Well they all seemed to be getting along at this golf day and subsequent drinks on Friday night so I'm not sure how much this supposed rift is just an excuse. We were playing poorly before McGuire did what he was alleged to have done. Bar Drinkwater we were at full strength (I think) at Leigh when they walloped us. I think we got off to a good start due to catching teams cold and not playing at their best and we were enthusiastic and adventurous with ball in hand. Enthusiasm and adventure, which have both disappeared, got a very average (and lightweight) squad only so far, I think when the final table sees us outside the top 6 it won't be lying.

Splits within sports squads are very common, but don't necessarily always lead to a team's form being affected.

Look at Man Utd's 1999 side. Plenty of cliques in that lot, Sheringham and Cole pretty much hated each other. It never bothered their onfield results.

Lots of egos in the Wigan sides of the late 80’s and 90’s some coaches managed them well others didn’t and were pretty much ignored by the players (John Dorahay).

Man management is probably what makes a good coach great or a bad coach good, but it also works the other way.

I think Powell’s man management skills are poor and maybe his own ego gets in the way to the detriment of the team.

Yes they did seem on the surface to be enjoying themselves together, I was there practicing for the big weekend ahead. However, there is a frostiness between them as a group and it shows on the pitch. Somebody has to get a grip before another season passes us by.

Not only is his man-management seemingly poor - his excuse merchant persona is also very poor for a leader;

“It’s hard at the moment because I can’t take any middles out if they need resting or even dropping – I can’t do that.

“You’re then talking about bashing each other in training on five and six-day turnarounds, which is what we need to do to change what we’re doing, but it’s hard in the middle of a season.

“It’s not translating because our training time is not massive but I’m not making any excuses.

You are making excuses Daryl, that's exactly what you're doing. Other clubs/coaches just seem to get on with whatever hand they're dealt. Then on top of that you've got blaming the spectators - this just cannot end well.

Middles - We can play Green and drop Dudson. If we lose we lose, we are losing anyway!

Turnaround - 8 days this week.

Training Time - Again we have had 8 days.

I wonder what the not-an-excuse will be on Friday at 10pm?

The thing is are we really surprised? I'm not as I always thought that Powell came across as a glass half empty guy with a quick call on the ready made excuse front, usually injuries, even when Cas were doing well and punching above their weight from a financial backing POV.

I was prepared to give him the benefit of the doubt, as we weren't seeing it week on week and there may have been some positives in between the moaning. I thought that a change of scene across the Pennines to a club with some financial clout might just give him the platform that he deserved to showcase his talent and lift his mood.

Interesting period coming up......

Could be the squad had an hard day at Birchwood golf course on Saturday then went out on the lash and some still have hangovers, will that do?

the excuses thing was one of the reasons i didn't want him in the first place, very similar to you, it was a case of slightly over achieving and making runs when the rest of the league was shaky, 2017, us having a wobble left a gap in the top of the table, saints struggling as well.

The excuses and the full-time pizza were the red flags for me.