All words ... no action !!

See what friday brings

The truth is NONE OF US fully understand what is going on behind closed doors. That applies to the financials and the playing / coaching side of things.
All we can do is judge what is on the park every week, which by their own admission has been pretty dire.

Before the season started Macca & Hood aspired to a top 4 finish and a final appearance. That was more than I excpected tbf, yet they seemed pretty confident of this.

THIS will be the criteria / benchmark I'm going to keep in mind through the season. If we're no where near that goal in October, then it's time for change.

As it stands now, 2 games in, it's a little too early to tell.

Of course they aspired to it - what would have been the furore on here had they said they would settle for mid-table and getting knocked out a few rounds before both final? "No ambition! Happy with mediocrity! Hang 'em high!" I hear you cry? Damned whatever they said, I'd reckon?

End of the day, possibly the most apposite post on this thread is is by "Bradfords Top Lad" above - All words, no action! See what Friday brings. I

If its more of the same, heaven forbid, and if we do not see a sharp improvement soon after, then you'd expect the only option left to the board would be to sack the coach. If things improved quickly afterwards, then those who have been calling for his head will say they are thus vindicated - and indeed they may be, since we'd never know if the improvement was coming anyway but it would be a bit hard to believe if it was. Of course, if things did not improve, then things would not look so good. But either way, if something does not improve soon then they'll be ripping up the existing financial forecasts anyway.

Yes in a word it is very early, however the past few seasons tell the real truth and while we can agree it's still early, the fact is they are not producing enough fuel to convince the crowds on the terraces they mean business.

Pretty much sums up my thinking too. The board has shown great patience with McNamara and has backed him 100%. However even taking into account the difficulties he's had in managing the transition we ought to be showing signs of coming through the other side.



Agreed. But there comes a point where one has to speak out and vent frustration. People have been judging whats on the park and voting with their feet. Something's got to give if things continue as they are.



I must confess to being amazed at that level of expectation and confidence too.



That's the criteria but I think there's a danger in looking at each season in isolation. I would have expected to see some improvement in some players over the past couple of years and signs that the bad habits the team has are being overcome, that should happen if the coach is having a positive effect. Unfortunately I can't yet see any improvement, we're still doing the same things wrong on the field despite all the re-assurance coing out of the club. I'm not asking for us to finish top 4 every season but an improvement should be taking place by now.

I know we have some new players and things take time to gel but so have our competitors who seem to have made a better start, despite our many warm up games. Existing players seem to be making the same mistakes that they've made over the past three years so whichever way you look at it some players aren't responding to the coaching methods. I'm no playing expert but some of the things on the field are obvious to us all.

I think we forget that the fall in crowds began in 2004. And while Bullseye makes a fair point that we are not unique in Super League in having financial constraints, nor are we unique in Super League in turning in inconsistent performance. Cam anyone be .rsed to do a cumulative league table for McNamara's years in charge? I suspect we'd be higher than many would think.

Good point about the crowds. Though I'm sure you wouldn't argue that playing performances have an influence on them.

I think McNamara has a 51% win record with the number of wins falling each season he's been in charge. Each season he's been in charge has seen us with a worse finish in the table. While we may be higher in the table if you look at a cumulative figure 2006-present that figure would disguise the fact that performances are declining the longer McNamara is in charge.

I think a certain level of inconsistency could be accepted if there were broader signs of improvement after the initial couple of years for transition. Instead I look wistfully at the levels of performance we had in 2006 and 2007. It appears that the transition is from being top 4 to being bottom 4



I recognise there were large systemic issues to deal with and that there have been malign outside influence to deal with too. This would be a drag factor on any club. But we should be seeing more evidence of the good things McNamara has done than we are.

Agree that the lack of improvement over a few seasons and the under 11 type errors are a concern.
I know we've spoken about the latter and the fact they could / should be coached out of a team.

Do we now look at the performances super critically after falling from the top?

Are we coming to a point where we're going to mirror the NRL....i.e. the bottom team can finish top the following season and visa versa?

How far do people think we're off the pace? 5%, 10%, 20%, more?

I think we're only 10% away......it's just that 10% makes a huge difference to what we see.

As we've all said, we don't have the answers and maybe it's just me trying to find a positive in all of this....

I wonder how much time, energy and resource is being drained away on the OSV fiasco.

That sorry mess being sorted out would be a good start in turning things around

I would argue there are a number of clubs operating in harsher environments than Bradford, some performing far better on the field, relatively.

Go on then I'll bite. Who?

Wakey and perhaps Cas would seem to be obvious candidates. I'm sure Leeds would have a view on that subject...

I'd say thats the big issue. The sooner the club know where they are the better. Any sign of those minutes of the exec meeting on the coucil website yet? Maybe we should submit an FOI request!

I admire the way some on here like yourselves are trying to stay positive. I'm finding it hard. Last week's high spots were Scruton and Whitehead who both seemed relatively unaffected by the malaise shared by their teammates. I hope their attiitude spreads to the rest for Friday!

They're the obvious SL ones, but I went over the hill to Keighley v Cas last season & am still affected by it despite having been to Cougarville numerous times; they are a club competing against the odds.

Indeed. And outside of SL the same could probably be said for most professional RL clubs