A merged topic.. new title - what needs to change @Sheffield Steelers

[paul johnston]

I said it pre-season after the roster was selected, and we saw it once i think. A big, hard hitting crash bang line with Mitchell and McNally as the wingers centred by Connolly or Pitule.
It worked. Something different, something to wear out the opposition.
But nah soon reverted to trying to have 4 balanced lines.
Need some snarl in defence too. Look at Ruopp and Baum last night (didn't see tonight) they were hacking and whacking at us in front of the net. We barely utter a boo.

[paul johnston]

The question is how many fans put the hockey performance and results before the razzmatazz good night out? If it's the latter Fox will stay his 3 years as long as Tony's dollar signs are fullfilled and people are still enjoying the 15 minute intro, Norma, Dance cam, Sweet Caroline when we are getting humped!

[smbmetal]

New Year’s Eve game was the only time I’ve seen a hard hitting line with McNally, Mitchell & Connolly. It was great to watch and really worked.

Belfast bullied us all weekend and guess what took 4 out of 4 points.

[Brian]

I am much happier with Fox than Thompson. I think PT's record with clubs after he left us speaks for itself. Despite Simmsy insisting his best friend was the best coach we have ever had by a country mile.
Fox recruited well in his first season but for whatever reason since then has been putting together good, but not great teams.
He won't be going far while we have sellouts, mega 50/50s , huge shirt sales etc at the Arena.
Makes me wonder sometimes whether the high ups in the league are happy to keep it competitive so crowds nationwide are kept up and no team disappears down a plughole. That doesn't suit the top teams. Its not good for anybody if one team is miles above the rest winning grand slam after grand slam. In the end its a business and it's not just about hockey. It's about dance cams, shirt raffles, chuck a pucks and One Step Beyond.

[smbmetal]

I would certainly say I prefer Fox's style of hockey than PT's which was some of the most dreadful hockey I've ever seen on my 20+ years of watching the Steelers.

However, PT's record is better than Fox's as is Gerard Adam's from a Trophy winning point of view.

I think you are 100% correct @Brian that while there's big crowds and 50/50's we could finish bottom of the league and as long as the Eddy is good that is all that matters. Fox's job will be nice and safe even if we do have another trophyless season.

The off ice entertainment has to be a big reason why we see big crowds regularly and I understand that not everyone just wants to watch or even understand the hockey on show. The family atmosphere created is brilliant for kids and families. The off ice team deserves huge credit for the work that has been put in to get the crowds up.

I would also say that we have a lot of newer fans over the years which is great news, however some of that new fanbase won't have seen us lift a league title at all yet and perhaps the expectations of winning is therefore diminished due to them not seeing us lift trophy after trophy like many of the longer term fans.

I will continue to bang the drum for better hockey and will always be disappointed with a trophyless season especially with the budget afforded to the squad. I bet there'd be a few teams that would have loved to scratch a healthy import or two throughout the season.

Finally, whilst I understand the game has changed, I do believe especially under Fox's tenure we have lost the old Steelers never say die in your face hockey and for that reason alone, I will never be his biggest fan.

[Jayboy]

I am much happier with Fox than Thompson. I think PT's record with clubs after he left us speaks for itself. Despite Simmsy insisting his best friend was the best coach we have ever had by a country mile.
Fox recruited well in his first season but for whatever reason since then has been putting together good, but not great teams.
He won't be going far while we have sellouts, mega 50/50s , huge shirt sales etc at the Arena.
Makes me wonder sometimes whether the high ups in the league are happy to keep it competitive so crowds nationwide are kept up and no team disappears down a plughole. That doesn't suit the top teams. Its not good for anybody if one team is miles above the rest winning grand slam after grand slam. In the end its a business and it's not just about hockey. It's about dance cams, shirt raffles, chuck a pucks and One Step Beyond.

I agree its Madness

[Sully]

On a personal level, I want to win, I want trophies. That’s what got me into the Steelers.

People moaned about Matsos style of play but give me that and trophies 7 days per week and twice on Sundays. His teams and Blazers teams for me were the best. You get that and the crowds will stay and increase with the current ownership.

So for me, it would be a win win.

Under Fox, the hockey is better than Thompson’s, he’s had some good players but I feel his style of hockey takes its toll on the players.

[Jayboy]

The nearest I have ever come to walking away from Hockey (sheffield Steelers in particular) was during those latter years of Paul Thompson, Ok so some of the Davidians may be saying pity I didn't.. well i wasn't on my own and I and many others were sticking it out and dipping into our pockets during the Norton Lee disaster so that says a great deal.
For me PT set us down the road of mediocre that we now seem to be trying to get away from, Fox isn't perfect and I would love for him to start winning silverware. for me though there is no comparison between the two coaches and which one I would choose if I had too...

For me we need another Ben Simon or Gerad Adams as our bench or even better a hybrid version of both...

Can any of us say that we have got anywhere near the chemistry we had with Ben Simon/Gerad Adams with assistant Neil Abel, 3 great players that played the game exactly like the greatest Steelers teams we have ever had!!

For me there is no coincidence we were equally feared and successful with those 3 behind our bench...

[Nathan]

Coach Fox on Radio Sheffield tonight at 7pm.

https://twitter.com/_PeterSpencer/statu ... 9Vf4g&s=19

[smbmetal]

The nearest I have ever come to walking away from Hockey (sheffield Steelers in particular) was during those latter years of Paul Thompson, Ok so some of the Davidians may be saying pity I didn't.. well i wasn't on my own and I and many others were sticking it out and dipping into our pockets during the Norton Lee disaster so that says a great deal.
For me PT set us down the road of mediocre that we now seem to be trying to get away from, Fox isn't perfect and I would love for him to start winning silverware. for me though there is no comparison between the two coaches and which one I would choose if I had too...

For me we need another Ben Simon or Gerad Adams as our bench or even better a hybrid version of both...

Can any of us say that we have got anywhere near the chemistry we had with Ben Simon/Gerad Adams with assistant Neil Abel, 3 great players that played the game exactly like the greatest Steelers teams we have ever had!!

For me there is no coincidence we were equally feared and successful with those 3 behind our bench...

As you know I missed the Ben Simon season. Sounds like one of the most exciting seasons post Blazer years.

Whilst off ice of the Norton Lea era was abysmal the hockey was still pretty good, better than Fox’s hockey.

As we’ve said many times before, coaches in the past have been fired for achieving more than Fox, the club’s precedent has been set.