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Author Topic: Clive Woodward on Gustard  (Read 1484 times)

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Clive Woodward on Gustard
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Finally a little thought for Paul Gustard who is a great coach, who I like a lot. He did his best at Quins but sometimes things don’t quite work out and eventually its best for all parties to go their separate ways. It happens.

His devotion to hard work and never say die attitude though will have left a legacy, its still part of the mix of this fearless Quins side. And let’s remember it was Paul who signed Tyrone Green last year, clearly a superb talent at full-back, at a time when not many up in Britain were aware of the young South African’s quality.

Re: Clive Woodward on Gustard
« Reply #1 on: »
Thanks for flagging that up.

Two things strike me about the numerous times people have pointed out that Gustard signed Green, Andre, Louw et al - wasn't the structure when PG arrived that Billy Millard would handle player signings and he would just coach the team?

Also, Gustard never seemed to want to play Green!
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Re: Clive Woodward on Gustard
« Reply #2 on: »
I can't believe that a head coach would not have the biggest input regarding which players they want at a club. Millard would probably handle all the stuff associated with signing a player but I'd bet money that Gustard was the one, and possibly the only one, who chose which players he wanted.
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Re: Clive Woodward on Gustard
« Reply #3 on: »
I think we have to give him the credit for those signings. No way he wasn't the one driving them. How he envisaged them playing / how he wanted to mould a team around them is s different question. We'll never know
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Re: Clive Woodward on Gustard
« Reply #4 on: »
I'm happy to give Gustard any credit he's due, as well as any debit. What I'm less happy about, particularly this year, is that Woodward still has a platform when he almost destroyed the Lions. 
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Re: Clive Woodward on Gustard
« Reply #5 on: »
Gustard deserves a lot of the credit. If he hadn't united the entire club due to the way he dealt with people and the rugby he played we would never have had the determination and collective spirit to play the style of rugby we have in order to show him and the Premiership the Quins way.

Re: Clive Woodward on Gustard
« Reply #6 on: »
Very much his team, but I shall never forget his barbed comment when he signed for Benetton:

“ I wanted to join a group where there was a clear vision, deep level of trust and a dynamic environment which was driven towards high performance”

How do you like them apples?

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Re: Clive Woodward on Gustard
« Reply #7 on: »
I think it’s still very much Deano’s team, he laid the foundations and COS, Kingston and Gustard have just tweaked it a bit.
        This squad may have been mostly Gustards but you can’t say he created the Champions we are now. If we had followed his plans we would definitely not be where we are now. Little if any credit due I think.
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Re: Clive Woodward on Gustard
« Reply #8 on: »
I think it’s still very much Deano’s team, he laid the foundations and COS, Kingston and Gustard have just tweaked it a bit.
        This squad may have been mostly Gustards but you can’t say he created the Champions we are now. If we had followed his plans we would definitely not be where we are now. Little if any credit due I think.

Deano had no influence on the team that won yesterday...
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Re: Clive Woodward on Gustard
« Reply #9 on: »
I think we have to give him the credit for those signings. No way he wasn't the one driving them. How he envisaged them playing / how he wanted to mould a team around them is s different question. We'll never know

Agreed. The style of play was odd considering the players he signed.

I can only assume that he wanted to prioritise defence first and then build the attack after. Not a terrible idea, but he alienated most of the squad.

Massive lessons for him here if he chooses to take them, but I’m not sure he will TBH. He’s never come across as the most humble.