Quote: ArthurClues "I don't want to see Smith sacked mid season unless an clearly better option can be brought into replace him. I have lost confidence in his ability to get the best out of the side he has assembled though. He deserves credit for turning round the dire start to 22 and overseeing the best rugby we'd seen in some time. Think we all expected to see a bit more structure and defensive toughness in 23, but that obviously didn't manifest, and this year with more of his own picks, we look no better. I think he looks and sounds increasingly lost. On the recruitment side I think it has to be two props. Bouquet was mentioned last week and he is out of contract. Land him and Papali and we really shouldn't have to take a step back from anyone, but only with a coach who values prop forwards at the helm.'"
Totally agree. Wouldn’t sack smith now unless there’s a serious chance of bringing in a much better option, however smith’s recruitment of players has been more miss than hit and I do worry about his ability to squad build to get us to the required level. We were expecting a top 5 top 4 finish no doubt, as I think was GH.
Off the top of my head Sangare, Frawley, Mom, Goudamond, Olpherts, retention of Fusi and Bentley have been really poor business. Croft Ackers good business. He’s not improving many of the current players either, oldeszki has gone backwards imo.