It is about getting value for money - if you really believe their aren't better players out there for the money than some I have mentioned you are even more nieve than I thought.



The squad make up is the job of the CEO - the coaches job is to make the best of what he has available - Leeds have the 5/6th best squad in the league not a shock that is where they are going to finish - this isn't a coaching issue this a player/squad issue.

How long did it take you to write this?



Kirke is the same player he was under Smith and McClennan - this is a player not a coaching issue



Burgess has been at Souths a few weeks - again this is a player attitude issue - he knew he was off at the end of the season and grew a bit too big for his boots



I say it again this squad was no better under McClennan in 2010 than it is now - it could be argued that McDermott has done a better job given the quality erosion he has suffered.



As the saying goes you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear

Someone who speaks sense.

Looking at the performances of Bradford this year I guess the McDermott 'haters' would pin there situation on the lack of playing quality/depth compared to the competition and not that Mick potter should shoulder any of that? I recall someone on here championing potter for Leeds as he was the man to see a successful transition blooding younger players like the crop saints have, or again maybe you can only do so much with limited resources.



As I said ages ago Leeds squad is 5th best in the comp not really a surprise where they are. I'd like to know which of the teams above them these fans think Leeds have a better squad than?

IMO Luke burgess was in good form and was one of our better players before he was dropped, i feel that mc should have let him play out his contract and go to souths next season. I don't know where people get it from that hes gone over to souths and now because hes had a few good games, he must have had a bad attitude at leeds, he was playing well for us before he was dropped.

I agree...McDermott [iseems[/i to let personal relationships interfere with best team selection for the enhanced chance of success.



McShane in particular seems to have suffered his wrath.

Quote nantwichexile="nantwichexile"I agree...McDermott [iseems[/i to let personal relationships interfere with best team selection for the enhanced chance of success. McShane in particular seems to have suffered his wrath.'" Maybe it's to do with attitude, this article about Peacock has some pertinent (IMV) comments as to the treatment meted out by the coach to certain players. www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/s ... _1_3697637 I would say though re the above that roughly the same group of players had won 3 Grand Finals so hard to see how bad the behaviour & culture was.

Quote nantwichexile="nantwichexile"I agree...McDermott [iseems[/i to let personal relationships interfere with best team selection for the enhanced chance of success. McShane in particular seems to have suffered his wrath.'" Maybe it's to do with attitude, this article about Peacock has some pertinent (IMV) comments as to the treatment meted out by the coach to certain players. www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/s ... _1_3697637 I would say though re the above that roughly the same group of players had won 3 Grand Finals so hard to see how bad the behaviour & culture was.

Quote Old Feller="Old Feller"Maybe it's to do with attitude, this article about Peacock has some pertinent (IMV) comments as to the treatment meted out by the coach to certain players. www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/s ... _1_3697637 I would say though re the above that roughly the same group of players had won 3 Grand Finals so hard to see how bad the behaviour & culture was.'" Probably just let that article slip away unnoticed as it doesn't fit with the many agendas on here.

Quote Old Feller="Old Feller"Maybe it's to do with attitude, this article about Peacock has some pertinent (IMV) comments as to the treatment meted out by the coach to certain players. www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/s ... _1_3697637 I would say though re the above that roughly the same group of players had won 3 Grand Finals so hard to see how bad the behaviour & culture was.'" Probably just let that article slip away unnoticed as it doesn't fit with the many agendas on here.

Very true.



It's notable that this isn't the first time a senior Leeds player has made such comments (Sinny previously) and we also had very clear negative comments about Burgess' attitude by GH when Burgess was released...of course somehow it's all the coaches fault that we lost a top young prop.



If a players attitude isn't right he shouldn't be in the team even if he does the business on a match day - it's a team sport and 17 committed players working as a unit will more often than not beat a team of individuals.

At the end of the day McDermott is the boss and if players don't respect his decisions they should suffer his wrath (I'm sure Brian was taught exactly that in his days in the Marines) - what else can he do run the team as a democracy?



And FWIW I'm not remotely convinced that McDermott is the best man for the job but we're talking about a couple of allegedly unhappy junior players (McShane - although he has actually come out and said he's happy in last weeks League express - and Burgess) it's hardly a Brain Clough-Leeds United type situation

Maybe people think he might have had a bad attitude because of comments like these from Hetherington and McDermott when he was released

At the bottom of the YEP article about Amor and Ambler it says that Bailey is contracted to 2012. It also seems to be talking as though Grifin is a certainty.

It's a nice article, and I hope JP is right. It begs the question whether BM gets another year for his "revolution" to work.... If JP really believes there is positive change afoot then I would bow to his superior judgement. Of course if could just be soundbites... He is, however, a man who knows a thing or two about RL at the top level in this country. If he says I'm wrong in my views of the current coach, then I would probably reconsider.



What I would dispute is that Leeds have "turned their season around" recently. Still clinging on to 6th and were not (contrary to the 2nd comment) all that good against Cas.

I've been away and I'm catching up on threads. How reliable is the whisper for these 2 players and has the Buderus player exchange still not been agreed?

Jennings is no chance. Despite his off-field issues he'd be snapped up by any NRL team. Withers is rubbish.



What gets me is that if GH wanted some kind of 'revolution' he appointed a guy who's only experience was running a team on a shoestring. He should have gone for someone experienced from the NRL, given them carte blanche to make changes, and been public about his intention. As it is, I still think the GF win in 2009 delayed GH starting to look at wholesale changes to the players, and in a cap constrained world its impossible to replace 4/5 quality players every year with similar anyway.



Whilst the squad is ageing, I disagree entirely that a better coach wouldn't have kept us more competitive in more games this year. Absolute cobblers.

So we might have only lost to Warrington and Saints by 10-12 points rather than getting cleaned out?

I'm sure you know as well as most people that small things can make a big difference in points in a game. Just because a team wins by 30 points, doesn't mean that the team is that much better, especially when the points come towards the end of the game. Its a fairly common pattern in the game.

But it usually does show the quality differential - as RL is terretorial game it takes time for the superior side to make the terretorial gains convert into winning margins. It is no surprise to most that the score difference happens in the final 20 minutes in most games.



Leeds have taken two hammerings home and away by Saints and Warrington - are you saying all 4 games were just blips and the score didn't reflect the games?

I remember these comments, and the way i see it, is that burgess was playing well and warranted his place in the 17 reguardless of whether he wanted to go to aus, he would have been happy to play out his contract and go to souths at the end of the season. He clearly felt he deserved his place in the team, and wanted to play week in week out, and imo you cant blame him he was playing well. Smith, calderwood, walker etc all annouced they would not be signing a new deal, but were allowed to play out their contracts.

if MAC was an FA Prem manager he would have been out now surely

Further illustrating that footballs a load of s h I t.

Am I missing something here?



The article quotes JP as saying “A lot of things needed changing regarding behaviour and culture and Macca got on top of that,” said Peacock.



Im not privvy to the inner workings of the club but where does he say that peoples attitudes or committment were being brought into question?



What he says is that they needed a change. JP then goes on to say that most coaches have a short shelf life, presumambly because things get stagnant after a while.



It was pretty clear in Blueys last season that we were on a downward path so the decision to change coach was probably correct. The problem is just who he changed it too as so far, its hasnt worked.

As I said Burgess' attitude has been fairly openly brought into question by GH.



I can't remember Sinny's exact comments but I remember they were fairly candid and I don't know how you can think that JP's quote isn't fairly damning - wouldn't "behaviour and culture" include peoples attitudes?



Anyway the original point being responded to was that







and my point is that a player should not be selected purely on the basis of his playing ability (remember the Dougie Laughton days anyone?) but also on his "behaviour and culture"/attitude - it's a team game and the coach is the boss whether the players (or fans) like his selections or not

At most clubs, probably. However, I think the Premier League management merry-go-round has served to prove that changing a manager rarely solves the problems. It only ever solves them if you get somebody in who is significantly better than what you had.

You shot your load a bit early eh RR?



"[size=150I've probably played it down a little bit, saying I'm a back rower who is filling in at centre because of injuries there, but it's a position I've probably grown into as I've played there[/size," he said.



"You get used to it. I had to adapt my game. I prefer playing back row but I can't say I dislike centre. In fact I'm quietly enjoying it.



"It's only one spot different but it's a real specialist defensive position and you can get found out if you don't work hard on it.



"I played a few games at centre when (ex-coach) Tony Smith was here so it's not a position I'm unfamiliar with. I've played there for the last eight or nine games so I've got my head around it."



[urlhttp://www.skysports.com/story/0,,12211_7121983,00.html[/url