SIX games, six defeats and Warriors are already cut adrift at the foot of the Aviva Premiership table, so surely questions about relegation concerns are legitimate?

Well, no, apparently they’re not, according to Worcester director of rugby Dean Ryan, who was none too pleased with that line of enquiry when I put it to him after his side’s latest demoralising defeat.

However, his somewhat patronising response of “to be talking about relegation — especially from a local paper — I think is pretty poor” — did him no favours.

Another reporter then asked if the commitment and motivation was still in the squad — another valid question given the circumstance — to which Ryan replied: “It looked pretty good today, so that’s a strange question as well”.

As long as Warriors continue to struggle on the field, these questions will prevail off it and Ryan adopting a siege mentality will only serve to alienate himself — and by association the club — from the media.

Ryan may not want to talk about relegation, but Warriors fans certainly do and they are becoming more and more concerned about the prospect of another unwanted visit to the Championship.

My job as Warriors reporter is to convey what is going on at the club — both on and off the field — to our readers and I will always endeavour to do that.

What I won’t do, is become a mouthpiece for the club to only report ‘positive stories’ and to simply gloss over anything that doesn’t sit within those cosy confines of positivity.

I don’t go out of my way to make trouble for the club, despite what some people at Sixways may think, but I merely try to report what I feel are the pertinent issues surrounding Warriors at the given time.

Currently, the main issue is how Ryan can attempt to stop the rot and somehow find a few positive results to keep Worcester in the hunt with the other teams around the foot of the table.

During our post-match discussion, the Warriors boss was quick to point out that there are still plenty of points to play for this term and, in his opinion, that made all talk of the spectre of relegation unwarranted.

However, Warriors have already been beaten at home by London Irish and Newcastle Falcons, who many would say will be the two main sides battling it out with Worcester to avoid 12th place come the end of the season.

In league action, Warriors now host Bath this Friday followed by a trip to resurgent Sale and a visit to local rivals Gloucester sandwiched in between home clashes with on-song Northampton Saints and high-flying Saracens. That takes us up to the end of the calendar year and even the most optimistic of Worcester supporters would be hard pressed to see too many points being gleaned from that run of fixtures based on the evidence of the side’s current form.

So, after such a poor start to the season, can Warriors avoid the drop? That is the question.

AT A GLANCE

6m: White try 5-0
7m: Steenson con 7-0
8m: Mieres pen 7-3
9m: Mumm try 12-3
10m: Steenson con 14-3
34m: Mieres pen 14-6
50m: White try 19-6
51m: Steenson con 21-6
58m: Dollman try 26-6
59m: Steenson con 28-6
70m: Welch try 33-6