Masters article on Smith -very interesting indeed.

[strider]

Maybe, just maybe, it IS a player issue.

I mean, you have all the players insisting that they are ay fault.

The board and players seem to respect Brian very much.

He has offered to step down and not been heard.

I have convinced myself that Brian is not the issue. The issue is players.

And not all players, but a lot of them.

But I think BS is doing what he can and will get us out of our whole.

I believe he has plenty to offer yet - just wait until we get a fit and confident team, together with Cayless, Cannings and Peek back, as well as others.

I am a Smithy backer, but its not just the players fault - Smithy has to take blame too.

Even if it is the players slacking off, then why hasn't Smithy stuck it up em for that?

 

[Eelementary]

What else can he do?

To even dream of winning a Premiership we have to make the 8.

To make the 8, we have to win.

To win, we need the right attitude and form.

By dropping big-game and big-name players, you need to replace them with youngsters.

And as good as they are, I doubt we could make the 8 just by playing 17 inexperienced youngsters week in, week out.

So he tries dropping a few repeat offenders and sacking quality players trying hard (like Morris and Dykes) to send a message to the team - nobody is safe.

I agree there is probably a bit more he could do. But if the players have a confidence issue, amongst other problems, then there is nothing he can do, especially if they are stubborn.