Only 31 days till Pat is at his first Connacht game !!

+ 1

He can't get here quick enough after that performance last night

Borders no.2 wrote: I'd agree with this. I believe a problem for Connacht over the years was there wasn't any real targets set either by the IRFU or from within. Too often a good win in Europe or a win in an interprovincial game would be seen as making the season a success in some eyes.

Given you believe (rightly I think) that there will be extra pressure on Lam and given your previous posts saying that one of the biggest problems you saw for Connacht was unrealistic expectations I'd be interested to hear what you believe are realistic ambitions for Pat Lam in his first season. (at least in the league, we'll have to wait to see which European competition we'll be in)

Expectation-wise, I think he's up against it. But that's part of the job unfortunately.

I don't buy the 'coaches are holding us back' line, and my expectations are the same as they are now. Battling it out with Treviso, Edinburgh and Dragons - and hopefully Zebre if they can get going. Our progression out of that group is all about resources that can be generated by Sears and co, and the long-term sustainability for me.

Regarding the 'Lam coming in in April for the last three games' - I think he'll be totally hands off. His primary focus at that stage will be getting him and his family over here and settled. It'll be nothing but an information gathering exercise for the following season IMO.

Creedence wrote: I think there is going to be unprecedented pressure on Lam and the whole Connacht club next year. Up until now there has been no pressure from outside on Connacht*, best summed by the losing streak last year that generated little more than 'poor plucky Connacht' type articles and sympathy from supporters of other provinces.

When Bradley and Eric took over there was nowhere but up to go and little pressure. The increased profile from the HEC over the past two years, growth of the club off the pitch, Sears' combative approach to the McCarthy case, Eric's departure and the messy selection process, and a general sense that Connacht demands the same respect as the other provinces, have all made waves in the media in the last year, and while good, they also raise the stakes, as will a few high profile signings hopefully. Interesting times ahead!

*Normal pressure, not the sort of committee room pressure that was there in 2003

I'd agree with this. I believe a problem for Connacht over the years was there wasn't any real targets set either by the IRFU or from within. Too often a good win in Europe or a win in an interprovincial game would be seen as making the season a success in some eyes.

Given you believe (rightly I think) that there will be extra pressure on Lam and given your previous posts saying that one of the biggest problems you saw for Connacht was unrealistic expectations I'd be interested to hear what you believe are realistic ambitions for Pat Lam in his first season. (at least in the league, we'll have to wait to see which European competition we'll be in)

Pressure is good, it'll keep us focused and give us objectives.

The Lam signing is a further move away for Connacht (after Eric) from the "IRFU man first" mentality of Bradley. No matter that the IRFU probably made the appointment of Eric, Connacht always was his first priority not cow-towing or sucking up to the Blazers. If we needed something Eric will always just say so, and then move heaven and earth to get it.

Lam is Connacht's man not the IRFU's, and I fully expect him to come in and shake things up and plot his own course for the Province regardless of any outside pressure...

creedence i agree with you and I think thats no bad thing.

Im delighted that we got Lam, im convinced that an "outsider" will bring literally a new vision to the whole operation both on and off the pitch.

Sometimes its easy to hide behind the idea that sure they didnt expect us to do well anyway attitude when we let golden opportunities slip away.

I think that sears and lam will bring us to a new level on and off the pitch as they have no ties with whats there and will simply expect people to do their jobs to a very high standard.

The stakes have been upped, its important that we get basics right and not get ahead of ourselves.

I think Lam is an excellent call.

I think there is going to be unprecedented pressure on Lam and the whole Connacht club next year. Up until now there has been no pressure from outside on Connacht*, best summed by the losing streak last year that generated little more than 'poor plucky Connacht' type articles and sympathy from supporters of other provinces.

When Bradley and Eric took over there was nowhere but up to go and little pressure. The increased profile from the HEC over the past two years, growth of the club off the pitch, Sears' combative approach to the McCarthy case, Eric's departure and the messy selection process, and a general sense that Connacht demands the same respect as the other provinces, have all made waves in the media in the last year, and while good, they also raise the stakes, as will a few high profile signings hopefully. Interesting times ahead!

*Normal pressure, not the sort of committee room pressure that was there in 2003

connachtexile wrote: P.S. Can someone comment on the article and tell the r*tards at the bottom where to go? Thanks.

Arragh sure leave them to pick over the carcas, O'Sullivan is chip paper now that the LAM deal is done...

i think it works both ways really.

im pretty sure that all national journos scout the local boys for stories, contacts etc and imo the Pr dept with branch need to do same( dev contacts in all 5 counties and nationally).
even the a games in dubarry park arent promoted locally save for a few signs on the roundabouts in athlone.Imo every sports news bullitin and local sports section should have some PR article in it on thurs/fri of game day in province. Thats not happening atm and i might be wrong but i dont think that they are refusing to print/discuss connacht rugby.

I think Sears is doing a good job in getting us more national press.
I might be wrong, but I imagine if they put the effort with the National papers and radio stations, the local papers and stations will pick up on it, a lot more than by doing it the other way around

rossie wrote:
re coverage in the neational media i think connacht have to promote to promote themselves better both ithin and outside the province. i cant speak for galway but there are 2 local papers here in roscommon along with shannonside fm and you wouldnt have known connacht had a match last weekend even though there were two local players involved.

That's probably a reflection on the papers & shannonside more than Connacht especially considering there's quite a large Buccaneers following in that part of the world

good article and cleared up a few things for me anyway. in many eays its a pity that lam isnt starting next week to kill off the eddie articles once and for all.

re coverage in the neational media i think connacht have to promote to promote themselves better both ithin and outside the province. i cant speak for galway but there are 2 local papers here in roscommon along with shannonside fm and you wouldnt have known connacht had a match last weekend even though there were two local players involved.

connacht have progressed but there is still a hell of a lot of work to do marketing and pr wise within the province before dublin will take notice.

Why bother? They like the oxygen. I just ignore them.

The Thornley Article:

ON RUGBY: A minute from the end of the Ulster-Castres game in the Heineken Cup at Ravenhill last October, the French team suddenly broke upfield to threaten a try. With Ulster on three tries, Eddie O’Sullivan, who was commenting for Newstalk, opined that this could work to Ulster’s favour. Sure enough, within 30 seconds, Ruan Pienaar was scoring at the other end off a turnover with the last play.

Few characters in Irish rugby provoke such polarised opinions as the former Irish coach and, without a full-time coaching job since relinquishing his position with the USA Eagles after the last World Cup, he assuredly has more to offer the game than stints as a radio co-commentator.

He has considerable experience in the game as a player and coach, but unfortunately his man management skills and off-field dealings haven’t endeared him to everyone in the game.

This dates back to 1996 and specifically to Connacht. O’Sullivan was in place to coach them for what was then a 14-week window at the start of the season. Coming to the end of his sabbatical from teaching, and with the game having just gone professional, O’Sullivan sought a longer-term deal. The IRFU were not in a position to make such an offer and in the stand-off that ensued, O’Sullivan stood down on the eve of the season.

As one member of the Connacht squad put it at the time, “he was here one morning and gone after lunch”. The squad departed to Sweden for a pre-season camp without a head coach and this, ironically, led to Billy Glynn, now the IRFU President, ringing the former Galwegians player-coach Warren Gatland, who agreed to fly to Sweden at a day’s notice.

And so began Gatland’s coaching career in Europe, which would of course see O’Sullivan become his assistant with Ireland at the turn of the millennium before succeeding Gatland less than two years later.

This is not to be vindictive toward O’Sullivan who, assuredly, still has something to offer the game. It is merely to redress the balance. Whether or not Connacht should have let bygones be bygones, it is undeniably the case that O’Sullivan would not have been an entirely popular choice within Connacht as their next head coach.

But in addition to reading newspaper articles and listening to pundits on television and radio, the interview panel charged with finding a replacement for Eric Elwood, (namely Connacht CEO Tom Sears, Eddie Wigglesworth of the IRFU and Conor McGuinness and Steve Cunningham of the Professional Game Board) exhaustively researched all the leading candidates among the 30-plus candidates for the post.

Endorsement

This included canvassing current and past coaches and players, as well as others in the game, from all over the world. Much has been made of the comment by Glynn that the next Connacht coach should ideally be Irish.

This was taken somehow as an endorsement of O’Sullivan’s candidature, which it wasn’t.

That all four Irish provinces will be coached by Kiwis next season is not Connacht’s fault or problem. It is worth noting that of the 30-plus candidates who applied for the job, O’Sullivan was one of only four Irish men. Irish rugby is not an attractive or productive pathway for indigenous would-be coaches.

Under Eric Elwood, his assistants Billy Millard and Dan McFarland, and Academy/under-20 coach Nigel Carolan, Connacht have sought to undertake quite a transformation in their style of play over the last three seasons. Their younger players especially are being coached in a southern hemisphere style, with an emphasis on attacking space, on identifying mismatches and an offloading game.

Aside from building himself a somewhat dictatorial reputation, O’Sullivan is known for coaching a highly patterned style of play, with players told six, seven, or even more phases in advance of their specific roles.

Progressed significantly

Whatever the extent of that – and his defenders maintain his time working with Brian O’Driscoll and the like has seen him more willing to empower players – he has not coached below the international game since the 90s, defences have progressed significantly in the last decade and for rugby reasons O’Sullivan was not seen as the right fit for Connacht. That is entirely their prerogative.

The media outcry over their refusal to put him on their shortlist comes across as annoyance that the Cinderella province didn’t do what they were told. There was nothing like the same outcry, from him or his supporters, when he wasn’t short-listed for the Munster or Ulster jobs which became available this season.

For sure, he lives in Moylough, but he has far greater ties with his native Munster.

Not alone was there nothing like the same annoyance over Munster’s preference for Rob Penney, one imagines there won’t be if and when Leinster eventually look to replace Joe Schmidt with someone else.

Given Wigglesworth’s presence on the panel, it would appear the IRFU are not as fond of O’Sullivan as they once were either. But Sears did meet O’Sullivan in a Galway hotel last November for an informal meeting of about an hour and a half. It was therefore surprising that O’Sullivan aired his grievances over not being short-listed and thus formally interviewed for the job, and that correspondence between him and Sears was made public.

Indeed, the lack of confidentiality in this process is somewhat disrespectful and must be hugely annoying for the Connacht hierarchy.

Sadly, there would appear to be no full-time job at the top end of Irish rugby for O’Sullivan any time soon and, if he is to revive his coaching career, he may have to look abroad. One wishes him the best. But one wishes Pat Lam and Connacht the best too.

P.S. Can someone comment on the article and tell the r*tards at the bottom where to go? Thanks.

Hardly a shock, we have 22 Pro12 matches a year, 11 confirmed televised and 3 as yet unscheduled, and RTE will be showing us once this year. They're not exactly our best buds.