www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/s ... owest_ebb/

www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/s ... owest_ebb/

The sad part was 'McNamara refused to criticize his players'. This attitude has it's time and place but we are now well past that. Perhaps he needs to be telling them that they ha better buck up their ideas because nobody else would want them the way they are playing. MOre importantly he needs to be letting the speccies know that he is doing this.

How so? First, everybody else is (rightly) having a go at the players and we all know he has, so what does it add for him to relate in public individual criticisms? It's not as if we think he's congratulated them, is it? He's rightly keeping the specifics of what goes on in the dressing room, in the dressing room. I don't see how he can be criticised for that, and it would be stupid for a coach to do other.

Secondly, withouit divulging details or specifics, he was quoted in the article as follows:


Any implied criticism there, or is it a ringing endorsement of his team? If I were in it, I'd feel criticised.


Would they think this was praise?.


This sounds like more criticism to me. You?


Is this not criticism?


And this?

Maybe people expected Macca to brand his players "pathetic", as the (also seriously under fire) Agar did?

I wonder whether branding them that in public is any more motivational than doing whatever is done behind closed doors?

All Agar has done is set his players up for, e.g., chants of "your pathetic, and you know you are..."

I've never been one for blasting my troops in public when they screw up, and I'd support a coach who chose to do likewise.

Providing, obviously, that the paint was peeling off the walls behind closed doors...

I think publically branding players pathetic might provide some motivation for some players. Lets be honest mate, Steve isn't motivating the players enough with the method he's using at the moment.

It's always a tough call (or should be) if you are going to criticise anyone you are responsible for in public in any walk of life, and should only be done as a last resort (although from personal experience it is fun to do it).

Everyone responds differently to criticism, and some it could cause some to go into their shells even more.

You are right in all your comments. But those criticisms seem like 'being savaged by a dead sheep' to use a Dennis Healey phrase.

And anyway, any such comments would be pure populist blood-letting. One thing is certain - the players know exactly what their performance in the second half was like, without the need for a word.

But they will also presumably know that regardless of performance, the squad is too thin for them to be dropped in favour of someone else. You have to question what incentive they have to improve other than some sort of ethereal sense of pride.

That is true I am sure, however is that knowledge enough to do anything about it? Probably not. I was at Keighley Cas yesterday & I could swear I saw a couple of Cas players smiling to each other behind the sticks after Keighley tries. To me that was almost equally unprofessional & made me question whether this Cas team has what it takes to compete at the very highest level.

Well, obviously I don't know, but I would like to think that each and every player will be as dejected and mortified as the fans, in fact more so.

Unfortunately I also think that the pressure they are putting themselves under with such comedy capers means that their confidence is fragile and their self-belief is probably now nearly non-existent.

You can't compare tha Cas game - the players knew they had no chance of losing under any circumstances, it was just a run-out.

Even worse up at Barrow by the sounds of it. In Wigan's close run thing, the Wigan players were seen to get out a picnic hamper when Barrow scored and proceed to have a cream tea. AND they were smiling as well. But that's to be expected with real Devonshire clotted cream.

Hang on... so Hull sacked Sharp and got in someone new, and their problems didn't magically evaporate? How odd.

That's cos they were not able to sign the coach they originally targeted a little while, so had to settle for second-best instead at the time.

I forget who that coach was that they preferred ahead of an Aussie?

Oh silly me I didn't realise that Hull are still 2nd bottom of the league.

Who on here has ever said that the problems will "magically evaporate" if McNamara was sacked?

Nobody, most realise that sacking the coach would not solve anything. Not everyone, mind.