Next Edinburgh Coach

Just to say this is my first thread, I was on the old 606 as BackFromTheBurgh if anyone remembers, but just registered on here. I'm definitely not avoiding my final year uni exams... Hi!


Question is how would everyone rate the job that Solomons has done so far? And who would people like to see as the next coach (even if it's a wee bit down the line) - should we go back to a Scottish insider?

Welcome to the forum!

Just to say I've moved this to the club section - will get more notice.

Come introduce yourself on the ongoing banter thread

https://www.606v2.com/t55409p900-glasgow-and-edinburgh-ongoing-banter-thread-v-the-fun-continues

As for the question in hand, it really is a difficult one.

Pro Solomons

- I like Solomons, he's obviously an honest rugby man and passionate about what he's doing

- His vision for the club and idea of building a long turn sustainable future I certainly agree with.  However, the implementation just isn't working (more on that later)

- If we did ship him off, who would replace him? No one will be available mid-season, and even if we waited until the end of the season there would probably be a limited number of coaches available.  And let's face it - who would want a job like this?? You mentioned Lineen, who laid good foundations at Glasgow, but is there any guarantee that he'd do a better job?  Bryan Redpath is another option, but he hardly has a stellar career as head coach. Also, if we got rid of him we'd be back to square one and next season would probably be another write-off as we rebuilt with a new coach.

Anti-Solomons

- Results don't lie.  They have been miserable, and very inconsistent.  We've had some good wins and performances under his reign (Gloucester A, Perpignan H, Munster twice, Leinster H) but also some God awful results and performances.  We just have no consistency.

- Recruitment/selection - I think you'd struggle to find any Edinburgh fan who thinks Strauss adds anything to the team, especially at the expense of moving our best 12 in Scotland out of position. Add McLennan and Coman to the mix, as well as his complete inability to give exciting young Scots some gametime (unless forced by injury - Sutherland being the prime example).  The fact that he picked Beard and Sam H-C when we had someone like Hoyland waiting in the wings is just ridiculous.

- Implementing his vision.  Building a successful team to then gradually bring in the young Scottish guys is great, but it's just not worked.  As I said - the foreign players he's brought in just haven't been up to scratch (Du Preez aside), and they are playing at the expense of young Scottish players.

- Fitness / Physicality.  This was his excuse last year, but after his much vaunted pre-season programme I wouldn't say we were any fitter / more physical than previous seasons.  In fact, we look to be blowing by the end of games just now.  In this regard, he has failed.

- Excuses.  He really has had a ban run of injuries, but the excuses he makes are wearing thin.  No pre-season with them, injuries, the ref, the weather (seriously) - at no point has he said his tactics were poor, or he was picking the wrong players.  To make so many excuses will have an effect on the team - they will begin to accept mediocrity.

What to do?

We discussed this on here a few months ago and I said then that he should get until January.  We have a lot of winnable game in the first half of the season, and we can judge him then. Saying that, he's already lost/drawn a few of these winnable games (Scarlets, Connacht at home, Zebre away) as well as putting in truly pitiful performances away against the bigger teams.

I suspect he'll be given the rest of the season, but I'm just not confident we would be able to attract a better head coach if we did get rid of him.

I've probably made my views on Solomans clear on a number of occasions, but just to make sure everyone is left in no doubt, I don't rate him.  He's made no improvement to the side since he's joined and the excuses he's rolling out these days are just embarrassing.

I think RDW has probably covered most of the key points, but I really hope he doesn't get till the end of the season (or longer), I think the season and a half he's essentially had now, have shown nothing by way of improvement.  He seems to suffer from the same affliction that we've seen at International level for a while, in that he cannot seem to pick the best players (injuries aside).  He also seems to follow the same model that Moffat had with us, in that he would drop players in form, except he won't drop players who are massively out of form.

In terms of replacement, I think Lineen should be a clear favorite, he's still under SRU employment, so should be available, and he helped get Glasgow on the path they are on now.  Yes, he might not be the long term answer, but in terms of getting us moving off this downward spiral we've seemed to be on for the last few years, he can't do any worse than the string of failures we've had coaching us.

Actually in reading that back, he probably could do just as badly, but he at least has a record in Scottish rugby that shows he is capable.

Welcome to the forum bkarobertson

I think Solomons did reasonably well in his 1st season considering the situation Edinburgh were in but so far lack of improvements between the 2 seasons is a big worry.

I've definitely moved from the "give him time" category to the "give him time, but if you don't then fair enough" category.

I think Solly has built up quite a decent squad, with genuine quality and some depth now. There will always be grumblings when a coach seems to defy logic and pick his favourites but I reckon the majority of his selections are generally agreed upon by the bulk of the fans. Form players mostly keep their place and off form players mostly get replaced.
The big issue is clearly the bosh, bosh, kick tactics which is baffling. I'm beginning to think Scott Johnson appeared in the negotiations when BT were doing the stadium sponsorship and guaranteed them at least 15 camera shots of their logo on top of the stadium per game.

Just for folk saying there has been no improvement though..... If you were given a red pill and a blue pill tonight and told to take one, red and you wake up tomorrow with Solly still at the helm, blue you wake up tomorrow and Michael Bradley was back - what would you do?

NB taking both and overdosing is not an option

Food for thoughts:

Just seen on the Embra forum Solomons has apparently nothing to do with Hugh Blake signing which is strange, could Lineen be behind it? hmmmmm..

Solomons over Bradley any time - Bradley lost the dressing room.

They players appear to like Solomons.

VinceWLB wrote:Food for thoughts:

Just seen on the Embra forum Solomons has apparently nothing to do with Hugh Blake signing which is strange, could Lineen be behind it? hmmmmm..

To be honest, I'd be worried if Soloman's was off scouting players, he has got enough to do on the ground in Edinburgh, they are a coach down as well now remember. If Johnson and/or Lineen are coming up with decent SQ players in positions he needs, so that he can have a look at them on a trail, he would be mad not to have a look at them. I think Soloman's is his own man and would not sign a player he really did not want. He seems to have used loans and trials quite a bit so far and was pretty ruthless in getting rid of the deadwood that he inherited. He will want to have a proper look at them before making any proper decision.