CHRIS KIRWAN: Wait for change at the helm needs to end sharpish for drifting Dragons

The Lanarkshire town was where Teenage Fanclub formed, a band who count ‘I Need Direction’ among their hits, a song title that has been muttered in exasperation by countless people at Rodney Parade over the years.

The Dragons have been drifting aimlessly for years and without fresh ownership a waterfall is getting ever nearer.

A takeover is nearing completion and change has been frustratingly slow.

Last Friday they suffered another low in a season that has turned from autumn encouragement to the usual frustration.

The 54-22 loss to Leinster in Newport was almost as jaw-dropping as the 60-3 defeat to Glasgow in four years ago.

On the field things have gone pear-shaped and it would be naïve to think that off-field matters have not played a part in a run that has seen them lose 10 of the last 13 fixtures.

Their last success was on January 13 against Enisei-STM in the European Challenge Cup and all they have to play for is a battle with Edinburgh, who are sure to be better next season with Richard Cockerill in charge, for ninth place.

This is not to totally excuse the players and coaches – they put their hands up to mistakes made during the 80 minutes – but the tone for the whole organisation is set by those in suits.

The region has been in a state of limbo after publicly stating their desire for new blood on the board last April; there are plenty of miffed supporters that want blood on the boardroom carpet after over a decade of underachievement.

Change is desperately needed but talks and negotiations with interested parties are yet to produce anything tangible, hurdles frustratingly preventing anything being signed off.

Fingers crossed a deal will be rubber-stamped in the coming weeks because the hope of change makes it all the more frustrating that there is the same old, same old.

In the meantime the Dragons have been something of a circus with the embarrassments of a boggy Rodney Parade pitch and Cardiff Blues fixture clash giving even more ammunition to their critics.

The harsh reality is that they are not what a professional organisation should look like because of years of underfunding in all facets of the business.

The Dragons way is to do things on a shoestring budget, whether that be coaching roster, playing squad, maintaining the facilities, marketing, drawing in commercial interest.

This is not a criticism of the hard-working staff on the books and things would be even worse were it not for their efforts.

The Dragons take a plastic knife into a gunfight. They have done for years, so we shouldn’t be surprised that things never improve.

The sad aspect is that there are so many quick gains to be made and if it takes the Welsh Rugby Union getting involved to set that in motion then so be it, even though I have my reservations about union control.

Perhaps with a bit of guidance, and provision of some clarity of thought, they can trigger improvement that then leads to more private investors getting involved.

On the field, how many players of promise have we seen whose potential has gone unfulfilled because of a meagre budget that deprives them of learning in a winning side alongside quality recruits?

It has to be a long-term project and time has been wasted; the work for next season needs to be put in now.

“If anybody said that coaching the Dragons was an easy job there would be a queue of people wanting to do it,” said the boss after there were boos at Rodney Parade.

“It’s a very difficult job to try and turn this around because as a region we have never been successful, we’ve always been a bottom four side and we are trying to stop that and change that.

“To do that we have to develop our own. We can’t buy in great big stars and sometimes the process can be quite difficult.”

It was then director of rugby Lyn Jones after the loss to the Ospreys last April, not head coach Kingsley Jones after the Leinster loss. Nothing has changed.

Rather than Teenage Fanclub perhaps the lyrics of Glaswegians Travis are more appropriate.

Without change the Dragons are Driftwood and they’ve been drifting for a long, long time.

LEIGH Halfpenny made his Test debut against world champions South Africa in 2008, George North against the Springboks two years later, Jamie Roberts was thrown in against the Scots in the Six Nations nine years ago.

It's rare for introductions to international rugby to be against the big beasts but not everyone has to be blooded in a summer tour during a Lions year, a money-making game against the Barbarians or a 'fourth' autumn fixture.

As Japan showed last year, the days of a stress-free Test game are gone and Wales have a challenging schedule with June encounters with Samoa and Tonga followed by a November date with Georgia.

Last weekend's loss to Scotland has led to plenty of pondering about the national side and things are undeniably stale, in terms of both coaching and players.

There aren't a glut of genuine options available for head coach Rob Howley for the round four meeting with Ireland but perhaps it's time to be brave with Sam Davies and Steff Evans.

I have my doubts over whether Davies is a better selection than Dan Biggar but he should be given a big game chance at 10.

Evans is raw, and the Irish are a savvy team that would test him severely in defence, but with Hallam Amos injured Wales need another candidate out wide.

In addition Kristian Dacey should have a crack as back-up to Ken Owens, it’d be nice to see Owen Williams introduced at some stage and the bench spot as cover for the three-quarters is wasted on Jamie Roberts.

Sadly the stakes are high with Wales worried by the possibility of dropping out of the World Rugby rankings top eight and having another group of death at Japan 2019.

Former Newport Gwent Dragons forwards Taulupe Faletau and Luke Charteris may well return to try and counter the powerful and cunning Irish pack but one fears there will be a reluctance to roll the dice.

We will probably have to wait until the summer for the player pool to grow with the introductions of Davies, Evans, Keelan Giles, Owen Williams and Olly Cracknell.