Where has it gone wrong?

I genuinely don't think it's all doom and gloom but clearly nine defeats in 11 games and five defeats in a row is not pretty reading. I've done a piece on the reasons for the bad start. Feel free to let me know your thoughts: http://bit.ly/FactorsToPoorStart

I think you've relayed a decent article that echo's what many have been saying on the Baz "doom and gloom" thread Rob .

I don't know if your title is more dramatic than Barry's or not ! ?.

Has it all gone wrong ?. Not quite; and maybe you need to get behind the management and club from the media's perspective . Either that or TIG might get sanctioned ! ....( hopefully …umm not ).....um ? ( all tongue-in -cheek btw ).

Anyway ; I would agree with the obvious points; but not at all with the point you make about the fixtures !!.

Given the factors of last season and the relative one's of opposition sides this season thus far , I would argue we would have been reasonably expected to have done much better. Perhaps the exception would have been the Montpellier match away ; where we did much better than most of us expected.

You make points about the players , but give little reference I( if in effect any ) to the game management i.e; Plan A , B etc which has seemingly been absent. This is crucial and a major omission . Not ALL the blame can be pointed to the players.

Also ; the failure to improve the defensive game, and also to combat the likelihood of the opposition working us out too easily.

Is the management a "one -trick" pony that took the league a bit by surprise last season and which others have now worked out? . In asking you this question , I am not suggesting that this is my own opinion .Do we need to re-think the tactics ?. Rob what do you think about this and can you expand your own views please ?.

P.s I am actually happy to see the media being a tad controversial . At times things need to be said.

It remains a fact though that we do need to keep faith and keep the support going as we always do. I do believe we can come good in the next two matches. We MUST beat Wuss -whatever happens against Connacht.

Finally Rob ; what is your honest opinion of the mood in the camp ?. Do you have any positive's to report ?. You can't just post a lead to you articles -surely ? Come on be a sport and join the debate . We won't tell anyone !

Lack of direction and leadership on the field, conditioning looks questionable, predictable attacking patterns, playing like 15 blokes that met in the car park,how long have you got?

Hard to disagree with anything in the article, Rob, but to be honest you are simply summarising what has been discussed on SW and amongst supporters in recent weeks. And asking for comments, feels like a way to get us to write a piece for you.
I'd be really interested to read something that has been well researched and innovative. Whatever happened to investigative journalism?

The set piece is still an issue, especially the scrum and whilst the line-out has improved from the early disasters I certainly wouldn't put any of my savings on it in bets. The grunt starts at the front and unless you can hold your own at scrum and line-out you'll go backwards. Accuracy is also an issue and all too often we see dropped passes, poor passes which leads to backs standing still when they receive the ball.
It's all well and good having flying backs and fancy moves but there has to be a degree of pragmatism in the plays, too and that's were leadership should come to the fore. Gloucester often play the fancy stuff in their own half at best and at worst in their own 22. It's not as if they are a bunch of rookies and commonsense must be applied.
JA also needs to be aware that confidence doesn't come from constant team changes and I would forget rotation for the time being and get some wins under the belt over and above anything else.

Well, I’m frustrated as well, but it’s never that simple. For instance, that wonderful try against Leicester last year might well be considered as “fancy stuff in their own 22”. Perhaps Ackermann’s philosophy of rugby won’t fit the NH, or Premiership. I hope I’m wrong as when it works it’s thrilling rugby far removed from the stifling box kick and hope for a mistake stuff that passes for rugby these days.

Keith Richardson's article on the Quins game is good: https://www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk/s ... se-3601600

Hard to disagree with anything in the article, Rob, but to be honest you are simply summarising what has been discussed on SW and amongst supporters in recent weeks. And asking for comments, feels like a way to get us to write a piece for you.
I'd be really interested to read something that has been well researched and innovative. Whatever happened to investigative journalism?

A bloody big +1.