Wow.. one of best decisions he's made in last 15 years in appointing Brian... can't ask anymore from your boss than to be backed like that. news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 606418.stm

Wow.. one of best decisions he's made in last 15 years in appointing Brian... can't ask anymore from your boss than to be backed like that. news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/rugby_l ... 606418.stm

he's come good recently but when you look back over the season i feel he tried to change to much,too soon. this was backed by a member of the squad i was talking to not so long back.
I have to disagree with the sleeve this time though, his best appoinment has to be the coach we knocked out last wknd.

He must be on very low pay then

both Mac and Gary have to work together in rebuilding the squad in the next couple of years

I guess it's good to see Gary giving such public appraisal of Mac in that way, this week of all weeks. I guess the message is clear, that Brian Mac is here for a while then, and GH sees him as the man to take us forward from this point onwards. I think we are going to be ok with Mac, and win or lose on Saturday, I'm optimistic about what is around the corner for the club, with all the promising youngsters we seem to be producing,

Sounds alot like the club CEO patting himself on the back after making a risky, cheap appointment.

The win at the Halliwell Jones was definitely unexpected (although not unprecedented) but to describe any semi-final win (after catching Warrington on a bit of an off day - as were Leeds at times also) as their finest hour is perhaps a little over the top.

Couldn't agree more ... With ALL of this post.

Propaganda is a powerful tool.

and if we get a 2010 cc final performance its back to what was ,god forbid!

You can always rely on someone bringing the club down before we've even started.

sorry,but there are a lot of MacDermott converts around just now.I do hope he gets it right.

As much as McDermott (and the players) must be applauded for getting the team to both major finals, I hope I never again have to watch a Leeds team look as disinterested as we did during some of games in the regular season.

I never for once this season thought the players looked disinterested,

There has always been plenty of effort, desire and commitment throughout the season, even in our worst performances.

Personally, I think that McDermott was brought in as a transition coach to help manage the change over from the old squad to the new. I'm sure in this season he's had to break some bad habits, and put a few noses out of joint. At times I've no doubt that he'll have been unpopular in the dressing room.

I also accept that he's not a brilliant coach, but then with an ageing squad, we were unlikely to be fighting for silverware. Now as it turns out we have, and this is probably where the 'best decision in 15 years' type quote has come from. If you have a relatively poor squad, then why pay big bucks to get the best coach. As it turns out, we've been in the mix for the big prizes, even with a poorer squad and coach than some other teams. Financially, that's a massive win for Hetherington.

Add to this the work towards the transition we have had this year, and it all looks good. Win or not on Saturday, and BMs job is looking even harder next year with the squad as it currently is. But thats the brief he has probably been given.

How do you know he's not a brilliant coach? Have you seen him coach? Would you know what to look for if you did?

I'm just going on history, and what I have seen

History being that given the resources he had at quins never was he given chance to succeed. From watching him and speaking to him I think he's very good, innovative in his approach and thoughts much in the same way I thought of Tony Smith, though not in Mclennan.

The squad he had at Quins wasn't good enough to finish anywhere but bottom but yet it did, every year he was in charge. He's brought his own way of playing to the club and it took half a year for the players to get used to it...

By the way, the Saints fans were calling for Royce to be sacked at the start of the year too. Once the Saints players got used to his style of play he is now considered as one of the best coaches in the league.

Fickle fans are fickle.

IMO Brian McClennan was the root of our problems. Yes, we won a couple of titles with him but the deterieration of the standard of our play was plain to see year on year. No players respected him and the players were the main reason he left.

What did people expect Gary to come out and say? Brain has two years ;eft on his contract so sacking him would cost, plus we've reached both finals. Im not a Brain fan but GH could only ever come out and praise him at this point.

I should also add that an amount of praise is justified too.

My main issue with Mcdermott was I think he is probably a good coach but was not sure about his abilities as the manager. In particular his man management and dealings with media.

but so far has proved many doubters wrong (including myself) hopefully he can go on.

I assume the best decision in 15 yrs in charge comes from being dropped in the situation by Bluey leaving suddenly and having to make a quick decision to back mcdermott a year earlyer than planned, and as it turned out ended up going well.

My main issue with Mcdermott was I think he is probably a good coach but was not sure about his abilities as the manager. In particular his man management and dealings with media.

but so far has proved many doubters wrong (including myself) hopefully he can go on.

I assume the best decision in 15 yrs in charge comes from being dropped in the situation by Bluey leaving suddenly and having to make a quick decision to back mcdermott a year earlyer than planned, and as it turned out ended up going well.

Just shows how fans should let the people who know what they're doing get on with it. As i mentioned elsewhere, opinions are fine but outspoken views without the knowledge to make them tend to make fans look silly (politely put). Will people learn from the error of their ways? Probably not.

Which is all well and good but very every coach who is a success there are a plethora that are abject failures. Should everyone stand in line and utter words of support for every single coach and club official appointed at every single club?

It is all about opinions. You, yourself have expressed an opinion of McLennan that is less favourable than your opinion of Mcdermott. I might point out that whilst you may hold McDermott in high esteem that is purely your opinion. This is not scientific fact. What is fact is that Mclennan, with whom you were so unimpressed, managed to be the first coach to coach a team to back to back final wins. McDermott has not coached a team to any sort of trophy..............yet.

You're also forgetting that it's never the player's fault Seth. They're put on a pedestal and idolised thanks to their past endeavours, so if anything starts going wrong it's quite clearly the coaches fault.

When Brent Webb throws a ball into the stand, or Peacock/JJB gives away a dopey penalty it's all down to McDermott. When McShane gets left out (essentially to accommodate Danny McGuire's return from injury, let's not forget) it's a terrible decision, yet since that move was made Leeds have played some of their best rugby of the season.

Perhaps it might be a good idea for someone from the site to spend a day shadowing him (maybe in pre-season) and turn it into an article for Southstander - give those who don't know what goes on behind the scenes a chance to find out what coaching at this level is all about?

Not a bad idea and would be interesting read.