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wire quin wrote:

Boosty are you typing this with a Schooner in your hand?

Of course its not just about fitness. Where does it say it is? That said being fit helps!

Yeah, fair point WQ. I'm knackered.

Dan Stains woz God wrote:

I don't get this anger towards BM....

He is a nice fella.....he's just not a SL standard coach. The "anger" is no directed at him persay, more at those who defend his record whilst head coach of Harlequins Rugby League....he wasn't good enough then and he isn't good enough now.

It may only be 7am, but yes I agree with Gutterfax! for me BM is more someone for working on fitness, Never a Super League coach & never will be, like RP Brian was given too long with us and it is beyond me how Leeds ever went with him when you look at coaches they have had in Super League.

Yes very strange choice. One of these British head coaches who got a reputation as a future great head coach on the basis of nothing.

The main problem with Mac is in his acquisition and retention of players.

I can't think of an overseas signing he has ever made who has been a true stand out player in Super League.

He seems to always sign hard working tacklers rather than anyone with star quality.

His other problem is that he takes no account of age, injury record, decline in form or factors like average age of the side etc. Also he won't evaluate what other offer a player might get.

He will thus dole out four and five year contracts willy nilly but without any offence does he really expect Sinfield to be at the top of his game at 34? And is Brett Delaney worth a five year deal?

At Quins he was offering new deals to guys whose appearance record and performances suggested severe decline of which several had to be paid off early.

He tends to give youth a run but will quickly discard players, just think how many different players came to us from Leeds and Bradford but got hardly any chance, just a few games. Several signings didn't get a single game!

As sure as eggs are eggs you will be left with an ageing squad on relatively long term contracts with Mac. He will have the odd good run of about 4-5 wins in a row but the majority of the time he will lose more than he wins.

When he has money he will be more likely to end up with a Robinson, Williamson or journeyman from someone like Crusaders or Wakey than a Puletua or Carmont.

Mark that description of BM sounds similar to Big Sam at West Ham, he is exactly the same, even if he got us promoted.

Hi JayBs, I would suggest that Big Sam has an amazing knack of finding talent at relatively cheap prices.

Consider the free transfers of Jay-Jay Okocha, Youri Djorkaeff, Stelios Giannakopoulos, Bruno N'Gotty, Kevin Davies and Ivan Campo whilst he got exceptional performances from the likes of Gary Speed and El Hadji Diouf at bargain fees.

He also brought in unknowns from obscure leagues such as Tal Ben Haim and Ali Al Habsi plus found inexpensive players like Abdoulaye Faye and Florent Laville to bolster his team. Not everyone he signed was immediately successful but he signed a young Jonathan Walters and Ricardo Vaz Te. He would look anywhere for talent.

If you consider that he signed Michael Ricketts for £400k and got him into the England team plus got performances from the likes of Nicky Hunt and other journeymen you'd have to say he was one of the great managers. Four consecutive top eight finishes from Bolton is an unbelievable feat.

Brian McDermott has only discovered one promising player in his career and that is Luke Gale.

He promoted a few players into the first team squad at Quins but it is a short list as many were already signed by Tony Rea and in the squad prior to his arrival e.g. Louie, Tony Clubb, Will Sharp etc.

In fact most of the Academy players from his era are at London Skolars; the many youngsters signed from Yorkshire are without exception playing in the National Leagues and his overseas signings are pretty much all retired as they were on their last legs when they joined us.

So I would say you have one guy who trawls around for talent and one guy who doesn't. One who will sign a player with hundreds of games of wear and tear in a punishing sport and one who gives youth a genuine chance.

Funnily enough many of the Tony Rea overseas signings are still here - but where is Mac's legacy?

There is probably only David Howell, who is believed to be on a six figure contract and who is perenially injured and the decent Chris Melling still here.

markrammond wrote:

In fact most of the Academy players from his era are at London Skolars;

2008 pre-season fans forum at the Patch...the one where I asked him twice where we'd finish that year and he said first, then scowled the second timne I asked him...... He also said that he was really excited about the kids coming through....did I miss the bit where he said "for the skolars"

markrammond wrote:

There is probably only David Howell, who is believed to be on a six figure contract and who is perenially injured and the decent Chris Melling still here.

David Howell played well for 2 years, secured a new contract and has stolen a wage for about 90% of the time since....he should have been released (sacked) when found guilty of biting.....a 100% sure sign of his frustration at his lack of form.

gutterfax wrote:

2008 pre-season fans forum at the Patch...the one where I asked him twice where we'd finish that year and he said first, then scowled the second timne I asked him...... He also said that he was really excited about the kids coming through....did I miss the bit where he said "for the skolars"


David Howell played well for 2 years, secured a new contract and has stolen a wage for about 90% of the time since....he should have been released (sacked) when found guilty of biting.....a 100% sure sign of his frustration at his lack of form.

Howell has been very unlucky with injury and certainly is struggling for form. I doubt he wanted that situation either.

Though I really don't know what is being meant by the fans forum bit. Person asks question and receives a very positive response from coach setting out his desire and expectations. Then is asked exactly the same question. Did you expect a no sorry we are poop and we'll struggle to get tenth or I have built up a strong squad capable of a strong finish for at least tenth. What level of pessimism would you prefer?

Southern Reiver wrote:

Howell has been very unlucky with injury and certainly is struggling for form. I doubt he wanted that situation either.

Biting another player is not the way to show your frustration of a lack of form......he has a bad temper (remember the near decapitation in 2008?)....good players knuckle down and try hard...he spits his dummy out IMO.

Southern Reiver wrote:

Though I really don't know what is being meant by the fans forum bit. Person asks question and receives a very positive response from coach setting out his desire and expectations. Then is asked exactly the same question. Did you expect a no sorry we are poop and we'll struggle to get tenth or I have built up a strong squad capable of a strong finish for at least tenth. What level of pessimism would you prefer?

We finished 9th........it's all well and good saying "we're going to win it" but a dash of reality wouldn't have hurt. He was arrogant about it.....he ended up with egg on his face....it didn't get any better in 2009 or 2010 either...maybe if he'd been less of a nice person and more realistc, we wouldn't have finished in the 2 lowest positions the club had experienced in 14 seasons prior.

Anyway, my opinion of his answers at a forum are neither here nor there........his stats speak for themselves!