Who is to blame?

Leeds Carnegie rugby club is in turmoil, again. The 3-year plan of the management team is in tatters and the Leicester duo, Back and Key, have gone - Key sacked & I suspect Back resigned before he too was axed.

So what went wrong and who is to blame? The second year of the plan had been a success in that the club had avoided relegation. When Neil Back trumpeted his "top 6 finish" as the third phase of the plan we thought that a mid-table finish was on the cards.

The pre-season was an absolute disaster. To my mind things had started to go wrong before then. I had heard that we were signing Charlie Hodgson from Sale. His body language, when seen on TV, said that he wanted away. I am sure that the Leeds management thought he was coming, hence the lack of any other decent stand-off in the close season signings. For whatever reason Charlie changed his mind & we were left scrabbling for decent players who could perhaps fill the 10 shirt. We ended up with a decent, injury-prone 12 who, to my way of thinking, did not fill the 10 shirt in any way, shape or form.

That was the start of the season-long failure to move up to the "next level". Everything else was incidental. No number 10 = no success! Therefore I have no hesitation in pointing the finger at a certain Yorkshireman from Halifax (not Mallinder this time) and saying;

                                        "Charlie - it's your fault!"

'Urry up 'Arry

One of the big plusses of the defeat at Northampton was the appearance and subsequent performance of one Harry Hannon, a hooker from the ranks of our academy, who came on to face Dylan Hartley in the second half when he replaced the excellent Phil Nielsen.

We were fortunate enough to bump into Harry on our way out of the ground after the match. On the pitch he looks a mean hombre. When you meet him he is a well spoken, polite young man. He had obviously enjoyed his AP debut but was a bit despondant about the result.

When asked how he coped with Hartley he replied that the England hooker talks a lot! Clearly unfazed with his baptism of fire he is one to watch for the future.

So hurry up Harry and make the Leeds number 2 shirt your own!

Franklins Gardens in colour

Harry Hannan(front centre)

Calum

AJ converts the 3rd try.

The eve of destruction

I do not get a good feeling about the game tomorrow. Leeds have named as strong a side as they can but the Saints bench looks awesome & some of the Leeds players do not appear to be taking this game too seriously. Steve Thompson has already been seen out on the lash tonight. Just what we need.

Defeat tomorrow will see Neil Back's 3 year plan fade into oblivion as it has seemed like doing for most of the season and the club will be back where it was 3 years ago except for the £2million debt that we have accrued in the meantime. Barry Maguire's song seems quite apt for the occasion....

One last hurrah!

The result at Kingston Park last night, where Newcastle secured a losing bonus point in their defeat by Bath, means effectively that Leeds have to win at Franklins Gardens on Saturday afternoon to even have a chance of continuing their brief flirtation with top flight English rugby.

There are, however, a couple of factors which could help the Tykes' cause. The Saints are in the Heineken Cup semi-final today. This must surely be their primary objective for the season - winning Europe's biggest prize. The other one is that they are playing Perpignan, a rough-tough Catalan team who will certainly kick seven bells out of the Northampton players if it aids their cause. So we could see  the Saints squad with injury issues and one eye on the big prize when we meet next weekend. Will this make a difference? Probably not. Saints have a relatively big squad with strength in depth.

Can Leeds win? Unlikely but not impossible. One last throw of the dice.