Poor service is another thing fans must suffer

AS a long-standing – or should I say long-suffering – Tigers season ticket holder, I have been disappointed by the general quality of the play this season.

I understand how disruptive changes to the coaching set-up must be for the players, most of whom have given their all, and how frustrating it must be for key players to have been injured for lengthy periods.

The flip side is that many of our pool of very promising youngsters have had chances to showcase their skills, albeit in challenging circumstances, and have produced some very encouraging performances.

Whether or not the frequent rumblings about “things not being right at the top” are true, I have no idea, but the general standard of Premiership rugby has improved considerably and we have been left behind.

However, in Geordan Murphy, we have a head coach who evidently has the backing of the dressing room – always a good start – and who without doubt is a 100 per cent committed Tigers man, albeit with limited coaching experience.

He certainly deserves our support in what is sure to be an even more competitive Premiership next season but perhaps an additional director of rugby is what is needed at this stage.

Leaving the rugby aside, there is something horribly inadequate about the quality of the service in the Final Whistle ground floor bar area in the showcase Holland & Barrett Stand at Welford Road.

This is not a fresh problem: as soon as the old Members’ Stand was redeveloped, it became painfully obvious that the revamped bar facilities were not being utilised to their full potential, simply because of the appalling service.

We have all become used to long queues and have had to witness problems with dispensing, problems with tills and staff seemingly unable to cope with demand.

It isn’t exactly rocket science to work out that everyone queuing is waiting to spend money – I can’t even guess how much potential income is being lost every week.

To cap it all, the hot drinks stall closest to my seat has been unable to serve hot drinks for the last three games because there has been no hot water!

Even if the playing side might take time to fix, there really is no excuse for not rectifying other matters, so let’s hope the powers that be will ensure problems such as this are properly – and quickly – rectified. Robert Kemp