AND ACROSS the land there was much wailing, gnashing of teeth and rendering of garments, as the True Believers realised The Great Leader was departing. But, elsewhere, there was jubilation; they were dancing in the streets of Hawick, partying long into the night in the West End of Glasgow and in Ayrshire – the day they feared would never come had arrived – TCD had announced his departure.
Aye well, maybes aye – maybes naw, let's wait and see who comes in to replace him. By the way, will whoever suggested Stevie Gemmell please seek help. Might this be the moment for Dominic McKay to come home and save the jerseys, or, might we see some newcomer arrive to take charge of the Scottish Rugby Union?
Time will tell, be careful what you wish for and all that. Meanwhile, I await with interest the vacancy being posted. Just yesterday, the advertisement for Jim Mallinder's successor as Performance Director went up on the Rugby Vacancies page on Facebook. It's a belter, management mumbo-jumbo and gobbledegook in spades. But, don't take my word, read it for yourselves here:
We will be able to fully consider TCD's legacy once he has finally departed. There are those who say he did a good job, that things were a lot worse before he arrived; that verdict is down to posterity. One thing is clear, however, that Guardian NUJ FOC (Father of the Chapel – Principal Shop Steward of the National Union of Journalists at that paper) knew a bad 'un when he saw one, and named him “That C#nt Dodson”.
For all we know, he might have been a very-good CEO, however, his people skills and general demeanour left a lot to be desired, and he has been found Guilty in the Court of Public Opinioon. His departure clearly marks a changing of the guard at Scottish Gas Murrayfield, we are indeed living in interesting times.
A wee story from my time in the world of much shifting. A civil engineering firm, who recruited widely in Ireland when it came to employing motor scraper, dump truck and bulldozer drivers were engaged on a major project in the North of England.
From Monday to Friday, their plant operators showed why they were considered among the best in the industry, but, from Friday night to Sunday night, they raised Cain across the local area.
The job was winding down and several of the machine operators were due to be moved on. Word of this got out and a couple of days later, the local Police Chief turned up at the site office and requested a meeting with the Project Manager. At this meeting he produced a list and suggested to the guy who had the loudest shout, relationships between the company and the forces of law and order would be much-improved if the guys on the list were the first to be moved on.
To whom do I give the equivalent list, of the apparatchiks on the Junta who should be accompanying Messrs Dodson and Mallinder out of the door come high summer? Just asking.
Unfortunately, I have never mastered Photoshop, so I have been unable to superimpose Mr Dodson's face onto this legendary clip of Hans Gruber departing the Nakatomi Tower, so, you will just have to use your imagination.
THIS IS a big weekend, perhaps a critical one, for our two professional sides and their hopes of advancement to the knock-out rounds of the two European competitions.
In Pool 3 of the European Challenge Cup, Edinburgh are locked in a four-way battle for second place, with Black Lions, the wild card Georgian side, and the two French sides, Castres and Clermont Auvergne. All four sides are on 5 points from two games and trail pool leaders Gloucester, Edinburgh's opponents at a sold-out Hive tomorrow, by three points.
Edinburgh really need to beat their English visitors, then beat Scarlets in Wales next weekend, if they are to make the knocvk-out stages – and bonus points could also come into play here.
Glaws are struggling to convert good play into points, but, they will be no pushovers. Adam Hastings for one will be keen to win in front of his ain folk and breaching Glaws' Chris Harris-led defence will be no easy task.
For the match, Sean Everitt has named the following squad, as ever in 1-23 formation:
Pierre Schoeman, Dave Cherry, WP Nel, Sam Skinner, Grant Gilchrist, Glen Young, Hamish Watson, Viliame Mata; Ali Price, Ben Healy; Wes Goosen, Matt Currie, Mark Bennett, Darcy Graham; Emilio Boffelli. Replacements: Ewan Ashman, Robin Hislop, Angus Williams, Marshall Sykes, Tom Dodd; Ben Vellacott, James Lang, Harry Paterson.
Sam Skinner comes straight back into the starting XV, after three months out, while Glen Young is an interesting choice at six. The head-to-head between Mark Bennett and Chris Harris should be interesting.
Gloucester have selected Louis Rees-Zammit at full-back, denying the crowd a potential head-to-head with him and Darcy Graham. It should be a tight game, but, if the home pack can get a nudge on, Edinburgh are more than capable of winning this one. The match kicks-off at 5.30pm and can be viewed on Viaplay Sports..
EARLIER-ON tomorrow, Glasgow Warriors face a huge hurdle in their quest to reach the knock-out stages of the Investec Champions Cup – an away trip to Exeter Chiefs. Rob Baxter's rejigged side – English Rugby's equivalent of Sir Alex's legendary Class of '92, have maybe over-achieved this season, but, at Sandy Park, they will be difficult to overcome. Chiefs and Northampton Saints – who overturned a 26 point deficit, to show visiting sides can win in Exeter, last weekend – top the table, each with nine points.
(Exeter, by the way, have just announed a £4.5 million LOSS for their last financial year – that makes the SRU's £10.5 million loss look acceptable.)
Glasgow lie third, on four points, but, with tomorrow's game in England, and a home clash with Toulon to come next Friday, they face a difficult task in qualifying for the sharp end of the tournament.
Franco Smith is having to wrestle with a bit of an injury build-up, but has named the following match-day 23 for tomorrow's game:
Ollie Kebble, Gregor Hiddleston, Zander Fagerson, Scott Cummings, Alex Samuel, Ally Miller, Matt Fagerson, Henco Venter; George Horne, Dunky Weir; Kyle Rowe, Stafford McDowall, Sione Tuipulotu, Huw Jones; Josh McKay. Replacements: George Turner, Jamie Bhatti, Lucio Sordoni, Riche Gray, Max Williamson, Euan Ferrie, Ben Afshar, Tom Jordan.
As ever, Smith has shuffled his squad, with one or two players back from injury. It will be interesting to see how young Alex Samuel goes in this game, which kicks off at 1pm and will be available on TNT Sports and STV.
Sometimes it’s wise to wait. No one saw this happening but now it has the flood gates have opened.
ReplyDeleteHave to agree with the Gemmel comment. I will have a pint of what ever that chap is imbibing as it’s clearly warped his mind. And any suggestion of going back to Dominic McKay should be laughed at. He lasted less than 6 weeks at Celtic and we still don’t know why he was ejected. Going up against Dermot Desmond is one such transgression. Believing is his own brilliance when he knew feck all about the shark infested waters of football is another.
TCD still here for several months so don’t expect anything radical while he’s still in the premises.
The new CEO should be coming in with a plan to rebalance the finances and that will require tough choices.