I drove past Welford Road stadium the other day. It is of course the close season and all is still and quiet. The Aylestone Road end of the ground is completely open, save for some barriers erected by the construction firm charged with the task of replacing the old clubhouse with a state of the art 3,100 seat stand.
The clubhouse stood there from 1909 until shortly after the last game of the season against Northampton Saints, which Leicester Tigers won to set up a semi-final that had seemed unlikely back in September; Tigers were licking their wounds after a poor start to the season that had included a hammering at Bath in what was in all likelihood the worst Leicester performance any observer had witnessed in their lifetime. Indeed, many would view the play off place as undeserved.
When the game was amateur, the supporter response to such a performance as the one at The Rec would have been to watch Rugby Special through gaps in your fingers, read what the Leicester Mercury had to say, then meet with fellow supporters in the aforementioned Clubhouse before the following game to see what others thought. Then watch the next game and hope it would be better.
There certainly would not have been the yelling of abuse at players and coaches as the players left the field. There would not have been the post-mortems on message boards where armchair critics were seemingly able to pick out what Director of Rugby Richard Cockerill had missed in preparation for the game. There wouldn’t have been snide comments directed towards the club and the players on Twitter. There would not have been amateur analysts blaming the club itself for the injury list. Alas, the old clubhouse is no more.
The game has grown since the amateur days. Technology has developed since the amateur days. We live in a world where the Tigers will begin the 2015/16 season with a 26,000 capacity stadium and the ability to fill it. Three times as many supporters will fill Welford Road as back in the mid nineties when the stadium amounted to the Crumbie Stand and the old Members Stand with a grass bank for children to alternate between chucking a ball around and watching Dean Richards lead his formidable pack to another victory.
The swelled supporter base also has access to a wealth of information and opinions that they never had twenty years ago. Internet forums allow supporters to share their opinion and read those of others in the click of a button. Official social media outlets allow supporters to digest a wealth of information from the club that had previously not been possible to receive. A lucrative deal with BT allows supporters to watch more domestic rugby than they ever had dared dream of twenty years ago. Personal social media allows supporters to interact with players, coaches and fans in an instant. It has never been easier to be informed on the game we love, nor has it been easier to have a voice.
To have a voice. This is the difficult part. We should all be allowed a voice and in many ways we should embrace the ability to read differing opinions. The problem starts to come when people feel the need to make their voice the one that is heard and you can do that by being louder or more sensational. The problem continues when the media gives credence to these opinions.
If, therefore, you were to give credence to social media surrounding Leicester you’d start to believe that there was a crisis at Leicester. That Cockerill is a man under pressure. That the play is in terminal decline. That Leicester cannot compete with the deep pockets of the likes of Bath or Northampton.
In decline? Well if one can equate two successive seasons outside of the top two to a decline after nine successive Premiership finals then yes, maybe that is a decline. You can quite justifiably look at the quality of play at times last season and conclude that the Tigers attack leaves plenty to be desired at present. The failure to replace head coach Matt O’Connor, who left for Leinster in the summer of 2013, and the firing of backs coach Paul Burke in the early part of last season is quite probably a contributing factor.
Cockerill under pressure? Damn right he is. None more so than from himself.
Cockerill is not a Director of Rugby to hide from poor performance. The club’s strong relationship with the local media gives him ample airtime to address weaknesses in the team’s performance and notably his own performance. He has been open and honest with regards to the club’s shortcomings in coaching and back play and has sought to address issues with the mouth watering appointment of All Blacks legend Aaron Mauger as head coach and some key signings. A new inside centre is a must following the sad retirement of midfield general Anthony Allen, but the openness of the club is such that it is already public knowledge that this is in hand.
Improvements have been identified as necessary. Cockerill has identified weaknesses and the need to address them and has worked with the club to make those improvements. And yet it is easy to forget that the Tigers finished third. Cast aside the disappointing defeats at places like Bath, Gloucester, Harlequins and Saracens: the third place finish was testament to some ground out difficult away victories at places like Exeter, Sale, London Irish and Wasps.
So is this a decline? If it is, then Harlequins are in the midsts of a calamitous implosion. From champions to eighth in just three years and yet Connor O’Shea seems immune to pressure and speculation. Why is that?
Leicester Tigers have big capacity for improvement and some smart recruitment in place for the 2015/16 season. Write them off for the Premiership crown at your absolute peril.
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