Lol as soon as we miss a player they were an "unrealistic target". You just can't fight propaganda like that. Couldn't even convince Tino to leave a loser club like the titans. Just lol. You don't hear Nick Politis crying about the player market. If the real powerbrokers need to fill a key position, they getvthe job done. Gus has lost his aura...which is why we had Curran desperately calling around Sydney clubs to try to find any club but here before he posed for our social media goons with that forced smile on his face, Its why Taukeiaho doesn't want to come here for twice as much as he's worth. It's why Brandon Smith publicly rubbished the idea of coming to play for Gus's Bulldogs to the media (although no great loss there.) Players don't want to be here... unless they are bored of winning comps like Kikau and Crichton and just happy to settle for an easy pay cheque.
Possibly all true but we have to acknowledge that we are a bottom rung team and Losers with a capital L. Very hard to recruit with that poor reputation we have.
It is just the beginning of our pathway back to credibility and therefore to be competing as a favoured destination for players to want to play for us.
I'm as critical as the next re Ciraldo. I put every bit as much responsibility on him for 2023 results as any player that went out there on the field. Under no circumstances (IMO) can any Bulldog supporter say he had an acceptable year as a Head Coach at our club. There were so many basic and foolishly naive decisions, it was as though he wanted as much bad juju to fall on the team as possible ...and I think there is a slice of truth in that.
I guess he had his reasons to pull it all down with a view to starting again ...but some better decisions could, and should, have been made....Avo/Perham/Oki etc. (It's all personal opinions and I'm not getting into arguments with others about personnel decisions and whether Ciro had enough valid excuses).
Ciro had the job and we live and die by those decisions and we have to accept that. Whether they prove to be correct and for the best long term future and success we are yet to see in 2024....but we all hope so, so I hope it works out bc I just can't see a better alternative to Gus and his guy CC.
