Re: BRIAN Smith : Tue Jun 02, 2015 6:18 pm  

Was it not under Brian Smith's reign at Bradford that started the transformation of the Bulls into the successful side that they became in early Superleague days? I recall it was about that time that I started to dislike the Bulls so much.

Re: BRIAN Smith : Tue Jun 02, 2015 6:26 pm  

Some promising comments on FB from Garen Casey, Carl Briggs and Dane Dorahy about Smith.
Certainly an appointment that not a lot saw, maybe due to the fact he may have been out of our price range, or so we thought?
Let's hope he can bring in players like Jeremy Donougher and Danny Peacock.
Not really heard of but made a big impact over here.

Re: BRIAN Smith : Tue Jun 02, 2015 8:59 pm  

I would have been happy with Neil Kelly.

Was unsure about Morrison although would have been totally behind him, same for JD, uneasy about Kear (top man, did a brilliant job but second time around rarely works), a bit wary of Cummings or Poching and definitely didn't want Nobby. Suspected we might end up with Gilmour or Dickens, decent coaches but not what we need right now.

Then suddenly it's Brian Smith! Bloody hell yes, didn't see that coming but what a good appointment! Well done MC, whatever happens from now to the end of the season, we know we have the best possible coach behind us and if we fail then so be it, but I have a nice feeling that WTW might just upset the odds and be in SL, to the annoyance of many, once again!

Re: BRIAN Smith : Tue Jun 02, 2015 10:40 pm  

He needs to take control of the changing room and have no preconceptions of the players. He needs to bring them all in and hopefully explain that it is a clean sheet but what I fear is that he will initially listen to our current coach and make his initial decision based on what failed in the last 13 weeks until he can reach his own assessment by which point I fear that Carter may have trimmed the squad further. I suppose we will have money available but sadly no players available.

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Re: BRIAN Smith : Wed Jun 03, 2015 7:02 am  

He has a problem to fix.
If it were me, I wouldn't say it's quite a clean slate at all.... But everybody has a chance.
Right now we need players playing their best, but most of all together.
Good players not playing for the team are not what is needed.

Re: BRIAN Smith : Wed Jun 03, 2015 7:20 am  

Im sure you will find that Mr Smith will waste no time in addressing the squad, that may be before , during or after the Leeds game. I cant wait to see what response he gets, because make no mistake this squad needs a good sorting and Mr Smith will not stand for sherkers.
The club stand to benefit from Mr Smiths managemt and organisation skills, I think we will all get an early indication of the players not up for it.

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Re: BRIAN Smith : Wed Jun 03, 2015 7:29 am  

The problem he has is balancing 'up for it' with capabilities and fitness.
Owen is a good example. If you saw him against Widnes you'd say he was the most up for it we have. Against Cas he made mistakes that clearly affected him and slumped back to casual style.

There are lots of things you can do to build confidence. I'm sure Smith knows better than most. Graham Lowe says in his book that he created planned moves solely to bring players in to the play that don't usually get the chance just to build esteem and get better out of them in other areas as a result.
Confidence in themselves and each other is key to this team.

Re: BRIAN Smith : Wed Jun 03, 2015 11:27 am  

bren2k wrote:

This would have been a fantastic appointment about 3 months ago - unfortunately, the rot may now be too deep-rooted for even a coach of Smith's calibre to deal with.

We have a squad containing maybe 3 - 5 players who look like they give a damn; the rest appear to be a combination of mentally weak, physically unfit, emotionally disinvested and plain old not good enough. That's a tough ask for anyone to sort out in what is a very short space of time, with weekly matches against superior opposition thrown into the mix.

I would agree however with the suggestions of clearing out the backroom - our fitness and conditioning looks as bad this season as I can remember it being, and I'm certain that contributes to picking up more injuries; probably time to ditch the old school flogging techniques and move with the times.

Encompasses my fear to be honest - that said I thought the same for Kear at the time. I'd have said even a month ago would have been enough but it's really tight now.

Re: BRIAN Smith : Wed Jun 03, 2015 11:39 am  

To be really blunt, BS has to come in, take the bull by the horns, beat 4 championship teams and one Sl team in the middle 8 play offs, that should be enough to keep us up, it can't be that hard, can it?

Re: BRIAN Smith : Wed Jun 03, 2015 12:14 pm  

vastman wrote:

Encompasses my fear to be honest - that said I thought the same for Kear at the time. I'd have said even a month ago would have been enough but it's really tight now.

The thing you need to do is compare what Kear had to work with and what is available to Brian Smith.
Man for man Kear had a superior team in the majority of positions.

Players like Owen, Arundel ,lyne, Miller ,Riley and (FFS if the rumour is true) Howarth will win you sweet FA if they are in your side. They are simply not good enough and that is something that it is impossible for Brian Smith to do anything about.