Time for change

[RBB]

KB I believe, is out of contract after the RWC, however here will be a clamour for his signature. I believe he enjoyed his time at Wasps and made some great friends, rugby is a short career and the lure of the Top 14 may prove to much for Wasps to contend with, and the money available in France. Of course Saracens have room in their cap as they are only paying buttons for players to join them ;-), and throwing in caravans at Camber Sands.

On a serious note, I still think we need a world class FB, Minozzi is young and learning his trade. A player of KB's ilk gives us something that is multi-dimensional and gives us options, WLR has been an occasional genius for me. There are times when WLR has been breathtaking, other times woeful. His style will suit the Japanese league and of course the supporters will be more forgiving of some of his unusual judgements and unforced errors. That said I wish him well, it is a shame that he hasn't turned up this season.

And I agree with the sentiment of others, some gnarly second rowers are a must. We are shallow in that area, Launch has the RWC so we need cover and quick.

[Chilham]

I’m in the camp of marginal gains, rather than wholesale sweeping changes needed.  I think a bunch of the other posters have covered most of what I think but a couple of extra thoughts:

- Just on two odd refereeing decisions (Alo’s try disallowed and Mercer’s double movement) we’d be level pegging with Bath

- We’ve had a number of close games that were absolutely winnable - (Falcons and Sharks home games)

If we had those decisions and one of the two wins above, we’d be sat level with Quins in 5th

- I wouldn’t under-estimate the level of disruption in the squad due to Injury, Contract negotiations and international call ups as well as new players bedding in.  We’ve spent a good deal of the season without our first choice 2, 4, 8, 9, 12, 13 (Daly although JdJ was beginning to make that shirt his, but has been shuffled a lot to accommodate) and 14 in the matchday squads. That’s a hell of a lot of key talent out.  Even Sarries would struggle with the second choices in the above for a significant chunk of the season.

Daly and Lima have come in for significant flak; but they’re both (relatively) young guys. Daly has always been spoken of as an emotional player; and no doubts the contract discussions were difficult for him and playing on his mind. Lima has openly talked of the difficulties in settling; that his game wasn’t as transferable as he’d initially thought, the intensity and power were a struggle, that his over half wanted to go back and struggled with loneliness. You might be earning good money and that might have been the motivation for the move, but that’s a lot of stress to carry.  He’s spoken of changes he wants to make and with his best mate with him next year and potentially Jimmy sat outside him to take some of the pressure off, I think we’ll see the best of him.

- Broadly speaking, I’m pretty happy with our recruitment.  Vailanu for Hughes, Fekitoa for Daly and Minozzi for WLR are good replacements that give us some power and fleet of foot that’s been missing.  Like most, id like a bruiser of a Lock to help us in the physical battles and to get us over the gainline. I agree we need to find a playmaker 12 to replace Jimmy but don’t think we need to be in a rush if Jimmy is there next season and MLB keeps developing then we might be alright without the need for a superstar type player.  That being said if KB came back I’d be delighted.

- We’re clearly looking at bolstering our coaching Setup and the attempts to get Edwards and Wilson suggest we’re after quality and not just people to make up the numbers

- Lastly, hopefully the off field stuff is close to being sorted. The constant negativity around them must be draining; from training grounds to court cases and financial issues being regularly spoken about it’s bound to take a toll in confidence / belief.

This.

[Daeg]

I’m in the camp of marginal gains, rather than wholesale sweeping changes needed.  I think a bunch of the other posters have covered most of what I think but a couple of extra thoughts:

- Just on two odd refereeing decisions (Alo’s try disallowed and Mercer’s double movement) we’d be level pegging with Bath

- We’ve had a number of close games that were absolutely winnable - (Falcons and Sharks home games)

If we had those decisions and one of the two wins above, we’d be sat level with Quins in 5th

- I wouldn’t under-estimate the level of disruption in the squad due to Injury, Contract negotiations and international call ups as well as new players bedding in.  We’ve spent a good deal of the season without our first choice 2, 4, 8, 9, 12, 13 (Daly although JdJ was beginning to make that shirt his, but has been shuffled a lot to accommodate) and 14 in the matchday squads. That’s a hell of a lot of key talent out.  Even Sarries would struggle with the second choices in the above for a significant chunk of the season.

Daly and Lima have come in for significant flak; but they’re both (relatively) young guys. Daly has always been spoken of as an emotional player; and no doubts the contract discussions were difficult for him and playing on his mind. Lima has openly talked of the difficulties in settling; that his game wasn’t as transferable as he’d initially thought, the intensity and power were a struggle, that his over half wanted to go back and struggled with loneliness. You might be earning good money and that might have been the motivation for the move, but that’s a lot of stress to carry.  He’s spoken of changes he wants to make and with his best mate with him next year and potentially Jimmy sat outside him to take some of the pressure off, I think we’ll see the best of him.

- Broadly speaking, I’m pretty happy with our recruitment.  Vailanu for Hughes, Fekitoa for Daly and Minozzi for WLR are good replacements that give us some power and fleet of foot that’s been missing.  Like most, id like a bruiser of a Lock to help us in the physical battles and to get us over the gainline. I agree we need to find a playmaker 12 to replace Jimmy but don’t think we need to be in a rush if Jimmy is there next season and MLB keeps developing then we might be alright without the need for a superstar type player.  That being said if KB came back I’d be delighted.

- We’re clearly looking at bolstering our coaching Setup and the attempts to get Edwards and Wilson suggest we’re after quality and not just people to make up the numbers

- Lastly, hopefully the off field stuff is close to being sorted. The constant negativity around them must be draining; from training grounds to court cases and financial issues being regularly spoken about it’s bound to take a toll in confidence / belief.

This.

I have very mixed feelings. I tend towards what has been said above. However I have also been very disappointed on several occasions with the level of performance on the pitch. Headless chicken syndrome has been too prevalent and something significant needs to change. Hopefully a decent new coach(es), some fresh blood in key positions, Jimmy back, and Lima settled in will do the trick. My fear is that the new coach(es) may not appear, that we may not see players step up to leadership on pitch as needed, and Jimmy gets injured again. This year feels like it has been problematic because of a lack of contingency planning (understandably it has been reactive decision making for many reasons); so I sincerely hope that the Wasps management and players take time over the summer to put in place learning from this year and more effective contingency plans.   

[mike909]

I have very mixed feelings. I tend towards what has been said above. However I have also been very disappointed on several occasions with the level of performance on the pitch. Headless chicken syndrome has been too prevalent and something significant needs to change. Hopefully a decent new coach(es), some fresh blood in key positions, Jimmy back, and Lima settled in will do the trick. My fear is that the new coach(es) may not appear, that we may not see players step up to leadership on pitch as needed, and Jimmy gets injured again. This year feels like it has been problematic because of a lack of contingency planning (understandably it has been reactive decision making for many reasons); so I sincerely hope that the Wasps management and players take time over the summer to put in place learning from this year and more effective contingency plans.   

Me too

We have had rotten luck with injuries - we have lacked leadership and (for me) shown many of the signs of a lack of engagement between players and coaches - hence Dai's post game comments this time.

It may well be that not changing is the smart move - but the teams which have turned themselves around recently (Quins, Saints, Glaws) have embraced change to good effect.

But regardless of what is happening behind closed doors - we will still manage to less than the sum of the parts if there is not meaningful and trusting dialogue between players and coaches. If (and I can't know...) this has been a problem then solving it may well indicate the need for new blood on the coaching side. All regimes change/come to an end, we've been with Dai (I am not a Dai basher - I do recognise no one goes on for ever) for a long time, its been over a very difficult time - we v nearly failed to exist as a club...but if change is needed, it looks like its most urgent at coach level

We will be able to put out world class players in virtually all positions next season, at full strength, and if we carry on under performing, its a waste of investment in the team.

My fear is the same - no coach refresh, lack of on pitch leadership and another beige season

[Rory87]

KB I believe, is out of contract after the RWC, however here will be a clamour for his signature. I believe he enjoyed his time at Wasps and made some great friends, rugby is a short career and the lure of the Top 14 may prove to much for Wasps to contend with, and the money available in France.

Didn't a fan/poster on here or DW say that he spoke to Derek at a game and asked "if you could bring in any player if money was no object, who would it be?".... and Derek replied with KB...

He would qualify for a marquee spot. put him on a 3 year deal, request he forgoes international duty for a higher wage.... covers multiple positions, provides the magic, available all season long...

I would be hugely happy if we were able to tempt him back and would have thought we would be in a position to contend with others on the wage front.

[InBetweenWasp]

I think Quins, Gloucs and Saints had a good few seasons whereby they were mid-table mediocrity, with pretty insipid performances before they made the right changes - certainly Quins and Saints made changes, but the wrong ones!

We’ve had a single poor season after pretty consistent Top 4 finishes and the signs are there that when fit and together the squad we have now are pretty competitive. 

I think even back when we topped the table and were in the final we’d have been suggesting we strengthened in pretty much the same ways as we are now - although whether that’s a positive or a negative (that despite the signs we’ve still not managed to recruit in those areas)

[mike909]

In the 11 seasons since we last won, we've been top 4 three times. 15/16 to 17/18, topping the table once.

Before that from 07/08 we were 7th, 5th, 9th, 11th, 8th, 7th, 6th

We've had three decent years, based on probably to a greater extent on some individuals?

We ought to be competitive - especially with a less unfit squad. The question, are we confident in current arrangements?

I don't know and can't know - signs are of trouble on coaching/player comms - merely on the basis of recent brain free performances and lack of game management

Change - its a hard one - no guarantees - ditto not changing!

[RBB]

Notwithstanding injuries we have decent talent to choose from. The challenge is game management, sometimes we implode, in fact we implode often. The Bath game was a clear example of going behind, stepping up - going ahead and then fading though lack of creativity and inept leadership. Launch going off was pivotal after that we drifted off the game plan (if there ever was one) and Bath got stuck in. There have been numerous comments (including me) around leadership, Bath had a group of leaders on the field, we lacked any, WLR should be a leader but isn't, Hughes should be but isn't - you look at other sides and FB and 8 are areas where impetus comes from, there are of course others SH, FH but Wasps just don't have it. Jimmy has it in spades, Cips had it, so did Hask.

At the moment it is Launch and Ash leading, beyond that I struggle to see anything - apart from perhaps Jack Willis and YY. Dai needs to work on this, JdJ has the demeanour and we need to drag that up to the surface, a good coaching addition would help with this. I would hope the summer will be as much about the psychology of the team, as anything else - yes we are woeful at ball handling and defence. Positive Mental Attitude is perhaps an overused cliche, in the case of Wasps it needs working on. A coach who can work on leadership and game management is as important as one who can work on skills. I hope as well as the gaps at 14, FB and 2nd row we bring in a quality coach who has a track record of developing new on field leaders.