Out with the old, in with the new at Edinburgh

First topic message reminder :

Former Wasps & QPR boss appointed MD

Davies seems to have a good CV with experience in rugby. Also has experience in "building" stadiums.

It'll be interesting to hear Wasps/QPR fans view of him.

Majestic83 wrote:

RDW_Scotland wrote:Where did you see that? He's looked good when he's played, problem is he's always injured!

Looks like we'll need a couple of centres then - grove and Taylor please!

Would love it if we got Grove but think he still has a year or so on his contract at Worcester. Definitely a player
who is underestimated by the scotland coaches and for me should have been at 13 in the six nations. Great set of
hands on him and very good in defence and also a great guy who works hard in training.
Not sure how long Taylors contract is at Sarries.

Another possibility for a spot from what i am hearing in Australia is Lachlan Mitchell, the rebels centre/wing. Scottish mother,
played for Wasps previously and his contract runs out at the end of the super xv. From what i have heard he is keen to play
in Europe again and has aspirations of playing international rugby still despite being over looked by Robbie Deans.

Two home grown centres i'd look at for centre spots for the future are Robbie Fergusson of Ayr/scot u20 and Chris Auld Gala/scot u20
both been in good form. Robbie is very creative and has lots of pace, when i have seen him play similar style of play to James O'Connor.
Can play right across the backline from 10 to 15 but probably his best position is 12 or 13.

Chris Auld also in good form, not seen as much of him this season but the games i have he has looked very solid, good in defence and carries
the ball well.

Maj, good shout on those two young lads - will be interesting to see in what shape Finn Russell comes back from Christchurch, he can play 10/12 too

DrTreasure wrote:I'm still also undecided about Laidlaw. I thought he needed to be moved back to 9 for Scotland's sake but it seemed to work better for Edinburgh with him commanding things from 10 and this six nations has left me unsure of him as the scrum half solution. A no doubt intelligent and key player but Mckibbens would be a good Maitland esq signing, he is aggressive and confident and would add more at 9 than Laidlaw does currently.

All the Edinburgh fans had been calling for Laidlaw back at 9. Now he is there he is even worse player now, as when he was playing 10.
Dr treasure your still undecided about Laidlaw. Well I am decided, the guy is so-overated as a player, he cannot play on the backfoot and under pressure, he has proved it this season, he is a poor-mans 9 that can sometimes kick a ball that's in his limit.
If he was a forgeiner , Undoubtedly the local fans would be calling for his head.

Disagree with you about laidlaw - he can play well under pressure - infact his level headand ability to do so is one of his strengths but Robinson and others buggering about with is natural game and playing for a often beaten side have left him short of confidence and conservative in outlook. Lets see what a decent coach can getout of him. I think he is a great player and one of the best we have.

Janecory - you have continually lambasted Laidlaw on these pages. I Have watched him for years and this year has not been a good one for him - he is capable of playing better but I believe he is ill served by his coaches and should have been dropped from the national side to regain some confidence. He has however played ihimself back into some form.

Can we try and not get into a Laidlaw debate again?? It's been done to death!

Are there enough good club players in Scotland ,with a few anglo/7s players/overseas additions if necessary, to comprise a decent pro-team? If anyone follows the Scottish club game I'd be interested in hearing their ideas for a team/squad. As I said in an earlier post, Grant Anderson impressed me at the Melrose 7s as did James Fleming, so there's two for starters....let's hear your thoughts please.

I definitely wasn't trying to start a debate about Laidlaw. It's clearly felt that a bit of an overhaul is needed of the playing staff at Edinburgh. The different sources for players seem to be;

Homegrown players, always important and good to see a few being touted for professional contracts.
Scottish players playing outside of Scotland like Walker or Hogg.
Non Scottish qualified. Can have its role but has been poorly done by Edinburgh.
Scottish qualified from other nations.

Edinburgh could so with a good blend and the right player from abroad can really help to bring on home talent. I had asked about Laidlaw merely as I only knew of a couple of scot qualified super rugby guys previously mentioned in past discussions and that included a scrum half in McGibbons and a full back robbie Robinson who seems to have fallen out of favour at the chiefs for Anscombe thpugh has also been injured but they are not necessarily key positions for change (unless you have such a dislike for Laidlaw clearly!)

MacKnocked-on wrote:Are there enough good club players in Scotland ,with a few anglo/7s players/overseas additions if necessary, to comprise a decent pro-team? If anyone follows the Scottish club game I'd be interested in hearing their ideas for a team/squad. As I said in an earlier post, Grant Anderson impressed me at the Melrose 7s as did James Fleming, so there's two for starters....let's hear your thoughts please.

Yep i would say there are enough good players either playing in the club scene & u20s just now with some additions from overseas & players playing down south to form a decent pro team.

Just off the top of my head from what i have seen and also played against some of these guys i think could easily step up.

Hookers
Sean Crombie, Fraser Brown, Russell Anderson.

Props
Alistair Hamilton(Currie), James Bhatti(Stirling Co),

Locks
Murray Douglas(Aberdeen),

Back Row
Richie McIver(dundee) Michael Maltman(scotland 7s) Callum Reid (Accies) Gary Graham(Gala), Ross Weston (Currie)
The Ayr back Row about 4 of them are high quality players, Andy Rose(Muir)

scrum halfs

Peter Jerecevich(Ayr), Morgan Ward (Aberdeen) George Graham( Gala) Sam Johnson(Muir) Graham Wilson(Heriots)

Stand Offs
Lee Millar( Gala signed for london Scottish) Alex Heggart( Aberdeen) Jack Steele ( Dundee also a 12)

Centres
Robbie Fergusson & Ross Curle(Ayr) Chris Auld(Gala) Danny Gilmour ( Stirling)

Wings
Kerr & Craig Gossman(Ayr) Damian Hoyland( Muir) Grant Sommerville (Gala)

Full backs
Jamie Forbes(Currie) Grant Anderson (Ayr) Steve Aitken (Aberdeen)

There will be more players as well but those are just the ones off the top of my head who have impressed this season.

Guys its pointless debating the Laidlaw thing again, Janecory is more than likely Richie Rees's mother/close relative. When Rees was at the blues all she did was hate on Lloyd williams, and as soon as Rees came to edinburgh, she turned her attention to Laidlaw. I would bet money her focus will move onto the dragons next season.

Back to the club game though, Fleming has suffered from a case of ColinGregoritus, in that hes a very good 7's player, and as such will probably never break free of the 7's squad to have a proper crack at 15s. He was on Edinburghs books lasts eason as a 7's player, but isnt listed anymore due to the full time squad. Without doubt the fastest player in Scotland though, which is amazing considering he never seems to lift his knees very high when he runs. He always looks like hes a done a poo in his pants.

Heres a quick list off the top my head of players who are either marked for the future or standouts at their clubs and are not currently attached to Embra or Glasgow. Ive not considered guys who are past their mid 20's (although one or two mightve sneaked in), or NSQ (eg. Palepoi)

Ayr: Ferguson UB, Anderson FB, Lowe FB
Gala: Dods 8, Graham BR, Graham SH, Auld C, Somerville WG
Currie: Forbes FB, probably others but I havent followed Currie this year.
Melrose: Helps C, Nagle BR, Colvine SH
Dundee: McIvor BR, Steele C, Urquhart FB
Aberdeen: Havent followed
Accies: Dean BR, Glashan SH, Blair UB, Young FB
Heriots: Learmonth C/W, Brown HK/BR
Stirling Co: Havent followed, but undoubtedly sitting on some talent considering their pedigree for youth development
Muir: Hoyland W, Buchan C
Hawick: Hutton FH, Cottrell SH, Renwick FB, Coutts UB, Muir PR
Hawks: Herron C, Miller BR, havent followed

By no means at all a comprehensive list, its obviously subjective and there will be plenty of players Ive forgotten about. Even then, I reckon a lot of the backrows and back threes in the top half of prem1 would cope with the standard of the pro game at least as good squad players if not more. In more specialist positions, then theres a bit more of a raise in standard required.

Can we please turn this information into an ongoing new thread about young Scottish players as I really want to find out more about our kids and I don't want this tracker to be easily lost.

Maj/IBD - if you promise to post more on these boards, I promise to post less. Great stuff.

George Carlin wrote:Maj/IBD - if you promise to post more on these boards, I promise to post less. Great stuff.

You never say such nice things to me

I'm always so supportive of young players. I even gave Mark Bennett a lasting nickname.....

It's always distressing to see Parks play against Edinburgh, he just seems to know how to beat us.

Robbie Ferguson is someone who was tipped a couple of seasons ago to make it, and it James King really is leaving (shame, as he's a better 12 than Ben Atiga), then Ferguson would be a good acquisition. I've seen him play for the U20s, and although he's not particularly physical, he is quick and has decent hands. Could be a useful contrast to Matt Scott.

Just on Matt Scott, I cannot emphasise enough how good he was in a losing cause on Friday. Comfortably the best player on the pitch, and frankly (and sadly) looked like he belonged at another level. Were he to be selected for the Lions tour, it's a decision I would defend to the hilt.

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:It's always distressing to see Parks play against Edinburgh, he just seems to know how to beat us.

He actually had a mixed game, and when he got yellow carded I thought this might be the day he has a stinker against us. But the manner in which he took the drop goal really killed us. We had just put huge pressure on Connacht, resulting in them conceding a penalty and a yellow card. Laidlaw took the 3 points rather than turn the screw, which in hindsight was probably the wrong decision, even though the 3 points took us back into the lead. Our restart was, as has been the case all season, a total shambles, Connacht went through about 5 phases of pick and drive, a man down, and then Parks effortlessly knocked over the drop goal. What took Edinburgh about 30 phases, 10 minutes, two line breaks and a Connacht yellow card to achieve, took Connacht about 60 seconds. The last penalty to deprive us of the LBP (which we did deserve on the balance of play) was a kick to the proverbials. Parks certainly had the last laugh.

Anyone able to do a similar list of Scots qualified foreigners that we could target? May be more difficult!

RDW_Scotland wrote:Anyone able to do a similar list of Scots qualified foreigners that we could target? May be more difficult!

Yeah i did one a while back so will see if i can find that again and post it. A few additional names to add to the list as well so will get it updated.

Do you want to set up a new thread listing young Scots and Scots qualified foreigners?

I think we should.. Can get the soap dodgers, sorry, our western brethern to join in more

funnyExiledScot wrote:

RuggerRadge2611 wrote:It's always distressing to see Parks play against Edinburgh, he just seems to know how to beat us.

He actually had a mixed game, and when he got yellow carded I thought this might be the day he has a stinker against us. But the manner in which he took the drop goal really killed us. We had just put huge pressure on Connacht, resulting in them conceding a penalty and a yellow card. Laidlaw took the 3 points rather than turn the screw, which in hindsight was probably the wrong decision, even though the 3 points took us back into the lead. Our restart was, as has been the case all season, a total shambles, Connacht went through about 5 phases of pick and drive, a man down, and then Parks effortlessly knocked over the drop goal. What took Edinburgh about 30 phases, 10 minutes, two line breaks and a Connacht yellow card to achieve, took Connacht about 60 seconds. The last penalty to deprive us of the LBP (which we did deserve on the balance of play) was a kick to the proverbials. Parks certainly had the last laugh.

couldnt put it better.

funnyExiledScot wrote:

George Carlin wrote:Maj/IBD - if you promise to post more on these boards, I promise to post less. Great stuff.

You never say such nice things to me

I'm always so supportive of young players. I even gave Mark Bennett a lasting nickname.....

FES =

Notice in today's Scotsman that the new MD of Edinburgh David Davies says there will likely be a twenty percent turnover of the squad at the end of the season.

Wow, that could be 8 - 10 people depending on how big you consider the 'squad' to be.

What are people's thoughts on his interview?

RDW_Scotland wrote:Wow, that could be 8 - 10 people depending on how big you consider the 'squad' to be.

What are people's thoughts on his interview?

I think some of the responses to it on facebook and other forums have been incredibly needy because he didnt just reel off some schpiel about how important the fans are.

The typical Edinburgh fun on Facebook does my nut in - they are nothing like you lot!

Hearing rumours that Tommy Allan has signed for Perpignan. Dont know wether its academy or full contract. Would hope the later since hes already wona juniour Currie Cup in the WP academy.

RDW_Scotland wrote:The typical Edinburgh fun on Facebook does my nut in - they are nothing like you lot!

aye, much nicer

MacKnocked-on wrote:Notice in today's Scotsman that the new MD of Edinburgh David Davies says there will likely be a twenty percent turnover of the squad at the end of the season.

How on earth does he know that? We haven't got a head coach!!

Worrying when a businessman makes a silly statement like that. Squad decisions should be down to the world class coaching team he should be busy working on, or is this an early warning that the best available coaches on the planet just so happen to be Duncan Hodge and Steve Scott, the same two that just coached Edinburgh to a home defeat by Connacht.

The only other possibility is that all those out of contract are going to leave without renewal, and that they have already made it clear that they won't stay under any circumstances. Worrying if so.

George Carlin wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:

George Carlin wrote:Maj/IBD - if you promise to post more on these boards, I promise to post less. Great stuff.

You never say such nice things to me

I'm always so supportive of young players. I even gave Mark Bennett a lasting nickname.....

FES =

I thought he sounded like he was just saying 20% is a typical turnover to expect from any given squad, although that does seem a bit high to me!

Tommy Allan's twitter seems to confirm the Perpignan move, although no info on whether it's an academy place.

Well I haven't listened to or read the statement, so that may be the case, but what I'd like to hear from him is that all his attention is currently on finding a world class coach, and that all rugby matters will be down to the new coach.

20% is also ridiculously high in my opinion. 1/5 of the squad? That can't be right for a typical close season.

Pat_Mustard wrote:Tommy Allan's twitter seems to confirm the Perpignan move, although no info on whether it's an academy place.

I'm pleased the lessons of Mark Bennett have been heeded.

A couple of years of gathering splinters and eating cheese and I suspect he'll end up being "loaned" to one of the pro sides to commence his professional career.

funnyExiledScot wrote:Well I haven't listened to or read the statement, so that may be the case, but what I'd like to hear from him is that all his attention is currently on finding a world class coach, and that all rugby matters will be down to the new coach.

20% is also ridiculously high in my opinion. 1/5 of the squad? That can't be right for a typical close season.

Upon reading another scotsman article, it does seem to be no more than a guess:

"If you have a 40-man squad, about eight players tend not to be there the next season. Sometimes it’s more, sometimes less, and I don’t know enough about this squad yet today to be able to give you a clear number."

Who left last year? Godman, Blair, Thompson, Paterson, MacDonald, Lozada, Traynor, Kelly and Gilding. That's probably more than you'd lose in an average season though

Oh well - I'll forgive him (and next time read the article itself before commenting!).

He isn't really saying anything judging from that quote above, although I'd still like to here more about the search for a new head coach.....

I get the impression he's going to be more of a behind-the-scenes businessman than a PR man - judging by his glum monotone interview voice!

One of the Scotsman articles covers the coaching issue:

Edinburgh Rugby go global in search for new coach

By DAVID FERGUSON
Published on Wednesday 17 April 2013 09:45

EDINBURGH Rugby’s new managing director has confirmed that talks have been held with coaches in the southern hemisphere as he seeks a new chief for the capital side.

David Davies stated that appointing a new coaching team tops his priorities but was quick to add, just five days into his new role, that no candidates had been ruled in or out and that, if he has to go into the new season with the man he wants not yet appointed, he will.

“Yes, there have been conversations, some internally with Stevie [Scott] and Duncan [Hodge], with coaches in the southern hemisphere and I suspect [through the SRU] with coaches on a domestic basis,” he said.

“We know that it’s a priority and I’m trying to get my head around it as properly as I can, and fully recognise that there is a domestic as well as international perspective to it and, as soon as I can give an informed update on it, I will do.”

Davies has worked with strong individuals, from Gerry Francis and Ian Holloway at Queens Park Rangers to Warren Gatland and Ian McGeechan at Wasps, and so acknowledged that SRU chief executive Mark Dodson and interim national coach Scott Johnson were involved in discussions but that he was not fazed by their influence.

While the search is global, Davies did not rule out the interim coaches Scott and Hodge remaining in place, insisting that Scottish candidates were at an advantage.

“I think there is a balance between the best person for the job and the wider interest,” he added. “Clearly, like everybody else, I’d like the best candidate to be a Scot because, with a team that’s predominantly a Scottish team, somebody that understands the mentality of local players and pressures they are under is clearly at an advantage.

“You can get some of that insight from assistants but, in a perfect world, it would be a Scot building a group of people that could go on to the national team.”

As for what timetable he was working to, Davies continued: “My view is that, ideally, you’d like the coach in place prior to pre-season but, if the right candidate was there with the right support structure, could we be in a position where we might be taking someone who will join us later? I guess that’s possible but we’re not in the position to have contemplated that in detail yet. I don’t want to send a message to fans that is an inaccurate one.”

Another priority is player recruitment. Netani Talei (to Dragons) and John Houston (to Scotland sevens squad) are departing this summer, while winger Nikki Walker is returning north but Davies expects several more players to be heading through the ‘in’ and ‘out’ doors. He added: “If you have a 40-man squad, about eight players tend not to be there the next season. Sometimes it’s more, sometimes less, and I don’t know enough about this squad yet today to be able to give you a clear number.

“A couple of players we have announced are going already, so what’s the chances another six will go.

“I suspect, for various reasons, that’s probably pretty good.”

My view is tranformed! I like the sound of this guy. Seems to be a no nonsense bloke, and is clearly not going to pump the media full of nonsense and hot air.

His statements about finding the right person, however long it takes, is also encouraging. He's right that a Scots head coach should be a preference, but also right that it's not essential. I'm also pleased to hear he's speaking with SH coaches, purely to get that external perspective.

He also sounds pragmatic in his statements, and level headed. He's got good experience, so he's got my backing for now. Getting the right head coach is going to be everything.

So easily swayed! Much like your view of the Messiah, fES!

AsLongAsBut100ofUs wrote:So easily swayed! Much like your view of the Messiah, fES!

So true. I thought the Messiah was vaguely promising until I watched a recording of the Scarlets game.....where were all those skills he was supposed to have been learning in France.....

funnyExiledScot wrote:Well I haven't listened to or read the statement, so that may be the case, but what I'd like to hear from him is that all his attention is currently on finding a world class coach, and that all rugby matters will be down to the new coach.

20% is also ridiculously high in my opinion. 1/5 of the squad? That can't be right for a typical close season.

If the 20% they are getting rid of is a percentage of the aggregate bodyweight of the current squad, then they could probably achieve that just by binning Atiga and Jacobson.

George Carlin wrote:

funnyExiledScot wrote:Well I haven't listened to or read the statement, so that may be the case, but what I'd like to hear from him is that all his attention is currently on finding a world class coach, and that all rugby matters will be down to the new coach.

20% is also ridiculously high in my opinion. 1/5 of the squad? That can't be right for a typical close season.

If the 20% they are getting rid of is a percentage of the aggregate bodyweight of the current squad, then they could probably achieve that just by binning Atiga and Jacobson.

That would be 19.999999%. For the balance you'd need to ditch Mike Penn as well.

Its really great to see the lists above of Scots club players who have been recognised as having potential and I was thinking that the way that they are coached will go a long way to their future success. With Edinburgh searching afield for a new head coach, who are the Scottish coaches that people think have the potential to do well. I really hope we do keep developing our coaches with the professional sides and Glasgow seem to be doing well with their mix currently.

It strikes me the more intelligent players (cockerhill the exception) tend to make better coaches. Scotland seems to do a good job creating football managers so there must be something in the Scottish ethos/collective personality that works well with organising tactics and man management. There must be more in the way of ex Scottish players who would be good coaches. I had hopes for John Jeffrey as a coach and thought he had a lot of the qualities to do well and thought that Doddie Weir, the Hastings and Rob Wainwright would have made good coaches as they are intelligent and likeable guys. Which ex players do people think would make good coaches and who is doing a good job at club level.

Kenny Murray is the first person that comes to mind, as well as Geroge Graham. Dont know if they would make a good partnership though, both are like the big spoon in the relationship.

Both of these guys have taken teams from lowly positions to top table, and both have built them around strong all round teams with few apparent weaknesses. Graham possibly has done more with less (with all due respect) considering hes done it with a bunch of youngsters, most of whom were deemed not good enough by the sru to get involved in a higher level. However, Murray's Ayr are a probably step up due to a more experienced core in his team. From post-match comments you can tell that both of them demand high standards and arent afraid to tella player when hes not pulling his weight.

Graham has forwards coaching experience in the international set-up under Hadden, and for all our faults then, we did put out a top class pack who outplayed both the all blacks and the springboks only for our lack of cutting edge past 9 to hinder us.

Murray might not have pro coaching experience, but his day job is multi-sport management for an entire region. Combined with the obvious fact that he is the most succesfull domestic coach of the past five years, I cant think of any possible way someone could be more suited to being given a chance at pro-coaching.

A year ago I wouldve added Chico time to this list, however Melrose have had a poor season by their standards, with the loss of a few first talismanic players like Wight and Thompson. I give him the benefit of the doubt that it was just an off season like Ayr had last year, but recent retirements and departures of players correlating to form do raise questions of how much of Melrose's recent success is down to Cheeky Chick and how much is down to having a golden generation of talismanic players who they will struggle and currently are struggling to replace. I suspect its a mixture, but of what make up? who knows. I hope he does break through, as like Graham and Murray, hes a coach you wouldnt want to let down not just out of fear, but also out of respect. He could go places if someone would just take a punt on him.

Of other coaches, Ian Rankins done impressive stuff with Dundee and hes been there and done it before with Edinburgh, but whats to say hed get different results this time? Id try and keep him involved in Scottish rugby if I were in charge as his knowledge of the game in this country is huge, but I dont think id re-instate him in his old job.

Phil Smith at Heriots is one to keep an eye on in the coming years. With Steve Lawrie as his assitant, he'll know what the pro games all about. I want to see Heriots really challenge for the title though instead of being the perennial mid-tablers that theyve been recently.

Simon Cross as many know has been identified as a coach of the future by the SRU who are grooming him for bigger things. Done a great job with an Accies side who are thin on the ground quite literally. Probably the smallest pack in prem1, yet they coped well enough. Similar to the way Edinburgh played before Bradley came and dismantled us. He was an off the field cornerstone of Edinburgh back in the days when we had a good culture at the club, and is well liked by players and fans alike. However in coaching terms, hes yet to hit puberty. If he continues to grow at hsi current rate though, he'll be front runner in a few years time.

Ally Donaldson fall into the same bracket as Chalmers for me at the moment. Currie have been mediocre (by their own standards) the past two seasons, but it did correspond with them losing Matt Scott, Tom Brown and Dougie Fife to Edinburgh. And those guys were outstanding for Currie. I believe hes a great coach and I wouldnt rule him out, but I cant see him realistically being in contention at this moment.

Cant say I know enough about the rest to comment, but I will say that if Phil Leck (chris's dad) leads Hawick back into prem 1, that will be an impressive feat. Hawick can hardly put out a team each week theyve got so little depth, and their pack is even smaller than Accies. They had a 5ft 11 guy playing second row for them at one point due to injuries. Yet for a slow start to the season and the impressive form of Hawks, they wouldve coasted back into prem1 at a canter. Hes also coached the club international XV to an impressive couple of victories too, and was involved with sale sharks before they went metaphorically south. One to watch.

Concluding, I flat-out disagree with Dodsons stance on domestic coaches. Its the old no job without experience, no experience without a job garbage. The standard of our amateur game is top notch if you look at results against pro sides in the B&I cup, club international results against ireland and france, and the player movement up to the pro-ranks. So why are the coaches not deemed good enough? Why is a guy who consistently leads his team to the top of the league they play in not considered while a guy who led his previous team to the bottom of their league year after year. I dont dispute that some coaches find the step up too much, but good and bad coaching shows no matter what level youre at. I firmly believe that if Bradley coached a prem1 team, they wouldve been in a relegation battle this season.

jeesus, would you look at the time...

I personally would like to see an experienced head coach with at least one 'young' Scottish club coached involved, whether as forwards, backs or defence coach etc.

That probably means a foreign head coach, which I'm quite happy with if he's the right man. I think it would be good having someone who has not already been tainted by sru bureaucracy!

I wonder if one of the runners up for the Scotland job will be offered the Edinburgh job?

FES's suggestion of Meehan/Murray for Edinburgh and Mallet/Meehan for Scotland has a nice ring to it.

All we need to do is give them the finest New Town townhouses available to humanity, a blank cheque, a nice new Macron kit, Kevin Ferrie as their own personal propaganda machine and a guaranteed table at Tom Kitchin's any time they want.

Simples.

George Carlin wrote:FES's suggestion of Meehan/Murray for Edinburgh and Mallet/Meehan for Scotland has a nice ring to it.

All we need to do is give them the finest New Town townhouses available to humanity, a blank cheque, a nice new Macron kit, Kevin Ferrie as their own personal propaganda machine and a guaranteed table at Tom Kitchin's any time they want.

Simples.

Everything you said apart from a table at Tom Kitchin's!!!

Totally off topic but anyone been to his new 'pub' in stockbridge yet? All his chat before it opened was that he wanted an up market but affordable pub with top quality food - it is 11 quid for a pint and glass of wine apparently!

Wouldn't eat in any of his places again, terrible meal once at his place at the shore and then he had the nerve to come out and complain to us for not finishing all the meal.
Eaten in far better restaurants in Edinburgh recently at either the same cost or cheaper.

I'll get that list up tomorrow of the scots qualified players playing overseas, crazy week at work so far!

Majestic83 wrote:Wouldn't eat in any of his places again, terrible meal once at his place at the shore and then he had the nerve to come out and complain to us for not finishing all the meal.
Eaten in far better restaurants in Edinburgh recently at either the same cost or cheaper.

Please can I hear more about this story???

IBD, that's a terrific post and insight into the club coaches , thank you. Seems like there are some real prospects within Scottish rugby and really hope they are given the chance and treated well by the SRU. Am I right that the original plan had been for Scott Johnsons role to be in the development of domestic coaches? Hope his role is to develop their motivation skills and media handling and not on the field tactics or how to function effectively at the breakdown.

DrTreasure wrote:IBD, that's a terrific post and insight into the club coaches , thank you. Seems like there are some real prospects within Scottish rugby and really hope they are given the chance and treated well by the SRU. Am I right that the original plan had been for Scott Johnsons role to be in the development of domestic coaches? Hope his role is to develop their motivation skills and media handling and not on the field tactics or how to function effectively at the breakdown.

+1 altho I think you are focusing a little too heavily on jus the most recent season for Melrose in your analysis of Chick's coaching abilities. There is no doubt in my mind that he is one of Scotland's best young coaches

RDW_Scotland wrote:Totally off topic but anyone been to his new 'pub' in stockbridge yet? All his chat before it opened was that he wanted an up market but affordable pub with top quality food - it is 11 quid for a pint and glass of wine apparently!

I've been, thought it was cracking, but my pint was £4.50 and the bangers and mash was £12. Really excellent food, and good selection of beers, but definitely the place to go when someone else is picking up the tab.....