Blues 2018
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In an odd way I think the Blues underperformance has been good for NZ rugby. It means we can consistently have 4 teams in the playoffs and the Blues can play spoiler to the rest of the competition. They are not embarrisingly bad and can still supply test players to the All Blacks.
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In the short term perhaps.
In the long term a poor franchise in the largest market is not a good look. Especially when that market has a direct competitor in another sport. NZ Rugby are lucky the Warriors have also been a bumbling mess until this season.
This is the 7th straight season the Blues have been mediocre or worse.
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@kiwimurph said in Blues 2018:
Here's part of Redman's press conference
Nice to here Andrew Saville ask some tough questions - at least someone in the media is!
There's a different edit of this interview where Redman claims to have a good working relationship with the unions inside the region. Haha he's a liar.
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@virgil he rarely does hold back, did he demand an apology as he did last year from the ABs after losing to Aus?
He reckons the Blues should offer Jack Goodhue the captaincy to get him 'back' up here, get Bryn Hall back...
How long has Redman been CEO?
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@taniwharugby said in Blues 2018:
How long has Redman been CEO?
Since late 2013
So his tenure includes signing Benji Marshall, wanting to keep Kirwan after three years via the Matson deal, appointing Umaga and now probably extending him
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Here is Gregor Paul's latest effort
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/rugby/news/article.cfm?c_id=80&objectid=12040827
I would like to preface what I am about to say with "I am not making criticisms". It's a clever trick, it means you have to ignore my posting history and pretend the criticisms I am about to make are actually objective fact. I recommend every tries it.
The first thing that jumps out at me is the change of opinion from Paul. After months of him and a couple of NZH writers claiming that Umaga is qualified, Umaga is the best man for the job, Umaga is making progress (just not with results) suddenly we are told Umaga needs help. He needs hand holding in his 4th(!!) year of the job, he needs training wheels.
Maybe this is an invention of Pauls mind? However I am going to assume its a leak or a 'trial balloon'.
I'm having flashbacks to the board supporting Kirwan for the 4th year but with Matson doing the actual coaching. This suggestion is slightly different because its more about hand holding. However they are similar because the most important thing seems to be protecting the reputation of the coaches and those that appointed them than actually fixing the team.
Perhaps I should stop calling Kirwan and Umaga celebrity coaches, maybe they are special needs coaches?Going back to the rumour that Gatland is interested in taking over in 2020. One of the issues was what to do next year. Well, Foster might be an option for a caretaker.
No one, not even Waikato fans, sees particularly keen on him taking over from Hansen. So he clearly needs to reform his public reputation. An emergency coaching appointment might do that. An advisor role would not. Even a modest improvement in results would be seen as a success, the Kirwan/Umaga bar has been set so low.Fuck you Redman. You just made me advocate for Foster. Yuck.
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@duluth said in Blues 2018:
No one, not even Waikato fans, sees particularly keen on him taking over from Hansen. So he clearly needs to reform his public reputation.
Who are these Waikato fans you refer to? Gatland is a much better coach than Foster and has been successful with every team he has coached, both in NZ and in the UK.
As to Gatland's public reputation. I personally had little problem with what he said during the Lions tour, because obviously some of that criticism became personal. Henry was always a smug coach and wasn't universally liked outside of Auckland. Hansen had his issues too and needed some major PR work to win the media and fans over.
But having said all that, a coach should be judged on the record of the teams they coach and the Blues could do much worse than have Gatland as their next coach.
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@bovidae said in Blues 2018:
@duluth said in Blues 2018:
No one, not even Waikato fans, sees particularly keen on him taking over from Hansen. So he clearly needs to reform his public reputation.
Who are these Waikato fans you refer to? Gatland is a much better coach than Foster and has been successful with every team he has coached, both in NZ and in the UK.
As to Gatland's public reputation. I personally had little problem with what he said during the Lions tour, because obviously some of that criticism became personal. Henry was always a smug coach and wasn't universally liked outside of Auckland. Hansen had his issues too and needed some major PR work to win the media and fans over.
But having said all that, a coach should be judged on the record of the teams they coach and the Blues could do much worse than have Gatland as their next coach.
Id take Gatland as Blues coach in a heartbeat, and I’m not a massive fan of his. He would certainly fix systemic problems we have in the franchise and be experienced enough to influence the levels above.
If you can survive the backstabbing and politics of Welsh rugby you have some managerial skill. And of course the Lions.
As I said before, if he has success with the Blues it would give him a massive shot at the All blacks.
Foster was a super rugby failure (the final he made was a massive embarrassment of a result). And if our special needs coach really needs help, then we should be getting a new coach.
Three years in and he needs on the job training? We aren’t a charity.
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@bovidae said in Blues 2018:
OK. Your last sentence confused me as I thought you were saying you would choose Foster over Gatland for either coaching position.
Nope. My preference is for Gatland in 2020 (assuming the rumours are correct and that he wants the job)
I think his style would be a good fit.That leaves the problem of what to do next year. To be honest, I would be happy with any caretaker coach.
Unfortunately, the partially leaked reappointment of Umaga seems to make a Gatland appointment less likely.
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I suspect Waikato fans are more opposed to Foster than others. They had to watch his teams fail year after year in more detail.He's a nice guy, and a great technical coach, but he doesn't have what it takes to select well, and his teams are, let us say, variable in terms of mental preparation.
There is no shortage of qualified Kiwis with successful resumes. Why would you pick one with conspicuous failures?
Garland would not be my first choice though. We have succeeded by being more innovative. Warrenball isn't going to help.
I'm all for Foster going to the Blues though. It won't help them, but it might finally destroy the chance of Foster getting the ABs.
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@chester-draws were plenty opposed to Hansen 'taking over' from Henry too...
Guess we will start to see the value of Hansen & Foster this year without Smith in thier team
