Glaws in good shape for 2009, says Ryan

As Gloucester head into a new year, probably fairly happy to see the end of the old one, coach Dean Ryan says the team and the club are in good shape, but nowhere near where he would like them to be. Looking forward to kicking-off the new year with a difficult home test against Saracens, Ryan is up-beat about the club's prospects and believes the tam is slowly but surely getting better.

And with a handful of important players due to return from injury as 2009 progresses, he's convinced the prospects for the next four months are bright.
2008 was hardly a bad year for Gloucester, but it had its frustrations as consistent form in the GP season was ruined by more play-off disappointment, and Ryan is as keen as the club's fans to put that right this time round.
Gareth Delve, Akapusi Qera and James Simpson-Daniel (right)have all been missed through long-term injuries, but they are due to return in 2009, while of crouse the awful luck suffered by Greg Somerville as he started his new career with the club just about summed up the way things have gone injury-wise in recent months.
Ryan told the Citizen: "We're all right, but we're nowhere near there. We've had to come back a little bit from where we've been in previous seasons.
"We were very clear-cut about our game in the last couple of years, but clearly it didn't deliver the final prizes.
"We've come back, we're trying to find different ways of playing the game. We've got some different individuals and we've arrived at Christmas in good shape.
"That's not a bad return given that we started the season under laws which we never played before.
"I'm pretty happy with where we are. If we can push on from this I think we've got a good chance of getting in the mix as the season goes on."
Of course the law changes were the same for every club, so Glaws can't make an excuse there, but injuries - long-term as well as minor niggles - have disrupted the team's form and Ryan is right to hope that 2009 will see more freedom for him to pick the team he wants rather than one forced on him.
The Sarries game is a great way to open 2009 - they ended London Irish's winning streak last weekend, and Glaws are still desperate to put their own hammering at the hands of the Exiles the week before behind them.
The feeling in the squad is that the win over Bristol was a response to that and that team-work off and on the pitch is the answer.
Beating Saracens would be an ideal way to prove it.