Worrying Post on Planet Rugby

[Heathen]

Irrespective of anything written here or elsewhere, Costello should go sooner rather than later, IMHO. Simply not up to it.

OK, Wasps got screwed when Danny Wilson pulled the plug on us but Dai really should have sorted it better at the time.

WE HAVE NO CREDIBLE DEFENCE COACH. Until we do, we will be in the cacky brown stuff.

[Rifleman Harris]

I'm just curious, as I have no experience of these things, but, what should Dai have done to sort it better at the time?  I think Leicester have shown there aren't a lot of options available at the moment.  Who should he have brought in who was available? Who should we have paid to get out of their contract (assuming this was a viable option anyway)? Maybe Worzle will be available in the summer and fancy Warwickshire? In that case waiting may not have been the worst option after all.

[Lwasp]

Everyone keeps saying get Worzle in without stopping to question whether Joe would want to swap life in France for life back in England. Would you want to?

[Neils]

Given how close to the season starting I am not sure Wasps could have done much with Wilson's defection. They had already brought in Costello to, as far as I can recall, act as a junior part of the team. Wilson changing tack threw a very big spanner in the works. We will never really be told but I suspect there was a quick panic and effort to see who might be available and either nobody or people under contract until a future date. Certainly if there is no announcement between now and the start of next season I think we should be very very worried. However, taking a more postive line (for now), I suspect a change to the coaching team will become apparent later - certainly we operate at a far far smaller level than most.

[Neils]

Apologies kind of doubling (phone rang).
On Worsley - I think it might buck things up a little but suspect he may be firmly ensconced in the South of France (doesn't he have shares in a vineyard?).

[mike909]

Ok - I may have been wrong with what I wrote above, but I certainly remember an interview where Glaws or Danny were setting out their freedom to play. Easy to take something out of context. And as it a long time since I played anything approaching a serious game, being 56...how structured are team plans in the Prem?

Obviously they would vary team to team, but I would have guessed the key areas of coaching and structure are the same as the old days, defence, lineout, maul, scrum and box kicking etc, whereas 10 ball in hand, is it mainly pre planned now?

[baldpaul101]

This thread is hilarious.

Anonymous comments on another message board have brought a load of conjecture, theories, observations & personal animosities being touted as fact.



oh, hang on, its an internet message board, carry on!

[Raggs]

Ok - I may have been wrong with what I wrote above, but I certainly remember an interview where Glaws or Danny were setting out their freedom to play. Easy to take something out of context. And as it a long time since I played anything approaching a serious game, being 56...how structured are team plans in the Prem?

Obviously they would vary team to team, but I would have guessed the key areas of coaching and structure are the same as the old days, defence, lineout, maul, scrum and box kicking etc, whereas 10 ball in hand, is it mainly pre planned now?

Oh no, I'm sure you could be remembering correctly, Ackerrmann is apparently a very player power, independent though etc sort of coach. I just don't think it necessarily says that Wasps is a rigid, fixed place, where no one can express themselves. We've been scoring more tries than almost any other team for seasons, that wouldn't have come from squashing freedom in attack.

[NellyWellyWaspy]

It's because we don't like to talk up how well Wasps are playing (we don't like to be boastful), so far ahead at #1 position in the table, scoring loads of tries, through to the European quarters. We have a squad brimmed with quality and everything is just rosy. But it isn't rosy. So we pick at the growing scab, for want of anything else to do.

We speculate as to what has changed, what has gone wrong, what more is going to go wrong, how to fix it.

After each match we hear the same talk from Dai. What went wrong (often the same thing; penalties, coughing the ball up, missed tackles) and he finishes off with a rallying call that we will get better.

Better how? Fitter? I doubt that fitness is the issue. New 'plays'? No sign of them.

No mention of playing smarter, having the leadership to adapt quickly on the field and being supported in that by the coaches. Maybe we are doing just that, but there are no outward SIGNS of sufficient progress. And we cannot help but wonder why? Most of us are old fogeys here (well, I speak for myself in that) and we have experienced poor management first hand. Not in rugby, but in work. The tell-tale signs are there. Staff turnover will be high, performance will be poor, morale, as measured by rumours of disquiet (not at wasps, but in any organisation) will be heard in whispers, friend to friend. So, when the signs are there, we look upwards, but that might not be the issue

[Rossm]

Irrespective of anything written here or elsewhere, Costello should go sooner rather than later, IMHO. Simply not up to it.
OK, Wasps got screwed when Danny Wilson pulled the plug on us but Dai really should have sorted it better at the time.

So much easier said than done. Yes, Dave Ellis is coaching Kenilworth RFC. He signed for them at the beginning of the season. His name has been bandied about. He is still at Kenilworth. Maybe he is happy where he is. Unlike Wilson maybe he believes in honouring his contract.

[HenleyWasp]

I haven't a clue about this, but can Worzle stay at BB after Brexit?

[mike909]

Ok - I may have been wrong with what I wrote above, but I certainly remember an interview where Glaws or Danny were setting out their freedom to play. Easy to take something out of context. And as it a long time since I played anything approaching a serious game, being 56...how structured are team plans in the Prem?

Obviously they would vary team to team, but I would have guessed the key areas of coaching and structure are the same as the old days, defence, lineout, maul, scrum and box kicking etc, whereas 10 ball in hand, is it mainly pre planned now?

Oh no, I'm sure you could be remembering correctly, Ackerrmann is apparently a very player power, independent though etc sort of coach. I just don't think it necessarily says that Wasps is a rigid, fixed place, where no one can express themselves. We've been scoring more tries than almost any other team for seasons, that wouldn't have come from squashing freedom in attack.

Morning Raggs, it did seem strange to me, given our history, the way Wade, for example, played, but perhaps it points to a current emphasis, or that Danny didn't get to coach the backs!

[Raggs]

Ok - I may have been wrong with what I wrote above, but I certainly remember an interview where Glaws or Danny were setting out their freedom to play. Easy to take something out of context. And as it a long time since I played anything approaching a serious game, being 56...how structured are team plans in the Prem?

Obviously they would vary team to team, but I would have guessed the key areas of coaching and structure are the same as the old days, defence, lineout, maul, scrum and box kicking etc, whereas 10 ball in hand, is it mainly pre planned now?

Oh no, I'm sure you could be remembering correctly, Ackerrmann is apparently a very player power, independent though etc sort of coach. I just don't think it necessarily says that Wasps is a rigid, fixed place, where no one can express themselves. We've been scoring more tries than almost any other team for seasons, that wouldn't have come from squashing freedom in attack.

Morning Raggs, it did seem strange to me, given our history, the way Wade, for example, played, but perhaps it points to a current emphasis, or that Danny didn't get to coach the backs!

We were definitely running similar lines to what Glaws are now doing, so I would guess he had a significant input, but we were running good lines before he came too. Our style definitely changed when he joined us, and it wasn't immediate, so I guess he had to collaborate with Blackett, rather than simply being given free reign, which Ackermann seems to allow.

I don't think that's necessarily saying one team is rigid, and the other isn't, or one teams approach is correct. As we've seen, you take Cipriani away from Glaw with injury (and from us when injured) and as basically no one else can replicate what he does, so is it sustainable for a team? The beauty of what Blackett seemed to be building, is we used a wide range of players at first receiver often, Daly, Miller, Gopperth, all had the freedom to run if it was on, or spread it wider.

There's nearly always a structure in place, the question is how much detail there is within it, considering the structure we had seem to adapt to 3+ first receivers when Blackett was in charge, and virtually only Cips (sometimes WLR), when Cips was with us, there's an argument for greater "freedom" in Blacketts setup.