Whilst the Cats are in dire form under Mac, there seems to be deeper rooted problems at that club.to be fair to him this squad does not have anywhere near the star quality of Cats sides a few years back

To answer the original question...

YES

All his coaching career he's taken the credit when his teams win, but it's never his fault when they lose.

Like Jose Mourihno but nowhere near as successful.

Its going to take a very persuasive arguement from someone to convince me that he is worse than Agar.

I hope McNamara stays at Clueless Catalan and continues the dire form and more losses.

Nothing against Catalan, i just enjoy the absence of the fake Frenchy for a few days after they play.

With regards to McNamara during his Bradford tenure, the financial issues that Bradford had didn't really come into play until after McNamara left, but his time in charge could be seen as a big contributing factor. Failure to make the play-offs combined with his poor recruitment saw the crowds at Bradford drop off. The club implemented the cheap season ticket deals to try and bring fans back to the club but that plan was not properly thought out or executed leading to Bradford's collapse

Why are all the worst English coaches unloaded in France? Agar was the French national coach for a time.

Robert "Bobbie" Goulding too. Two years in charge at Rochdale clearly gave him the right credentials for the job.

Of course you can judge him, two years ago Catalans were top of the league in May. They had a shaky start to last season but were still 9th when Frayssinous was sacked, now they look a million miles off winning a game against SL standard opponents. I'd say performances now are even worse than under Kevin Walters in 2010 which I didn't think was possible. Who else's fault is that but the coach?

Sandercock 2012–14 P77 W31 D3 L43 60% Loss ratio.....


STATISTICALLY........Rob Powell is the worst SL coach ever....only because Joe Grima wasn't actually a coach! Broncos 2014–15 P19 W2 D0 L17 89% Loss ratio............Grima took us down and then very nearly buried us!

More than just a "start", he lasted 14 Rounds plus a cup game so half the season. Add in the way they went so badly in 2nd half of 2016 then it was only 10 wins from the last 33 games. Over a year of bottom of the table form. Widnes had a purple patch at the start of 2016 too and were top after several rounds.

Frayssinous was in charge for four full seasons and Catalans didn't miss the playoffs during that time. Even with their poor form at the back end of 2016 they still finished 5th. When Frayssinous was sacked last year they were 9th and the chairman acted because he was worried that they might miss the playoffs. That was the standard of the club before McNamara took over. Now under McNamara they are by far the worst team in the league and look incapable of winning a game against a SL standard team. In fact they still haven't done so since he took over, his current SL record is 2 wins and 11 defeats and the two wins were against Hull KR and Leigh (and TBH they were extremely lucky in both of those games). Not sure why you are attempting to make excuses for that. They have gone astronomically backwards since he took over.

You're confusing playoffs with top 8 finishes. Catalans haven't made the playoffs since they were reduced to just 4 in 2015. Catalans finished 6th in 2016, not 5th.

Not so much making excuses for McNamara as they have CONTINUED to go backwards under him. But they've been going backwards since 2013 (they finished 4th in 2012 under Potter) when Frayssinous took over. There's more that needs to change at Catalans than just the coach and that been obvious for a few years now.

as much as it pains me to agree with you.......100% spot on.
My fear is their plight will influence the decision in regards to the format of the comp moving forward. If they look like going down, then I can see us getting a 14 team SL ring-fenced, because unlike London, the French do deliver extra games for the #1 backer of the sport.....Qualifiers this year is top 5 up and 6 v 7 for the last spot.

They haven't been going backwards, under Frayssinous they finished 7th, 8th, 7th and 5th, usually displaying some periods of good form but being let down by inconsistency. That's not a period of decline and to suggest that McNamara took over a club that was in freefall is completely inaccurate, as it is with Bradford TBH. Yes, they were in a period of poor form and there were some challenges there but no club changes coach when things are going well, the job of a new coach should be to stabilize things and improve the outlook, not just to allow things to completely fall apart, become drastically worse and then say "well it was heading this way anyway". Imagine if Saints had appointed McNamara instead of Holbrook, they would likely be in the same position as Catalans now and you could make the same argument, "they have been going backwards for years" etc. No, the point of changing coach is supposed to be to STOP that decline, not to make it much worse and then claim that it was already happening anyway.

Again you didn't 5th in 2016. And over a year of bottom of the table form more than just "a period" as much as you try downplay it as a small run of games.

Yes the job of a new coach is to improve things and McNamara has failed and you can get rid but unless the management come up with a master stroke with the next appointment then you'll probably see more of the same. The management are the ones who hired McNamara, Frayssinous and Walters....three of your last four coaches that have been poor and the squad and signings aren't where they were several years ago, again questions of the management.

Yes, he was grossly overrated as a player and is now easily the proven worst coach currently in work. England ultimately under achieved under him I never understand people who say he did a good job with England. As I've said before it probably suited him internationally because they don't actually do a lot of coaching at that level and often the senior players have more influence on tactics and game plan that the coach.

The last 2 coaching appointments by Catalan have been horrific and the owners will likely pay for that this year with relegation.

https://www.flashscores.co.uk/rugby-league/england/super-league-2016/standings/

Again, no idea why you're trying to claim bottom of the table form. Catalans were 9th when Frayssinous was sacked. Not bottom. 9th. Now they are bottom and infinitely worse than they were before. Yes, management messed up by appointing McNamara, because he's awful. The squad itself would easily be top 8 and probably top 6 with even a semi-competent coach. As for the poor signings, who do you think made them?

Can't click on the link you've put but I'm guessing you've got a table for only 23 Rounds as by 30 Rounds Castleford finished above Catalans.

I'm saying bottom of the table form because I'm taking into account your form from the 2nd half of 2016 which I'm sure the owners did too. You yourself have talked about McNamara record last season so can't complain.

Who responsible for the make up of the squad? Management I'd say, surely can't place that on McNamara as most players were already there and by the time he came in not much of the season left to attract OOC guys, the best of whom would be already snapped up. I also disagree the squad is that good, think it is bottom 4 material on paper.

French clubs must see something that English clubs don't when choosing the "worst coaches"

The tragedy is that Catalans also saw what difference a very good coach - Trent Robinson - could make.

Can’t be judged because he look over a side that had just started to fade, a club which then went into financial meltdown and was unable to replace the players they lost and sold all their good young talent. The club was going bust, I doubt even Wayne bennet would have done much better.

Where is is now will be a better indicator of what he can and can’t do as a coach, though it’s still early days it’s not looking good.

Should never of been appointed. Catalan made a huge error giving him the job.

A coach in the Australian 2nd grade would of been less of a risk than McNamara. If I was Catalan I would try and get Maguire to come back to Europe. Maguire's methods do seem to have less of an effect after a couple of years but he could get Catalan into shape in those 24 months.

I think at the moment his got a job with the NRL working with the referees on there fitness so maybe he would give that up for another coaching gig.

Something needs to happen. They are putting up barely any resistance to relegation whatsoever.