Time for Chester to go - the facts! : Tue Feb 16, 2016 9:39 am  

Chester has a competitive win rate of around 49%.
His squad size is 27 players - one of these is 16 years old.
That squad doesn't contain 1 specialist Fullback, Shaw is the closest thing to one but even then is more utility player, and as he's not been selected yet i don't think CC trusts him.
prior to game 1 we had Lunt, Larroyer, & Campese out injured.
Walkers case was known about prior to the season starting, i fail to accept he has 100% focus on RL matters.
Every single fan thinks he has recruited in the wrong areas, leaving us confused as to what the bigger picture plan is.
After all his time in charge there has been no improvement on the whole. the odd decent performance, a rare cracking performance but the norm for a CC side is a dire defensive performance.
Last seasons crap league form was papered over by the CC cup final appearance and a middle 8's unbeaten run...we got honked in the cup final and were people really happy to be in the middle 8's regardless of results?
The signs are that this season will go the same or worse than last season, bottom 4 beckons, this is unacceptable to me. i know some fans are a little less ambitious than myself and would like to give him more time. but IMO he should go, take Poching with him and do that NOW!
Who would i replace him with? I'm not sure who's available but someone of the Darryl Powell mould (I know, but regardless of THAT incident, he is a cracking coach) would be good.
Just go now before you do too much damage and it can't be undone!

Re: Time for Chester to go - the facts! : Tue Feb 16, 2016 10:05 am  

I'm not sure many other coaches would be doing much better with the squad he currently has available.

Putting together a squad is not just his responsibility, but Peacock, Hudgell & Crossland's responsibility too. It's very harsh to only point blame at Chester for this.

There's likely to be a big proportion of your salary cap sat in the stands, including captain and playmaker, both hookers and kicker. Maybe there are some issues with the balance of the cap and how that's been apportioned to accommodate some high earners, but again, not Chester's fault.

That point versus Cas is a point more than most people would have predicted. 2 games is not enough time for any coach, let alone one who has so many injuries to contend with

Re: Time for Chester to go - the facts! : Tue Feb 16, 2016 10:17 am  

Doom&Gloom Merchant wrote:

I'm not sure many other coaches would be doing much better with the squad he currently has available.

Putting together a squad is not just his responsibility, but Peacock, Hudgell & Crossland's responsibility too. It's very harsh to only point blame at Chester for this.

There's likely to be a big proportion of your salary cap sat in the stands, including captain and playmaker, both hookers and kicker. Maybe there are some issues with the balance of the cap and how that's been apportioned to accommodate some high earners, but again, not Chester's fault.

That point versus Cas is a point more than most people would have predicted. 2 games is not enough time for any coach, let alone one who has so many injuries to contend with

Agree, not his fault that players are injured.
We are saying he needs to sign a big set of forwards? but most of the players we would want are already signed to other clubs, we can't sign players that don't actually exist. Maybe he is a little green as a coach but who else would we get? We have to be realistic Wigan/Leeds/Saints/Wire can probably sign better players for less than we could simply on their name, they also have long well established & funded youth set ups (something we appear to be trying to sort out with the city of Hull academy) I am quiet prepared to wait a couple of seasons as long as we make small improvements along the way. We have no right to be a big club we must earn it & then maintain it. & lets face it we are not bottom Leeds are.

Re: Time for Chester to go - the facts! : Tue Feb 16, 2016 10:58 am  

[quote="Beverley red"]Agree, [b][b]not his fault that players are injured.
[/b][/b]We are saying he needs to sign a big set of forwards? but most of the players we would want are already signed to other clubs, we can't sign players that don't actually exist. Maybe he is a little green as a coach but who else would we get? We have to be realistic Wigan/Leeds/Saints/Wire can probably sign better players for less than we could simply on their name, they also have long well established & funded youth set ups (something we appear to be trying to sort out with the city of Hull academy) I am quiet prepared to wait a couple of seasons as long as we make small improvements along the way. We have no right to be a big club we must earn it & then maintain it. & lets face it we are not bottom Leeds are.[/quote


No, but Campese was a massive gamble given his injury record. Even more so signing an extension to 2018 after a few good performances. Other clubs were interested but weren't prepared to take the risk

Re: Time for Chester to go - the facts! : Tue Feb 16, 2016 12:17 pm  

Beverley red wrote:

Agree, not his fault that players are injured.
We are saying he needs to sign a big set of forwards? but most of the players we would want are already signed to other clubs, we can't sign players that don't actually exist. Maybe he is a little green as a coach but who else would we get? We have to be realistic Wigan/Leeds/Saints/Wire can probably sign better players for less than we could simply on their name, they also have long well established & funded youth set ups (something we appear to be trying to sort out with the city of Hull academy) I am quiet prepared to wait a couple of seasons as long as we make small improvements along the way. We have no right to be a big club we must earn it & then maintain it. & lets face it we are not bottom Leeds are.

You are correct in saying he is not directly responsible for the injuries but he was largely responsible for recruitment, he had the initial say and then it was up to the board to sanction those requests.
For example, Dane Tilse was a panic buy and is not good enough in most fans opinions, he should not have got a 2 year deal, we have also brought mostly unknown types of players, with potential I would agree, but we should have gone for one or two big impact players that would have made all the difference now and then bought one or two lesser established types, but with potential for the future.
Some People keep on saying that we will be a different team if and when Campo comes back, well yes we might be but only from an attacking perspective, lets not forget that last season even with campo in the side we were still pants in defence with one of the worst points against records in super league, up to now this side of our game has not changed and I honestly cannot see it changing any time soon.
You go on to say, you are prepared to wait another couple of seasons, by that I assume you mean retain Chester for another couple of seasons.
Well I'm afraid in that case you may have to do your waiting in the national league because at the moment I see no way we are going to make the necessary improvements to become a force or god forbid even stay in super league while employing the current coaching set up along with their questionable coaching methods and choice of players, with or without Campo and Lunt, assuming the former even gets back playing for any length of time.
With regards to Leeds been currently bottom, they may well be at the moment but I would bet my house that they will start to climb and then make inroads into the league table before we do.

Re: Time for Chester to go - the facts! : Tue Feb 16, 2016 12:41 pm  

i don't think the board are helping out, instead of spending funds on the squad they seem to have trimmed a bit off the squad and invested into peacock and the new gym and other things going on behind the scenes

But Chester is out of his depth the team dont believe in him anymore our defence is awful our attitude towards games is awful, I'm not sure what Chester has done to sio and Kelly them seem shadows of the players they were last season

It's not a great feeling to be supporting rovers at the minute but i will still be there on Sunday you can't go enjoy days like the promotion or the semi final at Leeds without enduring the bad days

Re: Time for Chester to go - the facts! : Tue Feb 16, 2016 12:51 pm  

Seventies red wrote:

You are correct in saying he is not directly responsible for the injuries but he was largely responsible for recruitment, he had the initial say and then it was up to the board to sanction those requests.
For example, Dane Tilse was a panic buy and is not good enough in most fans opinions, he should not have got a 2 year deal, we have also brought mostly unknown types of players, with potential I would agree, but we should have gone for one or two big impact players that would have made all the difference now and then bought one or two lesser established types, but with potential for the future.
Some People keep on saying that we will be a different team if and when Campo comes back, well yes we might be but only from an attacking perspective, lets not forget that last season even with campo in the side we were still pants in defence with one of the worst points against records in super league, up to now this side of our game has not changed and I honestly cannot see it changing any time soon.
You go on to say, you are prepared to wait another couple of seasons, by that I assume you mean retain Chester for another couple of seasons.
Well I'm afraid in that case you may have to do your waiting in the national league because at the moment I see no way we are going to make the necessary improvements to become a force or god forbid even stay in super league while employing the current coaching set up along with their questionable coaching methods and choice of players, with or without Campo and Lunt, assuming the former even gets back playing for any length of time.
With regards to Leeds been currently bottom, they may well be at the moment but I would bet my house that they will start to climb and then make inroads into the league table before we do.

Agree with what you are saying that we will if we do not get rid of chester we will finish up going down we need to do something now not wait and see

Re: Time for Chester to go - the facts! : Tue Feb 16, 2016 12:58 pm  

Its an understandable reaction to what is an underwhelming start to the season, and if we look a little closer it can be sourced back to the start of pre-season when the opportunity to work solidly on defensive formations should have been of prime concern. I must say I couldn't believe it when I was told contact and drills weren't started until January! When I played (albeit amateur) we combined gaining fitness on the training pitch with the track and the gym from week one of the schedule. I don't think the game has changed that much, has it?

Chester also knew he had a problem in the pack - two big units - but no one has arrived at the Lightstream. I suggest the reason for this can be found in the clubs emphasis on finding the right fit. No matter how deep you filter and delve into the individual there is always a risk (ie Adam Walker, whether guilty or not you cannot detect these things). I know Ben Kavanagh turned Rovers down because of the faffing about this process was causing, although I feel we dodged a bullet with him IMO. TBH you don't need to be well-grounded to be a forward, you want someone who is a nutter (for want of a better word). Would the current selection process sign Ben Westwood or going back in time Burton or Hogan. Its all well and good going for 'image' and 'brand' but come on, this is rough tough rugby league.

As for calling for Chester to resign, I suggest it is premature. Lets wait until the likes of Campo and Lunt return before we get the 'Chester Out' banners. . .but it might be worth a punt at the bookies to take advantage of still reasonable odds!

Re: Time for Chester to go - the facts! : Tue Feb 16, 2016 2:27 pm  

I think the key to this whole argument is PERSPECTIVE AND PRIORITY - not our PERSPECTIVE and PRIORITIES as fans but those of Chezzie as coach and the board who appointed him and currently support him.

WHAT DO I MEAN BY THIS?

To me, Chezzie overinflates the value and ability of his players. He puts them on a pedestal, tells all and sundry they are a tight unit and a talented, quality bunch when the reality is definitely below this PERSPECTIVE. Player personality, collegiality and culture fit is PRIORITISED and favoured above ability and achievement. Very new Labour. Doesn't matter if your core skills, talent or mindset are below par, or your mentality is not a winning one because you'll have your teammates to support you, slap you on the back and bail you out when you fail, so the plan goes.

In Chezzie land, It's likely you'll fail more often than not. No need to practice defensive drills in in this altruistic but complacent la la land, because we can experiment as we go along losing game after game all season and eventually get it right when it's too late. No worries, we can prove to the rest of the RL fraternity that we are good enough to stay in SL by cruising through the middle 8s again.

If the board has bought into this concept and vision, then their PERSPECTIVE of what constitutes a successful SL team is seriously flawed and then we as fans need to question it.

Chezzie has got 2 more games to turn things round, if not, I hope he's toast. Poching should be gone already imo. That's my PERSPECTIVE AND PRIORITY.


FINALLY OUR ESTEEMED COLLEAGUE, BARHAM RED, SAID IN ANOTHER THREAD - "IF YOU FAIL TO PLAN, YOU PLAN TO FAIL." This outcome is usually the sign of a bad manager. Perhaps that is why the board have brought in JP to manage us out of this exact situation.

Re: Time for Chester to go - the facts! : Tue Feb 16, 2016 3:30 pm  

I respect what Rob and Neil have done, and even they admit when they've made mistakes. But unfortunately they are currently making one right now. They are very loyal to any staff or players they employ, but this blindness loyalty is fast becoming their undoing. After all this hasn't been just this season, but way back to the challenge cup final in August last year up to the present date.
The Wakefield game has come at the wrong time for the club and the section of fans unhappy with this coaching regime. This game most probably could be the stay of execution for Chester. A shame really as we all know that this sorry affair could drag on for longer than is necessary.
Blind faith will not bring results. But a change of coach could well do.