Bradley Time To Go?

smashingred

Another disappointing performance tonight- I know people will say they lack resources etc but surely there needs to a fresh injection of ideas.
I know some of the players like Nathan aren't good enough (although he did ok tonight)
More than likely they'll finish bottom of the Magners league again.
How can this be good for Irish rugby?

Orizio

Really? Bradley is doing a bad job at Connacht? Bradley should be fired???

I've never seen any mention of it on ie boards.

PhatPiggins

In reality the title should read "Connacht Time To Go?"

Its been time for Bradley to go for at a minimum 2 years at this stage.He is under no pressure and he has no self-respect so will hang in their picking up his wage while working a 2-3 day week.

There is no doubt Connacht as we stand are a terrible waste of money but that is due to the fact that the IRFU are happy for us to be run in the gutter.

I presume Phat you are from Munster/Leinster where they really have made the most of their resources but they have full IRFU support and can bring in top quality all blacks,aussies and springboks to complement their team containing hundreds of Irish international caps.

Munster and Leinster have earned their right to get big budgets but they have been given full support by the IRFU.Connacht have been run into the gutter for years now,we have had every Southern Hemisphere reject fired at us,we have a coach no one wants inposed on us for 7 years,we have a CEO who is openly happy to go along with the IRFU policy of underfunding us.They have no respect for supporters.There is so much wrong with Connacht Rugby but there is so much potential in Connacht Rugby.

Rugby is really a market waiting to be tapped into in the West and to do that it needs a competitive senior team.Our youth team has won the interpro 3 years out of 4 and has a record of something like 23 out of 24.Our u20s beat Munster a couple of weeks back and gave Leinster the best game they got in the champo this evening by all accounts so there is young talent in Connacht.

Connacht can be a success but it needs a firm hand from the IRFU which I don't forsee in the near future.All looks rosy in the garden for Irish rugby now but look a few years down the line where we will have alot of raw youngsters who needed gametime to get up to scratch but couldn't come to Connacht due to a lack of belief in the coach and a lack of funds for Connacht.

Podge_irl

It was time for Bradley to go several years ago.

WeeBushy

Borders no.2 wrote: »

Its been time for Bradley to go for at a minimum 2 years at this stage.He is under no pressure and he has no self-respect so will hang in their picking up his wage while working a 2-3 day week.

There is no doubt Connacht as we stand are a terrible waste of money but that is due to the fact that the IRFU are happy for us to be run in the gutter.


I presume Phat you are from Munster/Leinster where they really have made the most of their resources but they have full IRFU support and can bring in top quality all blacks,aussies and springboks to complement their team containing hundreds of Irish international caps.

Munster and Leinster have earned their right to get big budgets but they have been given full support by the IRFU.Connacht have been run into the gutter for years now,we have had every Southern Hemisphere reject fired at us,we have a coach no one wants inposed on us for 7 years,we have a CEO who is openly happy to go along with the IRFU policy of underfunding us.They have no respect for supporters.There is so much wrong with Connacht Rugby but there is so much potential in Connacht Rugby.

Rugby is really a market waiting to be tapped into in the West and to do that it needs a competitive senior team.Our youth team has won the interpro 3 years out of 4 and has a record of something like 23 out of 24.Our u20s beat Munster a couple of weeks back and gave Leinster the best game they got in the champo this evening by all accounts so there is young talent in Connacht.

Connacht can be a success but it needs a firm hand from the IRFU which I don't forsee in the near future.All looks rosy in the garden for Irish rugby now but look a few years down the line where we will have alot of raw youngsters who needed gametime to get up to scratch but couldn't come to Connacht due to a lack of belief in the coach and a lack of funds for Connacht.

Who in their right mind would walk away from a well payed job? Besides he still believes he has something to offer so he's hardly going to just walk away. And a 2-3 day week? You obviously don't know much about the lifestyle of a professional head coach.

I wouldn't say they are a waste of money, misused yes, but not a waste of money. They provide many Irish players game time that without Connacht they wouldn't be receiving. And just because they've been unsuccessful doesn't make them pointless, if that were the case there would only be a handful of rugby teams worldwide.

The rest of what you said I would generally agree with; Connacht are underfunded, underrepresented, misused and mismanaged. A shame to waste such a potentially useful tool for Irish rugby. But Connacht haven't done themselves many favours either.

siltirocker

WeeBushy wrote: »

And a 2-3 day week? You obviously don't know much about the lifestyle of a professional head coach.

You obviously don't know much about the lifestyle of Michael Bradley.:p

I am writing this as a Connacht Fan who like so many others has watched through thick and thin for a number of seasons so I'm not writing any of this lightly.

I can't believe even Bradley is so deluded to think he has something to offer at this stage.Maybe its not a 2-3 day week but its not much more, most of the work all week is done by Eric Elwood and Dan McFarland with Bradley seemingly popping in when its convenient for him and thats no lie.

Bradley would easily get a job with his contacts and if he wanted to stay in coaching I'm sure he'd get maybe an Assistants job somewhere else.Bottom line for him is he's become a complete figure of fun for all rugby fans and with each passing week is losing any chance of a top coaching job.If he left and tried to rebuild his career elsewhere it would give him a fresh chance to try and prove people wrong.It depends what you want a handy wage where you are disliked by almost everyone or a move to try and ressurect his career?Either way you know as well as me Bradley will never be found on a dole queue.

Of course a proper coaching job takes is completely full time if you hope to be successful but that rule doesn't apply to Bradley.I don't care what he is doing at home and whats its related to he should be up in Galway at least 5 days a week training the team.We aren't as strong as other teams so we need to ensure we are well organised,disciplined,have a specific gameplan,strong at set pieces,in general hard to play against and at the moment that is most definitely not true about Connacht.

With regard to the money yes it is a complete waste there is no use in the likes of Cronin,Carr,Keatley,Hagan etc. going West if you are not going to give them a competitive squad and coaching staff.We are never going to get the same as the other provinces but we have to be given enough to be competitive.The 4 I mention above along with a handful of others are decent players but its a waste of time putting them in a team which is in such a mess.

Really at the moment most of them would be better to get the hell out of here and go somewhere where there is a proper professional approach in operation even if it is in England or France.

Connacht needs a top-down overhaul but the Irfu will never let that happen and the Connacht Branch head men are basically IRFU yes men so it looks pretty grim.

Zzippy

Borders no.2 wrote: »

With regard to the money yes it is a complete waste there is no use in the likes of Cronin,Carr,Keatley,Hagan etc. going West if you are not going to give them a competitive squad and coaching staff.We are never going to get the same as the other provinces but we have to be given enough to be competitive.The 4 I mention above along with a handful of others are decent players but its a waste of time putting them in a team which is in such a mess.

I agree with your other points about Bradley, but have to take issue with this. Are these players going to be better served by playing for Leinster A, and sitting on the bench for ML games, or by playing week in week out against top class opposition at senior level? Where would the likes of Jerry Flannery or Bernard Jackman be now if they hadn't got a chance to play at Connacht? Playing at this level, no matter how bad the players around you, is going to make you a better player if you have the potential - its sink or swim, and can only bring on players who have the talent to go much further in their careers.

Amazotheamazing

This is the Munster A side that beat Ulster A during the week, I have no doubt that some of them are already ready for ML rugby.

Munster A: Danny Riordan, Ian Dowling, Tom Gleeson, Scott Deasy, Danny Barnes, Declan Cusack (Sub Academy), Duncan Williams, Dave Ryan, Mike Sherry, Stephen Archer, Ian Nagle, Dave Foley, Billy Holland capt, Eoghan Grace, Peter O'Mahony. Replacements: Sean Henry (Sub Academy), Darragh Hurley, Kieran Essex, Barry O'Mahony (Dolphin), Paul Rowley, Andrew Burke and Ronan O'Mahony.

In particular, guys like Grace, both O'Mahony's, Nagle, Foley, Sherry, Deasy, Barnes, and Burke will not get much if any senior gametime for munster this year but are easily good enough to fill out Connacht's squad. Same is true of a host of guys in Leinster, more of these guys should be playing a season or so with Connacht but with Bradely there they'd be fools to go. Players do not imporve with him as a coach.

Borders no.2

Borders no.2 wrote: »

I am writing this as a Connacht Fan who like so many others has watched through thick and thin for a number of seasons so I'm not writing any of this lightly.

I can't believe even Bradley is so deluded to think he has something to offer at this stage.Maybe its not a 2-3 day week but its not much more, most of the work all week is done by Eric Elwood and Dan McFarland with Bradley seemingly popping in when its convenient for him and thats no lie.

Bradley would easily get a job with his contacts and if he wanted to stay in coaching I'm sure he'd get maybe an Assistants job somewhere else.Bottom line for him is he's become a complete figure of fun for all rugby fans and with each passing week is losing any chance of a top coaching job.If he left and tried to rebuild his career elsewhere it would give him a fresh chance to try and prove people wrong.It depends what you want a handy wage where you are disliked by almost everyone or a move to try and ressurect his career?Either way you know as well as me Bradley will never be found on a dole queue.

Of course a proper coaching job takes is completely full time if you hope to be successful but that rule doesn't apply to Bradley.I don't care what he is doing at home and whats its related to he should be up in Galway at least 5 days a week training the team.We aren't as strong as other teams so we need to ensure we are well organised,disciplined,have a specific gameplan,strong at set pieces,in general hard to play against and at the moment that is most definitely not true about Connacht.

With regard to the money yes it is a complete waste there is no use in the likes of Cronin,Carr,Keatley,Hagan etc. going West if you are not going to give them a competitive squad and coaching staff.We are never going to get the same as the other provinces but we have to be given enough to be competitive.The 4 I mention above along with a handful of others are decent players but its a waste of time putting them in a team which is in such a mess.

Really at the moment most of them would be better to get the hell out of here and go somewhere where there is a proper professional approach in operation even if it is in England or France.

Connacht needs a top-down overhaul but the Irfu will never let that happen and the Connacht Branch head men are basically IRFU yes men so it looks pretty grim.

I dont think you understand how provinces work.

You dont just get money thrown at you,you are allowed 5 or 6 non Irish players.

If Connacht dont have any youths then they will never be competitive,the IRFU will never and rightly so,fill their team with top grade imports.

Same with Ulster,if you have no good Irish qualified playersthats your problem,Connacht have to sort out their own **** before blaming it on everyone else.

Take the Leinster boys out of that team and they have no youth.

In fact they should withdraw every player except Connacht players and allow 6 imports and see how they do.This always annoys me about Connacht fans,they think they are entitled to something.

If you offer nothing to Ireland which you dont,then **** off and dont be asking for money to buy imports.

Amazotheamazing

Carlee Mushy Robbery wrote: »

I dont think you understand how provinces work.

You dont just get money thrown at you,you are allowed 5 or 6 non Irish players.

If Connacht dont have any youths then they will never be competitive,the IRFU will never and rightly so,fill their team with top grade imports.

Same with Ulster,if you have no good Irish qualified playersthats your problem,Connacht have to sort out their own **** before blaming it on everyone else.

Take the Leinster boys out of that team and they have no youth.

In fact they should withdraw every player except Connacht players and allow 6 imports and see how they do.This always annoys me about Connacht fans,they think they are entitled to something.

If you offer nothing to Ireland which you dont,then **** off and dont be asking for money to buy imports.

If you took Jones and Ronan out of the Munster squad, you'd be weakening them, if you took Fogarty, Ross, Hogan, Keogh, Reddan out of the Leinster squad, you'd weaken them. All the provinces benefit from being able to draw players from other provinces so drop the 'imports' line.

The single biggest problem with Connacht is Bradley, followed closely by an apathetic home city. Galway and Galwegians don't get behind Connacht rugby ( or their soccer, football or hurling tyeams, fickle westerners).

The fact is there's guys playing AIL on contracts from Munster and Leinster who could be playing for Connacht if they had a decent coach. I bet if Gatland was back coaching them there would be a rush to play for them.

Amazotheamazing

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

If you took Jones and Ronan out of the Munster squad, you'd be weakening them, if you took Fogarty, Ross, Hogan, Keogh, Reddan out of the Leinster squad, you'd weaken them. All the provinces benefit from being able to draw players from other provinces so drop the 'imports' line.

The single biggest problem with Connacht is Bradley, followed closely by an apathetic home city. Galway and Galwegians don't get behind Connacht rugby ( or their soccer, football or hurling tyeams, fickle westerners).

The fact is there's guys playing AIL on contracts from Munster and Leinster who could be playing for Connacht if they had a decent coach. I bet if Gatland was back coaching them there would be a rush to play for them.

Yes but Munster and Leinster can replace those guys with pros' Connacht cant,they ask again and again for funding but yet have no talent of any note in their youths but yet demand funding to improve themselves.

As far as im concerned they can piss off untill they get their own talent,you cant expect a team made up of 6 world class imports and 9 average Connacht players.

Success is built on quality homegrown players which Connacht have none,thats not Bradleys fault.

I honestly dont know what Connacht want,do they want JDV and Elsom to join and be lead by O'Connnor?

They literaly have no youth,what do they want?

In 5 years say leinster and Munster had no homegrown players,they would go to crap,the IRFU might fund them,but they dont supply them with a team of imports,there is a limit and rightly so.You could say this is whats hurting Ulster.

The base of your team has to be built on Irish players and if Connacht have none then **** them,its their own fault.They cant just expect a team of imports foreign or irish.

Their fans sound like they want a Chelsea of Irish rugby,where academy doesnt matter and money solves everything.

Amazotheamazing

Carlee Mushy Robbery wrote: »

Success is built on quality homegrown players which Connacht have none,thats not Bradleys fault.

They literaly have no youth,what do they want?

You see, this is where you're wrong, Connacht do have young players, but afaik, they aren't even allowed fund an Academy or A side. AFAIK, Connacht's Academy is a non-paid system. Underage, they can match Munster and give Leinster or Ulster a decent game but whereas Munster (in particular) have the money and expertise to bring their smaller playing pool up a pro standard via the AIL and the the Academy, Connacht don't. There's no real point in comparing Connacht to Leinster/Ulster underage, Connacht should be trying to follow the Munster model whereby a small playing pool is maximised by focussed coaching.

Every now and again, a special homegrown talent does manage to survive the system and get a Connacht contract, like Riordan or Durcan. It is at this point that Bradley steps in and ensures they don't improve in any way, shape or form.

Amazotheamazing

Amazotheamazing wrote: »

You see, this is where you're wrong, Connacht do have young players, but afaik, they aren't even allowed fund an Academy or A side. AFAIK, Connacht's Academy is a non-paid system. Underage, they can match Munster and give Leinster or Ulster a decent game but whereas Munster (in particular) have the money and expertise to bring their smaller playing pool up a pro standard via the AIL and the the Academy, Connacht don't. There's no real point in comparing Connacht to Leinster/Ulster underage, Connacht should be trying to follow the Munster model whereby a small playing pool is maximised by focussed coaching.

Every now and again, a special homegrown talent does manage to survive the system and get a Connacht contract, like Riordan or Durcan. It is at this point that Bradley steps in and ensures they don't improve in any way, shape or form.

IF you are telling me Leinster and munster underage are funded and Connachts arent thats crap.
Their academy is just **** and the players arent there,nothing to do with funding.

They have no academy or players of class,yet expect full funding and every other provinces players,well its not on.

siltirocker

Carlee Mushy Robbery wrote: »

IF you are telling me Leinster and munster underage are funded and Connachts arent thats crap.

Actually, its fact. The other three get funded in this area and Connacht get a few maintenence grants.

Carlee Mushy Robbery wrote: »

Their academy is just **** and the players arent there, nothing to do with funding.

Well the Connacht Youth Academy team won all their games in the Youth Cup, culumnating in a 13 - 0 win over Leinster Academy Youths last weekend. Their third cup at this level in the past 4 years.

Your last statment is unjust Carlee Mushy Robbery, sh1t even Thornley said on the ol' wireless that it is ridiculous that Connacht players were ignored in the U-20 International Squad this year.

Zzippy

Carlee Mushy Robbery, a couple of your posts here are ill-informed, insulting, and bordering on abusive. Putting asterisks in place of an expletive doesn't make it less so, or maybe the swear filter just caught it.
As other posters have educated you since, Connacht get sweet FA to run an academy. Contrast this with the funding for the Leinster academy. Yet in spite of this, Connacht have won 3 of the last 4 under-18 interprovincial tournaments. The talent is there, we just have no funding to bring it through.
Oh, and FYI, the following Connacht squad members are homegrown:
Ronan Loughney (Ireland Youths, u-19, u-21)
Conor O'Loughlin (Ireland Youths, u-21)
Gavin Duffy (Ireland Schools, u-21, A, Senior)
Johnny O'Connor (Ireland u-19, u-21, u-23, A, Senior)
Eoin Griffin (current Academy player who has played for Connacht senior)
Tiernan O'Halloran (current Academy player who has played for Connacht senior)
John Muldoon (Ireland Youths, U-19, U-21, A, Senior)
David Nolan (Ireland u-20)
Andrew Browne (Ireland U-19, U-20)
Aidan Wynne (Ireland Youths, u-18, u-19, u-20)

So to say we have no talent, or have done nothing for Ireland, is both facetious and incorrect.
But thanks for your condescending remarks.

toomevara

Zzippy wrote: »

Carlee Mushy Robbery, a couple of your posts here are ill-informed, insulting, and bordering on abusive. Putting asterisks in place of an expletive doesn't make it less so, or maybe the swear filter just caught it.
As other posters have educated you since, Connacht get sweet FA to run an academy. Contrast this with the funding for the Leinster academy. Yet in spite of this, Connacht have won 3 of the last 4 under-18 interprovincial tournaments. The talent is there, we just have no funding to bring it through.
Oh, and FYI, the following Connacht squad members are homegrown:
Ronan Loughney (Ireland Youths, u-19, u-21)
Conor O'Loughlin (Ireland Youths, u-21)
Gavin Duffy (Ireland Schools, u-21, A, Senior)
Johnny O'Connor (Ireland u-19, u-21, u-23, A, Senior)
Eoin Griffin (current Academy player who has played for Connacht senior)
Tiernan O'Halloran (current Academy player who has played for Connacht senior)
John Muldoon (Ireland Youths, U-19, U-21, A, Senior)
David Nolan (Ireland u-20)
Andrew Browne (Ireland U-19, U-20)
Aidan Wynne (Ireland Youths, u-18, u-19, u-20)

So to say we have no talent, or have done nothing for Ireland, is both facetious and incorrect.
But thanks for your condescending remarks.

Thats all she wrote. Excellent post,I find that ,periodically, it's nice to hear from someone who genuinely knows what they're talking about...

Carlee Mushy Robbery

Carlee Mushy Robbery wrote: »

I dont think you understand how provinces work.

You dont just get money thrown at you,you are allowed 5 or 6 non Irish players.

If Connacht dont have any youths then they will never be competitive,the IRFU will never and rightly so,fill their team with top grade imports.

Same with Ulster,if you have no good Irish qualified playersthats your problem,Connacht have to sort out their own **** before blaming it on everyone else.

Take the Leinster boys out of that team and they have no youth.

In fact they should withdraw every player except Connacht players and allow 6 imports and see how they do.This always annoys me about Connacht fans,they think they are entitled to something.

If you offer nothing to Ireland which you dont,then **** off and dont be asking for money to buy imports.

I understand full well how the provinces work and I have no problem with the other 3 getting bigger budgets because they develop more players but with regard to 5-6 non irish players that law is being openly flouted by the provinces and there is no way Leinster or Munster would have won anything without their imports.

At no point in it did I suggest bringing in high grade foreign players.We are developing a good underage system and have a reasonable percentage of home grown players in our ranks.Also Bradley has let go Danny Riordan and Peter Durcan and Damien Browne won't come back to Connacht while Bradley is here so thats a fair percentage straight away.

Yes we do need to develop more from within but that is going to take a few years and needs support from the IRFU in terms of giving us proper goals to meet and giving us reasonable resources to try and achieve them.The main problem at the moment is Connacht Rugby is being run by yes men and Bradley's position is under no pressure.The players have to confidence and the gameplan is very limited.

While its great for players to be getting ML experience Keatley and Cronin are not learning anything new after the first while and really aren't developing in the way they would elsewhere.I don't want that to be the case but with Bradley in charge it is.

If you think Connacht supporters are demanding you must be on cloud cuckoo land because we pretty much take all the bull that is fired at us by opposition fans,officials,our own branch and the IRFU and still stay going.

Borders no.2

Borders no.2 wrote: »

I understand full well how the provinces work and I have no problem with the other 3 getting bigger budgets because they develop more players but with regard to 5-6 non irish players that law is being openly flouted by the provinces and there is no way Leinster or Munster would have won anything without their imports.

At no point in it did I suggest bringing in high grade foreign players.We are developing a good underage system and have a reasonable percentage of home grown players in our ranks.Also Bradley has let go Danny Riordan and Peter Durcan and Damien Browne won't come back to Connacht while Bradley is here so thats a fair percentage straight away.

Yes we do need to develop more from within but that is going to take a few years and needs support from the IRFU in terms of giving us proper goals to meet and giving us reasonable resources to try and achieve them.The main problem at the moment is Connacht Rugby is being run by yes men and Bradley's position is under no pressure.The players have to confidence and the gameplan is very limited.

While its great for players to be getting ML experience Keatley and Cronin are not learning anything new after the first while and really aren't developing in the way they would elsewhere.I don't want that to be the case but with Bradley in charge it is.

If you think Connacht supporters are demanding you must be on cloud cuckoo land because we pretty much take all the bull that is fired at us by opposition fans,officials,our own branch and the IRFU and still stay going.

If they do have good youths coming through and judging by their interpro record as you say,it looks like they could then the future could be rosy.

The point I stupidly tried to make last night,I will try to make again.

I agree with you on the funding of the academy,they should get full 100% funding and if they dont thats a disgrace.
But if revenue is not coming in and players are not being developed then funding should not be provided to buy players imo.

As you say the academy isnt funded then thats where change must take place, but I would only change that.I dont agree at all with them getting thrown money to but imports.

Can anyone who knows the Connacht set up explain exactly in what way are they not funded the same as the Leinster,Munster academys?

Because its very hard to believe that.
The only explanation could be that they dont have enough pool of players and so less money is spent.

Podge_irl

Borders no.2 wrote: »

I understand full well how the provinces work and I have no problem with the other 3 getting bigger budgets because they develop more players but with regard to 5-6 non irish players that law is being openly flouted by the provinces and there is no way Leinster or Munster would have won anything without their imports.

Its 5-6 non Irish qualified players, as opposed to non-Irish players and it's not being "flouted". All NIQ players signed require approval by the IRFU, so if a team does have more than 6 NIQ (and I don't think any do) then its been authorised by the IRFU.

Connacht have the possibility to be seen as a good place to start a career. It looked likely that something good was starting when Cronin, Keatley and Carr moved there. But as long as Connacht players are ignored in international squads (a la Carr this summer) and as long as Bradley is there ruining the fledgling careers of his players then they aren't really going to get anywhere. The lack of funding isn't helping them, and having Connacht stuttering along isn't helping anyone else in Irish rugby either.

Carlee Mushy Robbery wrote:

You dont just get money thrown at you,you are allowed 5 or 6 non Irish players.

Of course, Leinster and Munster don't actually pay for any of their star homegrown players once they're on international contracts.

Luckycharm

Has any coach ever achieved so little and kept his job so long?

Connacht need a new coach with fresh ideas they cannot get much worse :mad:

thehighground

Luckycharm wrote: »

Has any coach ever achieved so little and kept his job so long?

Connacht need a new coach with fresh ideas they cannot get much worse :mad:

Presumably if Bradley only coaches for 3/4 days a week, thats all he gets paid for. It might be difficult to get a coach who is prepared to work for the budget available in Connacht. Leinster & Munster will always attract top level coaches/ staff at this stage because they are successful on the field.

I'd also guess that all the other provinces would be more than willing to take in any good prospects from anywhere (i.e., the Ruddocks have come to Leinster from the Osprey's academy because they want to play for Ireland). Lots of people move away from their home for an academic education and they don't think it is too much of a problem. In these hard times, a Connacht academy could be regarded as a bit of a luxury.

il gatto

I don't understand the IRFU's stance on funding. Irish rugby is on a high and the IRFU's coffers must be pretty healthy, even after building Lansdowne. They have had massive gate receipts, record jersey sales and probably rugby's highest ever profile in Ireland, and seem to have their income stream fairly assured in the future, and yet they persist with a funding policy from several years ago, when they tried to disband the Connacht brance's professional team.
People have short memories and it's not so long ago that Leinster and Munster played to a handful of supporters and their dogs. And not so long ago since Connacht were the only province who could win away in France and England.
Connacht's predicament is a result of underfunding and the management structure which has allowed the province to go backwards under Bradley. If every provice had an even playing field after the beginning of professionalism, Connacht could've been fighting another Irish province for HEC qualification every year. That didn't happen and the support base is at a level Leinster and Munster had a decade ago. It's simply rubbish to suggest that any of the other 3 provinces would have anything other than tiny gates if they had consistantly been whipped at senior level. Success came to the other provinces before support. Why should Connacht be any different? And funding the other provinces academy has given them the likes of Kearney, Fitzgerald, Healy, Earls and Ferris. Where would those provinces be if they weren't funded to bring them through?
Connacht supporters demand nothing except a fair crack at having their own province succeed, and don't begrudge other provinces their money or success, and support them fully in their endeavors outside of playing Connacht. But watching poorly coached players having their collective ar5e's handed to them week in, week out will never generate support or income and that's not the long suffering fans fault.

stephen_n

Problem being who will replace him? no top coach would touch Connacht with a barge poll, so who takes over then, Elwood?

Luckycharm

stephen_n wrote: »

Problem being who will replace him? no top coach would touch Connacht with a barge poll, so who takes over then, Elwood?

HOw do we know that - it would be a good opportunity for a young up and coming coach. I seriously doubt Bradley only gets paid for 3/4 days work :rolleyes: Any young talented player that has gone there has stagnated or gone backwards in recent times.

I remember a certain young Kiwi Coach started his coaching career there a certain Warren Gatland- whatever happened to him?

stephen_n

Luckycharm wrote: »

HOw do we know that - it would be a good opportunity for a young up and coming coach. I seriously doubt Bradley only gets paid for 3/4 days work :rolleyes: Any young talented player that has gone there has stagnated or gone backwards in recent times.

I remember a certain young Kiwi Coach started his coaching career there a certain Warren Gatland- whatever happened to him?

We don't know that but look at the set-up it is hardly going to attract many up and coming coaches, when Gatland went there it was a different sittuation completely to the current rugby climate. The IRFU need to sort out the issues around funding and a proper ground before they can seriously look at getting any good coaches to come in! Anyway they like the fact that Bradley won't bite the hand that feeds him!

stephen_n

stephen_n wrote: »

Problem being who will replace him? no top coach would touch Connacht with a barge poll, so who takes over then, Elwood?

Eddie O'Sullivan would have been perfect,maybe they could look to an ex Ireland player to give it a shot.

Dennis Hickie or someone.

Luckycharm

stephen_n wrote: »

We don't know that but look at the set-up it is hardly going to attract many up and coming coaches, when Gatland went there it was a different sittuation completely to the current rugby climate. The IRFU need to sort out the issues around funding and a proper ground before they can seriously look at getting any good coaches to come in! Anyway they like the fact that Bradley won't bite the hand that feeds him!

Cheika started at a small club Padova in Italy - very few coaches start at the top so it would be a good opportunity for an up and coming coach.
Connacht need to be showing improvements on the pitch and show consistency they always make it extremelly hard for Leinster and Munster at home they should be doing that every week and not just get themselves up those games.
So bradley keeps his job because he won't the hand that feeds that is a great for irish rugby and connacht :mad: They would have very similar funding to the Dragons but at least you can see improvements there which I have not seen in recent times with Connacht who are simply not that well coached. If bradley stays no matter how bad they do looks like bottom again of ML then they can hardly fight much of a case for more funding/better grounds- if a team does well it will attract the crowds sure looks at how Munster crowds have improved in the last decade