gunner_graham wrote:The Chiel wrote:Again looked a tired team, needing some depth urgently.
A shame the abiding memory will be the forwards yet again flogging themselves inside the 5m area and not really looking like getting over the line - and nothing outside the forwards. The trips to France & Newcastle seem a very long time ago.
Telling that all Glasgow's back subs are imo better than Edinburgh's starters ( with the exception of DVDM - again underused ). And Glasgow could afford to send McDowell off to play for his club when he'd be a nailed on starter for Edinburgh. Shiel looked good when he came on, but 10, 12 and 13 are real problem areas ( and I know that's not news ).
I don't see 12 & 13 as the problem. 9 & 10 for sure and a lot of that is down to the lack of a game plan. Side to side for a couple of minutes and then 10 metre box kick will never win anything. Dean and Johnston are good players and would probably flourish in a different environment. When our whole game is focused on forward dominance and it doesn't come off we have few options.
What is more worrying is that Glasgow have guys like Steyn and Gordon coming in from nowhere and playing out of their skin while we have a tired looking, unchanging team.
I think Dean and Johnson are back ups, I think Dean has all the skills you need to be a top class 12 but he hasn't yet put them all together and he's getting older. JJ is good but he's also reached his ceiling.
Pyrgos has regressed as the season has gone on but he's played essentially every minute of every game. It's bad management from Cockers tbh - he decided (correctly) Kennedy and Fowles weren't give enough but he doesn't play Shiel unless needs must so what was going to happen when Pyrgos got tired.
10 is a problem - Hickey was a good signing at the time but he's been poor. VdW plays far too deep and far too inconsistently. The real problem is there's never a young guy coming through. McClelland was a risk worth taking, don't really get the Baggott story but every year we should be hunting for young SQ 10s and bringing them in. For example, Eastgate was good for the under20s but he's now at Plymouth. Surely he was worth a punt? James Lang signed a new deal at Quins this year - surely you have that conversation at least.
The last two games have been chastening - would absolutely hate to be the boys in preseason this year. They're going to get absolutely beasted.