: Sat Jun 06, 2009 12:29 am  

weaver93 wrote:

Hallelujah!!

Look at Brian Smith at Newcastle.

He has virtually a squad of 'unknown' players,and has turned them into contenders.

He did the same here for us.

Impressed with Agar's (or whoever) acquisitions,for next season
but next year is make or break for Agar - IMHO.

That comment is spot on, next year will be Agars team and he will live or die by it. Simple as.

[R.B.A]

: Sat Jun 06, 2009 12:38 am  

I think it is a shame the way things have turned out for Agar and i would guess that a defeat away at Wakefield will signal his demise given the Hull boards recent reputation in getting rid of Kear and Sharp after similar runs of results.
To be fair to the Hull board though, Agar did look a good appointment at the time. He was an intelligent player and then served a good grounding in the lower leagues with York and then as an assistent with Hull. He looked ready to make the step up but it wasnt to be.
I just fear that situations like this one and Jimmy lowes at Wire will stop Super League clubs giving young British coaches a chance.

: Sat Jun 06, 2009 12:55 am  

Jake the Peg wrote:

I expect him to get the best out of what he's got and he's miles away from doing it. If sean long had of swapped sides tonight it would have made no difference whatsoever. fitzgibbon, tansey and kite may have made the game a little closer but we'd still have been well beaten by a side who looked 100 miles an hour faster than us in every facet of the game. Now if you think changing 4 or 5 players is going to change that then you're deluding yourself

4 or 5 good players should handle the job nicely. Unfortunately, the market, as it currently is, renders such financially impossible.

: Sat Jun 06, 2009 1:15 am  

With us having the three year license you have got to let Agar stay for at least next season so he can build a side which is his.

The current team is full of plodders so its hard to play free flowing rugby.

The 19 man squad currently picks itself so theres no competition for places. Also we have got 7 players from the original 25 man squad injured/unavailable.

At the end of the day are still in and around the play offs, which i would of settled for after last season and as said above I think another few players would put us as genuine top 4 contenders.

: Sat Jun 06, 2009 1:51 am  

Agar follows similar tactics to those pursued by Peter Sharp, though Sharp was somewhat better with bench and interchange selections.

Maybe it will be a case of getting Jon Sharpe to take the head coach role and move Agar to a subordinate position 'until he is ready'.

: Sat Jun 06, 2009 6:58 am  

I know this has already been covered and i'm not alone in what i'm about to say. I have harped on about it now for a long while - the whole coaching set up at the club and the ethos around how we appraoch the game needs a huge shake up.

I, like many others, watched last nights game and while i was sat there i thought to myself on numerous occassions whoever we have in that side it wouldn't make much difference.....simply because the problem lies with the coaches and their tactics and appraoch to how the game should be played.

Any player can play to a game plan or set plays and structures, you don't have to be a world beater to fit in. Yes those players may not execute the game plan as effective as 'better skilled players' but as least they would have a go. And the game plan i'm talking about is fast play the balls (or faster play the balls) dummy runners, variation in kicking game, running angles (like Tickle for his try - the one occassion), promoting the ball, pushing through games with players supporting the ball carrier and so on.

Saints, Leeds et al have been doing this for years....regardless of who comes in and out of the respective teams.....Time for Agar to go....but we all know that aint gunna happen - neither is us challenging for anything while he is at the helm!

: Sat Jun 06, 2009 6:59 am  

TKOAH wrote:

I'll give you the interchange thing, but look at us in attack totally unorganised which means should we ever get the quick ptb (usually on the back of Cusack, Dowes or Manu) the only option open to the acting half is to scoot themselves because nobody is ready. Look how slow we are to tap the ball on the 20 ffs. Again support play and offloading is nothing to do with Agar it's been atrocious for years, kicking again is down to lack of personnel Richard Horne should not be anywhere near kicking a ball but has to because there is no one else. We do need more enthusiasm in both attack and defence and maybe once Agar can offload some of the players who are clearly going through the motions this might change.

You're totally wrong. the majority, if not all, of that is coachable. These guys are full time professionals and these things should be drilled into them during the week so it's 2nd nature come game time. Do you think the way saints back up in waves is purely down to natural ability? It's because they practice it over and over again so it just happens on game day.

Yes, we could be more organised but it wouldn't change the fundamental problem

: Sat Jun 06, 2009 7:37 am  

Look at Agar's reaction to the Leeds defeat. He gets the players in at 7am and has them running up hills. Why? Wouldn't it have been more productive to work on fast play the balls and skills training? Maybe he could even try out a second phase of attack because currently we don't have one. People can blame an inherited squad as much as they like but it is quite clear there's no game plan and who's fault is that? As for interchanges, that's a total joke.

: Sat Jun 06, 2009 7:43 am  

Captain Dave wrote:

Agar follows similar tactics to those pursued by Peter Sharp, though Sharp was somewhat better with bench and interchange selections.

Maybe it will be a case of getting Jon Sharpe to take the head coach role and move Agar to a subordinate position 'until he is ready'.

neither of them are up to the job

: Sat Jun 06, 2009 7:44 am  

Captain Dave wrote:

Agar follows similar tactics to those pursued by Peter Sharp, though Sharp was somewhat better with bench and interchange selections.

Maybe it will be a case of getting Jon Sharpe to take the head coach role and move Agar to a subordinate position 'until he is ready'.

Bleeding hell, I will be pushing up daisies by then.