Redpath joins Sale - more legals?

Basil Brush

Wow, didn't see that one coming?!

Whilst the raw emotion of the whole situation has died down and put into perspective in light of recent events, I am left with a real sense of disappointment in Brush. He is a guy that preaches honesty and integrity and unfortunately he's let himself down. Nevertheless he was a great servant to Glaws and I wish him well. In the meantime let's take Sale to the cleaners!!

He gave a talk at my work a couple months back, where he rambled on about how he prides himself on loyalty and honesty. No substance.

I predict a lawsuit,
Oh I predict a lawsuit,
and if there's anybody left in here,
that doesn't want to sue someone out there,
I predict a lawsuit,
I predict a lawsuit.

In the end I think he underachieved at Gloucester. It'll be interesting to see how he does.

It's a shame how all this has played out. It's damaged all parties, and as noted above, there must be some question marks over this appointment purely from a rugby perspective.

As a player Redpath was smashing. Great tactician with a wonderful sharp pass. Much of the credit Townsend took for being a great 10 for Scotland stemmed from the unbelievably good service (and often pressure relieved) from Redpath.

However as a coach I remain unconvinced. Yes, Glaws have unearthed some gems this season and played some lovely stuff, but they've also collapsed on several occasions and have never really convinced that they're made of the right stuff.

With the ambitions that Sale have, I can't help but feel that they should have gone for Dean Richards, by a distance a better appointment in my view.

DaveM wrote:In the end I think he underachieved at Gloucester. It'll be interesting to see how he does.

I agree entirely. I can't for the life of me see why he is rated, it seems people have fallen over themselves to say how good a coach he is. Where's the evidence?

Gloucester fans, i may have got this completely wrong, but is he as highly rated as I think he is, and if so is there any justification for it? I know Ryan's teams looked like they were tailing off, but he got a lot closer to success that Redpath surely?

funnyExiledScot wrote:It's a shame how all this has played out. It's damaged all parties, and as noted above, there must be some question marks over this appointment purely from a rugby perspective.

As a player Redpath was smashing. Great tactician with a wonderful sharp pass. Much of the credit Townsend took for being a great 10 for Scotland stemmed from the unbelievably good service (and often pressure relieved) from Redpath.

However as a coach I remain unconvinced. Yes, Glaws have unearthed some gems this season and played some lovely stuff, but they've also collapsed on several occasions and have never really convinced that they're made of the right stuff.

With the ambitions that Sale have, I can't help but feel that they should have gone for Dean Richards, by a distance a better appointment in my view.

The "stories" come out of Glaws were that Brush couldn't handle the pressure of a DoR role and he ended up being rather emotionally unbalanced. Whether this is true or not one aspect that seems to be true is that he just wants to focus on coaching as Diamond will be doing all the other work. There's no doubt he didn't conduct himself well with contract negotiations.

I think to say he underachieved is harsh. In his first full season in the top job he finished 3rd in the league, far higher than anticipated, lost to eventual champions Saracens by 2 points in the Premiership semi-final and won the LV cup. That was definitely over achievement relative to that season's expectations. This season Gloucester played some of the most attractive attacking rugby in England and looked good for three-quarters of the season. Some big wins were tempered by frustrating tight losses but with 6 games remaining Gloucester were still in the hunt for the play-offs with winable looking fixtures. Then the wheels came off and the season finished in very disappointing fashion. He was a very well liked by fans until the Sale issue arose, and it always seemed that the squad was much happier than in the Dean Ryan days.

The question of a lawsuit is tricky. On one hand I would say move on, look forwards with the exciting new squad and a fresh coaching set up, don't force the issue any longer and don't drag this out for fear of becoming undignified. However there is part of me that wouldn't want to look like pushovers, developing coaching and playing talent that's there to be poached by anyone who fancies and offering little resistance. Ryan Walkinshaw's comments immediately following Redpath's departure suggest there will be some sort of action as he will not want to be seen as being all bluster and no substance.

I would hope Steve Diamonds quote back in April claiming that they had already appointed a DoR for next season who was coming from another Jeff side will come back to bite him in the backside.

I remember both Redpath and Diamond denying they had been in touch and that he was going to join Sale so it really does look like some fibbing has been going on.

Shame as Redpath set his stool out on honesty and values, and he's let himself down here.

If I was Glos i'd be looking to build a case against Sale.

And it makes the end of the season look even worse now, at the time it seemed like he'd just given up on the club and the teams performances reflected that and now he's done this, could he have been trying to sabotage the season?

Tom Voyce wrote that ongoing transfers towards the end of the season disrupted Glaws' progress. It is odd that Glaws slipped from top 4 contenders to bottom 4 in a month, I know Nick Wood's injury was a big blow but there must've been more going on.

Especially when you look at who they lost to. What was it, home losses to Falcons, Wuss and Wasps? There is something very wrong with that.

The 6 losses in a row at the end of the season:

Tigers (away)
Exeter (home)
Wasps (away)
Newcastle (home)
Sale (home)
Irish (away)

Beforehand I would have said 4 wins should be the minimum expectation, a loss at Welford Road is no big deal despite prior success and then you can accept one slip up somewhere, likely vs Exeter who were playing very well or at Irish since we always seem to under perform there.

Yeah, those middle four should've been dead certs. Would've given top 4, not that we'd beat Tigers/Quins away anyway though.

jeffwinger wrote:I think to say he underachieved is harsh.

I thought given the squad he had they should have finished top 4 this season.

DaveM wrote:

jeffwinger wrote:I think to say he underachieved is harsh.

I thought given the squad he had they should have finished top 4 this season.

That's fair. But prior to the shocking end of season slump they were on course to do so, and it is now evident that Redpath wasn't really giving the team his full attention during that period. Excluding the final 2 months of his tenure he was successful with Gloucester, and his reputation as a coach has been enhanced during his time at the club. The fact it all ended in an unsavoury manner shouldn't detract from his previous achievements though.

Perhaps, there was just a slight brittleness to Gloucester I thought. They didn't feel like a team who would win the crunch games. We'll see how he does at Sale, with a slightly weaker squad.

I would say that is the feeling among most Gloucester fans as well. It is infuriating to deservedly lose to sides near the foot of the table the week after dominating a stronger team, but that has been the way of the last few years. For whatever reason, Gloucester have been awful travellers for a while, but can usually be relied upon to get the result at Kingsholm. The home form was the most worrying aspect of the last few games this season. I think prior to the Exeter match the only league loss at Kingsholm in 2 seasons had been the one this year vs Saracens, where Barritt scored that last minute dodgy TMO try to win it. To then lose (and deserve to lose) at home to Exeter, Newcastle and Sale was shocking.

DaveM wrote:Perhaps, there was just a slight brittleness to Gloucester I thought. They didn't feel like a team who would win the crunch games. We'll see how he does at Sale, with a slightly weaker squad.

I think that is a very fair comment for this season just gone. We lost 7 or 8 games wwhere we had been winning in the last 10 minutes. Whilst the players are largely responsible i was never happy with Brush's policy to make so many substitutions as the momentum would always be lost. How many subs did Quins make in the final?...