At the 11th hour.

On the last day of the year Leeds Carnegie has announced the loan signing of Rory Clegg until the end of the season. Rory is a 22 year old stand-off, currently playing for Harlequins.

This is a much needed signing which will, at the very least, take some of the pressure off the shoulders of Joe Ford. Clegg needs game time and Ford needs a rest. It does not take a genious to see that this is a good deal for all parties. Looking forward to seeing Rory at HC on Sunday.

The stampede into mediocrity

Another game, another humiliating defeat.That makes four on the trot (heyho but who's counting?) Progress this season has been hit and miss at best, non-existent or even regression at worst. It is time for the management to have a long hard look at the team's performance. Some serious decisions need to be made soon before the club becomes the Championship whipping boys.

My expectations this season are being downgraded from top four to mid table mediocrity. Am I being over optimistic?

And now for something completely different!

Carnegie won in London last weekend and, in my opinion, the result was never in doubt after Oli Goss crossed for the second try and Joe Ford popped over the extras from out wide. So what I hear you thinking?

Well the one thing that has eluded us over the last 15 months is consistency. We have, on occasions, played superb rugby. More often than not this has been followed by abject rubbish. Diccon Edwards has selected almost the same team for the game against Moseley and for this he is to be applauded. Now it is up to the players to put in another solid performance and deliver a second win away from Headingley. Winning on the road is a good habit to get into.

We are not the only team to be inconsistent, Bristol and Pirates are equally guilty. However we now have a chance to get into our stride and put down a marker for the teams below us in the league. Now that would make a refreshing change!

More road trips

At the start of the season a bold new strategy of taking the Carnegie show on the road was announced. A good idea? Possibly, but to attract new support the " product on sale " has to be good. The venues must also be centres of population where there is no rival "product". So York fits this bill but Hull and Wharfedale do not.

The club have now announced 2 more road trips - Otley and West Park. Er, what happened to Bradford, Harrogate, Halifax , Huddersfield and Wakefield? Someone more cynical tham me might suggest that the "roadshow" was organised purely to facilitate the relaying of the Headingley pitch and for some bizarre reason the club decided to keep this from the fans. Surely not?

Road trip!

Sunday, 21st October 2012 and I am trekking across the county to see the Tykes play Jersey in the Boring & Inconsequential Cup today. Why am I making this trip? Well partly because if I want to see the lads play then I have to go to York but also because travelling anywhere by rail on a Sunday is bleddy exciting.

Last time I went to Clifton Park (as a player back in the 80's) it was exciting because there was a ladies hockey match on the adjacent pitch and we struggled to keep 15 men on our pitch!

Also hoping to spend a few minutes in the bar on platform 2 at York station. Happy days!

It's a mystery!

Last season the biggest question at the club was; "How has Diccon kept his job?" Well he kept it and we will never know if it was even being mooted that he should depart. He now has the chance to put right all that went wrong during that miserable 8 months.

Now the big mystery is; "Who is covering for Joe at 10?" Last night's friemdly against Wasps showed that we only have one 10. In the second half there was an opportunity to experiment ( we did not have a flyhalf on the bench) - perhaps try McColl there. The season starts in a fortnight. What are our options? We hear that we are trying to sign Davis or Staunton. Time is passing. We need an option. Like I said, it's a mystery.

Strange Days

The summer has taken on an air of unreality. London Welsh have had their appeal upheld and have been promoted. Newcastle Falcons are now in the Championship. Having planned and recruited for another tough season in the AP the Falcons will only suffer from a loss of revenue ( but still have the parachute payment to ease the pain)

What is really strange is the thought of London Welsh trying to put a Premiership class squad together, starting at the end of June. You may argue that they already have a good squad. Yes, possibly, but I would hate to see them whipped every week because they have not had sufficient time to prepare.

Personally I am looking forward to a  couple of trips to Newcastle - might even get to visit the Crown Posada.

Something was missing yesterday!

Watching Leeds playing Cornish Pirates yesterday I realised that a number of features which have dogged us all season were missing. This included unforced errors such as knock-ons and turnovers. Our backs looked likely to score (and did - often). Everyone was playing in position (at the start of the game)

Why is this, I wondered? Certainly seeing Tommy Bell at fly-half made his season at fullback seem like a weird experiment & left me thinking that DE had gotten it seriously wrong playing him at 15.

As for the lack of errors has the weight of expectation weighed so heavily on the players all season that once promotion was lost they could relax and play proper rugby? Well that is what it looked like to me.

There has been much talk of Diccon's performance this season. He is now alluding to mistakes made and the lessons that must be learned from them. I hope he means his own mistakes & lessons. Next season he must do better in that the teams that he puts out each week must do better. Mid table will not get us into the play-offs next time. Players that are joining us are all his choices. This last season has been a difficult one for all of us. Next year must be better.

Back from the brink

Leeds Carnegie went into yesterday's game at the Old Deer Park facing a third consecutive defeat within a week. This appeared to be the culmination of a season fraught with inconsistency and a portent for beatings to come in the play-offs.

As has been the case all season the squad confounded all predictions of its imminent demise with a resounding win against a side which has been in the top four all season. What can we put this down to? A dry pitch? Players returning from injury? New forwards giving the pack a bit of steel? The answer is probably a bit of all three. McColl is a quality player who attacks at pace. Williamson & Aulika have been around and know the forwards game...and yes the pitch was dry!

Looking at players who were missing yesterday I am starting to feel a bit more optimistic atbout the play-offs. We have won ugly on many occasions this season so know what is needed. The first game is at home to the Pirates - whom we have already beaten at Headingley. If we win that then anything is possible.

Embarrassing!

Leeds Carnegie today established it's credentials as a mediocre Championship club. Poor selection followed by poor game management led to another inevitable defeat. The coach has to take most of the blame. The team make the same mistakes every game. Nothing changes. The only consistency is in the poor performance on the pitch. Why do we persist with players who are not on form? The leadership on the field is, to put it mildly, inadequate. Today we spurned two kickable penalties, either of which would have won us the game.

I do not advocate wholesale changes at this stage in the season but clearly the coach is not up to the job and there are players in key positions who are in the same category. GH has some tough but necessary decisions to make before we sink any further.

I fear for Lanny.

England have started the Six Nations with two wins out of two, on the road. Both matches were played in poor conditions. Both resulted in narrow wins. Fair enough. A good start for the new regime and the the lads in the squad who have little or no international experience. This team will only get better and there are players like Flood and Tuilagi to fit back into the side.

Unfortunately the learning curve becomes a steep parabola from here on in. Wales, France and Ireland in quick succession means that the good start will count for nothing if these three fixtures are lost. The press will then whip up a clamour for a "name" to coach the national side and Lanny will be back where he was - on the sidelines.

What we need is a good performance against the Welsh and, dare I say it, another win. Time is not on Lanny's side.

Good business or desperation?

Deadline day for Championship signings saw Leeds Carnegie dip into the market twice. The result? Two seasoned forwards signing for the rest of the season.

Halani Aulika is a Tongan international prop who can play 1 or 3. Our recent experience of Tongan forwards leads me to have high hopes - another Vili, another legend.

Ed Williamson is a more unexpected signing. A powerful hard running backrow forward in his Falcons days who thought his career was over when he sustained a bad hand injury last season. A recent operation has given him a second chance. In his own words he is "back from the dead" and certainly has a lot to offer, adding some much needed grunt to our young backrow.

We would have liked a seasoned centre as well but signing these two looks to  be  good business and will make the trip to Nottingham an even better day out.