The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread
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The Ian Foster Interview
Interviewer: Well Ian, your reaction to the defeat.
Foster: Firstly, thanks for the Big Bucket. The loss of Scott Barrett was a major blow to us as he was irreplaceable.
Interviewer: Has it been difficult to blend the SRA teams into the one team?
Foster: Well I took care of the Hurricanes at an early stage. I picked their second-best scrum half, a mediocre second-five and played their best 7 out of position. It was therefore easy to ignore them.
Interviewer: How were you able to overlook Akira Ioane?
Foster: He is everything I dislike in a player. He has physicality and is exciting and I cannot tolerate that in an All Black team.
Interviewer: There was criticism of the composition of the squad. Another Big Bucket?
Foster: Thanks. Yes, I understand that, but politically I could not have taken any more Chiefs players.
Interviewer: There has also been criticism of the inclusion of some of the players who had a very average SRA
Foster: Well in some cases it was a close call between the likes of Damian McKenzie & Brad Weber and more experienced Chiefs players, but I tried to balance any bias out by not selecting Anton Leinart-Brown in his best position.
Interviewer: Akira Ioane has made a great impact in SRA. Why was he not in the original team?
Foster: He has never played for the Chiefs. How could I have been expected to know whether he is any good?
Interviewer: Why do you keep playing Jordie Barratt at 14?
Foster: I feel that the familiarity, which the players built up in their best positions, breeds complacency. By the way, thanks for the extra fries.
Interviewer: You have been widely criticised for the team's display against Argentina. How do you react?
Foster: Listen, I am a world cup winner. I give interviews to Sky. I can inspire a team playing any sport you care to name. Do you think that I am put off by ill-informed criticism? And I coached the Chiefs.
Interviewer: You are accused of ignoring Crusaders players. How do you react?
Foster: The fact that they won the Super Rugby Aotearoa playing exciting rugby with a Plan B really counts for nothing. But do they know all the attack lines from the Chiefs playbook of two seasons ago? I know what it takes to win against second string sides. It is a war of attrition.
Interviewer: It seemed to some observers that the All Blacks lacked discipline and made mistakes under pressure while Argentina were disciplined and handled the pressure well.
Foster: Some clever dicks in the press and former players always want to comment on things they know nothing about. Any chance of some more fried chicken?
Interviewer: The line-out did not go well and the All Blacks lost a lot of their own throw-ins.
Foster: Well that is a good example of what I am up against. I wanted to play Tyler Ardron but IRB rules prevented me doing that. And John Plumtree insisted that at least one non-Chiefs player be selected to give the team balance. Scott McLeod, a Chiefs man, agreed.
Interviewer: Scott Barrett has a poor disciplinary record at critical times. How do you turn that around?
Foster: It is my philosophy to turn every set back to our advantage. It's clear that he needs a change of focus during games. I'm playing Scooter at 2/5 for the next test.
Interviewer: The handling of the rush defence by the AB's continues to be a worry.
Foster: This is because most of them are unfamiliar with Chiefs tactics. We really need to sort out our midfield. It's important we be proactive there, and I have been in contact with Charlie Ngatai.
Interviewer: What did you make of Sam Cane's comments on fans after the loss to Argentina?
Foster: Only a complete fool criticises his captain, but I think he's totally wrong on that - even if he is a Chiefs player. Sam needs to dial down the rhetoric and the passion. Personally, I go out of my way to chat to supporters when I pop into McDonalds for lunch. You can learn a lot over a second Big Mac.
Interviewer: You indicated that the first season with you in charge would be critical.
Foster: Look, I am doing my very best on a paltry budget of $20m. Do you know that we have fewer coaches / back-up staff than players? How can you expect me to demonstrate my management skills under these circumstances? Positivity is what it is all about and I cannot see how I can be expected to do my job if results on the pitch are constantly being thrown back at me. It is also unfair I get the blame if non-Chiefs players can't perform out of position?
Interviewer: Final question, Ian . Were you right to pick Ritchie Mo'unga at 10?
Foster: Perhaps not. I wanted to pick Aaron Cruden but Ritchie's been playing well for the Crusaders. I thought of Ritchie at half-back, but I needed to pick some players in their favoured positions.
Interviewer: Thank you for your time.
Foster: Don't mention it. It's always good to take a break from coaching. Pass me that second Big Sharing Bucket will you?
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@ARHS said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
No wonder some Abs are peeved at the fans when this sort of rubbish gets posted. Very disappointing.
Is that you, Ian?
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@Machpants that is so on target I can't even appreciate the doomsday humour!
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No wonder some AB fans are peeved when this sort of rubbish coaching record gets selected as AB head coach.
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@nostrildamus said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
No wonder some AB fans are peeved when this sort of rubbish coaching record gets selected as AB head coach.
Indeed. The day you can’t take the piss and have a laugh about that is the day the fern gets buried for good.
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Would have been a little funnier if they didn't overdo the Chiefs thing. Considering there are (rightly) fuck all in the team, and two of them in Cane and ALB have been standouts.
His main blindspot seems to be picking too many Hurricanes, and shoehorning them in.
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He hasn't picked many Chiefs but he's certainly adopted their winning culture from this season.
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@Rancid-Schnitzel said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
He hasn't picked many Chiefs but he's certainly adopted their winning culture from this season.
i wouldn't be chucking too many stones from that yellow glass house
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@mariner4life said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
@Rancid-Schnitzel said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
He hasn't picked many Chiefs but he's certainly adopted their winning culture from this season.
i wouldn't be chucking too many stones from that yellow glass house
Played 8, won 0, lost 8. I'll chuck as many stones as I like.
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@Rancid-Schnitzel said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
@mariner4life said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
@Rancid-Schnitzel said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
He hasn't picked many Chiefs but he's certainly adopted their winning culture from this season.
i wouldn't be chucking too many stones from that yellow glass house
Played 8, won 0, lost 8. I'll chuck as many stones as I like.
fair enough, you be you
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@mariner4life said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
@Rancid-Schnitzel said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
@mariner4life said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
@Rancid-Schnitzel said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
He hasn't picked many Chiefs but he's certainly adopted their winning culture from this season.
i wouldn't be chucking too many stones from that yellow glass house
Played 8, won 0, lost 8. I'll chuck as many stones as I like.
fair enough, you be you
8-0-8
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@Rancid-Schnitzel said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
@mariner4life said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
@Rancid-Schnitzel said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
He hasn't picked many Chiefs but he's certainly adopted their winning culture from this season.
i wouldn't be chucking too many stones from that yellow glass house
Played 8, won 0, lost 8. I'll chuck as many stones as I like.
The Foster era is ripe for parody, I think @Victor-Meldrew deserves some sort of award for his piece.
Fred Dagg would be proud
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@Rancid-Schnitzel said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
@mariner4life said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
@Rancid-Schnitzel said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
He hasn't picked many Chiefs but he's certainly adopted their winning culture from this season.
i wouldn't be chucking too many stones from that yellow glass house
Played 8, won 0, lost 8. I'll chuck as many stones as I like.
Best forwards: A. Ioane, Sotutu (I'd mention Cane and Moody but it seems Cane is already been mentioned and few seem to have noticed Moody's defence and work rate so I must be wrong here).
Best back: Clarke (Smith has been a bit up and down)
Summary: Thanks, Rangi!
Blues. -
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@Snowy said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
A Robertson, Rangi team looks really good right now. I wonder how they get on? Played together, etc.
mediocre All Blacks make good coaches?
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@mariner4life said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
@Snowy said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
A Robertson, Rangi team looks really good right now. I wonder how they get on? Played together, etc.
mediocre All Blacks make good coaches?
Was more "unsuccesful coaches don't necessarily get better", but I can go with it (I'd give Rangi a better than mediocre though).
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@mariner4life said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
@Snowy said in The 'How is Fozzie going?' thread:
A Robertson, Rangi team looks really good right now. I wonder how they get on? Played together, etc.
mediocre All Blacks make good coaches?
In the negative I present exhibit A
...and exhibit B
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