Top 14 Day 16 (1st time)

[iINDOMINUSxx]

Scotty got some points there.

or maybe racing metro if he's lucky i heard they're as bad as toloun for foreign players

 

[Tony Manx]

Doussain starts at fly-half (!!...) and Poitrenaud at midfield tonight...experimental, should be interesting to see what Doussain can do at 10, I'm very invested in this young man. I think he can be the France no. 9 personally, we'll have to see how things turn out...really really hope Saint-André and friends pick him at the start of the 6N over injured Parra.

Doussain is a 10 (he played for France at Under 20's with Barraque forced to play at inside centre) so not really a gamble and Poitrenaud often plays in and is excellent as an inside centre..........Should be a cracker if ASM turn up and they have cerrtainly picked the team to do it!!

I would go for an away win....................

 

[Big Ewis]

Anybody watching ? just got here...nice to see Toulouse with 7 on the board already

 

[Tony Manx]

My money is on Biarritz what's yours on !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I know a couple of excellent restos in La Rochelle for you, that is if they (La Rochelle) dont come back into the TOP 14. We will see what happens when both Basque clubs go down and how quickly the fusion takes place, much easier for one Basque club to get back into the Top 14 than two!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Biarritz has **** management, no financial competence, no decent overall manager, few decent players, no money and no future................relegation has been a certainty at some stage and have done well to avoid it over the last three years!

In all honesty, what is Montpellier's excuse.......it has decent management, financial competence, great manager, plenty of money, loads of star players (who cost loads of dosh), injection of loads of money from new investors and still the only side they have beaten in the last seven games is Biarritz......got to admire your chuzpah but you have serious problems this season over there.....maybe it is the season for consolidation of a load of new players but, is it not true, loads more are coming!!

Maybe another Racing or Stade or Toulon or even Clermont...threatening but never quite the full shilling?! Compare those sides to the often maligned, by me, Toulouse who produce academy player after academy player and have been in the play off semi finals every one of the last 20 years (I understand)............that is class!!

Whatever it is, I wish Biarrtz were in same state as Montpellier rather than where we are!!

 

[gaston le gaff]

Glad you can get all that off your chest Tony, you may be right about results not being great but we are still there with a fighting chance, and will continue to fight to the end, even if next season the H Cup will be a shambles!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Serious problems i think not, problems for sure but i would rather have our problems than those of BO.
What i can't understand is that BO budget is about 1/2 million €'s less than that of MHR? The salary cap is the same for all the teams so why are BO so short of cash.
As far as Academy players go, players who have started this season Artru, Escande, Galletier Trinh-Duc, Ouedraogo, de Marco, Nariashvili, Perraux, Selponi, Sicart, Leleimalefaga, players who where produced by the club but have left the club, Picamoles Doumayrou, Tomas, Bost and i may have forgotten a few, Montpellier have not been in the Elite for 10 years yet but have never gone back into the Pro D2, that is already a result, only journalists and others who are in the dark compare Montpellier with the greats of the TOP 14? They are still a very young team and things will improve but patience is needed, hope that answers all of your questions and please do not worry too much about us we will be ok, even if we are in a bad patch at the moment, but thank you for your concern, and of course Happy New Year to you and your family health happiness and loads of dosh..............

 

[Big Ewis]

pretty shhitty match, glad Toulouse still is undefeated at home...but Clermont came to play. They must have the best second unit by far in the league.

 

[gaston le gaff]

pretty shhitty match, glad Toulouse still is undefeated at home...but Clermont came to play. They must have the best second unit by far in the league.

If you thought that was a ****** match did you watch the same match as i did.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the actual playing time was on par with international standards (over 36 mins) so i don' know what you where watching!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Toulouse deserved their win but only just the bench made the difference, as Clermont brought quite a few younsters and did not have a full bench. The try a complete farce as the rules say the hands have to go backwards but the ball went 4/5 yds forward the sooner they change that rule back to what it was the BETTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[ratsapprentice]

You knew exactly what the TMO was thinking to himself:

"I can see that the ball has gone 3 feet forwards... but his hands have gone backwards"

 

[gaston le gaff]

You knew exactly what the TMO was thinking to himself:

"I can see that the ball has gone 3 feet forwards... but his hands have gone backwards"

so coaches will now be showing everyone how to throw a forward pass forward while moving the hands in a backward direction therefore no forward pass another great rule by the Great Gods of rugby

 

[Big Ewis]

You knew exactly what the TMO was thinking to himself:

"I can see that the ball has gone 3 feet forwards... but his hands have gone backwards"

yeh, about that. It's silly to look at the move first, refs should look at the basic trajectory first and then if he really really can't make up his mind look at the passing move.

And gaston I suppose it had its moments but it wasn't what I was looking for at all out of a Toulouse Clermont match. The level of play was good in parts, it's true..

 

[Tony Manx]

Glad you can get all that off your chest Tony, you may be right about results not being great but we are still there with a fighting chance, and will continue to fight to the end, even if next season the H Cup will be a shambles!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Serious problems i think not, problems for sure but i would rather have our problems than those of BO.
What i can't understand is that BO budget is about 1/2 million €'s less than that of MHR? The salary cap is the same for all the teams so why are BO so short of cash.
As far as Academy players go, players who have started this season Artru, Escande, Galletier Trinh-Duc, Ouedraogo, de Marco, Nariashvili, Perraux, Selponi, Sicart, Leleimalefaga, players who where produced by the club but have left the club, Picamoles Doumayrou, Tomas, Bost and i may have forgotten a few, Montpellier have not been in the Elite for 10 years yet but have never gone back into the Pro D2, that is already a result, only journalists and others who are in the dark compare Montpellier with the greats of the TOP 14? They are still a very young team and things will improve but patience is needed, hope that answers all of your questions and please do not worry too much about us we will be ok, even if we are in a bad patch at the moment, but thank you for your concern, and of course Happy New Year to you and your family health happiness and loads of dosh..............

All good and valid points and would dearly love Biarritz, as I said, to be where you are!

Why are BO lacking cash? Overpaid staff (and not just players) who are not up to their jobs in all areas and lack of proper management would probably explain much!!

Happy and Healthy New Year to you guys too.............and am sure that the best years for MHR are yet to come!!

 

[gaston le gaff]

All good and valid points and would dearly love Biarritz, as I said, to be where you are!

Why are BO lacking cash? Overpaid staff (and not just players) who are not up to their jobs in all areas and lack of proper management would probably explain much!!

Happy and Healthy New Year to you guys too.............and am sure that the best years for MHR are yet to come!!

Maybe that there is bad management but looking at the budgets there seems to be a massive difference and surely managements cant get paid that much we have a massive wage bill but stick to the salary cap and we are more or less breaking even finacially, so where is the BO money going????
or is there massive debts that BO are hidding for obvious reasons. All seems very strange when you see smaller clubs with smaller budgets still investing more and more into player resources. Is Serge that far behind the times or is he just waiting for the Pro D2 to off load a big bunch of expensive players.