Time for another old rebuild? :
No! My head (and my heart) couldn't take another rebuild.
I won't live that long anyway.
I don't want to change the coach either.
(Although the scrutiny has already started...and that has an inevitable end if things don't improve.)
The thing is that when they're 'on' you'd probably give this group a chance against any other side.
But under pressure, or if the attitude is just a little bit off there are some glaring weaknesses exposed.
We look at some of the fringe players and often wonder why they get selected over others.
There must be a reason we think.
Maybe they're under certain instructions to play a role, or their pressure is valued...we don't value their contribution, but the coaches do.
But in many cases it 'ain't workin'. Their efforts are not contributing to the result. It's particularly true of our small/medium forwards who don't impact the scoreboard.
But it's not just the fringe players.
Even our very best have 'faults' that are exposed when things aren't going well.
Saad is terrific but he is often brushed aside too easily in tackles.
Harry has his brain fades and there is an indecision that often affects his disposal especially in front of goal.
Charlie can give a great contest but his second and third efforts once the contest is lost can vary considerably.
Jack tries hard all the time, but often will have a purple patch and then not have a significant impact for large parts of the game.
Cripps is so important but can be nullified, and if he's not prominent we're in trouble.
Weitering is having an up and down kind of year...and while that may be due in part to some off-field problems, it probably has more to do with the unsettled nature and lack of support from the other defenders who are more attackers than lock-down types.
One bloke you can usually depend on for consistency of effort and excellence is Walsh.
But he was very average last night...caught in tackles and unable to release, and his disposal efficiency was around 50% (it was 50%).
It's hard to know where we sit in the scheme of things.
We're probably very much a middle of the table side, which given the top end talent, is probably very much underachieving, but the issue is that there is such a gap between our best players and our fringe players.
Too much is left to too few, and if your star players are nullified, as they were last night, the remaining players aren't good enough to pick up the slack.
