Re: Club Statement : Tue Jul 02, 2013 9:50 am  

Sounds like deja vu to me.

Re: Club Statement : Tue Jul 02, 2013 10:06 am  

You have to give Eamon credit for addressing the fans when the chips are down rather than hiding away.

However to say the currently squad is good enough is just untrue. Given two of our squad last week are on loan after not getting picked for their parent clubs shows this. I just want to feel that things can get better but until there is a sign that the club knows there are a number of substandard players at the club it is hard to see it happening.

In other news Warrington sign Roy Asotasi

Re: Club Statement : Tue Jul 02, 2013 10:15 am  

Noel Cleal wrote:

In other news Warrington sign Roy Asotasi

Makes his statement about our signings look very silly doesn't it. There are some amazing players still coming this way, as Masoe states, he's 24 and could play NRL but wants to travel. We could have Soward in the team instead of Howarth now and we could have signed Asotasi for next season instead of keeping Laffranchi. Isaac Luke is one player rumoured to coming over, he'd be perfect for us, he's an aggressive little sod.

Re: Club Statement : Tue Jul 02, 2013 10:32 am  

No doubt the signings for next year are a step in the right direction , but if they are backed up by a couple of unheard of hull KR players and new deals for some of our pensioners then its time to pack in.
We are still missing that real 'bums on seats signing' and our front row still looks weak.
As for this years squad , I truly believe it should be a top 4 squad , not clinging on to 8th and getting beat by teams around us .

Re: Club Statement : Tue Jul 02, 2013 10:36 am  

He was the person who agreed some of the weak signings and he search the world for Brown?

Hopefully it can only get better now.

Re: Club Statement : Tue Jul 02, 2013 11:12 am  

There isn't much wrong with our personnel and this squad should be finishing in the top 2 (and top 4 even with Gaskell ultimately failing and leaving us with no halfs) - the annual injury crisis excuses that not happening to an extent but where we are in the table and how we are performing at the moment is still unacceptable. Whatever the heck it is that is responsible for this state of affairs (and we can only theorise) needs sorting out and quick.

Re: Club Statement : Tue Jul 02, 2013 11:17 am  

Lets look at what should have been our strongest side this year before NB decided Lomax was to be moved to Full Back and Wellens in the pack, Walmsley broke through and Gaskell was shipped out on loan etc.....

Wellens
Makinson
Turner
Jones/Percival
Meli
Hohaia
Lomax
Perry
Roby
Laffranchi
Manu
Soliola
Wilkin

Bench

Gaskell
Flanagan
McCarthy-Scarsbrook
Puletua

That 17 is as good as any in Super League in my opinion but lets face it we haven't had that side put together at all this year. Things need to be put into perspective we have had the worst run of injuries I can ever remember. Nathan Brown has had his hands tied behind his back from virtually day one. The amount of Half Back combinations has been farcical. Josh Perry has been injured for the best part of three seasons, Anthony Laffranchi is never a front rower, Lance Hohaia has been a woeful acquisition, Wellens is coming to the end of his career as is Puletua, dead wood players Ade Gardner, Gary Wheeler etc need to be moved on. These are all the things Nathan Brown inherited when he took the job and he cant surely be expected to make wholesale changes within 12 months of taking over. We have two great additions with Luke Walsh and Mose Masoe with more to follow. 2014 will be 100% better and with Nathan Brown as coach I have full confidence that will happen. We just have to ride out the storm. COYS.

Re: Club Statement : Tue Jul 02, 2013 11:38 am  

Ande wrote:

Official word from McManus:

"THERE is no doubt that the performance against Hull KR last Friday was nowhere near good enough from a club of the stature of St.Helens.

There has been a lot of soul searching since the defeat and we fully understand the anger and frustrations of our supporters who rightfully expect and deserve better given the strength of our squad.

Nathan Brown, the coaching staff and the players are more than capable of producing a strong end to the 2013 Super League campaign. There has never been a more important time for all at and connected with the Club, including our fans, to pull together. We have the quality of coaching staff and players to compete with and beat the best teams in Super League and to make an impact in the season-end play offs. It is still there to be done.

We have recently signed two top quality and young NRL players in Luke Walsh and Mose Masoe at a time when the differential in salary cap with Super League was producing a seemingly one way exodus. Nathan Brown and his coaching reputation was critical to this success as was the standing and reputation of the St.Helens Club. This can only augur well.

Although our current poor set of results are justifiably uppermost in all our minds presently, it must not be ignored that we are building a new, talented and young squad after a couple of seasons of transition and in a season when a number of senior players are set to retire or leave the Club. We have handed eight debuts to young players this season and all but Alex Walmsley have come from our youth system. There is no doubt that we are building a strong squad for the future and in the right manner, and we must not lose sight of that.

That said, we fully expect the current first team squad to have a strong end to the season and we have full confidence in them fulfilling their collective talent, which is a good as any in the Super League.

As per my comments no more than a fortnight ago, there is no room left for sub-par performances either from the team or from individual players. We may well have had some bad luck this season but we must also face up to the fact that some of our performances have been well below rightful expectations. The rest of the season gives us the opportunity to correct that.

We will work tirelessly to reach the highest standards which we always seek to set.

It is only together that we are stronger and there is no doubt that that the continued support of our loyal fans is key to that togetherness."


Thoughts? Some may see it as more hot air? Some may see an excuse?

And some have heard it all before!

Re: Club Statement : Tue Jul 02, 2013 11:41 am  

Longy_7 wrote:

Lets look at what should have been our strongest side this year before NB decided Lomax was to be moved to Full Back and Wellens in the pack, Walmsley broke through and Gaskell was shipped out on loan etc.....

Wellens
Makinson
Turner
Jones/Percival
Meli
Hohaia
Lomax
Perry
Roby
Laffranchi
Manu
Soliola
Wilkin

Bench

Gaskell
Flanagan
McCarthy-Scarsbrook
Puletua

That 17 is as good as any in Super League in my opinion but lets face it we haven't had that side put together at all this year. Things need to be put into perspective we have had the worst run of injuries I can ever remember. Nathan Brown has had his hands tied behind his back from virtually day one. The amount of Half Back combinations has been farcical. Josh Perry has been injured for the best part of three seasons, Anthony Laffranchi is never a front rower, Lance Hohaia has been a woeful acquisition, Wellens is coming to the end of his career as is Puletua, dead wood players Ade Gardner, Gary Wheeler etc need to be moved on. These are all the things Nathan Brown inherited when he took the job and he cant surely be expected to make wholesale changes within 12 months of taking over. We have two great additions with Luke Walsh and Mose Masoe with more to follow. 2014 will be 100% better and with Nathan Brown as coach I have full confidence that will happen. We just have to ride out the storm. COYS.

How can you say that and then go on to explain how half of them are terrible? On paper if people performed to there reputations maybe we'd be doing better but our halfback situation was a mess before the season started. We have no real 7 , we knew that yet chose to do nothing about it. That alone means we start the season on the back foot

Re: Club Statement : Tue Jul 02, 2013 11:51 am  

the spine of the team arent good enough in those positions - wellens, hohaia, lomax, wilkin, roby. Only roby is good enough as a 9. lomax could be a great 1 but time will tell. the others just arent up to it and yes sorry to say, wilkin a prime eg. was a decent second row but not up to it as a top 13.