Re: Absolutely Pathetic : Tue May 27, 2014 9:12 am  

Ferecious Aardvark - you are more than welcome to come a get Harrison - take him away!!

Mind you know what its like when your club is in thus position as Fax were in 2003 , it is a shame to see Bradord in their current predicament.

Re: Absolutely Pathetic : Tue May 27, 2014 10:01 am  

bullsonfire wrote:

They'll be more focussed on trying to sort their livelihoods for next season and who can blame them?

Surely one good way of ensuring that their livelihoods are sorted out for next season is by actually playing well and puting yourself in the shop window?

Let's be honest, who on earth would want any of our players on current form?

Re: Absolutely Pathetic : Tue May 27, 2014 10:08 am  

I disagree. The trick to acquiring any player isn't to see his current form, but weigh up what he could do for you if handled correctly. The trick if you sign him is then to man-manage him - with the rest - to get the best out of the whole.

There are plenty in our squad who would (and probably will) play in SL next year, and will do much better than they have been for us. There are certainly plenty who have a boatload more ability than they have shown of late. That's the most frustrating thing for me. If they were all inherently crap, yet trying their best every week, that would do for me.

Re: Absolutely Pathetic : Tue May 27, 2014 10:14 am  

M@islebugs wrote:

...The idea that despite the fear of being out of work at the season's end 12 or 13 of the players who played on Saturday simply can't be bothered is absurd. ...

About a million times less absurd than the notion that they played like that yet WERE "bothered"!

Francis Cummins wrote:

Cummins admitted Lee Gaskell had endured a particularly difficult afternoon at full-back, though he wasn't the only player to be below par in a performance he branded "embarrassing".

"He looked like was carrying a knock didn't he? He wasn't though, and he wasn't on his own," he added.

"If we have a handful of players that are way off the pace which we had, then we get embarrassed and that's what happened.

"They haven't let me down, they've let everyone involved down, we were embarrassing

You are I think in a considerable minority if you think they really were bothered. The coach himself, who i suggest is well placed to really know, is in the majority:

Francis Cummins wrote:

if you're not prepared to defend on the back of errors then it's going to be a tough day at the office.

Now, in my book, if players "ARE NOT PREPARED TO DEFEND ON THE BACK OF ERRORS" then that is not being bothered. Do you disagree?

Telegraph & Argus wrote:

Next Sunday’s home clash with Wakefield has now taken on added importance and the Bulls must win to avoid falling further behind.

Cummins said: “We knew Wakefield was a big game anyway and hopefully we’ll have a handful of players who are willing to do a job for the team.

“If we have then we won’t be far away. If half a dozen don’t turn up or decide to do something else, then we will get embarrassed again.”

The idea that 12 or 13 of the players who played on Saturday simply couldn't be bothered is therefore a long way from absurd. On the contrary, you have basically had this spelled out by the coach, who is warning the fans that he can't guarantee that all the players will even turn up, or be willing to do a job for the team, and he's worried we could even get embarrassed by Wakefield.

I haven't quite heard anything as defeatist publicly said by the man who is supposed to be motivating the said team, in all my days.

Re: Absolutely Pathetic : Tue May 27, 2014 10:32 am  

Don't buy this "we were down as soon as we had the 6 points taken off" that's absolutely rubbish. A lot of
Games this season we have had a good team on the field but been given an absolutely spanking in MOST games this season. The players have been paid every week and the "financial troubles" have been resolved for weeks. There is absolutely no excuses for the "effort"'some of these players are putting in.

In 2012 you could have forgiven them for putting in these kind of performances when they won't getting paid on time and we didn't really have anything to play for as there was no relegation. Those players busted a gut to get in the play-offs. This lot think its ok to give up after 30 seconds and see another huge score put past us.

Re: Absolutely Pathetic : Tue May 27, 2014 10:46 am  

No, 'Not prepared' and 'can't be bothered' don't mean the same thing.

Cummins may have inadvertently hit on the root cause of the problem. If the team was collectively unprepared to defend off the back of errors he needs to look at himself, or have they all gone down with lazyitis on the same day?

Re: Absolutely Pathetic : Tue May 27, 2014 10:49 am  

M@islebugs wrote:

No, 'Not prepared' and 'can't be bothered' don't mean the same thing.

For present purposes, then, you'll need to explain the difference, cos I'm buggered if I can see a material one!

Re: Absolutely Pathetic : Tue May 27, 2014 11:23 am  

To me that reads like Cummins has lost the dressing room, as they say these days.

Re: Absolutely Pathetic : Tue May 27, 2014 11:50 am  

Telegraph & Argus wrote:
Next Sunday’s home clash with Wakefield has now taken on added importance and the Bulls must win to avoid falling further behind.

Cummins said: “We knew Wakefield was a big game anyway and hopefully we’ll have a handful of players who are willing to do a job for the team.

“If we have then we won’t be far away. If half a dozen don’t turn up or decide to do something else, then we will get embarrassed again.”

The most incredible phrase in that somewhat sad eulogy is the one about hoping we have a handful of players 'who are willing to do a job for the team'

Here's a thought Mr Cummins: How about we see 17 players who are willing to a job for the team? Frankly 'a handful' won't suffice, as we can be certain that Wakefield will be fired up for this game.

And if he is suggesting that there were a handful that weren't even trying on Saturday - and the visual evidence would suggest that - then, given that we look like having Diskin, Ferguson, Blythe, Walker, Fakir etc back and available - then it should be quite simple to drop that handful

Then we would see who 'the handful' are.

Re: Absolutely Pathetic : Tue May 27, 2014 12:52 pm  

I could easily identify who the handful were from my vantage point in the Tribune Ouest stand on Saturday for those having difficulty.
Foster, Gaskell -never let him play FB again, Gale, Henry- never seen him do anything, if fact, hang on, it's shorter to state that Addy, Purts and Kear at least appeared to give a damn! The rest either didn't care or couldn't give a toss.
I've witnessed bigger defeats this season in respect of scores but not a more gutless, passion lacking, soft and embarrassing display served up. It's the first time I've felt the need to say that on that performance the Bulls don't deserve to be in Super League. Sad day!