Is he unsackable? Why does anyone even think that? How many top teams have sacked a coach when in the mix at the top in English RL, it might happen in football but not this sport.

I do believe however some thought should perhaps be going into who will be next in line (perhaps it already is for all we know) as next year will be McDermott's 5th which is quite a while nowadays and possibly should be his last.

We've seen however with the Powell-Smith and also McClennen-McDermott "changes" that we try to do things a certain way of 'passing over' rather than just saying "you're sacked, he's a new guy" although to be fair they might as well have been for all intents and purposes

As for an assistant YEP had this after Lowes was confirmed to Bradford....



So they have apparently been looking for someone, just haven't found the person whose the right fit and I'd rather patience was taken with any appointment rather than rushed simply because we don't have an assistant.

I would rather they follow your initial point above, and take the decision on an assistant out of McDermotts hands, and the club appoint one to succeed him going forward.

Going slightly off thread it will be interesting to see how the new HKR coach performs. This after HKR sacking sandercock, who had some bad luck with players leaving and injuries.
The same also at cas for next season as they seem likley to lose some top players. I really rate powell as a coach so lets see how he performs without clarke, huby etc etc.
I was surprised to see powell sign a long term deal with cas,as I believe he is a big pal of GH so if the wheels fall of the Mac bandwagon he would have been straight in.
All the professional players I know without exception speak very highly of powell.
Anyway it's all building up to a very intriguing end of season finale, the only team I fear is Wigan . If we play to our full potential other than Wigan I think we are better than the rest of the front runners .

I wasn't calling for Mac to be sacked.
Just pointing out the fact that a ready-made caretaker is not on hand if he should leave (sacked / ill-health). Agreed they should look for the right man rather than rush in and get a yes man.
Perhaps badly expressed, but my main concern is the lack of a second opinion from someone who has clout in the organisation. As Backwooodsman said, an offensive coach for the threequarters may inject some alternative creativity.
I accept that all teams are very much level pegging at present due to injuries or loss of form and expect we will be there or thereabouts, around top 4 at the end of the normal season if Sinfield is not confirmed as a long term absentee.

We saw with McClennen and McDermott that hiring a guy to be an assistant with the view of taking over in 12 months isn't necessarily the smoothest planning. Whilst you might want the decision out of his hands he surely has to have a significant say on whose is on his coaching team, it's got to be someone he can gel with in terms of ideas and be on a similar wavelength too otherwise it'd just be a mess.

IF the club were appointing to be his successor, then he should have no say in the assistant. If it is purely to assist him with no long term plan, then yes I agree with what you said.

And I and most others agree that the attack needs to improve and look more threatening and creative.

It's worth remember though that for all the talk of our attack being poor and our defence currently being very poor (and lacking structure all year apparently) we have the joint fewest defeats in SL at the moment and whereas some of Saints' loses have been quite heavy are losing margins are very fine.....

Lost by 2 points
Home to Hudds
Away to Wakey

Lost by 4 points
Magic vs Wigan
Away at Saints

Lost by 18 points
Away to Wire

So 4 of those 5 defeats are single score defeats, the first three mentioned we actually matched the opposition for tries but fell sort due to goal kicking.

Only the Warrington game we've not had a chance to win approaching the final minutes, that's 1 match out of 22 played this year, think some underestimate how good a stat that is, and even when we've been beaten, teams only just manage it. So whilst we aren't getting everything right, we aren't getting things as wrong as some perhaps think.

Whilst correct that he wouldn't need to have a say in it I was never a fan of that idea when it was planned for McDermott to come in and be McClennen's assistant for a year in 2011 (and I imagine was to nobodies surprise really when McClennen left early) and it's not a route I liked to see try and be repeated....seems too messy.

Both Chris Plume and Jason Davidson have significant clout at the club.

I don't see the need for an offensive coach, we have plenty of offensive experience in Sinfield, McGuire & Burrow. I can't think of many coaches around with more experience than them.

To be honest I think we're just going through a period of poor form coupled with a lot of injuries.
I think we're still weak at prop beyond Peacock & Leuluai, and that the halves have only been good in patches this season. But when we get Sinfield & Burrow back I think that will help tremendously. Also Ablett & Hardaker are very important to our attack.

I agree with that. I also think coaches in general are unfairly sacked/criticised when teams perform poorly and unduly praised when teams perform well. There are exceptions to this obviously where a new coach can have an impact and where some coaches excel in certain circumstances.

Spot on.

Our slump has nothing to do with not having an assistant coach or a lack of structures. It has everything to do with injuries and loss of form.

Form is an elusive thing and when it turns bad there is no simple cure and there is not much the coaches can do about it. Players often try too hard to turn around a spell of bad form and all it does is prolong it. You play best when relaxed and confident and not when you are aware of how bad you have been or when you can hear the crowd getting at you. When several players lose form together it makes the whole team look poor.

Sinfield is an example of a player who has been so consistent and perhaps has only lost form once or twice in his whole career. But loss of form does not suddenly make an outstanding player a bad one. Take Andy Murray who sailed through the first week of Wimbledon playing tremendous tennis. A couple of days later his shot timing and foot positions were all wrong and he lost in three straight sets. It happens to the best in all sports. Add to this several injuries and you have the position Leeds are in now.

Not a time to lay blame on the coach or right-off proven class players IMO. The players and coaches will be working so hard to correct the errors and I believe as this slump has continued we are one game nearer the return of key injured players and also one game nearer a return to form.

Whilst I do not want Mac to be fired I feel we are not getting the best out of our threequarter line. Which in my opinion is the best in super league.
Hence my feeling we would benefit with the use of a dedicated offense coach,especially as we are rapidly coming to the business end of the season.
If we win any kind of silverware I will have been proved wrong and will be more than happy to admit so.
Even the challenge cup would in my opinion be classed as a success story.

A coach with any pride would have walked after Friday's shambolic performance against a team who let's face it are basically a collection of everyone else's cast-offs including several of Leeds' own - one which Leeds have destroyed twice previously this season.

His pre-match dressing-room instruction to Bailey appeared to consist of which combination of punches to throw and he had a smile on his face before being interviewed on the pitch post-match. Hardly the actions or appearance of a man under any pressure (internally) at work.

It would presumably cost money to replace our distinctly average (IMO) head coach therefore I'd rate his job among the safest in Super League.

Plume and davidson may as you say have clout at the club, but have they got the skill and talent. We can take davidson out of the equation as he is the fitness and condition trainer. Which on balance we seem to be fit enough so no complaints there.
So that leaves us with plume, looking at his track record on the rhinos site he has no experience of top level coaching.
Surely it must benefit Mac to have some some fresh thinking about the place, even if it just takes a bit of pressure from his shoulders.
It might be that he does not want anybody else,pehraps he feels he will succeed on his own. Once again nobody on this site at the moment is right or wrong until the season end. When we will discover who wins the silverware .
Obviously the wire game is hugely important , this as a benchmark as to our form this season as to performing in must win games. I see in the yorkshire post JP has said he is sick and tired of losing close games this season. So the players are obviously feeling frustrated.

THIS

It is madness that people are comparing us negqatively to Saints (and their 40 point margin shellackings) or Wigan (shipping nearly 40 points to Wakey and Cas)

We have a perfect storm of poor form & injuries, and but for goalkicks & the VR feeling slightly saner, we'd have beaten both Wakefield & Huddersfield.

Quit whining and get behind the team.

Top and bottom of it, a coach will never get sacked if he is achieving his goals!

In 3 years BMac has won 2 GF's, won 1 WCC, has 2 CC final appearances, with league finishes of 5th, 5th and 3rd.

In his fourth year we are currently 2nd and are in the semi-final of the CC.

So if someone would please tell me what else the coach has to do to keep his job, I'm all ears?

A different spin IF we went out in the CC semi and don't reach GF would be that two years on trot we have won nothing and not been in the major finals.

You are only as good as your last match, and your next one is the one that counts.

We will cross that bridge in October should it happen.

I'm addressing the 'here and now' as people are talking about sacking him now before the season has panned out!

I actually don't think one single person has suggested that.

Perhaps he's waiting for Wane to walk after he lost at the same ground just a few weeks before (and shipped 36 points in the process)

Or Tony Smith after his Wire team lost vs Bradford shipping in 34 points at Odsal, where only London and an Agar-led Wakey have lost this year.

Or Brown for losing away at HKR, Widnes and Catalans with a total points of - Scored 36 Conceded 122.

Well surely a thread titled the 'unsackable mac' and the OP's comments after week 19 would suggest otherwise.....

And the various other threads that pop up time and again suggesting its time to part ways with McDermott.

brian mac has never been accepted by the majority of our fans irrespective of his successes' and nor will he be either if he even landed a still possible double this season for our club

in a salary capped sport i would imagine that his coaching cv would be the envy of the majority of sl clubs and coaches out there and quite rightly so imo?

brian mac is playing the game of trying to deliver the trophies available under it's current play off format,as is every other sl coach,i do find it strange that we are having topics about sacking him whilst we are 2nd in the league and also in a cc semi final,although i suppose we could be doing much better at this stage and be actually top?

let's see how our season pans out before the waiting nails are hammered into his coffin

I am taking it you didn't read the opening post? He asked the question only, and kept his post to talk about no assistant coach input and the need for it.

I have not been happy with him since his second season. If he delivers the GF this year, not really bothered about CC, I will accept him. I said before season started this is now his team, and he deserves the credit if he is successful.

His previous trophies are irrelevant to me as it was other coaches teams, as argued previous years, and you could have coached them to success.

This year is his year. Last year was a write off with mistakes. This year is his team, and learnt from last years mistakes. I hope he succeeds. I doubt he will though.

So are you suggesting I am wrong in what I have said?

Maybe I read into his comments differently to you but the point still stands that people are always suggesting a change in regime, which IMO is head scratching...