Munster Team Talk Thread - Beirne After Reading

We better hope McMillan is that coach because if he departs who in all sanity would be willing to take the poisoned chalice....nothing that he read could have prepared him for dysfunctionality that he inherited......if the current review does not effect the radical overhaul that is so urgently required i cannot see him staying even if resigning would be contra his character in my view

I am tired of " lessons will be learned" and " We are rebuilding " type comment.

Unless something dramatically changes this is new normal.

No but the end of the world is nigh.

Munster have been going backwards for a long time now and a few youngsters isn't gonna fix it.

Are you suggesting the greatest fans in sport are only in it for the glory.

i disagree.

He had an excellent working partnership, with Randle and some professionally insulted journalists and fans undermined him.

I would understand if he walked..

Folks its time for us to acknowledge we are in a bad place ,the game has moved forward and Munster have gone backwards. Is there any aspect of our game that is up to standard . Sure we have Injuries but that's what a squad is there for. When called upon they are no better and more often worse than who they replaced. Thomond Park is another worrying aspect of the Munster dilemma as it is a financial drain on the Finances. People hoping an overseas prop is going to solve matters is really scraping the barrel. I really hope Mc stays around he seems an honorable bloke our position in the table as the season ends is a fair reflection of where we are it. The URC is where we belong challenging for Europe is way beyond us as we have seen from our results this year. I'm sorry to be so negative especially as i have had some incredible sporting memories following them . My biggest fear is that the decline continues and the Team becomes a run of the mill mid table operation which will make it more and more harder to get NIQ players to join.

I think the entire front row needs major work. Loughman struggled tremendously in the scrum and the loose today. Scannell is now retired and Munster need to rely on the Barron's at hooker, but Diarmuid had a shocker today as a replacement too.

Genuinely a bizarre hill to die on, this.

really, bizarre?

Fair enough kid.

I know, where are all of the greatest fans in the world gone? I was there in Cardiff 08, must have been 60k of Munster fans there that day.

Another season gone down the drain. I don't see much improvement on the pitch, no real identity or game plan (surprised with McMillen on this!) unlike Connacht for example

Off the pitch another brutal year of bad communications, bad decisions, bad governance.

Munster really are a basket case. Same basket and case as the FAI and WRU.

We have some talented young players coming through. But that's all they are thus far, talented and young with potential.

I really hope the likes of EOC, Edogbos, Gleeson don't go the same way as JOD/Coombes/Healy/Nash etc. Young lads with potential who don't kick on.

For next season i hope for:

Another THP signing - we can't rely on Jager and Salanoa

Coaching improvements - scrum and forwards especially

Developing young players - a proper development plan for guys like Gleeson, EOC, BOC and further younger lads like Foxe, Clein, Murphy, Foy etc

I bet what will happen:

1. More off field upheaval and distraction
2. More coaches leaving or sacked mid season
3. A continued selection policy of JJ, Haley, JOD, Wycherley's*2, Scannell and wondering why we keep losing.
4. More injuries at THP, leaving us more exposed here

Ultimately I feel Munster are completely at fault with the rot that has set in. For too too long we have had bad corporate governance, bad management, bad decisions, spent money wrongly, pissed off the Munster fans. too many coaching upheavals, a propensity to invest in mostly useless NIQ signings to paper over the cracks. Failure to invest and plan accordingly into our structures and pathways.

It's not ideal, no, but overall we still managed to finish 5th in the league and we are in Champions Cup next year. We had one sold out game which was Leinster over Christmas so overall it's not been a completely auful season. We achieved this despite very poor governance at the highest level, playing one of the seasons biggest matches in a neutral venue, and an end-of-season injury list as long as your arm

There are many clubs across the world that would be quite happy to be in our position

The result was what I had hope against but feared given the injury list. Hard to think of another season that I've been more glad to see the back of, tbh….

The important thing now imo is that the off-season has to represent a line in the sand. Hopefully McMillan commits to staying and can hire in some of his own coaches. And with any luck, Flanagan will be shown the door following this review; his lack of comment on the whole Randle affair (and even the timing when he has commented) is borderline disdainful towards Munster fans imo…. we deserved to hear more from him, and earlier, in all of this.

Even with all the sh*tshow this season, I think there are reasons for hope going into next. We have the core of a decent, young team, and some good young players coming through too. Crowley, Casey, the Edogbo's, Gleeson, Kendellen, Quinn and EOC are all (variously) young guys I expect to continue to improve into quality players. Added to Coombes, Nash, Ahern, Hodnett, Barron and Daly for the homegrown core all under 30. We're far from an old team.

We've supplemented well with the likes of Nankivell and Dan Kelly who have been quality signings. Marnus Van der Merwe is a quality signing in a problem position. TH remains problematic tho…. (as does back-up 10).

Goal for next season imo should be a home CC knock-out game and a home URC knock-out game.