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I didn't realize that Hall was so highly thought of or the best DC the Bombers could find. The Bombers still haven't won a playoff game under this regime when other clubs have rebuilt and made the playoffs. Moreover, some of the core problems that cost us the playoff wins are still unresolved. This is good enough for you?

It does add up, but the answer is apparently not what some would like to hear. Denial isn't just a river in Egypt.

What about something for Festivus?

I am becoming concerned that the longer resolution is delayed, the higher the likelihood Hall will be retained. That would be a giant FU to the fans.

And he has become quite brittle. too.

Which is what most here have been saying for a couple of years now. The single biggest personnel/coaching failure here has been the lack of a decent MLB and the inability of the coach(es) to compensate for that. That has to be fixed for the 2018 season or heads will roll.

My first reaction is "no", and at least so far, Thorpe did not show himself to be another Arsenaux, or even Adams. Also, we do not know of the circumstances surrounding his departure but I tend to accept O'Shea's account.

Hard to imagine many doing a worse job than Hall. Hall's biggest recommendation was that he was better than the guy he replaced. Faint praise indeed.

Except that most of the other teams have a much better record in finding really good receivers than Danny Mac and Co, does.

And how many "promising" players have we had that just didn't pan out. Thorpe wasn't good enough to displace any of the Rider receivers, although they were a darned good bunch. The sample size was just too small to make a definitive judgement.

But the second mouse gets the cheese.

Hall's record has been consistent over his career as a DC, and therefore unlikely to change. What you see is what you are going to get, and is a far more likely reason for the Bomber's defensive woes than all the players he has gone through.

The jury is still out on Thorpe. He looked okay in his limited playing time but was hardly a dominant receiver.

Being fired from the current circus in Montreal could actually be considered a plus.

Damn. And I would bet the Bombers did not speak to Thorpe.

I would think that the Bombers owe it to their fans and Hall to come out with a definitive statement regarding Hall's status with the club soon. That way we would know when to heat up the bitumen and plucking fowls.

To throw a cat in among the pigeons, as much as I like Flanders, I think we may be overlooking a piece of the puzzle. Rainey in BC and Christian Jones in Regina and a couple of other speed demons in the CFL are capable of breaking off huge gains and Jones damned nearly won the game for the Riders over the Argos. That sort of player would be very useful.

I think you underestimate the impact the head coach has when he chooses his subordinate staff.

He was a linebacker(Trevis Smith) who was convicted with a six-year sentence. He served two years and was deported. There were other players of that era rumoured to have been caught doing stupid things but things got hushed up.

Shivers brought in some good players but didn't care about their attitudes or thugishness- strongly reminiscent of Chris Jones' attitude.

And borderline urinary incontinence.

Well, well, well. I cannot see how this could work. Ed Hervey had the reputation in Edmonton of being very prickly and dictatorial and Wally would have had to been slipped a lot of roofies to hold still for this. When he finishes jonesing, he is gonna be a very unhappy camper. Not going to end well, IMO.

When Medlock was interviewed, he said something to the effect that he was looking forward to coming back healthy. There may have been an injury at play in his slump.

I did not suggest that only experienced coaches ought to be hired- that would depend on who is available at the moment and what the team they are asked to take over. There are examples of rookie coaches/Gms doing well, but I would bet that their success rate is way lower than veterans who have had success elsewhere. The Bombers when Sleepy Joe left were in as bad a state as any CFL team in the past. Logic would indicate that bringing in relatively inexperienced (or totally inexperienced, in the case of O'Shea) head coach and GM was a guarantee that the team would struggle, and it has. The thinking that "Gee, we made the playoffs, so that's good enough" gets old real fast- ask the Stampeders. Walters and O'Shea should be as nervous as long-tailed cats in a room full of rocking chairs in 2018.