Gatland's Big Mouth

I have long since given up on Gatland and therefore I declare my bias. It seems he will one day need surgery to have one or both feet removed from his mouth. He singles out the Ospreys in his latest rant and prompts SJ to declare himself flabergasted by the comments - another PR triumph!

It seems that it's not enough for Gatland to have no game plan, make poor decisions and then waffle a load of excuses - he has to make enemies every time he opens his mouth. Keep it shut man!

He may be cleverer than you think. If after a disaster in the WC he blamed the Ospreys people would say it was sour grapes. Now he has his excuse lined up. The Ospreys denial lacks a certain, genuine feel for me.

I don't think Gatland is looking for excuses. He's been completely open about the fact that he'll deserve the sack if Wales don't reach the QF.

I actually rate him highly as a coach. His record throughout his career has been excellent.

This won't be popular, but personally I think his biggest challenge is dealing with the over-inflated regard in which Welsh fans hold some fairly average Welsh players. Sure, he's made some selection mistakes, and he's not always been able to get the best from some of the more talented players (although in some cases it's not been through a lack of trying), but I still think that Wales have a good management and coaching team in place.

His honeymoon period was over a while back and his mouth just seems to spew out naive and self-defeating psychology. Take his bateing of Hartley before the Wales England game among many more. All he succeeded in doing was giving Hartley more focus and self-determination than he has ever had before and he wiped the floor with Gatland on the field. That was always going to be the case as Gatlands spewing only served to galvanise him. Gatland has a lot of catching up to do and I remain unconvinced. Now we have Alun Wyn saying how much of a successful season the O's have had. What the feck is going on - Has Alistair Cambell been doing a master class in South Wales!!!!!

Well I'd agree that Gatland should learn from past mistakes regarding the press. He's a confrontational and provocative character, and in the past it's been clear that those attributes have done Wales more harm than good in the media. That said, mind games do not decide rugby matches, and only very rarely influence them to a material degree.

I do think that rugby fans generally (and Scottish fans are no different - under Hadden in particular at times) place too much blame on coaches and management, rather than players. Especially players who have in the past been good.

Every team goes through disappointing periods and its easy to point the finger at the coach and say "you're fired."

When the Scarlets were performing badly last season and only got into Europe through the back door Nigel Davies could have gone. But, no, they stuck with him and they've been awarded with a very positive season.

Around 5 years ago there were huge calls to get rid of Dai Young as the Blues coach, three years later they miss out on the HC Final on kick outs, win the LV Cup, and four years later they win the Amlin Cup.

Alex Ferguson came within 1 game of losing his job in 1990. 12 Premier League titles later and I think they're glad to have stuck with him.

If a team is playing badly the only reason to sack the coach IMO is if the coach isn't interested or the players aren't willing to co-operate with the management and that's not the case at all with Wales. Gatland is a good coach that will prove his worth with time.

Sosban - I can accept the Gatlands a good coach bit and a lot of the other stuff. What I can't accept is his persistence with the likes of Bennett and others when all around can see that they are struggling and are offering very little. What's more revealing about his inadequacy as a coach is his big mouth and the media as he always comes off looking absolutely stupid and that is IMO inexcusable and pathetic as a coach.

What makes you guys think Gatland has drawn first blood here?

Holley said months ago that it's a pain having so many Welsh internationals in the squad, and getting rid of a few would be helpful to the Ospreys. Gatland stated he wants ALL Welsh players in Wales yet the Ospreys are throwing many of our best ones away.
Holley also blamed Wales for the Ospreys players form after they came back from the 6 Nations. Gatland is Welsh coach so the complaint was a thinly veiled attack on him.
The Ospreys spend most of their time complaining so why cant Gatland fire back a few volleys?

Well, as expected a mixed bag of opinions. I don't agree that Gatland will prove his worth with time or that we have a good coaching team in place. His record is poor and if wasn't a WC year he woud have gone already.

Better to be thought a fool than open your mouth and prove it - Gatland please note.

Sospan: Are you sure all the players are behind Gatland, I have heard different which may explain the poor performances. We have all seen how he and his brain dead coaches blame certain players for not performing (Biggar and Rees) or kicking the ball when we all know S Jones does not boot the ball away for his club but for Wales it is different (for example).