Ah, think I was 3 or 4 down. Was certainly some very animated and loud characters stood there



That group you mentioned were to the right of you, yes?

Yes they were right at the top.

Well you can do whichever you wish NL, as I said you paid your brass and the choice is yours. Personally, and I`ll admit to being of a generally optimistic disposition, I`d rather do something which will have a positive result effect rather than undermining the team.

As to Stevie Mac I don`t know what goes on behind closed doors so whether he`s the best or worst coach in the league I really don`t know but one thing is for certain is that he doesn`t have the resources that previous coaches had.

Since CC put all the compensation payment into one years figures and then left, his successor has been fighting a losing battle with the costs of keeping the stadium in a decent state of repair so the chances of buying international class players are pretty thin.

We are supposedly more or less up to the cap (less what was being paid to Tupou and the cash that was available for Greg Bird). I think Bird would have been a great asset, depending on the legal bits of course. However it wasn`t to be.

The big trouble is that spending up to the cap doesn`t get the same quality as it once did. The reasons for that are that with, more or less, the same number of players coming through the system and more clubs are now able to pay the full cap and add in that there are now more clubs in the league. All of which means that the better players can demand more money and get it.

Basically we don`t have the same advantages as a few years back when we lorded it as one of the `big four`. Those days are gone. The cap has done its work. I accept it doesn`t seem to have affected Saints or Leeds, or a very expensively collected Wire outfit either, come to that. Maybe they have problems round the corner

All in all it`s pretty unfair to judge Macca by say comparing his record to Nobby; he doesn`t have the same raw material to turn into a winning side and on top of that he has a great many revitalised clubs in the competition and that`s certainly not his fault.

Even if the boos turn into the `positive` you suggest and Macca leaves (though I`m far from sure the club could afford the compensation anyway), what happens next? We`ll sign another coach who, guess what, has just been fired somewhere else (maybe `cos their fans booed him out, oooh, the irony) and the new coach will clearly have the same constraints as Steve. Of course it might turn out to be an inspired move....or it could be disaster, you never know with a new coach; it`s a bit of a pig in a poke.

You really are one arrogant conceited prize pillock. Only you could say that you, sat in front of your TV, were better placed to tell what the crowd in the stand |(the opposite side of the park to where the Sky cameras pick up the sound) was doing than those who were actually there.

Ah the old chestnut. He my not have the same resources but there is one thing for certain he isn't getting the best out of what he's got and he's solely to blame for that.

Let's not do anything because we don't know for sure that it will work.

Good job that isn't the way man has gone about life isn't it?

Pretty well most of the booing we could hear in the stand appeared to be coming from the middle section of the Popular Terrace.

Hey now steady on there! I can assure you, it was a group of around 30 youths, not all of us!



Not content with hurling abuse at the team, they then began venting their frustrations at fellow fans. The atmosphere on the terracing seems to be worse each week, with regular arguments breaking out now.

My apologies. When I read your post i assumed (obviously incorrectly) that you were saying that there was little booing in the ground as opposed to the area that your were sat in. Indeed i cannot comment about your area and if i had realised that i would not have commented in the first place.

I`m puzzled by your expression `old chestnut` when you then go on to say you (sort of ) agree that he doesn`t have the same resources. If you`re actually suggesting he does I`d be interested in why you believe so.


To be fair I hope your right that he isn`t (yet) getting the best out of them, but there`s nothing to suggest that anyone else is going to get more. Why, (other than the other `old chestnut` the `buck stops here`) do you think he`s "solely to blame" for position we`re in. In the post you quoted I gave a few, what I believe are solid reasons, which partially at least, explain the current situation. Now I may be right or I may be wrong in what I said but a simple assertion that Macca is solely to blame isn`t really an answer.

I'd have more faith in Macca if he actually acted on what he recognises as problems:

1. By his own admission, we were tired last night
2. Menzies is 35 and has played 80 mins in every game so far
3. By his own admission, the game was lost after 20 mins.

So why did Olbison sit on the bench for 65 mins meaning we effectively played with 16 men when we could have spelled players like Menzies. Positions were hardly the issue last night, we could have played anyone anywhere and they wouldn't have been much worse.

I didn't hear much booing, it was mainly shocked silence.
There was 1 man, yes 1 man only, in the family satnd trying to get a chant of "We want Macca out" and "Sack the coach" going. But noone joined in. He looked fairly stupid. So what does that show? Support for Macca or just general apathy?
I suggest the latter, which is more worrying as has already been suggested on here. People are starting to not care, to not be bothered if we win or lose.
We came back early from holiday to go to last night's game. We had season tickets so we thought we should.
Will we bother next time? It's probably doubtful at the moment.

will have to see what it is all about at odsal at the moment as i'm having a really hard time at work in the past 2 weeks. and cant get no time off

No quote but I guess this has my name on it



Did I actually say that? I certainly said that it can go either way with a new coach, or something along those lines.

It`s right to say that people do things without fully knowing the consequences, to be honest we do it all the time as you suggest. I`ve recently been thinking about retirement, gone into it with a finetooth comb but, of course it`s still going to be a leap into the dark (I almost said leap of faith, however I`m definitely no man of faith), but of course a leap with all the considerations made.

And therein lies my problem with the sack Mac people. Or rather not the people since they, like me, are fans of the Bulls and want to see what they believe is best for the club. It`s not the decision itself, I mean I`m no big fan of Stevie Mac, though I do feel, in many ways that he`s had a bum rap.

No. It`s how the decision has been arrived at: Were playing crap( will it print that?) so let`s sack the coach. It almost gives knee jerk a good name. There seems to be no rationale, no finetooth comb and certainly no coherent argument on this or on any other forum as to why Macca is wrong for the club.

I`ve given my reasons why I feel this particular move is both unwarranted and unfair but as yet all that comes back is the mantra about sacking the coach, certainly no rebuttal of my arguments. As it happens I`ve taken my own leap of faith (damn, didn`t mean to use that word) into retirement but (as yet) see little reason for Macca to follow me!

No, it wasn't particularly aimed at anyone - just the overall jist of many posters, don't boo, don't leave early, the coach shouldn't be sacked, certain players shouldn't be dropped, don't get on their backs - none of this will, apparently, do any good.

If a performance, and attendance, like last night says one thing, it says doing nothing is not an option.

I can't be bothered going into the ins and outs of the "coaching" merits of McNamara and his staff, it's been done to death, and there isn't much sign of wrongs being righted that make re-visiting it worthwhile.

Played 9, lost 6 does it for me

except if you include the shambolic cup episode its actually played 10 competitive games, won 2 drawn 1 lost 7! 20% win ratio so far this season - which if replicated last year would have seen us bottom on 11 points (Im being generous and rounding up for the draw) 4 points adrift of Cas. (although probabbly more adrift as no doubt Cas would actually have been 2 points better off

) And I've not bothered to check but it would probably have been close to relegation form for the last season we had relegation. Seriously depressing stats.

The only silver lining I can think of (and I'm grasping for any straw here) is that with the league as a whole being so competitive, if we can somehow put a sequence of positive results together the playoffs are still not out of the question.

(edit) just checked, Salford were the last team to be relegated in 2007 and went down with a 22% win ratio, 2% better than our current form

Praise the lord for the franchise system I say!

I`m not sure just what leeway (if any) was available to him last night, or even over the last few weeks. With the injury situation ( I know other clubs have similar problems) there wasn`t exactly an abundance of people to bring in which meant he was always going to have to use pretty much the same players in each game. It was noticeable that a fresh Solomona was one of the better players.

The Menzies situation is a strange one. He was playing from the bench for Manly and comes over here and plays the full eighty, I`ve been fairly surprised by that I must say, but as for the reason why I don`t know. He`s certainly had a change of duty during games playing at various times, centre, second row and half back; maybe a change is as good as a rest(That`s a joke btw).

I`d guess with Olbison just being a young kid the coach has to take his developmental needs into consideration alongside the requirements of the team on a particular,night, and he was probably, to some extent, trying to protect him. It`s hardly ideal to make your debut when you`re both getting stuffed and booed by your own fans. No doubt when he picked the side he didn`t envisage those particular events.

You`re certainly right about playing in other positions, though I`d guess that if he had we`d have had people on here saying "did you see where so and so played last night, Macnamara wants sacking".........

Ah well if not for me I`ll take the hit on behalf of the others!



Actually Asim, the final sentence of your post is the nub; the coaching merits of Macca and his staff (actually I had rather forgotten about the rest of the coaching staff) haven`t even been debated at all, never mind done to death. Not unless your definition of `debated` is a long way different from mine.

One or two have very recently put up reasons but 95% of the argument from the anti side is still we`re rubbish - sack the Mac. That`s not debate but reiteration of the mantra.

I think plenty of people have put across plenty of points and observations over the last couple of seasons, I know I have as have others.

Maybe these posts get lost in the ing contests that such threads almost inevitably turn into, maybe that's why some people can't be bothered entering into the debate so much?

if its the same group of idiots who were stood behind me, along with booing the team constantly they also found it hilarious to cheer whenever we made a mistake. There was even one individual stood alongside them who I know for a fact is a diehard rhinos fan who I know never goes to their games but keeps turning up at ours this year

I saw some Rhino fans last night too.
As long as they all payed full price, they can keep coming.



They must be deciding who to ump ship to, now they are not winning anymore. I would suggest Huddersfield though to be honest....

I used that phrase because it's one of the favorites to try and explain away a shambolic game. It doesn't matter what he may not have he's used what founds he's had available to build his team and do you honestly think he's aim was to be 11th in the league.

Like wise there isn't any thing to suggest they wouldn't have an impact.
Unfortunatly in team sport the buck does stop with the coach. He's the one who runs the team and is responsible for it.

10 wins from the last 26 games is more of a reason. Also he's inability to cure the fundamental problems which have been effecting us now for over 12 months weak defence, fundamental handling errors, lack of fitness. It's more than just this season that is the problem.