Post by Ghost on Dec 4, 2016 9:33:03 GMT
I was thinking about how this season has been a polar opposite to what we'd become used to in the build up to and during the Grand Slam year. During those seasons it wouldn't matter if we were playing Edinburgh on a Wednesday night or Sheffield on a Saturday night I was always up for the game and knew I'd be entertained regardless of the result, I'm sure many of you were the same. The fact is there are way too many areas which are deficient for the club to realistically put right. It's Sunday morning and I will inevitably miss things so please feel free to add your thoughts, I'm just spouting my feelings because I care about the club.
Leadership
If you think of the Grand Slam team you think of leaders. Jordan Fox was exemplary. He cared, he led by example and dragged the team on his back at times when needs be. But everyone was accountable and would have bled for each other and the club. If you compare that to now, Brad Moran just isn't a leader. Not all 'leaders' lead in the same way but I don't see Moran leading at all. Fox obviously loved the club whilst he was here and would have done anything to win, in his post match interviews after losses you could be forgiven for thinking a close family member had died and yet there was still the steely determination to win the next one. His game was also such that even when he didn't score he made it obvious 110% was being given. Moran doesn't do any of it. Im sure he cares but the way he is - his demeanour seem like he doesn't. It doesn't matter if you care if nobody thinks you do. Clarke isn't a leader either. The only candidate for captain on this team is Jeff Brown. Although not as gifted offensively he gives off something of the same aura as Fox. I would follow him for sure. That is the easiest change the club can make to at least turn things around and provide the fans with something to be positive about.
Fan & locker room positivity
Perhaps it's just me, but all the way through the 11/12 & 12/13 season it felt like the fans and the players were closer than I can remember before or since. You could say that this is due to the rise of social media and more specifically Twitter. But for whatever reason the players engaged with the fans regularly. This may seem a small thing but I believe it made a difference. Brock Wilson, Fox, Myers etc etc all involved fans in their twitter conversations, meaning fans felt closer to the team. This year we've got none of that. To put this point more broadly and to tie in with the previous one, we have few characters. That is on whoever signs the players. If I was asked to list all the guys I'd call characters on this team I'd struggle. Brown again, Farmer, Wiikman, Lawrence. I bet the dressing room is a morbid place to be after what we've witnessed recently. The officials at the club make this worse by alienating bridges between club and fan. The Evening Post reporter gets generic comment and little else, TCW gets nothing. In summary the relationship between the club, players and fans is at its lowest since I became a fan (09/10). The new guy Calum has come in but little has changed. At the start of this season I was determined to be positive about the team but even I feel positively depressed about the club.
Goaltending
Perhaps a controversial one. Many see Wiikman on a par with Kowalski and I like the guy and think he is a good goalie but in the big moments he pales in comparison to K-Wall. The consistent domination of the league Kowalski showed has not been matched since the beginning of last season by Wiikman and this is another area in which it is vital the club improves on. The good thing about Wiikman is the fans do trust him, if this was't the case the would tend to display this making for a nervous atmosphere which would then transfer on to the ice.
Brits
What ever happened to Lachowicz & Lee? A few seasons ago they would have both been classed as probably top 5, certainly top 10 brits in the league. David Clarke was near 60 points in 11/12! You can say the standard of the league is increased but I feel their combined incline is not representative of the leagues increase in quality. We've added Farmer who has been much improved this year but points aren't coming for him. You have to believe that with better quality line mates he scores more. But other than Farmer I'm not satisfied with any of our Brits. The club must find a way of improving in this area or if not, realising the shortfall and compensating for it when signing imports. There are brits out there right now in the EPL that can improve this team.
Scoring
Unsurprisingly, our GPG average is way down over each of the last 5 seasons. Of our top 9 forwards, only Lawrence, Schultz and Nikiforuk threaten to score consistently. Again Brad Moran is not good enough and looks amateur at times. Farmer isn't used enough, McGrattan could score if he tried but currently he looks to me like he's at 50% at most. I rate Brown but he isn't offensively very gifted. MacMillan shouldn't be on the team. I personally believe Carter has the quality to perform at a high level in this league but for whatever reason it hasn't worked out. When you think of 12/13 we had Ling, Fox, Graham, Francis, Galivan, Myers, Wilson and Benedict who all scored plenty of goals. Our best forwards can't perform because of the mixing of lines and lack of quality line mates.
I've not mentioned Gary Moran or Corey Neilson, Moran will be here forever and I wouldn't be surprised if Neilson's contract is extended either so why bother. The club will inevitably lose ST holders after this year and are in danger of undoing all the progress in the last few years.
Leadership
If you think of the Grand Slam team you think of leaders. Jordan Fox was exemplary. He cared, he led by example and dragged the team on his back at times when needs be. But everyone was accountable and would have bled for each other and the club. If you compare that to now, Brad Moran just isn't a leader. Not all 'leaders' lead in the same way but I don't see Moran leading at all. Fox obviously loved the club whilst he was here and would have done anything to win, in his post match interviews after losses you could be forgiven for thinking a close family member had died and yet there was still the steely determination to win the next one. His game was also such that even when he didn't score he made it obvious 110% was being given. Moran doesn't do any of it. Im sure he cares but the way he is - his demeanour seem like he doesn't. It doesn't matter if you care if nobody thinks you do. Clarke isn't a leader either. The only candidate for captain on this team is Jeff Brown. Although not as gifted offensively he gives off something of the same aura as Fox. I would follow him for sure. That is the easiest change the club can make to at least turn things around and provide the fans with something to be positive about.
Fan & locker room positivity
Perhaps it's just me, but all the way through the 11/12 & 12/13 season it felt like the fans and the players were closer than I can remember before or since. You could say that this is due to the rise of social media and more specifically Twitter. But for whatever reason the players engaged with the fans regularly. This may seem a small thing but I believe it made a difference. Brock Wilson, Fox, Myers etc etc all involved fans in their twitter conversations, meaning fans felt closer to the team. This year we've got none of that. To put this point more broadly and to tie in with the previous one, we have few characters. That is on whoever signs the players. If I was asked to list all the guys I'd call characters on this team I'd struggle. Brown again, Farmer, Wiikman, Lawrence. I bet the dressing room is a morbid place to be after what we've witnessed recently. The officials at the club make this worse by alienating bridges between club and fan. The Evening Post reporter gets generic comment and little else, TCW gets nothing. In summary the relationship between the club, players and fans is at its lowest since I became a fan (09/10). The new guy Calum has come in but little has changed. At the start of this season I was determined to be positive about the team but even I feel positively depressed about the club.
Goaltending
Perhaps a controversial one. Many see Wiikman on a par with Kowalski and I like the guy and think he is a good goalie but in the big moments he pales in comparison to K-Wall. The consistent domination of the league Kowalski showed has not been matched since the beginning of last season by Wiikman and this is another area in which it is vital the club improves on. The good thing about Wiikman is the fans do trust him, if this was't the case the would tend to display this making for a nervous atmosphere which would then transfer on to the ice.
Brits
What ever happened to Lachowicz & Lee? A few seasons ago they would have both been classed as probably top 5, certainly top 10 brits in the league. David Clarke was near 60 points in 11/12! You can say the standard of the league is increased but I feel their combined incline is not representative of the leagues increase in quality. We've added Farmer who has been much improved this year but points aren't coming for him. You have to believe that with better quality line mates he scores more. But other than Farmer I'm not satisfied with any of our Brits. The club must find a way of improving in this area or if not, realising the shortfall and compensating for it when signing imports. There are brits out there right now in the EPL that can improve this team.
Scoring
Unsurprisingly, our GPG average is way down over each of the last 5 seasons. Of our top 9 forwards, only Lawrence, Schultz and Nikiforuk threaten to score consistently. Again Brad Moran is not good enough and looks amateur at times. Farmer isn't used enough, McGrattan could score if he tried but currently he looks to me like he's at 50% at most. I rate Brown but he isn't offensively very gifted. MacMillan shouldn't be on the team. I personally believe Carter has the quality to perform at a high level in this league but for whatever reason it hasn't worked out. When you think of 12/13 we had Ling, Fox, Graham, Francis, Galivan, Myers, Wilson and Benedict who all scored plenty of goals. Our best forwards can't perform because of the mixing of lines and lack of quality line mates.
I've not mentioned Gary Moran or Corey Neilson, Moran will be here forever and I wouldn't be surprised if Neilson's contract is extended either so why bother. The club will inevitably lose ST holders after this year and are in danger of undoing all the progress in the last few years.
