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'Kingston out' - enraged Harlequins fans take to Twitter to demand resignation of DOR
After being humiliated at home by Premiership bottom dwellers London Irish, Harlequins fans have taken to social media to vent their outrage at their teams poor performance.
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London Irish, who stand on the brink of being relegated, bagged a 35 – 5 bonus point victory away from home, a result that has raised the ire of Harlequins fans online, many of whom want to see Director of Rugby John Kingston stand down.
Harlequins losing 22-0 to the bottom side in the league at half time. Utterly dismal, shameful performance. #HARvLIR #Kingstonout pic.twitter.com/YlZUb9ItCr
— Paul Parker (@pzparker) April 7, 2018
London Irish have won all three Premiership matches all season, and two of those wins have been the double over Harlequins.
Quins now sit ninth in the table, with seven wins and thirteen losses to their name. Even Chris Robshaw felt the need to apologise, given the nature of the loss:
Sorry to everyone that came to the Stoop yesterday. A terrible performance by us. We will continue to work to be better #Quins
— Chris Robshaw (@ChrisRobshaw) April 8, 2018
The Harlquins Twitter account tweeted that Kingston was quoted giving the following reaction to the loss: “We never got going, Irish played well and we were lethargic from the start and didn’t get anything going and it just got worse. We’ve slipped into another substandard performance and I’m first to say, it’s not acceptable.”
Reaction | JK: "We never got going, Irish played well and we were lethargic from the start and didn't get anything going and it just got worse. We've slipped into another substandard performance and I'm first to say, it's not acceptable." #HARvLIR
— Harlequins ? (@Harlequins) April 7, 2018
The tweet alone received just shy of one hundred replies and will not have made for pleasant reading for Kingston. The following Tweets give a flavour of the mood among fans.
A DOR needs to motivate the coaching staff and the team. Today’s performance was abject and there have been too many poor performances. The buck stops with you JK. It’s obvious you’ve lost the team and don’t have a handle on the coaching staff. It’s time to go.
— Marc (@puddymarc) April 7, 2018
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Is that it?? It was an absolute embarrassment and all you can say is "It's not acceptable"?
Do yourself a favour and resign.— Liam Noctor (@Gaaangle) April 7, 2018
You ate not acceptable JK to any Harlequins supporter. For the sake of the future of the club stop thinking about the cash in your pocket and do the honourable think and resign
— Richard "Lionheart" Knight (@RkLionheart) April 7, 2018
Sorry jk no excuses left. Time for the board to step up and take decisive action. Feel sorry for the dressing room and great talent we have. Lions lead by donkeys.
— Emily C Boynton (@ecb4hampton) April 7, 2018
Why were we lethargic John? We just had a weekend off? Are you and your coaches unable to motivate the team?
— Adrian Brown (@akbrown00) April 7, 2018
I’ve been a loyal season ticket holder and avid supporter for 20 years. Today was the worst of all of those games. Kingston didn’t even have the backbone to be on the sidelines at end of the game. The players didn’t perform today, but he consistently hasn’t #KingstonOut and now!
— Daniel Burge (@danielburge) April 7, 2018
https://twitter.com/olliemundayrowe/status/982646400390397952
Even Andy Goode, who was in Hong Kong at the Sevens, questioned what exactly is going on at Harlequins. “What’s going on at that club?! Big questions to be asked, is it coaches, players or the culture? Tough times at the Stoop serious answers needed!”
https://twitter.com/AndyGoode10/status/982676489601671168
Troubled times at Harlequins indeed.
Comments on RugbyPass
Except for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
33 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
2 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
33 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
49 Go to commentsNot too bad. Questions at 6, lock and HB for me. The ABs will be a lot stronger once Jordan and Roigard return. Also, work needs to be made to secure Frizzell back for next season and maybe also Mo’unga; they’re just wasting time playing in japan
33 Go to commentsOn the title, i wonder for many of those people it is a case something like a belief in working smarter, not harder?
1 Go to commentsForget Sotutu. One of those whose top level is Super Rugby. Id take a punt on Wallace Sititi Finau ahead of Glass body Blackadder.
33 Go to commentsI’m a pensioner so I've been around a bit. My opinion of SBW is he is an elite athlete and a great New Zealander and roll model. He has been to the top and knows what he's talking about. To all the negative comments regarding SBW the typical New Zealand way, cut that tall poppy down.
17 Go to commentsI'm not listening to a guy moralise over others when this is the guy who walked out mid season on Canterbury RLFC when he had a contract with them, what a hypocrite. Those praising him are a joke.
17 Go to commentsI’d put Finau at 6 instead of Blackadder but that’s the only change I’d make. Can’t wait to see who Razor picks.
33 Go to commentsTamati Williams, Codie Taylor, and Same Cane? Not sure about Hoskins Sotutu at test level. Wasn’t that impressive last season. Need a balance between experience and talent/youth.
33 Go to commentsInteresting insight. Fantastic athlete, and a genuine human being.
17 Go to commentsThey played at night in Suva last weekend and it’s an afternoon game forecast for 19 degrees in Canberra this weekend. Heat change is a non issue.
1 Go to commentsWishing Rosie a speedy recovery
1 Go to commentsObscene that SA haven’t been knocking
1 Go to commentsChances of Blackadder being injured seem too high to give him serious consideration. ABs loosie combination finally looked good with 2 committed to tackling and clearing rucks in the centre and Ardie roaming. Hoskins/Ardie together would force one of them into where they don’t excel and don’t get to use their talent, or require a change in tactics. If we continue to evolve last years systems I would take Papali’i and Finau at 6 and 7 (conceding that Blackadder will be injured) and Ardie at 8.
33 Go to commentsArdie’s preferred position 7? Where do they get these writers from? I've no idea where he's playing in Japan, but the previous two seasons he wore the 7 jersey exactly twice.
17 Go to commentsNot good to hear Ulster described as “financially troubled”. Did not think it was getting to that level. I would hope the Irish system of spreading players of talent away from Leinster would kick in now. Better to have a Leinster fringe player with Ulster or Connacht, then getting only a few games a season in Dublin. 10, for example, would seem to be a case for spreading the talent. I would not be at all adverse to a SA man coming in as head coach/DR. Ludeke is worth trying. Certainly got a long and impressive coaching career at this level…..149 games in SR, then Japan, 30 years experience. And Ulster’s ledger of successful SA coaches and players is on the positive side. Is talk of Ruan Pienaar interested in coming back as a coach…..could be a good combination with Ludeke. And Pienaar and family would have no settling in to do, one would judge. He loved life in Ulster when there, by all reports.
1 Go to commentsSome thoughts to consider here, Sam. Thanks
2 Go to comments