The only way is up for Glaws in 2010-11

It’s that time of year again, when players, coaches, owners, the media and the fans take stock of their season and, as usual, all come to different conclusions. But surely all will agree that for the second season running, in Gloucester’s case it was very much a case of “should do better.”

Results weren’t good enough, performances varied from good to downright awful and the final Guinness Premiership placing was a disappointment – again.
So where do we go from here?
The easy answer is “up”, because that it what is expected of a club like Glaws.
But achieving that isn’t so easy – the GP is a hard place to play rugby and there are more good teams than bad ones, all vying for the game’s major prizes.

Gloucester don’t appear to be in a position to splash the cash, and that could be a good thing because many costly high-profile signings turn out to do more harm than good. This week’s signing of Worcester flanker Matt Cox perhaps shows where the club’s recruitment policy stands.

But it’s not all doom and gloom – most of us knew that the season which has just ended was going to be one of transition, while Bryan Redpath got his feet under the head coach’s desk and got his players to operate the way he wants them to.
Now he’s had his bedding-in season, and we all have a right to expect him and the team to do better in 2010-11 – and he knows that if he doesn’t there’s every chance he’ll follow Dean Ryan through the Kingsway swing doors into the lengthening rugby dole queue.

Ryan says his biggest disappointment is missing out on sixth place that would have earned a Heineken cup place, though of course there’s still an outside chance of that thanks to the complications of competition red tape.

And, clearly a realist, he admits in an interview with the Citizen: "We've got to take that on the chin as coaches and players that some of the things have not been good enough.

"That's life. I'm not hiding from it, I'm not putting a gloss on it. But I do think we have started going in the right direction. We had to start somewhere.

"It has taken longer to get the passion back, to make Kingsholm special again.”

Redpath points to the fact that in mid-season Glaws and their old rivals Bath were almost on a par, yet Bath have finished in the play-offs.
He explains: “They've picked up some good wins away from home which is what we haven't done. If you pick up three or four wins away from home you're in that top four.
"We have to change our mental approaches as individuals and then the team will benefit. Sometimes taking a step back makes you realise what it is all about.
"We've got a club theme and team back again. Now we need to be more competitive, like we were for a couple of seasons.

So are we, Bryan - it's what keeps us going furing the summer.