But for us, that presents the usual worries of having to manage with them not being here for close to a third of the season. Such is life. We are used to that

First topic message reminder :

Well said Cockers.

http://www.espnscrum.com/england/rugby/story/166642.html

Ol' man river, dat ol' man river
He mus' know sumpin', but don't say nuthin'
He jes' keeps rollin'
He keeps on rollin' along

He don' plant taters, he don't plant cotton
An' dem dat plants' em is soon forgotten
But ol'man river
He jes' keeps rollin' along

Ah I don't know, there have been times whens he come out and held his hands up. Same after the Premiership final the season before last as after they got knocked out of Europe at Ravenhill last season.

He has made a right Holly Wilaboobie off himself at times, enough to get a reputation, but he's not the bogeyman.

Their lack of trophies in the last couple of seasons only strengthens my opinion on him.

Like the LV Cup this season and the AP win a couple of seasons back? 3 trophies in 4 years isn't bad. We've made the AP Final in all 4 seasons, 1 LV final (using mainly youngsters) and 1 HEC final. He's not had a lot of luck with injuries either. Personally I think the jury is still out, he takes a lot of flack after his playing career where he generally spoke first, punched second and then thought third. He's a fairly well thought out coach though, there's certainly a minimal number of bungles in press conferences etc.

He needs a big season sooner or later, the squad is developing well under him as he has had a tough time replacing some of the big Tigers names when the French are out gunning us on price. This year or possibly next year need to see a better run and some performances in finals otherwise the board will start to look around for options (the board aren't trigger happy though). Remember he's a young DOR and a new one at that.

Still think he should hire a defence coach though...

Feckless Rogue wrote:To be honest, I think Cockerill is one of the biggest whingers and moaners in the game. After any defeat he starts of by saying "We're not gonna make any excuses". He then lists off about ten excuses, that he's not going to use, but is just mentioning them anyway.

I don't think he has the right mentality to take the Tigers any further. Their lack of trophies in the last couple of seasons only strengthens my opinion on him.

You find me one coach that doesn't use an "excuse".

You sure your not confusing excuse with reason?

Tigers are stretched by having so many international call ups but they do have the advantage of being exempt from the salary cap.

Tigers are stretched by having so many international call ups but they do have the advantage of being exempt from the salary cap.

If only Exiled, if only.

There's been a school of thought for some time that EPS payments should go towards extending the salary cap.

formerly known as Sam wrote:

Tigers are stretched by having so many international call ups but they do have the advantage of being exempt from the salary cap.

If only Exiled, if only.

There's been a school of thought for some time that EPS payments should go towards extending the salary cap.

That's what I think. Otherwise you have to build your squad to compensate for the missing time but don't have more room in the salary cap. Basically those with more EPS players than others have an effectively lower cap. That's stupid. There are issues over inflating the salary of EPS players (if there was more/better compensation they would be more attractive to bring in, pushing up the prices). But if you make them took unattractive they'll be looking elsewhere (France, Japan, etc)

nathan wrote:

Feckless Rogue wrote:To be honest, I think Cockerill is one of the biggest whingers and moaners in the game. After any defeat he starts of by saying "We're not gonna make any excuses". He then lists off about ten excuses, that he's not going to use, but is just mentioning them anyway.

I don't think he has the right mentality to take the Tigers any further. Their lack of trophies in the last couple of seasons only strengthens my opinion on him.

You find me one coach that doesn't use an "excuse".

You sure your not confusing excuse with reason?

In Ireland, the English club coaches have gotten a bit of a reputation for being terrible whingers after they lose. Venter (the ref), Mallinder (we were tired) as well as Cockerill. Now, after some Irish domination of the HC, the English teams want to pull out or change the rules, which doesn't help their reputation.

But of course, every manager has to give reasons for defeat, so I was being harsh on Cockers. Are the fans behind him, even after the AP final defeats and the poor away record in the HC?