SACK Ross the dud

[BAM! (shhhh)]

The need to make a final decision on Lyon is anything but imminent.

I don't think there's any weight to letting him "find his feet"... motivating should be easier rather than harder in the first couple of years, and this seems to be a problem under Lyon. The biggest trouble seems to be our inconsistency, effort and execution of skills. These are things that might be forgiven a player of Lyon's experience, but in a coach they're simply concerning.

From where we are, it's easy to see us continuing to fritter away opportunities, play only portions of games, and miss finals. It's also not that much of a stretch to imagine the Saints hitting some form, stringing together some 4 quarter efforts, and rearing our heads as a dark horse threat.

It bugs me that we're such a frustrating team to watch now. When we're on top, it's gritty, often ugly but effective, and we still leave our chances on the table and rarely put up highlight reel plays. When we're not on top, we look terrible, and it can be difficult to picture us scoring at all. Our ability to surrender uncontested marks inside 50 at full flood is unbelievable.

Still, if only for the basis of evaluation, we're better off giving this team and coach every chance to click.

If we reach the end of R22 without it happening, that's when a decision will need to be taken on whether we trust the man hired to take us to the next level to manage list turnover and being given a new mandate.

[Armoooo]

Who if any on our list has improved because of RL,as i am struggling to find any

Xavier (for brief periods)
Montagna (for one year)
Fiora (for one year)
Gilbert (for one year)

So basically nobody, those three players would have had a good year last year regardless of who was coaching...

What is evern more disturbing are the players who have gone backwards.

Gram
Leigh Fisher
Gehrig
Baker
Riewoldt
Koschitzke
Dal Santo
Milne

[meher baba]

Who if any on our list has improved because of RL,as i am struggling to find any

I think Gilbert definitely improved during 2007: but perhaps he would have done so anyway.

Luke Ball is now playing better than he has for several seasons, but that is probably mainly due to his injury.

Harvey and Sam Fisher haven't gotten any worse. After a slow 2007, Hayes is back to his best. BJ looked like he was having his best ever season in 2007 before he got injured, and he hasn't been the same since coming back: like Lenny, he probably needs a full season to get up to speed.

Blake and Fiora had their best ever seasons at the club in 2007, but have come back to the field this year. (As did Gilbert, before he got injured.)

And that's about it IMO. Leaving aside the recycled players from other clubs (or in C Jones's case, the WAFL), all the rest have either gone backwards or failed to come on as one would have hoped.

I have been particularly disappointed in the development of Armitage, who feels like he has been held back relative to other top ten picks who have come to the club. Allen and Howard haven't really been tried, and Gwilt, Raph and Ferguson haven't really been given a proper run to show whether or not they are going to make a long-term contribution to the club, and yet the players who have taken their spots - Attard, C Jones, S Dempster, C Gardiner are highly average performers.

Geary looks reasonably promising, although I will be surprised if he turns out to be any sort of a star.

Of the star players who have gone backwards under Lyon, the most disappointing are Gram, Riewoldt, Dal Santo, Joey and Milne: as I think that where and how they have been used has contributed to their deteriorating performances.

Kosi and Gehrig seem to have issues around fitness and perhaps in their minds as well, so I'm more sympathetic to Lyon that he hasn't been able to get the best of them that he could.

[meher baba]

P.S., after reading Armooo's post, I have to agree with him that X has looked better in flashes under Lyon as well.