I know people who support these clubs who reckon they don’t. I’ve no reason not to believe them.
Fair enough.
But if they did I doubt they would be telling Tom dick and Harry about it.
Widnes are not a big club anymore they are a mid table championship club,people need to realise this and crack on with it.
what is up with tomkins ? ive seen ppl recover quicker from heart surgery
been asking that for months, MT has been defending this all the time as well - something very wrong there
No, I haven't. That simply is not the case, DD.
Whitehaven were poor at the start of the season and have improved quite a lot.
We were poor at the start of the season, improved for a bit and have then regressed again.
Surely this is not just down to the forwards situation?
The two promoted sides both ahead of us in the league table now. what has become of our club? strap yourself In folks, we’re in for a relegation scrap.
You better hide behind a barricade as the blinkered brigade will be shooting you down for daring to question anything to do with the club. Not going to say a thing as i have said it all and people on here cannot see the woods for the trees.
Yet more hysteria after a defeat.
There's no chance of a relegation scrap. Oldham have won two games all season. They are extremely unlikely to then win four out of seven; particularly as two are against Toulouse and one is against Featherstone.
Widnes' problem is pretty clear - short on forwards. A World Cup winning coach recruited the squad and then did a runner. Who knows if he'd have managed to do any better.
I'm not sure what else people have got a bee in their bonnet about - the club is operating under some very strict council regulations that go well beyond every other RL club, for reasons only known to the council.
The academy was scrapped as the club couldn't afford it due to the RFL's stance on central funding.
What magic wand solution people are proposing could happen to "fix" whatever problems they see, I don't know.
We have over 2,000 season ticket holders and are well supported by VIQI, we must flog more merchandise than most other clubs. We should not be closer to the bottom of this division, not a chance.
We have over 2,000 season ticket holders and are well supported by VIQI, we must flog more merchandise than most other clubs. We should not be closer to the bottom of this division, not a chance.
If it's all about ticket sales and merchandise, why bother playing rugby at all?
Salford are the worst supported team in Super League. Didn't stop them reaching the Grand Final and Wembley.
We don't have a God given right to finish anywhere. When we were the 10th best supported team in Super League, were people happy to accept that as the best they can do? Did Denis Betts get lots of credit for doing any better than 10th?
I think you are insulting peoples intelligence to suggest its all random and wherever you finish, its just how it is. Teams have peaks and troughs but you know full well the usual suspects are there or thereabouts every year. Yes, every now and then there's a freak season like Leicester or Salford, but let's not pretend money doesn't normally buy success. If team A has twice the budget of team B but team B beat team A year after year, surely questions would be asked of what team A are doing with the money.
I'm not saying Widnes have any god given right to finish in a particular position, but I certainly wouldn't advocate not looking at what where things have gone wrong or not admitting that mistakes have been made.
Seems very bizarre to me that not long after having a torrid time in SL with multiple players seemingly being very injury prone, we start with an almost clean slate of players, we end up in almost exactly the same situation. I know sometimes these things can happen in sport but we're all playing the same game, same rules etc. Always seems to be an excuse with some fans and the people who run the club. I can remember on here people defending Rule and O'connor to the very last. Season after season of unbelievably poor recruitment, but no-one was ever allowed to criticise. Haven't people become just a little bit tired of making excuses for the club's decisions?
No, I haven’t. That simply is not the case, DD.
sorry MT mistaken identity - somebody on here was
I’m not sure what else people have got a bee in their bonnet about – the club is operating under some very strict council regulations that go well beyond every other RL club, for reasons only known to the council.
The club could tell us that directly
The two promoted sides both ahead of us in the league table now. what has become of our club? strap yourself In folks, we’re in for a relegation scrap.
You better hide behind a barricade as the blinkered brigade will be shooting you down for daring to question anything to do with the club. Not going to say a thing as i have said it all and people on here cannot see the woods for the trees.
Yet more hysteria after a defeat. There’s no chance of a relegation scrap. Oldham have won two games all season. They are extremely unlikely to then win four out of seven; particularly as two are against Toulouse and one is against Featherstone. Widnes’ problem is pretty clear – short on forwards. A World Cup winning coach recruited the squad and then did a runner. Who knows if he’d have managed to do any better. I’m not sure what else people have got a bee in their bonnet about – the club is operating under some very strict council regulations that go well beyond every other RL club, for reasons only known to the council. The academy was scrapped as the club couldn’t afford it due to the RFL’s stance on central funding. What magic wand solution people are proposing could happen to “fix” whatever problems they see, I don’t know.
Don't you get the point yet ? I like all the fans want EFFORT and IMPROVEMENT that's all. Until we see this then both coach and players are not earning their salt.
What restrictions are the council applying ?
I am not sure what the point is about us being below Newcastle (are we below them anyway?) and Whitehaven, any more than being below Sheffield, Batley, Halifax or Bradford. They were promoted as the best teams in League 1 and deserve to be where they are on form and results, as do Widnes.
We are not in a relegation scrap, although I really cannot see many more wins this season. The plain fact is that we have a squad that is too small to begin with and carrying too many players with injuries. As soon as the squad is announced and you have two backs on the bench, you just know they will struggle.
There is a trend in that we do not seem to be able to compete for 80 minutes. Is it fitness or commitment or a bit of both? If you have players carrying knocks into games, are they able to give 100%. If you have to leave forwards on the pitch longer than planned, because of a thin bench, that will have an impact. Extra burden is then placed on the likes of Tyrer, Grady and Baker, who will inevitably tire during a game.
I agree that the coach is paid to bring the best out of the team on the pitch and performances have been sadly lacking this year, but any coach can only do so much with the players at his disposal. He has little or no choice in the team selection each week with such a small squad. The team have shown glimpses of improvement in a few games, but these have been few and far between. At this time of the season, you can then add that you will have players who have not been offered a contract for next year or accepted a contract elsewhere. Will they be giving 100% in a beaten team?
In reality, many posters on here predicted correctly that we were not good enough for a top 6 spot this season and that is where we are. I will be glad when this season is over, with just three home games left against Halifax, Oldham and Bradford. Fingers crossed, three wins and a good send off to the season with a win and a good crowd against Bradford.
I am not one for calling for the Chief Executive and Coach to be sacked, as this will achieve nothing in my view. What is needed is an honest admission that they got it wrong this year with the size of the squad (possibly due to finances); that some risks taken on player signings have not worked out, due to long term injuries; and, more importantly, what plans have been put in place to improve the squad in 2022.
It's always next year at Widnes though, isn't it ? Well fans have seen through that and voted with their feet.Any more of this nonsense in 2022 then we may well see a three figure crowd or two.
I can remember on here people defending Rule and O’connor to the very last. Season after season of unbelievably poor recruitment, but no-one was ever allowed to criticise. Haven’t people become just a little bit tired of making excuses for the club’s decisions?
Do you not remember the last couple of seasons in SL on the previous trust in Widnes forum ? It was wall to wall criticism of the O'Connors and Rule.Apart from a couple of bum kissers.
It’s always next year at Widnes though, isn’t it ? Well fans have seen through that and voted with their feet.Any more of this nonsense in 2022 then we may well see a three figure crowd or two.
And that is what bothers me more than our position in the table. Thank God that this season will be over for us in a couple of months or so. Time NOW to sort out who is 'in' for next season and to get some signatures ready for next year.
Leave this until after training starts and we are on the backfoot to start with. Long suffering ST holders, like most on here, will have had enough of promises of better things to come and will seriously consider whether to bother. That would spell disaster for WV imo.
Our lack of a pack this year has been a disaster. Certainly two of the players signed by Sheens were carrying long term injuries that you would hope that a doctors eye on their medical history would easily spot. Tomkins injury needs to be thoroughly checked before another season. Once those contracts were signed, however, we were stuck with a bill to pay which could/should have been spent on fit replacements.
Our financial eyes were, quite reasonably, set on consolidation and survival, but that only works short term.
The philosophy of loan players is a very poor option as we and many others have found. Players in and out on another clubs whim leaves our coach with no control of his squad. The system is set to serve SL clubs and leaves Championship teams as pseudo nursery clubs to give the SL youngsters experience. That is fine, but on year loans please, and only then if they play well enough to earn a place.
The apparent glut of available forwards particularly east of the Pennines is a problem that I guess only money will resolve. Since our experience this year I would have reservations about taking on aging SL players. Clough has been our only success in that area, with reservations on Tomkins. Smithy has been a revelation to me and well worthy of another year if he wants it.
The re-organisation will throw the whole game into the mire with possibly little to really play for next year. That is out of our hands but maybe gives us time to re-establish the club as at least worthy of respect on the field.