Time to put an end to marquee players

ARE marquee players, or coaches, worth it -- or are they just a Premiership owners’ vanity project?

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Judging by the social media vitriol and anger from Leicester fans after their loss to Bristol at Welford Road two weeks ago, their answer is thumbs down.

Even the more balanced comments were critical of the displays under new Australian coach Dan McKellar – whose wage is outside the current £5m Premiership salary cap -- and of a team perceived by Tigers supporters as lacking top tier fitness, tactical nous, and mental fortitude.

Given that Leicester’s marquee flyhalf Handre Pollard has demonstrated all those qualities in spades for South Africa on the way to becoming a double World Cup winner, it is understandable that there is frustration that, so far, he has been unable to make them count in the same way in his two-season stint in the East Midlands.

Last season, when Leicester finished third in the table, before losing their semi-final play-off to Sale, there were at least some reasons to be cheerful with Pollard, and Leicester’s two other main overseas signings, Springbok No.8 Jasper Wiese and Argentina’s hooker and captain, Julian Montoya, leading the charge.

This campaign, however, with Leicester out of it in eighth place after going down to Sale 31-22 on Friday night, the mood has hardened, with value-for-money questions over the club’s marquee players surfacing.

With Wiese moving on, Leicester fans will focus on Pollard and Montoya – and they will need all the help they can get from the club’s England cohort, including Freddie Steward and George Martin, given that the supporters at Welford Road are not of the long-suffering variety.