In isolation, that's a bad result...
..but when you take into account the results that went before it, Finnegan has to be sacked. In addition, there's simply not enough real rugby people or people with experience of running a professional sports club involved at WV just now. The CEO, while enthusiastic and good with junior players, is simply not a CEO. The Board are a collection of dedicated fans to whom we should be grateful for giving their time and money to keep the club going, but they simply do not have the 'nous' for this.
This club is ripe for a take-over, if there was anyone out there who could give a monkeys about it. Heaven knows we desperately need that to happpen.
This club is ripe for a take-over, if there was anyone out there who could give a monkeys about it. Heaven knows we desperately need that to happpen.
As we found when the club nearly went to the wall, this Millionaire who wants to throw money at a Hobby just isnt there.
We need to build an identity in the community, build a system of recruitment that is consistent and focussed and rebuild. We have been here before as a club and as supporters.
But i dont care what anyone says, Finnigan is not the man to lead the team or club anywhere. A good coach can take bad players and give them structure, both offensive and defensive. A good coach can inspire players and build belief, A good coach will improve players, and while they may never be great, he can make them better.
Finnigan can do none of the above.
We are in the championship for the long haul, dreams of SL are a distant fantasy right now. The team we have are better than we are showing, so there are either problems in the dressing room, or we are poorly coached.
Both of those issues land directly at the feet of Finnigan.
Will the likes of Batley or Sheffield get beat 70-0 by them?
I am happy to be corrected but I doubt it.
A well coached, motivated PT team would have put in a far better effort......yes they may have got 40 or 50 put on them at the end, but no one is convincing me what we have seen for 40 mins against Newcastle, 80 today, v Dewsbury and v Batley is anywhere near an acceptable level.
Did Clouugh come out for the second half? Looked like he picked up a hand or wrist injury.
Anyone not recognising that Toulouse is a very good side in the league is delusional. But one win out of five (against the bottom team at home) is the stark reality. Don’t think anyone will have expected anything other than a defeat but surely we ought not be conceding 70 points.
Will the likes of Batley or Sheffield get beat 70-0 by them? I am happy to be corrected but I doubt it. A well coached, motivated PT team would have put in a far better effort……yes they may have got 40 or 50 put on them at the end, but no one is convincing me what we have seen for 40 mins against Newcastle, 80 today, v Dewsbury and v Batley is anywhere near an acceptable level.
No they won’t because they are both much better teams than we are! That’s the reality of it!
Anyone not recognising that Toulouse is a very good side in the league is delusional. But one win out of five (against the bottom team at home) is the stark reality. Don’t think anyone will have expected anything other than a defeat but surely we ought not be conceding 70 points.
Very impressive team and I see them strong contenders to win the league. We’ve played worse Catalan teams than them in the past!! I think we have dropped below the divide that exists in the Championship - no longer swimming with the big fish, but down amongst the plucky minnows.
Could Sheens have done better with this squad? Maybe, but how much better? He didn’t have a magic lamp so on that basis I have some sympathy for Finnegan on what he acquired. Changing just the coach won’t fix this, but we do have injured players due to return which will make an impact. Only person I would sack is Smith, a season too far for him.
Once again another defeat, once again you to look at the CEO, he brings the players and coach in, the buck stops with him
I was there today, and have posted a bit about it on the Lions' page, but it's worth repeating on here.
Toulouse are a genuine quality outfit, a Super League team in waiting, and you were on the wrong end of a real caning.
We play 'em in a fortnight, and whilst today's performance against the Bulls was a massive improvement to that horror slow at your place last week, I'm (very) far from holding my breath about us getting anything out of it!
Spelly.
Shouldn't be making excuses for them, that was a record defeat. We got stuffed against Batley as well. To say that's as good as we can expect from this squad I strongly disagree with. Basic defence is missing. The bookies are hardly ever wrong and they had us in 6th place based on the squad we had at the start of the season. Other than Tolouse who are a very good side, which superstars to Batley and Dewsbury possess? No one. The team isn't performing at all, something is amiss I've been watching RL for too many years not to notice the team isn't playing or working as a unit.
Dewsbury got beat 36-0 tonight at home to Fax who have been in and out of form so far.
The defence has been a clear issue highlighted by most of us since West Wales game. There’s being out for a year and having your first game after a year to this dross 7/8 games in.
it’s simply not good enough and quite frankly very embarrassing on the Widnes name
It's not just the defence we need to improve upon, we didn't score any points either. Playmakers? None at all. Planned moves? Didn't see one. Passing the ball behind the man/into touch? Many examples. Taking the ball standing still? Numerous occasions. Having the ball stripped from us one on one? Four occasions? Landing on knees and elbows to get quick play the ball after a tackle? Hardly ever. These are core skills in professional rugby league and we displayed very few of them. For these shortcomings we can only blame the players and coach. This is not a one off display. See v Batley, v Dewsbury.
Very telling that SF hasn’t been interviewed (to my knowledge) after the game???
Thought coaches had to do post match stuff?
Embarrassed? Angry? Not arsed?
For some strange reason I was expecting a plucky defeat yesterday, something like 32-6, which is competitive by our standards.Why,I don't know.I had hoped the Swinton win was a turning point but obviously not.
It’s not just the defence we need to improve upon, we didn’t score any points either. Playmakers? None at all. Planned moves? Didn’t see one. Passing the ball behind the man/into touch? Many examples. Taking the ball standing still? Numerous occasions. Having the ball stripped from us one on one? Four occasions? Landing on knees and elbows to get quick play the ball after a tackle? Hardly ever. These are core skills in professional rugby league and we displayed very few of them. For these shortcomings we can only blame the players and coach. This is not a one off display. See v Batley, v Dewsbury.
The main issue is the Forwards and the squad. The playmakers are not being given a chance to play.
Toulouse were able to make 70 metres every set and we were making zilch. They were on the front foot all game and Widnes on the back foot.
1) Who assembled this squad, how could they possibly imagine it would succeed without reinforcements. Why have we gone into the season with this squad.
2) We need reinforcements why are we unable to get sufficient reinforcements.
3) What are we going to do about it. How can we improve things immediately and in the future.
4) Are they going to take responsibility for it and explain their reasoning and what is going on. Have they given any explanations to VIQI whose sole purpose is to assist in squad building / signing players. What does the VIQI representative on the board have to say about it.
Squad. Forwards
1 hooker (not seen , long term injury).
4 over 30's signed in close season (2 injured hardly seen, 35 year old Paul Clough doing his best I hope he now isn't injured, Grady doing his best)
3 players signed recently playing amateur ( 1 not seen, Adam Lawton and Kenny Baker really found wanting in defence yesterday, Adam Lawton really struggling in defence all season).
Owen Farnworth (unlucky with Covid, aggressive, decent size, young player who in time is a potential Super League Player).
3 young players who all look small, enthusiastic but with one senior appearance between them before the start of the season.
Refer to points 1-4.