Should Ulster let Brian Mclaughlin go???

First topic message reminder :

There is speculation on the UAFC website that Brian Mclaughlin may leave ulster at the end of this season, whether this is his decision or Ulsters has not yet been ascertained. Some believe that yes he has been the man who ulster needed the past two seasons to rebuild and remold us into a competitive franchise, but he doesn't have the guile or experience to bring us to the next step. the same people believe that a more experienced coach would have had a few tricks up their sleeve that would have enabled us to beat Northampton or Clermont.

I personally rate McGlock really highly, i think he is intelligent and reads the game really well, i feel what lets him down at times are his assistant coaches. i believe that we really need to obtain new backs, scrum and attack coaches. our forwards and defense are our major strengths.

Ulster Fans what are your views?
Non Ulster fans what are you opinions of our coaching set up,bearing in mind that it is Hump Snr who carries out our player recruitment and not Mclaughlin.

MrsP wrote:Why do the TV camera's show Davy H more often than BM during games?

Well, you'd really have to ask the directors but one reason could be that DH sits in a seat at Ravenhill, away from the technical area and so is very easy to find and film whilst BM used to prowl along the dead ball line and has now been persuaded to prowl around in a wee room in the wee building behind the dead ball line with the tech guys and so is very difficult to get good camera shots of.

David H has indeed got all the credit for the fantastic signing we have made and rightly so since it was his hard work and good name that persuaded the lads to come.

Why do the TV folks sometimes interview DH after games as well as BM?

Once again TV decision but BM is actually quite a shy guy and one who does not in any way relish being in front of a camera. DH was quite a famous rugby player in Ulster. BM was a teacher who only fellas who went to Inst would have been able to pick out of a line up and who is very very happy with that.

Do we want a coach who is worried about how much time he gets on camera compared to DH?

I sincerely hope not!

The problem with it is that anyone coming in will want credit for whatever work they do but the reaction to McLaughlins sacking/not getting his contract renewed/stepping across to the academy that while Humphries got credit for the signings fans and press recognise the contribution from the coach.

My question though is not about camera time but that will the next man in the job be on a hiding to nothing? A popular coach has been ousted so will his replacement need to win the Rabo or HC to win over the Ravehill crowd?

McLaughlin didn't want to be involved in recruitment/player contracts.
McLaughlin doesn't want to go in front of the camera - he hates it

There will be a totally different dynamic when a new coach arrives.

To be honest if Ulster can turn round and say to Kirwan we are not going to consider you for the job, which I understand they have done, then the profile/experience of the people they have interviewed cant be too shabby.

geoff998rugby wrote:McLaughlin didn't want to be involved in recruitment/player contracts.
McLaughlin doesn't want to go in front of the camera - he hates it

There will be a totally different dynamic when a new coach arrives.

And thats the bottom line Geoff.

Glad to hear we've given Kirwan a wide berth. Not convinced he was the man for the job. I'd still love to see McCall or Cheika but we'll see.

Any rumours flying around as to who is in the frame?

It's nteresting that the DoR (or specifically DH) playing such a role in recruitment vexes posters here. Forgetting Pienaar, Afoa etc our non-marquee, more low-key signings have, I think, been better than the other provinces. Adam D'Arcy is not fantatsic, but he has proven a better (and last-mnute) signing for Ulster than Sykes for Leinster, say. He's played in an HEC QF. Black is provng to be pretty handy as well - decent scrummager, not bad in the loose, very hard worker. Stevenson az well, and Barker before him. Having a DoR that takes a lot of the leg-work in this role is perhaps why I think our signings are better across the board. Forgetting the Brad Thorns of this world, when you need an IQ fullback at short notice, how much time does a coach want to spend on that? Our least impressive signing over the last few years has been McComish, who is IQ and was a known quantity.

Could Munster and Leinster not benefit from something similar? Chambers, Borlase, Ed O'Donohue - not massive wage bills (at least I'd hope not), but which of them was worth it?

Irish players rarely come North and forego the tax break, so we really have to hunt fir good IQ signings. Maybe that's actually given us an edge?

For all the fanfare about Afoa, remember that signing him and Payne was our back-up plan when Andress and Jane fell through.

That is a pretty impressive plan B.

That has been what has impressed me the most - the abilty to react quickly

Rush falls through we get Wannenberg
Peel falls through we get Pienaer
Jane/Andress falls through we get Afoa/Payne
Cunningham has to retire we get D'arcy

Pretty impressive

geoff998rugby wrote:That has been what has impressed me the most - the abilty to react quickly

Rush falls through we get Wannenberg
Peel falls through we get Pienaer
Jane/Andress falls through we get Afoa/Payne
Cunningham has to retire we get D'arcy

Pretty impressive

God, can you imagine if we'd ended up with Dwayne Peel instead of Pienaar, doesnt bare thinking about.

He was never serious - he was playing us to get a better contract at Sale

over th elast few years Wannenberg has played better than Rush has, am very pleased that Rush didn't come.

Interview with Logan: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/rugby-union/16990646

Interesting that he says the new coach will have to fit into the current set up and work with Humphreys so that dynamic with the director of rugby is unlikely to change.

Now we know why he gets the big bucks!

I think he handled that very very well.

Good save Shaney boy!

Excellent interview and I can reveal that the coach he was talking about is Kirwan - it looks like his agent spilled the beans. Needless to say Kirwan is persona non gratis at Ulster now - Scumbag

Saw that interview last night at half time during the Dragons match, when he said the coaches everyone was talking about hadnt even been approached I immediately assumed that referred to Kirwan.

Any insight as to who has been interviewed or who might be in contention, heard Cheika and Plumtree mentioned but for all I know that could be as bogus as Kirwan.