Why wait? Fire Taman now

After the 40-3 shellacking the Riders received at the hands of the Stamps yesterday, and after the beat down from the Bombers last week, it's clear this team is returning to its old ways. The Ken Miller honeymoon is over and we see this team for who they really are: 4-9. With the Riders all but out of the playoff picture, it's time to start looking at next year. 

Over at Rider Rumblings Ken Miller was asked about the team's talent, and here's what he had to say:

“We have talent. I think our talent is as good as it has been in recent years. Right now, we’re not playing cohesively. We’re not being able to have a collective effort in any phase of the game right now.’’

This is another example of Coach K standing up for his players, like his now-famous comments after him being asked if the team played flat last week. So, it's nice of him, but it's not really factual. This team is not good, point blank. And it's not the coaches fault, either. It's the players. It's also the General Manager's job to bring in good players, and that's something the current G.M. has not done. He seems to have been riding on the coattails of Eric Tillman since he arrived in Regina. It's as if he inherited a successful team, and believed he didn't have to do any work to keep it a successful team. Meanwhile if you look at Montreal, arguably the league's most successful team over the last decade, they experience constant turnover in their player personnel. Their G.M. is always searching for someone younger, faster, and cheaper. Avon Cobourne is an example you`ll remember from earlier this year. Is our G.M. doing the same? The results would indicate no.

We talked about the problems with Brendan Taman back in July, and over the Labour Day weekend we advocated terminating him at the end of the season. After the last two blowout losses, I've changed my mind. Why wait? What's the point? Start looking now for a new G.M. now and give the new one more time to find players for the start of training camp next year. It's the sensible thing to do.

This team needs wholesale change, and the sooner the better.