: Tue Feb 17, 2009 12:16 am  

Maximus Decimus wrote:

Couldn't agree more.

He wasn't very popular with fans so much so that I was shocked that his contract was extended but as has been said he had done an OK job with a team made from scratch.

The Oldham game exposed some serious problems. We looked second best to a part time team from the division below and you couldn't just say they were playing badly. They didn't look big enough or fast enough to cope. This isn't acceptable when your playing full time wages and with the resources that we have in comparison.

Personally I think theres either somebody lined up or Steve O Connor realised that we would start to haemorrhage support. Season ticket sales are down about 10% and this could be to do with franchising and/or the credit crunch but it could also be down to Steve McCormick.


I disagree, i think its the best the half backs have played and with 13 men on the firld we would won. We shown glimpses of class against Oldham imo and theres no reason we wouldnt have shown it against any other championship team.
It was a good move before it got too late.

: Tue Feb 17, 2009 2:57 am  

miscreant wrote:

Nice guy but a loser when it really mattered. As illustrated by four successive GF defeats with 'Haven and Widnes.

Amazed he lasted so long after under-achieving with an outstanding squad of players at Widnes, frankly. After all Salford didn't keep him very long.

So, the Northern Rail Cup gave him his finest hour (2007 win) and worst moment in charge of Widnes...who says its a 'nothing' trophy ?

Me. And it is. Starts the season off on the complete wrong footing. I've been saying it ever since we were first in it.

: Tue Feb 17, 2009 11:35 am  

Brian Noble to go next when they lose to Cas on Friday night.

: Tue Feb 17, 2009 11:38 am  

Give over, there aren't enough trophies to win.

Oh for the days of 1973-74 season and the County Cups, Floodlit Trophy, John Player, Captain Morgan, play-offs, Challenge Cup - and a Kangaroo tour, ashes series, with a Lions tour down under at the end of it all.

That's what I call variety in a season. Players could earn county caps and there was so much more on offer....why a Keith Senior type would never have been off e-bay had it existed then.

Now, all everyone wants to do is shorten the season, lessen the number of games because the players are tired. There's more to life than league gameszzzzz

I would hate us to have a season like in Oz where its CLOSED for half the year. Its not our culture to have six months off, nor will it ever be.

: Tue Feb 17, 2009 8:46 pm  

viking man wrote
WTF you mentalist, pre season results havent been the best and we have been awful in certain games. Isnt it better to get rid now rather than half way through a season?

If i was a mentalist i would not ask the question why sack now and not at the end of last season or before this seasons preperations started as i as a mentalist would know the answer

men⋅tal⋅ist   /ˈmɛntlɪst/ Show Spelled Pronunciation [men-tl-ist] Show IPA Pronunciation

–noun 1. a person who believes in or advocates mentalism.
2. a person who believes that the mind and its functions are a legitimate area of psychological research.
3. a mind reader, psychic, or fortuneteller.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Origin:
1780–90; mental 1 + -ist
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
Cite This Source

: Wed Feb 18, 2009 9:53 am  

bezzerscr wrote:

Maybe this kind of knee jerk management reaction is one more reason Widnes were overlooked for a franchise

It does seem rather amateurish, but there could be more to this than one loss. It is a stupid time to fire a coach, but let's all have a gander at Wigan over the next couple weeks ...

: Wed Feb 18, 2009 11:15 am  

belgianxiii wrote:

It does seem rather amateurish, but there could be more to this than one loss. It is a stupid time to fire a coach, but let's all have a gander at Wigan over the next couple weeks ...

It will be interesting as in the past they have been quick to sack coaches after a few bad games.

: Wed Feb 18, 2009 11:28 am  

Viva La Vikings!! wrote:

I disagree, i think its the best the half backs have played and with 13 men on the firld we would won. We shown glimpses of class against Oldham imo and theres no reason we wouldnt have shown it against any other championship team.

Oldham with all due respect were an NL2 club and with or without 13 men they looked better than us. We only started to score once they tired and that you would expect against part-time opposition. It wasn't good enough.

For me it was clear from this one game that we were going in the wrong direction for the season. If Oldham could make us look ordinary then what of Leigh, Halifax, Toulouse? The natural order of things on the National Leagues is the team with the full-time squad and the biggest crowds goes through the year winning the title with seemingly little effort. Huddersfield (undefeated I think), Salford twice etc. This doesn't seem to be the case with Widnes and its not acceptable.

I was looking round the squad and they liked size, we lacked big names. Oldham had more than we did! It wasn't something that was going to be rectified by playing a few games. We looked worse than last year and that team was built by scratch.

I wouldn't say it was knee jerk I just think they realised they'd made a mistake giving him another contract and they could see how clear the indicators were that it wasn't going to be an different this year. We can't afford to waste a year. Plus we got 2800 for the game which was OK for the NRC but I think Saturday would have saw another 500 shaved off that at least. Its likely Steve O' realised just how unpopular he was with fans and how that could impact money and crowds, which are important for the whole franchise malarkey.

: Wed Feb 18, 2009 11:30 am  

Chris Dalton wrote:

Me. And it is. Starts the season off on the complete wrong footing. I've been saying it ever since we were first in it.

I concur, its like the Premier League starting the season with 4 rounds of the Carling Cup before starting the League.

Franchise application aside I really don't care if we win it or not. I was mildly happy when we won it last time but it didn't mean anything.

: Wed Feb 18, 2009 12:54 pm  

widnestillidie wrote:

had the best squad in nl over the last 3 seasons, and alls he will be remember for is making good players into nobodies, killing the game of rugby league in widnes.

Really?