Gorgeous day in the river city... Should be close to a sellout if not quite there. Let's get back into the win column no matter how it looks.

LFG Blue!!

2 hours ago, JohnnyAbonny said:

Agreed. 2 practices in 5 days isn’t going to destroy them physically. A shorter week between 2 home games isn’t a huge deal.

practices today are over glorified walk throughs. 4 in 5 days wouldn’t likely do much. We only get a couple extra practices a year with the cba. How we use them is more of an issue.

5 hours ago, Super Duper Negatron said:

I think it's becoming obvious that they have no idea how they got the top in the first place, and thus have no clue how to get back.

Walters was much more focused on the draft in the mid teens when he first became GM as he knew that he had to replenish his Canadian content especially on both the lines. Starting there would be a start. Getting rid of aging players who can't contribute much anymore would be another good decision. Getting more aggressive in free agency like he was in 2015-19 would be another start. In other words, he needs to do his job a lot better. I'd have Walters replace Osh at the end of this season. The Bombers have millions in the bank. Pay him out.

14 hours ago, Super Duper Negatron said:

I think it's becoming obvious that they have no idea how they got the top in the first place, and thus have no clue how to get back.

I am not sure how they could forget or not know. They used to have a team that would beat the snot out of people, on all 3 sides of the ball.

I was excited to have an experienced OC this year. I was wrong. Condell is unimaginative and spitefull.

You can't blame Walters for not bringing in talent for Training Camp - the coaching staff needed to make some tough choices and they did not.

You cannot move on from Walters and O'Shea this year, but we can certainly make the following moves:

Condell needs to go. Younger needs to go. If the year is over because of it...so be it... we are not winning the Grey Cup this year with these two. We should start looking at rebuilding now.

O'Shea needs to bring the hammer down (which I doubt he will) and hold his O & D coordinators accountable and have real, effective proper practices. Miller has been excellent at ST.

Younger's defensive strategy is not working - and I cannot fully blame the players for not playing well in this BS scheme. LOur DBs play 15 yards off the line - which gives the other team a guaranteed 6-7 yards per play. The player's are not tackling well.

DBs: Nichols is done - he does not have the speed he used too. He needs to be 6-gamed. Moxey - I am on the fence - but has not played well.

S: We need to put someone at Safety that is both fast and aggressive. I thought Cam Allen looked good at Safety and Corner last year.

LB: Why are we rostering 8 LBers? Kyrie shows glimpes - but is past his prime.

DL: Ceresna and Jefferson have helped each other in kindling pressure. No contain - is this a player issue or a scheme issue? The DL NEEDS to contain - and push the play inward so the LB'rs can make a play.

Condell play calling is suspect. The receivers are not getting open and the OL is not giving the QB time to throw the ball.

REC: why play a 5th Canadian receiver? I think overall the receiver room is fine.

RB: No better than Brady... by why run up the gap every...single...play, particularly when the D is flooding the box.

QB: The QBs need to be better... but have they been told not to improvise and to follow the play call?

OL: The OL has been the worst in 10 years. Put Bryant on the 6 game. He has been a star - but that time is long over. Make changes until the OL solidifies. Move Broxton when healthy to LT, and Vanterpool to RT. Wallace and Neufeld at G - and if Wallace can't hack it - put in someone or bring in someone that can. For C, we have Eli and Vibert...and if neither are good enough to supplant an American - why are we wasting roster spots?

So, in review - fire or demote OC & DC. You can bring in a new inexperienced coach for offense (with Hogan/Costello's help), and one for defence (with O'Shea/Hall's help). Send a message to the team -> Fire Nichols, 6 game Bryant, and start a better 5th rec.

If these changes don't work - rinse and repeat.

9 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Getting more aggressive in free agency like he was in 2015-19 would be another start

You think they weren't aggressive in free agency this past offseason?

15 hours ago, JohnnyAbonny said:

Agreed. 2 practices in 5 days isn’t going to destroy them physically. A shorter week between 2 home games isn’t a huge deal.

Another load of bovine excrement from O'Shea.

1 hour ago, 17to85 said:

You think they weren't aggressive in free agency this past offseason?

Broxton and Ceresna are as advertised, Nield is not being used properly but Moxey is a bust.

11 hours ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

Walters was much more focused on the draft in the mid teens when he first became GM as he knew that he had to replenish his Canadian content especially on both the lines. Starting there would be a start. Getting rid of aging players who can't contribute much anymore would be another good decision. Getting more aggressive in free agency like he was in 2015-19 would be another start. In other words, he needs to do his job a lot better. I'd have Walters replace Osh at the end of this season. The Bombers have millions in the bank. Pay him out.

A couple of months ago, I thought that Walters was salvageable, but he has let O'Shea get away with far too much for far too long. That he put Collaros back in the game with a mangled finger told me all that I needed to know- it was a replay of when Miller had to order O'Shea to bench Willy and put Collaros in when Willy was visibly cooked but O'Shea kept putting him out. O'Shea likely ended Willy's career and that to me is inexcusable.

26 minutes ago, Tracker said:

Another load of bovine excrement from O'Shea.

Broxton and Ceresna are as advertised, Nield is not being used properly but Moxey is a bust.

Ceresna is terrible. Our DL is the worst it’s been since 2015.

YAY SACKS!

1 hour ago, 17to85 said:

You think they weren't aggressive in free agency this past offseason?

I don’t think Ceresna or Moxey would have been signed if we didn’t give them an offer. At least until camp/early season if someone needed a vet injury replacement.

We did have to beat out BC for Broxton and Hamilton and BC for Nield. Damn near everyone else has been finding a good Canadian receiver out of basically every draft.

30 minutes ago, Tracker said:

Broxton and Ceresna are as advertised, Nield is not being used properly but Moxey is a bust.

Whether they're working out or not isn't the point, the point is they were pretty aggressive going and getting some name guys.

24 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

Whether they're working out or not isn't the point, the point is they were pretty aggressive going and getting some name guys.

The point for me is that they did that...and the team ended up worse than last year.

That's been very telling as a fan who was convinced we'd drag ourselves back to the top this year.

8 minutes ago, Jesse said:

The point for me is that they did that...and the team ended up worse than last year.

That's been very telling as a fan who was convinced we'd drag ourselves back to the top this year.

Reality of free agency is few impactful guys are available. Teams generally pay for the guys that are to keep them. There’s the guys going home and every so often someone like Lawler who priced himself right off his current team.

The big failure here is we are not drafting or recruiting any real starting quality players let alone great ones over 3-4 years straight.

14 hours ago, 17to85 said:

Do you really honestly believe that this team is operating at it's absolute best level based on the players that are here? Like everyone is maximizing their potential and this the is best they have?

No i dont believe that. What i do believe is that operating at our max still wont be good enuff. I think the players that are underperforming are the positions where we are weak in depth.

The past two games we weren't even near the cusp of competitiveness. It was a very clear demonstration of two teams taking advantage of a lesser talented club.

Edited August 1Aug 1 by GCn20

9 minutes ago, GCn20 said:

No i dont believe that. What i do believe is that operating at our max still wont be good enuff. I think the players that are underperforming are the positions where we are weak in depth.

The past two games we weren't even near the cusp of competitiveness. It was a very clear demonstration of two teams taking advantage of a lesser talented club.

Ok so we're getting closer to you admitting that there's some legit criticisms of the coaches and that they shouldn't be criticized just because there also needs to be some better scouting and recruitment.

Nobody is placing the blame squarely in one corner but if you have a coaching staff that isn't getting the most out of what they do have that's your primary issue because even if you do get all the Allstars at every position what good is it if the coaching staff isn't making them as successful as can be?

18 minutes ago, JuranBoldenRules said:

Reality of free agency is few impactful guys are available. Teams generally pay for the guys that are to keep them. There’s the guys going home and every so often someone like Lawler who priced himself right off his current team.

The big failure here is we are not drafting or recruiting any real starting quality players let alone great ones over 3-4 years straight.

I dont think Ceresna is terrible, however, i dont think our current DL usage fits our defensive scheme. I think Youngers use of guys like Willie dropping out etc were so that his DBS could have that cushion we see. Now that our DL is playing downhill that gap becomes free yardage.

4 hours ago, 17to85 said:

Whether they're working out or not isn't the point, the point is they were pretty aggressive going and getting some name guys.

Aggressive to a point. They had a great first day. then they just..... stopped. It was 2025 off season all over again. There were some good young Canadian receivers but Osh must have told Walters, "We got Cobb & Corcoran.... we good". No, we weren't. So, again aggressive to a point.

Edited August 1Aug 1 by SpeedFlex27

6 hours ago, Mark H. said:

I am not sure how they could forget or not know. They used to have a team that would beat the snot out of people, on all 3 sides of the ball.

They had an identity. Tough & physical. Bully Ball & FIFO. Then, they just went away from both. I think Walters & Osh started reading their own press clippings. I think they got fat & sassy. Now, a full rebuild will have to be done. They don't want to do it but I think it's inevitable now. They blew it.

22 hours ago, Super Duper Negatron said:

I think it's becoming obvious that they have no idea how they got the top in the first place, and thus have no clue how to get back.

He sucked before he got handed an all cfl roster and some guys with blood and guts oozing from their pores

Rode that self policing basically self coaching team to lil nubs..and then rode many of them even more basically looking back and figuring they would just be like they were..all while developing nobody..and missing out on prime free agents

Now..has a few legit stars..but has no clue how to maximize them..no real handle on how to identify and maximize a roster..and based on week after week of same stuff..no clue what is going wrong..let alone fix it...personally I dont think he can coach himself out of a wet bag

Edited August 1Aug 1 by Booch

1 hour ago, SpeedFlex27 said:

They had an identity. Tough & physical. Bully Ball & FIFO. Then, they just went away from both. I think Walters & Osh started reading their own press clippings. I think they got fat & sassy. Now, a full rebuild will have to be done. They don't want to do it but I think it's inevitable now. They blew it.

I agree with a full gutting being inevitable now.

They blew their chance to reload and keep it going with several years of mediocre-bad drafting and poor American scouting, exacerbated by extremely foolish roster building decisions.

Hiring/keeping the wrong staff (McManus, Hogan, Condell, Younger) Letting the wrong staff depart (Penn, Bourgoin to name a couple)

O’Shea can’t level up a team through coaching. If he doesn’t have all-star talent and great coordinators running the room he’s useless. FIFO doesn’t work when you’re fitting in to complacency and incompetency.

At this point, everybody in charge has had a hand in buggering the whole thing up.

4 hours ago, JohnnyAbonny said:

I agree with a full gutting being inevitable now.

They blew their chance to reload and keep it going with several years of mediocre-bad drafting and poor American scouting, exacerbated by extremely foolish roster building decisions.

Hiring/keeping the wrong staff (McManus, Hogan, Condell, Younger) Letting the wrong staff depart (Penn, Bourgoin to name a couple)

O’Shea can’t level up a team through coaching. If he doesn’t have all-star talent and great coordinators running the room he’s useless. FIFO doesn’t work when you’re fitting in to complacency and incompetency.

At this point, everybody in charge has had a hand in buggering the whole thing up.

Osh hiring an inexperienced DL coach in Thomas as well. Just give your friends jobs.

14 hours ago, Booch said:

He sucked before he got handed an all cfl roster and some guys with blood and guts oozing from their pores

Rode that self policing basically self coaching team to lil nubs..and then rode many of them even more basically looking back and figuring they would just be like they were..all while developing nobody..and missing out on prime free agents

Not quite. He sucked until he had decent Quarterbacks. First Nichols and then Collaros.

The practice of letting guys play forever, is more of a recent occurence. Look at guys like Jeff Hecht, Darvin Adams, etc.

Listening to the tsn panel, during the Elk game last night, the overall opinion, including Milt was that we have the weakest corps of players in the league...I think most observers would agree, and that we might be looking at the first overall in the draft next year seems a big possibility....Small consolation for sure considering the big hopes we had for this year....I don't see any quick fix on the horizon for this club other than a rebuild starting now....We can see the deadwood but will it be addressed properly considering the head coach and his tendencies...Miller and Walters have to start doing their job....NOW and that should be a given

21 minutes ago, Stickem said:

Listening to the tsn panel, during the Elk game last night, the overall opinion, including Milt was that we have the weakest corps of players in the league...I think most observers would agree, and that we might be looking at the first overall in the draft next year seems a big possibility....Small consolation for sure considering the big hopes we had for this year....I don't see any quick fix on the horizon for this club other than a rebuild starting now....We can see the deadwood but will it be addressed properly considering the head coach and his tendencies...Miller and Walters have to start doing their job....NOW and that should be a given

Because the deterioration has been allowed to progress for some 3-4 years, the team is now in the position where a major overhaul in necessary. That means we are gonna suck for 2 years at least. Do you allow those who got you into this mess to try to clean it up?

50 minutes ago, Tracker said:

That means we are gonna suck for 2 years at least.

In the CFL? When we have something at QB? Not a chance it has to be that long

1 hour ago, Stickem said:

Listening to the tsn panel, during the Elk game last night, the overall opinion, including Milt was that we have the weakest corps of players in the league...I think most observers would agree, and that we might be looking at the first overall in the draft next year seems a big possibility....Small consolation for sure considering the big hopes we had for this year....I don't see any quick fix on the horizon for this club other than a rebuild starting now....We can see the deadwood but will it be addressed properly considering the head coach and his tendencies...Miller and Walters have to start doing their job....NOW and that should be a given

If we want any realistic contender chance next yr...a lot needs to be addressed this yr..starting during the bye

And if that means switching the ratio..givin Smith full reign on defence as one the ratio required starters...and have shay as a main backup so be it

Also let Eli show he can..or cannot be the center and use that import spot on wr...a game here...reps there is no indicator...he needs 2..3 games with the same guards

Also..Shay nees to play..drop one of Jones..Wilson...or Ayers and then use that Import spot on either true DT/Nose...or any other spot where a guy will help..not jusy be a 6 st plays a game type player

Designate 5 cdns on offence..3 interior lineman..BO..Demski...2 on defence...Mainly Lawsons spot and Smith...

And then utilize the best 3 DA to maximize roster value and ability to take reps..and at same time allow whoever they are to actually develop under game reps

Osh will allow Korn..Scmeck..Kelly..Hallett to take excessive bad wasted reps doing nothing for the defence when he could use a better DA there to develop...and if ones not lingering around show no promise.. then Walter's best bring more in..pretty simple

Also..accountability needs to be paramount..players and coaching...and again...if not happening Walters best be stepping in and addressing it...either with ultimatum..or fire...and cut...hes the boss..not No Balls

1 hour ago, Tracker said:

Because the deterioration has been allowed to progress for some 3-4 years, the team is now in the position where a major overhaul in necessary. That means we are gonna suck for 2 years at least. Do you allow those who got you into this mess to try to clean it up?

Nope...only one with maybe the mulligan is Walters...he did well originally..then allowed osh too much say and pull...and here we are

Lesson learned

He now needs to show the commitment to bringing in new blood now..emphasizing to his HC to give these new guys ample opportunity to show their wares..and if the season flames out as it has been..Osh hasn't changed a player let alone how we prepare and function in a game week..then if he won't can him in season he should be at seasons end..and allows the playoff season and grey cup week to be known we looking for a new HC...he did his part trying to fix...HC didn't..easy decision

That being said if he also just sits on his lil giney and echos the nonesense No Balls does..then off both they go in november

45 minutes ago, 17to85 said:

In the CFL? When we have something at QB? Not a chance it has to be that long

U can turn it around in 1 yr up in Canada