If anybody still thinks this guy should remain our coach , then after today ,you are deluded . Unfortunately todays performance only substantiated what I said several weeks ago - he is out of his depth.
His tactics ( passive defence etc ) have been worked out by every team , his team selection has been all over the place , getting rid of 2 attacking hookers to keep 2 plodders was crazy , and now finally the players have given up on him. All those pleading his case due to all our injuries, must accept the reality after today - we couldn`t beat a team with 2 trialists and a man short for 35 minutes who also had a load of injuries.
Accept the facts - RS has to go now. The GH situation is another debate .

He needs to go. He won't of course, and GH won't push him yet.

When your team is under performing, when none of the players are developing, when the team is consistently making basic unforced errors, when your attack seems aimless and disjointed you have to look at the coach.

The coach is the most important acquisition and yet again we're suffering from GH going for the cheap option. It's one of the main reasons why Saints have been so successful for so long - they go for talented blokes who, even though they're sometimes shortish term, they're successful and they leave a mark on the culture of the club and the development of the players.

Smith was an untested at the top level gamble and so far it’s not paying off at all… the clock is ticking. Worst performance in SL for at least 15 years yesterday and one win in 7 now.. something needs change quickly

Blaming injuries and the fact they aren't Smith's players when you've just lost to one of the worst ever SL teams playing half the game with 12 men?

When do constant, repeated individual errors become a coaching issue? When does players shooting the line stop being an individual issue and become a coaching structure issue?

I think some are kidding themselves with Smith. I hope I'm wrong as I quite like him, but he and his team give off strong vibes of him not being up to it.

Felt a daft appointment at the time and is starting to look one now.

That said, Leeds recruitment has been absolutely diabolical for a while now and that is all about GH and his side of the business (whether directly, or indirectly through who he has tasked with the role). That deficiency in development has also hampered smooth progression of some of the more talented young players who are carrying the side at times rather than slotting in alongside experienced players worthy of a Leeds shirt.

agree with all that. he looked like a rabbit in the headlights yesterday. he is simply out of his depth

Agree FearTheVee. The coach is such an important role, I've seen in football for Leeds Utd what differences poor coaches make and their effects on players.

I must admit, when i saw some behind the scenes footage of Smith giving a pre match team talk a few weeks ago i was less than impressed, he seemed a bit wet...

We should've kicked on as soon as the French lad was sent off. They were there for the taking and we got dragged into a dog fight that only one side was up for. Completely embarrassing.

Looking from the outside, after the event, I'm sure the effort expended in the Saints game can be blamed for the aftermath. Every team treats a game against the champions (not just Saints, but whoever are the previous season champions) as their cup final. trying to lay down a mark. All the pundits, the coach and most of the fans applauded them for that effort. However, more injuries were picked up in that game, looked spent the following weak against Cas resulting in a loss. Quite a few said the close defeat to Saints will have given them confidence, losing to Cas would have removed all that. So come Wakefield, now missing some important players, now low on confidence, they were unable to lift the intensity when Wakefield went down to 12 men.

That’s far too sensible for here!

We should have been two tries up before Wakey got on the board. The Saints game IMO can be partly responsible for the flat performance against Cas but not yesterday. There should have been a response and unfortunately, there wasn't.

16 errors again - Like some have already said what is our plan? We don't look like we have one. I get that if we cut the errors down that will go a long way to making us look better. For me, we need to look at the players we have and adapt a style accordingly. Players like Mcdonnell, Bentley, O'Connor, etc are more suited to a structured style built on the back of good defense, not this eyes-up stuff.

I'm sure the Saints game took a lot out of the players and could be a reason for a flat performance the week after or even 2 weeks if we are been generous. But the truth is we have been a shambles of a team pretty much all season, even when near full strength. No amount of excuses regarding injuries etc can account for some of the inept performances we have put in this season. Ultimately Smith takes responsibility for that.

The thing that annoys me is smiths unwillingness to adapt, we've seen Handley at fullback in the cas game and he was horrendous, why do we persist to try again? So smith can step back and say look I revolutionized the game? Johnson can play halfback (and has so before, at magic last year under smith) and we know myler is best at fullback, too many square pegs in round holes

Handley wants to play Full back and the club is willing to allow him to develop there. Personally, I see him as an out-and-out winger and that is where he should be playing.

If it can be objectively determined that Smith is the main problem here, of course he should be removed.

But Leeds badly need to build consistency between seasons and for this reason changing coaches with such regularity is going to keep holding us back. It only encourages a situation in which nothing short of a miracle worker will suffice - if not we have another wasted year with a load more players the next coach will not want to keep (etc).

I think the club need to be more cautious right now because the consequences of getting it wrong will be with us for too long.

Lots of people are posting on here with the conviction they are 100% right, but in reality these people are not professional sports coaches, have no idea what is going on behind the scenes at the club, and are primarily speaking to salve hurt feelings a matter of hours/days after a humiliating defeat. We need calm rational analysis of the situation not knee-jerkery.

Let's be rational
We are 6 from 15, Huddersfield were one of the fancied teams before the season kicked off and they are 5 from 14. Hull 6 from 15.
We dont need to panic and sign a player or coach to take us through the next 12 weeks. Wakey or Cas are going down, probably Wakey.
We have issues, yes. Give RS time to fix them. When we are hot we look almost unplayable, for a side that I only thought looked mid table at the begining of the year we have played some, limited fantastic rugby.
We will finish mid table as expected this year, recruitment for next year is paramount and I'm not willing to call for the coaches head for something that he hasn't done yet.

What do you mean as expected? We should be challenging the teams at the top.

Settling for mediocre rugby and coaching is unacceptable.

If Handley is so set on being a Fullback, he can go do it somewhere else as he has none of the required skills other than a bit of pace.

There was no way I expected us to be in the top 3 this year, hoped for maybe but didnt expect with the squad we have. Overachieved last year and got everyone excited that we were back, not the case.
Mid table mediocrity was expected this year and that is what we have got. Rather than consistent we are hot or cold and sometimes that is half to half, not game to game. Got to admit I didnt see that coming.

Anyone that thought we would be top 4 this year needed their bumps felt, the squad alone doesn't support that even if Wayne Bennett had been the coach. Reasonable expectation was 5-8 with a major push on 5, but we're struggling to hang on to 8th as it stands.

This year has been so bad (almost all of it) that Smith has burned through the credit he built up at the end of last season. I think this is why people are so frustrated, we've been here a hell of a lot over the last 6-7 years.

My mates reiterated he's 100% serious...he said he saw Gary Hetherington chatting to John Kear about an hour ago just up from the Rhinos shop... doesn't mean anything really.. bloody hope not!! I don't if John Kear is under contract anywhere?

Kear is head coach at Widnes

My mate told me Widnes want £250 and bag of bibs to release him but Hetherington so far will only pay £50 and 4 of Ryan Bailey’s old jockstraps. Negotiations are expected to go through the night.

Completely disagree. Think the squad we’ve had is good enough for top 4. We’ve beaten Wigan and Saints away for gods sake! For lots of reasons we’ve fallen off a cliff. Needs a long hard review, but Rohan to keep going with it and stick to his principles. Will bear fruit longer term…..

the principles that have failed time and time and time again?
fantastic

Any ideas which one's?

Tetevano, Fusitu'a, Austin and Sezer are all OOC. The first two are a laughable waste of marquee spots. Austin at least has a dig, and I'd think replacing two halfbacks would be too hard on one go, so if given a choice I'd keep him.