There is no reasonto sack the coach.



We can't afford to sack the coach.



We don't need to sack the coach. We have a rare thing, as a result of the franchise process: we may have struck lucky in this respect. As it happens, the current early phase of our re-building co-incides with no relegation till 2012. Happy days, because it doesn't matter, even if we finished rock bottom, we would not go down. So unless Hood & Co become convinced they have the wrong man, the calls for Mac's head are never going to be answered. Why? Well, the hotheads just need to realise that a club is only going to sack the coach for no reason other than a change of scenery if it is in danger of serious consequences such as relegation. If that doesn't apply then why would they waste all that money?



There is no better coach available and affordable anyway.



Don't get me wrong - we can't afford performances like Wigan. It is stating the obvious that if that effort suddenly became the norm, then indeed the coach [iwould[/i go in short order. But thankfully we extremely rarely get such poor efforts. A handsome win soon would be sweet, but it wouldn't make us the champions, any more than that freak horror show makes us the dunces. The rality is we are and will by the end of the year still be in an early re-building phase, and we just have to get used to the idea.

All of which is fair enough and very well meaning. But the underlying assumption is that those in charge believe that McNamara is the best long term option and also that they are right



Where though is the line beyond which McNamara is no longer good enough? In the argument on this thread what would need to happen for there to be a regime change? What criteria for success as coach of Bradford Bulls should we be applying in the short, medium and long term?



There is a very good point made on a thread elsewhere about the Bradford legacy and coaches throughout SL brought up in the Bradford team of 10 years ago, that by implication they have not had the learning to succeed in the more modern game, that Steve McNamara (and others) are not good enough. And it is that that is my primary concern. I don't think that McNamara is the right man for the medium or long term. Simple. Short term is a point for discussion I suppose.



Apologies that this is a pretty prosaic post in the context of this thread and also that it doesn't offer a solution, but I do think that it is at the heart of the issue.

Had we won our first two games (which could quite easily of happened) would it still be this bad?



Yes, the Wigan game was a disaster, but it wasn't the first big defeat and it won't be the last we'll ever see.



Is Macca the right man - probably not, but as other posters have put, who else is there? The franchise system allows us to try and build a team - granted Macca doesn't seem to be doing a great job at the minute and has had a couple of seasons to do this.



But,



We have to admit that our time as challengers for trophies has gone, we're on the downer from the most successful period in the clubs history.



The sooner most fans realise that the salary cap is starting to work and that our club is not the standard bearer for the league the better.



We need the OSV to come off for investment in the club (and city) and a few more years for the kids to come through and be established in the first team. We all know this is an area the club has focused on but won't bear fruit immediately.



I'm afraid it's gong to be a long haul - the quicker you accept it - the better.

So the underlying thoughts in this thread are that:

1) accept that we are rebuilding.



Questions - Are we? What evidence is there for that? What have the club said? Are we blooding new youngsters this season then? Were we not rebuilding last season?



2) accept that we have no divine right to win every game.



I accept that. But we should still be competing in every game shouldn't we?



3) we might finish bottom, but that's ok this season as there is no relegation.



Is it really ok? We, as fans, would be happy with that would we? I'm not sure I would. Is that really all we can aim for this year?



4) accept that Macnamara has a master plan to get us through this and knows where we are going



Ok, it would be nice to know what it was though, and where we are going and when we are likely to get there.



5) accept there is noone else available as coach and no more players coming in.



No, sorry I don't accept that. We have not spent up to the salary cap, that has been widely mentioned, we missed out on Bird, so we have money. What are we going to do with it? Who are we signing?



I think the club should perhaps speak out a bit and let the fans know whats going on.

I understand the frustrations of many on here, but it is still too early to be thinking about sacking the coach.



It will be critical how the team responds in the next few games. Anymore like the Wigan game and I think McNamara could be out, but if the team can show marked improvement or even get into winning ways then he should be OK.



As I've said before, it is silly to sack coaches during the season unless things have hit rock bottom and show no sign of getting better. If McNamara was going to go he should have been sacked at the end of last season; as he wasn't he should see out his contract until the end of this season unless the Wigan result wasn't just a flash in the pan.

Its come to something when it takes a Leeds fan to talk utter and complete sense on this forum!

Regarding a god time to sack a coach:



The coach needs to go before any decisions are made regarding the following season. If they are thinking of letting him go, he should not be involved in any potential contract negotiations for playing or coaching staff.

This gives the incoming person a much freer hand in assembling his own side.



In my opinion, we should use the money we were going to spend on Bird to pay off McNamara, St Hillaire, Richards, and Clawson. If we need to pay them off that is!



Keep Medley in a caretaker/transition role, and let Morrison and Menzies do some coaching in the very short term.



We should do nothing until we have a signed contract with the next coach, as the whole coaching team, not just Mcnamara needs changing.

As I've said on a few other threads it's no good firing the coach unless the alternative is a proven candidate who could do better. As I see it there aren't too many of those around, if any.



As many have said on this thread the only way the club's hand could be forced on this is if the shocking performance at Wigan became the norm. If that happened there's no option but to sack McNamara as performances like that jeopardise the whole future of the club.



It'd be a gamble to get rid but if crowds start plummeting to 7 or 8k due to poor performances they have no option but to take the gamble.

It does say something about our decline that we are now using Hull KR and Wakefield as our benchmarks rather than Leeds and St Helens.



Clearly it is too early in the season to fire the coach, although repeats of the lack of intensity shown in the Wigan performance would be a major concern. Performances in the next few matches do need to demonstrate that the coach has the support of the players.



IF there is to be a change of coach, leaving the decision until the end of the season would be a mistake. Players contracts for next year would largely be sorted by then, leaving a new coach dependent on the current coach's signings (an area in which he hasnt excelled). Recruitment would also be difficult if prospective players players were unsure who would be in charge next year. A decision would really have to be taken by mid summer.



At the start of the season most Bulls fans that I know had limited their expectations for this season to clear evidence of progress (something which does seem apparent at Hull KR despite the variability of their performances). We should know by July whether we are progressing or going backwards.

Given that I neither started, nor contributed to a recent thread on this matter, this is a pretty unfair comment.



I accept that he is a name that could be in the frame but attributing me with this is not exactly correct.

On Justin Morgan, the difference there is that he has brought a club up from a lower division, made some quality signings that Bradford should have been in the running for (e.g. Webster, Fox, possibly even Walker, Vella, Newton etc), and also managed to perform occasionally against the bigger clubs, which Bradford seem incapable of doing since 2007. Against this backdrop the occasional big losses can often be overlooked by the fans - again their expectations weren't high in the past but that won't be the case for ever.



The problem with McNamara is that things seem to be getting gradually worse every year, despite his efforts to reverse things; other coaches at 'lesser' clubs (Morgan, Matterson, Kear etc) at least give the impression that improvements are being made from previous seasons. If this downward spiral continues the club have to ask if McNamara is the right person given the resources avaiulable to take Bradford forward - but he at least needs time to show that his 2009 team can deliver. Look at Huddersfield in 2007 - started with many consecutive wins and then went on to make the play-offs.

As I've said on another thread there is a lot of talk about the re-building process but as far as the 1st team is concerned it is still in decline when ones plots results and performances since 2005. Fans won't wear the "re-building" line forever if the first team continues to decline and at some stage will need to see evidence of it bearing fruit.



Most of us aren't asking for the earth. We just want to see positive progress and signs of recovery in the next few years.