Quote ="Juan Cornetto"None of us know the management or boardroom discussions that go on in private. But I would say that most onlookers would agree that Caddick holds the purse strings and that GH is a frugal manager and it is my understanding that he plays the lead role in recruitment with the final say. BM (& other coaches before) will have taken the job knowing this. So to suggest the if Mac did not get his way on recruitment he should have resigned is easy for others to say when it is not their livelihood at stake.
As events have proven our recruitment policy to cover the loss of Sinfield & JP was seriously flawed and if I am right with regard to the above then this would explain why GH can hardly sack Mac when the responsibility is with himself.
There are too many coincidences to be ignored for our dramatic fall from grace. First major factor IMO is the the loss of our 2 best and most important players which have left the side leaderless on and off field and which appears to have caused a catastrophic loss of confidence and it has also shown some of the squad to have been well overrated. The second major factor is the still ongoing season long serious injury crisis which cannot be brushed aside so easily. The destruction of the training facilities was also a factor but one that should have been overcome some time ago. The coach and his methods are the same as when we won so many trophies so why would he suddenly lose the dressing room and from what I hear they are all working hard in training.
The one unexplained fact is the woeful performances from the likes of senior players Hardaker and Watkins which has gone on too long just to be poor form. I still have a nagging feeling that some players may have other issues and usually serious ones concern money. Could it be the bonus for winning the treble was disappointing or could our close season attempt to sign Sam Burgess have involved and upset certain players going the other way or could it have blown apart the players faith in the current pay policy?
I claim no inside knowledge and I do not know any of the players Dad's, just musings to try to explain some of the possible factors.'"
For the record, I can claim no inside knowledge but I have dealt with Caddick's other businesses extensively over the last few years. My experience would suggest to me that Caddick allows a good deal of autonomy within his various businesses and that he is not massively involved in day to day decision making. So, if mistakes have been made, I would suggest that the book stops with GH.
With regards to GH, if he has made mistakes, I would suggest that he is allowed more than a little latitude given the way the club has perfumed since he was involved. In a similar fashion, I think McDermott is entitled be afforded the benefit of the doubt.
I have to agree that the performances of the likes of Watkins, Hardaker and Hall before he was injured, are somewhat surprising, although it has been suggested to me that Hardaker has some personal issues.
Where I disagree is with regards to past performances, the frailties we are currently experiencing were evident last year and the year before. With some consistency over McDermott's tenure, we have struggled to convert red zone pressure into points and the marker defence has been found wanting. The structural deficiencies on Friday were laughable; we conceded two tries directly from acting half back, one of those without the attacking player being touched and another score came directly from a penalty tap. Any fully professional team can have no excuse for such basic errors.
