Mugwump wrote:
Matter-of-factly declaring that we would be worse off under Simmons doesn't make it true. Yes, we did play poorly early in the season. But you cannot seriously argue there was no chance whatsoever we'd bounce back. After all, we'd done something similar last season with most of the same players.
At the time fans derided our form in the Hull and Salford games. Yet both those clubs have carved out excellent results against good opposition. The latter even turned over the very same team whose coach we are pinning all our hopes on.
In any case, I'd argue some of our worst performances have come under Rush. Yes, we've only lost to Wigan. But the MANNER of those defeats has been depressing. And let's not forget the fact that Widnes came within an inch of making us look like utter fools.
In hindsight Royce wasn't the right man for the job. But the EVIDENCE (you know - that Grand Final thingy) suggests he was nowhere near as bad as many fans claim. If McManus was going to can him he should have done it either at the end of last season or this. Putting the fortunes of the club into the hands of a man with no real experience for an entire season was a stupid decision. Even if it does work out it would only take a collapse in Huddersfield's form to leave us in the unenviable position of waiting for a coach we might not want.
I was an advocate of getting rid of Royce when we did and, to be honest, I stand by it. My mood, which mirrored that of most after the Hull and Bradford was at an all time low. We lost to those two sides without them doing very much, to be honest (save a bit of magic from Turner).
I genuinely think those performances were going to have a severe detrimental effect on next years ST sales if they were allowed to continue, which I think would have been at the forefront of McManus's mind.
What he did by sacking Royce was to partially nullify any lack of performance for the rest of this season, knowing that it could be attributed to a temporary coaching staff and that people would be looking forward to a shiney new dawn under a new coach.
I'm not sure what went on with Royce but I don't think we're were going to see a turn around like we did last year under him, I think things had gone too far.
Whilst the Wigan results have been very hard to stomach, we have beaten every body else we've come up against. I'd be wary of playing Wire again, but apart from that I'm reasonably confident about our pack grinding out a win.
Is it also worth pointing out that I reckon Wigan look better this year than last?
Most of us have vented our frustration that Gaskell hasn't been brought back in. We all think its obvious that he'll improve us. Rush, however, seems intent on keeping the same 17 every week. Its possible that he thinks that that side will win every 4 out of 5 games and finish a resepctable position - not a bad stint for a caretaker manager.
Whilst I can understand that point of veiw, I find it curious that a coach who's made his name developing young players is so reluctant to experiment with players and indeed, put some faith in a young lad that is at least partially proven.
I don't particulary like Rush when he's interviewed, the flippant and sarcastic answers grate on me a little.
As they said to Shaun McCrae when he was given the coaching role - "You've got two jobs as Sants coach. One - win a trophy. Two - beat Wigan."
Unless you're doing one of them at least occasionally, you can't be smug.
