Pope for God
- Thread starter Budgie
- Start date
I don't think anyone saw that 5-0 coming - No team in the EIHL would expect to beat Nottingham in that fashion.
The players have certainly found something extra in the past few matches, and with DLC playing like Lehman they will always have confidence they can win on any given night. He is such a crucial part of this team.
Before some folk look at my username and presume I am about to be unfair, quite the opposite.
I think it is only fair, especially considering the addition / change of two players to the roster, that we judge the current setup and Coaching by the same criteria the previous one was measured. Which was, pretty much, be fourth and win a trophy. Possibly by the end of the month for half of that
I would consider that an acceptable return for the spend if not the upset, especially given the low points of losses we have suffered in the last few weeks.
Expectations placed upon G were high, as Brent and Paul constantly told us how big a budget they gave him. With the like-for-like salary swap of Conboy / Liimatainen and the addition of the biggest contract in our BBT era, I think the same high expectations of Brent's performance on the bench are the minimum we should look for.
Either way, one Swallow does not a summer make so just as some were calling for patience during that awful run, I think judgement should also come after more than one good weekend and a superb shutout, however impressive the performances.
The players have certainly found something extra in the past few matches, and with DLC playing like Lehman they will always have confidence they can win on any given night. He is such a crucial part of this team.
Before some folk look at my username and presume I am about to be unfair, quite the opposite.
I think it is only fair, especially considering the addition / change of two players to the roster, that we judge the current setup and Coaching by the same criteria the previous one was measured. Which was, pretty much, be fourth and win a trophy. Possibly by the end of the month for half of that
I would consider that an acceptable return for the spend if not the upset, especially given the low points of losses we have suffered in the last few weeks.
Expectations placed upon G were high, as Brent and Paul constantly told us how big a budget they gave him. With the like-for-like salary swap of Conboy / Liimatainen and the addition of the biggest contract in our BBT era, I think the same high expectations of Brent's performance on the bench are the minimum we should look for.
Either way, one Swallow does not a summer make so just as some were calling for patience during that awful run, I think judgement should also come after more than one good weekend and a superb shutout, however impressive the performances.
Paul Sullivan said:
I don't think anyone saw that 5-0 coming - No team in the EIHL would expect to beat Nottingham in that fashion.
The players have certainly found something extra in the past few matches, and with DLC playing like Lehman they will always have confidence they can win on any given night. He is such a crucial part of this team.
Before some folk look at my username and presume I am about to be unfair, quite the opposite.
I think it is only fair, especially considering the addition / change of two players to the roster, that we judge the current setup and Coaching by the same criteria the previous one was measured. Which was, pretty much, be fourth and win a trophy. Possibly by the end of the month for half of that
I would consider that an acceptable return for the spend if not the upset, especially given the low points of losses we have suffered in the last few weeks.
Expectations placed upon G were high, as Brent and Paul constantly told us how big a budget they gave him. With the like-for-like salary swap of Conboy / Liimatainen and the addition of the biggest contract in our BBT era, I think the same high expectations of Brent's performance on the bench are the minimum we should look for.
Either way, one Swallow does not a summer make so just as some were calling for patience during that awful run, I think judgement should also come after more than one good weekend and a superb shutout, however impressive the performances.
The players have certainly found something extra in the past few matches, and with DLC playing like Lehman they will always have confidence they can win on any given night. He is such a crucial part of this team.
Before some folk look at my username and presume I am about to be unfair, quite the opposite.
I think it is only fair, especially considering the addition / change of two players to the roster, that we judge the current setup and Coaching by the same criteria the previous one was measured. Which was, pretty much, be fourth and win a trophy. Possibly by the end of the month for half of that
I would consider that an acceptable return for the spend if not the upset, especially given the low points of losses we have suffered in the last few weeks.
Expectations placed upon G were high, as Brent and Paul constantly told us how big a budget they gave him. With the like-for-like salary swap of Conboy / Liimatainen and the addition of the biggest contract in our BBT era, I think the same high expectations of Brent's performance on the bench are the minimum we should look for.
Either way, one Swallow does not a summer make so just as some were calling for patience during that awful run, I think judgement should also come after more than one good weekend and a superb shutout, however impressive the performances.
Whether it is to everybody's taste or not there is definitely a more togetherness within the club now. This is completely not a criticism of G at all but the fact is Ragan was never going to be happy and back the team completely unless Pope was in charge and now he has his wish the team received financial backing for Kurka, new equipment turned up and Ragan treats the team to a lunch out after the Nottingham game. IMO this would not have happened with G at the helm unfortunately. It's good the team are getting the backing now, they deserve it.
It's a results driven business and by that light you have to give G massive credit in his abilities to coach in the circumstances he was. He was top of all the other player coaches and persistently got them performing above their budget. By that scale he was a good coach. Don't know the guy or the players to ask but is he regarded as a good coach by the players. No idea. The same moving past the political poo storm no idea how the players view Poper now. But to judge by the same criteria I praised G with. Poper is now getting the best from this team and getting results so he his doing a good job at present. Will it continue. Who knows. Everything ends sometime.
Just two points where I see differences. Poper has dipped a toe into European recruitment and it's paid off and this is something G and Franny always seemed very reluctant to do. Mainly prob down to a perceived hockey culture clash and contacts and resources but was always surprising we limited our recruitment pool so much. Secondly and goes hand in hand with a European arrival the powerplay is gunning a lot better. I don't necessarily mean goals but the style and play of it is much better. The zone penetration and set up is far quicker and efficient and the puck possession far quicker and in dangerous areas. Kurka tends to lead the rush on the powerplay and does it very well. With Limit ( best I'll attempt) coming in I only see that getting better as he will prob be a very good puck mover and skater.
Just two points where I see differences. Poper has dipped a toe into European recruitment and it's paid off and this is something G and Franny always seemed very reluctant to do. Mainly prob down to a perceived hockey culture clash and contacts and resources but was always surprising we limited our recruitment pool so much. Secondly and goes hand in hand with a European arrival the powerplay is gunning a lot better. I don't necessarily mean goals but the style and play of it is much better. The zone penetration and set up is far quicker and efficient and the puck possession far quicker and in dangerous areas. Kurka tends to lead the rush on the powerplay and does it very well. With Limit ( best I'll attempt) coming in I only see that getting better as he will prob be a very good puck mover and skater.