I agree that we need more money but I think that there should be more focus on holding on to talented players coming through like we saw this week with Griffen and McSharry re-signing. The high turnover is killing us. We cant expect to take in a heap of new players every year and for them to gel well as a team and play good rugby. Look at the first choice back lines of Leinster and Munster and you see the same names year in year out. Lets hope these signings are a sign of some consistency for the future. Thats not to say that there are a fair few in the current squad that i hope aren't around next year and are replaced with a higher caliber of player.

It's frustrating for Eric

We have so little money to spend and so few players willing to come here that it makes recruitment very difficult. Essentially we've had to replace half our squad, Cronin, Carr, Keatley, Hagan being key players, Nathan, McComish, Ta'auso, Upton and O Loughlin being pretty useful today. We've had to bring in quantity with small money which limits the quality we can bring in.

We need more funding to attract a higher calibre of player, particularly NIQ wise. Quality over quantity in future

clan clover wrote: I see EE has a piece in the Irish Times, what a load of B@@ocks, yes we need more players no question but hold your bloody hand up and say you recruited badly and also hold your hand up and say your playing guys out of position and also hold your hand up and say you are not playing the form players.
The eight defeats in a row are not down to a small squad or injuries, they are purely down to coaches without a clue from recruitment to game planning. :evil:

Recruitment and a small squad have a huge part to play, if he thinks we need more money to get a better quality of player that will make us competive then he's got to ask the question.

We've recruited with a very small pot of money, and this left us able to recruit only a certain calibre of player and the SH guys we did bring in (who will be eating up the bigger part of the budget) have not delivered as we'd hoped pure and simple. There is no way to know with these guys until they actualy pull on a jersey.

I see EE has a piece in the Irish Times, what a load of B@@ocks, yes we need more players no question but hold your bloody hand up and say you recruited badly and also hold your hand up and say your playing guys out of position and also hold your hand up and say you are not playing the form players.
The eight defeats in a row are not down to a small squad or injuries, they are purely down to coaches without a clue from recruitment to game planning. :evil:

OldSchool wrote:
lets just leave the ball to the forwards and just play simple rugby

Tried that against Treviso. Was neither pretty nor effective; however a lot of the blame for that goes on the lack of direction provided at scrum half.

Several people have been saying we should target Stringer for next year. I reckon get him on a 2-3 year deal taking him to the end of his career, he would certainly allow us play this simple rugby, has a pass that would get our backs going if that's how we want to play it, and he could provide a lot of education for POD, Moore and Marmion behind him.

What about our backs coach Billy Millard does he not have to take some of the blame for our lack of tries.
Gav has been mentioned a few times that he is not present as an attacking option is this not down to how the team is been coached.
McSharry was the only player in the backs looking for the ball and looking to make the line break.
Where is the supporting runners for the offload Where are our dummy runners and cut backs giving the ball carrier options

Glasgow have scored 11 tries they are 4th Connacht 12 we are 10th

lets just leave the ball to the forwards and just play simple rugby

ummm, wrote: I've seen a lot of comments about Dave's bad scrummaging, but when he first arrived he was a rock. Teams had nightmares trying to shift him. Are we coaching the talent out of him? Same with Vainikolo, he was very good in the RWC. If he's not good enough for us now then we need to figure out what we're doing wrong.

I'd be agreeing with Phil there about Vainikolo's opponents in the WC being weak. Also, he looks like someone who's suited to the hard ground and open off the cuff rugby, with not much emphasis on defence. That doesn't really cut him out for us but we'll see. When the transfer was announced I went through a few forums from down south and most were of the opinion that he is pretty poor and hasn't shown anything since 2008.

Ah You did have a couple of decent appearances off the bench last season. I feel the raw materials are there, other than being slightly overweight, but mentally is where his problem seems to be. Tony Buckley esque me thinks. If there isn't major improvement we should cut our losses and bring in someone else from the Premiership or Top 14.

Any chance the PRO can be cleared out today after getting my hopes up

Dave Ah You

ummm, wrote: I've seen a lot of comments about Dave's bad scrummaging, but when he first arrived he was a rock. Teams had nightmares trying to shift him. Are we coaching the talent out of him? Same with Vainikolo, he was very good in the RWC. If he's not good enough for us now then we need to figure out what we're doing wrong.

Who's Dave?

Vanikolo played two games against Japan and Canada, and while he did play well I dont think he can be judged too highly (although he scored an outstanding try) based on those games.Also when the signing was announced wasnt there some other forum where his transfer was being praised by Highlanders fans.

I've seen a lot of comments about Dave's bad scrummaging, but when he first arrived he was a rock. Teams had nightmares trying to shift him. Are we coaching the talent out of him? Same with Vainikolo, he was very good in the RWC. If he's not good enough for us now then we need to figure out what we're doing wrong.

Plenty of good points made here. Its a fair point that was made that previous clearouts haven't exactly improved the squad much and given some of the signings this season you'd be wary of freeing up funds for new signings.

Unfortunately we can't clear out a lot of the lads we've brought in on 2 year deals much as I'd love if we could but I suppose the key is to look at 3 or 4 key areas and get proper signings there and have a good scout around to see if there are more like McSharry and so on who are slipping through the net elsewhere and obviously try and ensure some promotion from within although this might be a bit down the line in some areas yet. Obviously with no wc next year there might be more prospect of fringe signings from Munster and Leinster. I don't want to see any more Southern Hemisphere signings unless we know 110% they are serious players. We have a terrible record down there and its eating majorly into our budget with no return. If we are looking for foreign player why not look at the Premiership or French Top 14. We got Mike McCarthy back from Newcastle (and most European clubs would be delighted to have him now), Swift came when Richmond were shutting up shop. As much as their quality, its their attitude and leadership which can lift other players and get supporters into the game, in a league that is so forward oriented, there is always going to be some good forwards slipping through the net of the big sides.

Front row priority: A real tight-head. ( I'd like to see more of Maguire in future but he is no where near as developed as Hagan was when he came here, Rogers is about our best TH option but that should only be a stop gap, I think we should cut our losses on Rodney unless dramatic improvement happens quickly).

2nd row: Can Swifty take much more punishment, would like to see Kearney given a chance to develop. Qualter may need more time but he might as well be given a go in the 2nd half of the season if our form continues as it is.

Back row: I think we have the guts of a good back row but they are having a bad time at the moment, Muldoon back to 6, JOC being missed, would like to see a lot more of Grace, George and Ray need to recover form also. McKeown has looked a major prospect on the occasions I've seen him, Heffernan too. No need for any major signing here I think, just get more from our present and future resources.

Scrum Half: Murphy was very poor again last Friday. O'Donoghue hasn't really delivered either. What I wouldn't give to see Stringer here for even a season.

Out Half: Major change needed here. Unfortunately O'Conor and Nikora are both on two year deals afaik. Really want to see Jarvis starting on Saturday. O'Connor really isn't a serious option at this level. Even his kicking cited as his main asset, really didn't assist us the last night, missed a handy enough kick after sustained pressure at 7-15, a lot of his garryowens were in general poor, often overcooked. I've never really seen Nikora as a first choice option, had some good moments off the bench replacing Keatley a couple of seasons back but thats really all I ever see him as, an impact player, others disagree which is fair enough.

Wings: O'Halloran has done fairly well, has plenty to learn yet and has got caught defensively once or twice but he has the talent and he is still young and its great to see a local talent developing here. Need to see Vainikolo on Saturday, we're paying him enough, lets give him a few games to justify his signing. Need to see how this position works out but I would be less worried about the wingers if we can start to get it right elsewhere.

Centre: McSharry and Griffin look a strong pairing, we've taken a step forward here (ironically enoug given the signing of Fa'aili), Tonetti didn't deliver a big performance last Friday but has the potential to be another option. Replace Fa'aili with someone decent here.

Full Back: I think Gavin Duffy has had another solid season. Obviously you'd like to see more of him in attack but he is leading by example, O'Halloran is another option there, maybe bring through Boland, Layden or someone in the next couple of years.

As for the management, Eric and Dan have major experience, have a vast knowledge of the game and are extremely genuine in terms of wanting Connacht to succeed but really questions have to be asked at this stage. If it was a new coaching team you may be more patient as they find their feet but these lads were there for the guts of the Bradley regime and for me its not a new coaching team who are 1 and a bit years into their term, its a break off from the old failed management and therefore less leeway should be afforded. Dan McFarland looked to have done a good job to a point in recent years (not so much this year) and would get a coaching job elsewhere, Eric has plenty to offer also and would bring great drive to anything he'd go at.

I know the lads won't be let go and really the two lads will know themselves when it is time to move on, probably not at this stage but if no significant improvement materialises shortly, they should be considering stepping aside and giving a new man the time to make the changes necessary to the squad before the start of next season.

ummm, wrote: We might get rid of some players not pulling their weight but who will we replace them with?

This is the key point everyone seems to be missing and it was also the case when the management were getting the current squad together last season. There is not a bucket load of players with great talent looking to come to Connacht, the Stanley episode is a perfect example of what we're up against. The best they can hope for is to gamble on young talent or cast offs from the other provinces and maybe they come good. It's not panning out so far this season and I would be surprised if it does at all, but it's the team we have and it's an exercise in futility to be calling for a clearout of players and even management in December.

I would agree on a few things though. First, Eric should decide on his first choice half back pairing and stick with it for an extended run, this constant changing can not be helpful. Second, get some of the younger players like Grace, Kearney and Jarvis game time, it's worked well with Griffin, McSharry, and TOH. Finally, yeah let's see more dropped goals and less dropped passes.

Sort of hoped it'd be different this season but looks very much again like our season could be virtually over by Christmas unless something dramatic happens.

We desperately need a bit of luck with injures for a couple of months to enable us to get our best 22 out for a few games.

Of our Half back options Frank & Miah are the two who are most familiar and should really have the best understanding of all our options, especially with everyone else having arrived during the summer from various parts.Too much chopping and changing is killing us. Unless there's a medical reason Eric should be picking what he thinks is his best half back partnership and running them for at least four or five conscutive games regardless of results so that the partnership can develop.

There is a reason why we look headless in the 22, can't get the backline moving and do not take our DG attempts.

It's our half-back partnership. Last year we had Keatley who was good enough to make up for our scrum-half. This yeah we have Nikora and NOC. Niks looks okay, but his confidence seems to have taken a beating. NOC just looks so flat and hesitant.
There is no confidence in our 10! We need someone who will be just arrogant enough to back himself and to take it to the defense (whether with kicks, runs or passes).
Jarvis should start this weekend IMO, alongside Frank, who despite his flaws looks more capable to me than POD.

As for the management. I just think that they need to be a bit braver in their decision making. They are always sitting back until there is no option but to change something rather than being pro-active.

Need to be accurate first