I had two calls from JP today - one on my works phone and one on my mobile.

No sooner had he finished telling my why I should be joining him as a 'member' next year, then he called a colleague of mine and asked him the very same question - busy man our Jamie.

Remember the days when people used to get calls from Garry Schoefield

Mustve been a challenge trying to hear a slurring Garry over the clink of beer glasses and bustle of a pub.

My mates wife once told him I've had a call from someone from leeds he said he wanted to talk to you .He said his name was Garry Schoefield , but he sounded stupid . my mate said sounds like Garry

I hear Leeds won't be brow beaten or get into a bidding game if someone did become available.
If they don't want to come to Leeds on less money than they can get elsewhere then forget it says McDermott.
Now whilst that should be the way to go.
I can't help but think we are heading for a mighty fall with that sort of attitude.
Yes if we were ahead of the game and winning everything.
But we are on a downward slide and need to speculate to accumulate .
Players now don't see us as the team to play for. Youngsters unless exceptional will probably not be given a chance and slightly above average players like Taylor and Mossop will go where they can get a few grand more.
Those words from McDermott and the clubs philosophy could see the end of our successful era if we don't change our way of thinking.

What BM means is that Leeds have a pay structure. Not "Leeds are so good you should be willing to play for peanuts." If we can fit three genuinely outstanding players in Hardaker, Watkins and Hall into that structure then its not far wrong - all three would be big targets for both RU and the NRL, never mind other SL clubs.

Changing 'that way of thinking' would kill the team culture. You bring in a Mossop on more than he'd get under the structure, the other players hear about it and next thing you know half the team would be chasing more pay.

Leeds are in transition. Paying over the odds for a couple of stars isn't the way to go.

If you don't pay the market rate for top talent you simply will not attract it. Perhaps the pay structure at Leeds is now too rigid and rewards longevity over talent. You can't expect to get an Aston Martin for the cost Ford - you might be able to get one for the cost of BMW if you have other things to offer e.g. top quality coach, superb stadium or a side up the up - Leeds have none of these.

This season could be a watershed that makes the management re-think its approach. Hopefully it will quash the arrogance that quite clearly exists within the senior coaching staff. After the second half of last season you would have thought a touch of humility might be in order. If I were McDermott I would be keeping a low profile until some tangible improvements have happened.

Given the number of phone calls, digital marketing efforts I have had from Leeds including JP's abysmal message it would suggest season ticket sales are not what the club expected.

I hate car analogies. However, anyone suggesting Mossop is an Aston Martin probably bought a Skoda in the 80s. He has never done anything, his injuries saved him from obscurity in Aus. Taylor is obviously killing time for a year, on as big a buck as possible, before going back to Hull. Breaking the bank for either would have been stupid. Who else Leeds have missed out on, who was worth splashing the cash on, I'm not sure.

The issue with Mossop is completely different. He had a medical, we had already agreed terms, he chose to go to Wigan when they finally gave themselves some space to accommodate it.

The point is that Leeds know they need someone, yet have been so far behind the rest in awakening they are scrapping around to do a deal. The replacement prop should have been signed by Easter, not Christmas. The fact they are struggling to do a deal, despite knowing they need it, raises more questions than anything.

You miss the point - the recruitment at Leeds appears to have been very last minute and reactionary. The fact Leeds were in for Mossop suggests planning hasn't gone as well as it should have done. Leeds are now in a position where they are vulnerable - if they want a top player, the player and his agent know there is an air of desperation. If you are as rigid as it would appear Leeds are you will never attract the best players - Daryl Clark will be on more money at Warrington that Kevin Sinfield/Jamie Peacock will be on at Leeds and I would imagine it would have one of the stumbling blocks to Leeds not being in the race for him.

It does appear Leeds have either missed out on who was available or have simply not been bothered getting into an auction. Or Hetherington is secretly working behind the scenes to land the big catch. It doesn't look good longer term with the ageing key players admittedly.

So no Lunt then? He's the sort of player that could really give us another dimension in the middle of the field.

Not sure I agree with your views here.
Keeping to the pay structure has worked in the past as we have had something to offer i.e winning championships.
I am not sure might be wrong that Leeds have that pull any more.
Sometimes you have to break the pay structure and that might mean giving the likes of Sinfield, Hall and Hardaker more money to keep them happy.
We do not have the class of youngsters we were lucky to have in the past and the old guns are just about shot.
We are probalby the richest club in SL with a fan base of between 16,000 to 20,000 that would come to watch a few more stars who are going to win things.
I fear if we continue with what we have those crowds will fall to the 10,000 to 12,000 mark.
And I certainly don`t suggest Mossop is or ever will be a star. But like some other posters have said the coach and GH certainly thought we needed him to do something.

Either that or they thought there was a chance of getting an ok player on the cheap. TBH I find it stretches the imagination too far for any side to [ineed[/i a player of Mossop's standard. He might be handy to have but no more.

I would rather miss out on Mossop than over pay him. Spending more on him means we have less to spend next year when replacing Kylie and JP.

There is not one prop who has moved that I would be disappointed at losing out on bar Taylor and even then not in the circumstances he was moving. I say that in the context that whilst there are some good players moving, im not sure there is a whole lot of value in the likes of Simms, Patrick on loan, 4 years for Huby.

I would have loved Clark to come as he would have sorted out a position we have needed to sort out and he would have done so for the next decade. But we aren't going to get every player we want.

You must have the head in the sand there. Simms, Huby, Patrick, are far better players than Taylor, and all three would walk straight into our team.

Sims is a journeyman prop and penalty machine, he isn't ad good as Peacock or Cuthbertson in my opinion. Huby has a 4 year deal and has never been a top player in a top club. Patrick is a one year loan which certainly isn't a long term solution.

Looking at this 2015 squad, Kylie and JP have never been older but yet they will be relied on more than ever.

The panic and failing to tempt Mossop/Taylor shows that the powers that be know we have a massive hole to fill but it remains wide open.

It's sentiment that has left us in the predicament in some ways you can see why. Leeds were so yellow bellied down the middle for decades, Murray injected the wreckers (Baz, Fleary, Farrells etc) then class took us to the next level. Kylie and JP are tough and both do different but excellent jobs, but we should have been smarter and already penciled in replacments before they've turned 37, given them a handshake and been able to tell them they're not required.

JP has got us out many holes over last 2 seasons, take his yardage and workrate out and you'll see our pack get bullied.

Which makes it vital that we excel in other areas. So the patchy and fringe have to make a stand. If Stevie Ward, Sutcliffe, Singleton, Achurch can produce week in week out it will give us a fighting chance of competing. So we can believe that this team can go on without old hero's.

IMHO, the amount we have available to spend on replacement forwards next year is largely irrelevant. If we wont increase our rigid pay structure then you can forget signing any more 'elite' players. Any available funds will pay for 3 or 4 average replacements at best, rather than a couple of top class ones.

Time for Gawy to rethink our policy on this before our decline becomes terminal.

Wigan admitted they were up to their cap limit but with some ingenious dealing they got the players they required. Patrick by swapping a player and Mossop by agreeing a one year loan to Salford. All we've managed is to sign Cuthbertson ages ago then allowed Clarkson (loan) Jones Bishop,Bailey and Kirke to leave.

But we are losing Elite players. We got JP this year for the amount we are paying JP. Whatever that amount is, it is demonstrably enough to pay an elite player, hell it was enough to pay (imo) the best prop in SL last year.
There clearly is scope for us to sign elite players under our structure, we know this because we have elite players.

Peacock was far from being the best prop in SL in 2014. Perhaps when the likes of JP and Sinfield retire then the salary structure will change and open up some doors. I would imagine it would be very difficult for GH to justify paying any player more than his captain regardless of who they are.

We do have elite players but these are players who've grown in the club and may be taking Sinfield's famous Leeds reverse-premium.

The last elite player we signed was Danny Buderus, before that Jamie Peacock.

Exactly. And if we had seen a bedsy or a JP move then we could complain.

But we haven't. I could understand if we were missing out on can Smith or Isaac luke, James Graham or George Burgess but we aren't. We are talking about Larne Patrick and Ashton Sims. We shouldn't break the bank for them not because of some stubbornness and loyalty to our system but because these players aren't worth breaking the bank for.

If Ali Lauitiiti mark 2 is available and we aren't in for him, I'll be the first one criticising, im just not sure why we are getting all upset because we missed out on some pretty average players

Smokey i completely disagree that Sims and Patrick are average players one is a proven frontline NRL forward and the other a good young powerful Prop with Bags of SL experience and his best years ahead of him either would walk into this team and imo replace Kylie with ease now.
Also who is moaning?
It's clear this squad needs strengthening and many are pointing that out whilst also dismissing the BS PR from Hetherington its hardly moaning when it's obvious what we need!