This is what really happened in Winnipeg...Film dosen't lie.

CFL Talk
1

To understand the injustice that happened here we have to go back to week one:

Toronto 23 vs Winnipeg 16 :

Winnipeg gets humiliated at home Glenn throws 3 interceptions kills just about every momentum drive the Bombers mount.

Roberts has 13 carries for 78 yards and a TD, 4 catchs for 19 yars = 100 yards from scrimmage and a TD. So Roberts at week one of this season still has it...So the BS that Berry and Doug Brown are spouting off is proven just that BS.

Defense gets 3 sacks Oline allows 2
Serna is victim of a bad snap.

Only guy who failed the team is Glenn and his substitute centre....who can't snap the ball after a whole training camp. Berry and Taman knew that. Khan was on the operating table months before...They went in to the season with no centre and Poussy of a QB.

Culprit : Glenn and the make shift Centre

Game two

Winnipeg 24 vs Montreal 38

Roberts touched the ball 3 times in the first half. By the time he got his 3rd. carry the score was Montreal 31 Bombers 0. On that third carry he ran 3 yards for a touchdown.

Behind 25 points Roberts would see the ball 3 more times during the second half. While Glenn went 2 and out 4 consecutive times the Als put up 31 points against a very poorly prepared defense.

Culprit: Greg Marshall and Keven Glenn

Game 3

Lions 42 vs Bombers 24

Charles Roberts gets 4 carries by the half Lions lead 21 to 3 by the end of the third quarter the Lions lead 42 to 8 and Glenn has already thrown 2 interceptions.

Culprit: Glenn 2 interceptions and a bunch of two and out and Marshall's defense getting torched again.

Game 4

Winnipeg 18 vs Lions 24

Again Glenn throws 3 interceptions. Roberts despite a fumble rushes 12 times for 51 yards and catches 6 passes for 53 yards = 104 yards from scrimmage and is the only player on offense to show any production.

Culprit: Glenn with his 3 interceptions

So to hear Berry and Brown last night spew the BS that Charles Roberts has lost his game made me sick to my stomach. Did he lose his desire to play, his confidence? Sure like every other Bomber on that team. But let it be remembered that those who caused the Bombers to tank this year are:

Doug Berry for cutting Westwood without a replacement

Kevin Glenn for shitting the bed and constantly putting his team in trouble with turnovers early in the games

Doug Brown, Canada and Hall: Defensive captains and top earners for allowing that defense to get torched game after game.

Alexis Serna for his league low 32 yard punt average and unreliable place kicking.

Berry and Taman for putting Donnely at Centre when he couldn't do the job.

Taman for going along with the follies of his crazy coach.

Bomber and Roberts fans need to remember what happened here. I have a feeling Roberts will reinforce this point in the coming months.

Charles Roberts and Bomber fans were skrewed by Berry and Taman

2

It does seem strange in the fact that Roberts hasn't touched the ball much. And then 2 games ago, he had 23 rushes for 145 yds and 2 TD's. He appears to still produce at a high level when he gets the ball.

3

Roberts isn't finished. He was as heart broken as every other Bombers for the way the season was going and when you don't have your edge in a contact sport your skrewed.

That they trade him fine, that's business or professional sports but to hear Doug Brown saying "I can't disagree with Doug" when asked if he felt Roberts had lost his game, when the Bombers defense has been horrid and the front four has a league low 12 sacks is so unfair.

Let me ask you Brown. Have you lost a step? Your stats suck. i think you should be fired.

I think Berry should be fired too cause his record is terrible and he's shown he could not treat players fairly. Demonstrates lack of emotional control. Shown bad sportsmanship to opposing coachs. Treats officials poorly.

See how easy it is :slight_smile:

4

Obviously you think the problem is not Roberts. I will agree that other positions are in question. The thing you fail to recognize is that Charles has not performed at the level we in Winnipeg expect of him and his resume says he should. He no longer beats guys one on one. He seems to hesitate too long before making his cuts allowing defensive players to have that extra second to regroup and tackle him for a short gain or no gain. He no longer strikes fear in defensive counterparts.

Kevin Glenn and all the quarterbacks are now under the microscope and are the next to go if improved execution at that position does not improve. Sometimes a team with all the talent on paper doesn't translate to the field for whatever reason.

It happens all the time and the solutions are yet to be universal.

5

Tophat that’s not aging or diminished physical ability. It is lack of confidence and subconcious fear brought on by an unsupportive coach and stressed out team under performing. Roberts has never been seriously injured and is 29 year old (prime for a football player).

And even if I am wrong and the guy has lost a step, don’t devalue your own player or teammate. Let the fans and the game decide that. Business is trading him and saying thanks and best of luck. Go out and torch everyone else but us. But don’t publicly diminish a guy who’s performed better then 99.9% of players who have played for your team in its entire history.

But that’s just me

6

Are you kidding me, confidence and stressed out. How can you state unsupportive coach, what facts do you have? Just because they don't give him the ball as much as some think they should doesn't mean unsupportive. If Roberts has subconscious fears see a shrink! Devalue a player, as a fan I pay his salary and I say he has lost his value based on his performance. That is always going to be a judgement call. That doesn't mean I don't respect and appreciate all he did as Bomber player. Like anyone who can no longer deliver the performance required to keep their job he has to be replaced. Fortunately unlike real life he doesn't have some union or old boy network to prop him up even after his skills have diminished.

7

players/teams are a reflections of their head coaches, and when you see a head coach constantly unstable and acting emotional on the sidelines and always going crazy, and you have a defensive coordinator always starting beef with the refs and flipping the bird to opposing sidelines, well what do you expect?

also that grey cup appearance was pure fluke, they barely beat an argos team that choked, the 2007 east final was more of a argos choke job than a blue bombers win.

8

Roberts is 5th in the league in yards from Scrimmage with 758 yards, leads his team in touchdowns. The only stat that is weaker is his rushing averrage and that's a reflection of his Oline.

Last season Cobourne in Montreal had a 3.7 rushing average. Martino fixed the oline this year his average is like 6.7 yards per carry.

Same age as Roberts (29)....Oh yeah! the water in Montreal makes you rejuvenate...

Its the COACHING!

9

what i dont understand is that the CFL has no salary cap for coaching staffs, yet you have these eastern teams that dont spend jack on coaching, except for montreal, the ticats have assembled a salavation army coachnig staff, the argos have less coaches than a youth league team, winnipeg just hires guys that nobody wants. At least montreal is always recruiting new coaches and goes down south to fit guys for their system and they always get rid of assistants that dont their role.

10

I would say that they beat the Argos and that the Montreal semi final win was more iffy.

Bishop proved in that East final that under pressure he couldn't do it. Remember Glenn went down and beat they beat the Argos with a Qb who hadn't played virtually all year.

How do you know how players respond to their coaches? Where you on the sidelines asking the players they're thoughts and feelings?

Offering your viewpoint is one thing, making assumptions about things you have no basis in fact for are another thing. Don't assume what you don't know.

Look at the Argos record, they have only four wins, I wouldn't say they're a cinch this point of the season. They barely beat Hamilton for the first time this year.

11

Tophat: I keep throwing stats, facts and numbers at you and you tell me he's past his prime and can't deliver but no facts, nothing....He can't make something out of nothing anymore. That's not a fact. When you win as a team it leaves memorable images to fans. When you lose well its obvious your not going to see these plays...

I'll give you an analogy. Trading Roberts right now and blaming him is like those kids that swap the rims on their honda civics and put these big chrome wheels on the car but you see them smoking blue oil down the road barely moving forward cause the engine's compression is gone.

But hey! Theme wheels sure look good...

12

Never set your site or compare your team to the worst, it looks weak.

I’m just saying Taman can’t fire his coach. They just gave him a 3 year contract. They can’t sign a top notch QB, there aren’t any. He can’t bring someone on the Oline, No one will trade a top notch NI Olinesman. So he trades Roberts and he can’t even claim that it frees up cap space to improve the team because the Bombers are eating a part of his salary. You’ll see soon enough.

13

Last season Montreal was coached by Jim Popp, who was terrible, they also had Marcel B as the O coordinator. At least Winnipeg has the same head coach and coordinator, terrible comparison.

14

HfxTc: I don't understand what your point is. If Roberts has lost a step,that's not a stat, it's fact, it's an observation and apparently it's shared by many here in Winnipeg based on the calls and emails to radio. Many Bomber fans are against the trade and as one fan succinctly said to Bob Irving on the football huddle radio show. If fans ran this team it would be 0-18 because they cannot separate their emotions from the business of the game. Let's keep all those players we like regardless of their ability or diminishing skills. I'm sure the fans would rather see all the players they like rather than those can really play. Come on. as far as your analogy is concerned , I would suggest that Roberts is akin to the blue smoke, he's not running on all cylinders.

As far as comparison to the Argos , you are the one who suggested their win was a fluke in the Eastern final. They should be better this year and they are not the worst, Ticats and Bombers hold that distinction.

Any Coach can be fired, regardless of the contract, it just becomes a matter of salary considerations. What is the correlation between Roberts trade , cap space? SMS dictates what they can and cannot do. It is what it is. They will do the best they can under the system, if they exceed they are fined. So be it. I couldn't care less about that, that's the GM's responsibility. What doe s trading for a non import oline player have to do with anything? They need help in lots of areas, what does the rant about signing a Qb accomplish, if someone becomes available via trade or through the NFL they will do what they have to do. They may not be the best at recruiting all the time but they didn't get to be in professional football being idiots.

15

I was pointing some of the areas that REALLY need attention and making a point that these can't be fixed so Berry throws Roberts under the bus to make it look like "We are fixing things".

Do you consider Buono a good football man? Why does he want Roberts?

16

He got a functioning player for a nutjob he was gonna cut anyway. Buono, I mean, as that statement is probably equally apt both ways.

I've liked Reid better than Roberts since last year. I don't know why they don't let the kid on the field.(?)

As for Berry, he's stone crazy - three year deal or no, he's gotta go.

17

Well, at some point you have throw things out. It’s like cleaning out the garage and debating whether to throw out the old snowblower you got from your dad. It still works but doesn’t always start the first time and clogs up in heavy snow. Or do you get rid of the old 2x4’s your saving because you never know when you might need them. Something has to go. You may regret it, it may be a mistake, but doing nothing is not a solution either. You make a decision and right or wrong live with t.

Why does Buono want Roberts? Because he could get something for Smith. Strictly business and good for him. I really don’t care what Wally thinks or does. My concern is the Bombers not the Lions.

18

A change in scenery will do both good.

19

When a guy only gets 4 carries in a game it's pretty tough to assess if he's lost a step, or if it's simply that his o-line can't get the job done.

20

that’s like telling me …My little Porsche sure looks good …doesn’t matter if i have 400,000 miles on it and has been in a couple of bad fender benders…i still like to take it to shows but i’m not winning anything with it anymore…I’D SAY ITS TIME FOR A TRADE-IN…trade being the operative word…We have to move on…thats show-biz…