September 21 2002

Contrary to some people’s expectations, ME, JK, Paul Turner and Scotty were all there to take questions last night, along with Jason, Alex Codling, Burkey and Chris Bell.

After ME thanked everyone for turning up and exhorting us all ‘not to be shy’ with our questions (us?  with our  reputation?  no chance!) the evening kicked off.

 Understandably the first questions were about Quins’ disappointing start to the season, with the emphasis on ‘what are the players/coaches going to do to put things right?’ ‘how are you going to get the supporters behind you?’  Given that we don’t want a rival for War & Peace here, I will try to include salient points only!

 ME straight away acknowledged the fans’ frustration with the poor results from the first three games and said that those who left early on Saturday were quite entitled to do so.  In his opinion, if the team loses it must expect to take some flak, and the more ‘one eyed and emotional’ the fans got, the better.    In response to the question of what to do about the situation, he said,

 ‘There is no magic formula.  All you can do is go back to basics and look at what you are doing wrong . . . and work hard to eliminate those mistakes . . . try to get better at the basic building blocks of our game.  We will work on set pieces, ball retention, our defence and turnover capability.  We haven’t closed off games (notably against Gloucester and Leeds) and there have been errors in the execution of basic patterns.’

 ‘We have got to be positive.  People don’t realise the hole that we were in [a few seasons ago].  Different things have gone wrong in each game.  If we were getting hit in the same area each game I would be more worried.  You have to evaluate the team’s performance . . .  ball retention was a huge problem on Saturday (18^th Sept) but was good for the first two games.  Our set pieces were good against Gloucester but were appalling against Leicester.’

 One of the audience related the worrying statistic that Quins had only won 5 out of their last 25 league games (I hope this is not linked to when I started supporting them – must check last year’s fixture list!) and asked again how the players felt about this.    Jason assured everyone that training had been ‘feisty’ (I think the plaster on Jason’s ear was testimony to this fact) and that despite the 3 defeats the players were working hard.  Whilst it is obviously necessary to ‘keep people on their toes’ it is also important to ‘calm them down [so that] they have the confidence to play.  That way the margin for error in games becomes less and less.’  

 Alex then told us that although we have lost our first 3 games, that had not been the result of a lack of effort or motivation.  ‘Everyone is motivated . . . motivation is not a genuine issue.  We are working hard in training to put errors right.’

 A report in The Telegraph this week, written by one Mr Paul Ackford, had questioned the mental strength of the players.  (Hmmmm, allegedly Mr Ackford was not noted for his mental toughness in the first 10 years of his career.  Anyway, enough of Mr Ackford). What did the panel think?    Suggesting that Quins players didn’t care was ‘rubbish’ (you say what you mean Evs) and despite making some poor decisions in the last 2 games,  we had won some big, high pressure games recently, notably against Leeds at the end of last season.

 ‘Are we mentally tough enough?  No, perhaps not.  3 or 4 games every weekend go down to the last 5 or 10 minutes.  One team will end up with a slim win.  We have lost 2 of that type of game.  The margins are very tight . . .  it’s tough . . .  the result will be deeply depressing or fantastically exhilarating . . . it depends which end you’re on’  (fantastically exhilarating please, every time!)

 The players were asked about ‘team orders’ and decision taking on the pitch.  

It was suggested that some of the decisions taken last Saturday were possibly not the best, but Jason and Burkey didn’t think that was the case.  Jason did not believe that the last two decisions ‘cost us the game’ and Burkey said if he was in a similar position to that of last week he would opt to kick into touch again.  Why?  Because ‘you have to have confidence in your throws and your jumpers to do that.  We do it in training; it’s what we practise.  We don’t do things in a game that we don’t practise.’   Generally the team was trying to ‘tighten up’ and become more efficient.

 The question of the usefulness of sports psychologists was raised.  A few titters from around the room.  Perhaps we were all remembering poor Glenn Hoddle’s problems in that area (Glenn Hoddle?  Ex England football manager?  OK, I know it’s the wrong shaped ball!)  The reaction from the panel was mixed.  Burkey thinks they can be useful to help a kicker’s concentration.  Jason is, apparently, not a fan, but perhaps the little ‘Jason & the Sports Psychologist’ ancedote should appear under separate cover or producing this report could take longer than the meeting itself.

 So, we know that the players are working hard to right wrongs and win games.  What do they feel about the supporters?  Are we doing our job?

 Chris Bell said that they don’t always hear us.  When the team is going forward there is good noise but ‘it’s when we’re getting stuck in, we need more noise’.  There is room for improvement but the level of support is much better than last season.

 Alex agreed that at the home match against Leeds, at the end of last season, the support was great.  Lots of noise intimidates the opposition and we should get the noise levels up for the game against L. I.   The players would give their all on Saturday and the supporters should raise the roof.    (So come on you lot – SHOUT LOUDLY  - that’s me saying that, not Alex).

 All in all, I think we can safely say that our support is extremely important to the players and is greatly appreciated.  They share in our frustration when things go wrong, and they understand it.  They never feel that we are ‘not there for them’ so let’s make sure that continues.  We need to support them equally vociferously when they are going backwards as we do when they are going forward!

 I cannot end this section without a mention of the infamous horns.  I can confirm (again) that they have NOT been banned.  ME just asked some to ease up a bit.   However someone did say (I’m sure I got this right, but might possibly have misheard . . . ) ‘if people don’t like it [the noise] they can go and watch Wasps’.

 Quick update on André Vos.  Scotty had spoken to André recently and ME confirmed that he’d sent a fax to the Club ahead of the game against Leicester and he is contact on a regular basis with the management.  ME warned against seeing Vos as some kind of ‘cure-all’ player though and we must not expect him to be a ‘knight on a white charger’ (damn, been looking for one of those for a long time now).  He is a good player who will undoubtedly improve the team, but he will take time to settle.  We currently have a lot of good players and he will improve the squad.  (please note this – no  abusive postings if he fails to perform miracles during his first outing for the team!!)

While we’re on the subject of the squad, did the management feel that they do not have lots of ‘obvious’ choices for positions?

 ME said that in certain areas there was not enough competition for places.  ‘If you are building your squad you will not have competition in all areas in 2 or 3 years’.  Gloucester were a prime example of  team who had built up their squad, but ‘it has taken them 7 years to get the strongest squad in the premiership’.

‘There is no way you can rebuild a club from scratch to be the strongest club in the country in 3 years.  We have got good young forwards in Karl Rudzki and Luke Sherriff, and James Hayter is recovering from his injuries (RugbyBird – that had better not have been you again!).  You can only do that [rebuild a squad] quickly if you have a blank cheque to buy whoever you like.’

 We asked what the panel thought about the proposed Northern vs Southern Hemisphere game?  In short, not a lot.  ME isn’t going – we’re playing Saracens that day!   Seriously, they felt that when the sport has a cash cow like the Rugby World Cup and the way money is distributed, to put on a game of that nature during the English season was ‘nonsense’. 

 And the 7s – what were the panel’s views on that competition?

There were mixed feelings about the benefits of the 7s competition.  Some of the coaching staff were not convinced that success for Quins players in the 7s had actually improved their skills as XVs players, but it was certainly acknowledged that it was a good arena for young players to gain confidence, for example, our very own Ben Gollings.   Obviously for Quins, the most obvious downside of the 7s has been Dan Luger’s injury which was picked up during a 7s match.  (Now of course we all know that was nothing to do with 7s and was down to our very own  RugbyBird)

 A favourite with the CAW posting fraternity recently . . .  noise from the crowd during kicks.  What did Burkey think of that?

He said that personally it doesn’t really matter to him.  In the past he had suffered hostile comments from opposition fans and even players (in the old days of course . . . )  He is aware of the noise but doesn’t let it affect him.  Some goal kickers thrive in a hostile environment and it makes them more determined to score.  Some find total silence off-putting also.  Different countries adopt different approaches.  It’s very quiet in Ireland; it’s very noisy in France.

Sorry guys – no definitive answer to this one!

 What was the position/loyalty of our sponsors?

ME reported that despite the tough corporate sponsorship market our corporate support was holding up well.  The club is in better financial shape than it was 2 years ago.  We might even try to break even this year.  ‘I am as determined to get the club on a financial even keel as I am to get to the top of the league.  We cannot compete at Leicester’s level (with gate of 15 – 16,000) until we develop the ground.  At the moment we cannot sell more than 8,000 seats and . . .  we need a 12,000 seater stadium.  
Watch this space, I guess

 And on the subject of loyalty . . . . ‘loyalty is the most important thing of all’ according to ME.   As well as the sponsors, the loyalty of the players is not in question either.  Woody’s comments last season about staying with the club whether we stayed up (never an issue obviously . . . we weren’t worried, were we?) or got relegated were greatly appreciated, but if the unthinkable had happened, the management would have had to rethink the team in light of Premiership wages versus Division One income.   (But we don’t need to dwell on that – it didn’t happen did it?)

 And FINALLY (my scribbling was getting quite illegible by this point), on to Saturday against London Irish.  Could the panel say how the team was going to ‘deal with Horak’?

Well . . . .  of course it would be indiscreet to publicly reveal the response, but I think there may be a suggestion that he becomes the latest ‘victim’ of Project Medusa . . . . . . .

 Phew!  It was over.  No time, sadly, to discuss the really crucial things like ‘did the 7s experience have a detrimental effect on Ben G’s hairstyle and ‘beard’ as well as a positive effect on his confidence?’  and, ‘would the profits from Catering’s pork rolls dip sharply this weekend due to Prof’s absence?’