I think he gets alot of stick because his first season saw us play some of the worst rugby a Leeds team had played in a long time, I agree he has not been lucky though, his squads have been arguably worse than Wire saints and wigan at times
I think he seems to be a good man manager and has done extremely well to hang on to players like Hall over a period when even the Aussie press were calling him a world XIII player
Where he does deserve some stick imo is in some of the bizarre and uncoventional decisions he makes, especially regarding interchanges, a policy that has cost us games numerous times- see Cas last year where we only used 1 sub until the 51st minute

I agree that some of his decisions regarding subs do seem a little bizarre sometimes to us supporters who do not have all the facts and figures to hand, however no coach is infallible and he is in one of the highest pressure jobs in the UK game. IMO he makes far more correct decisions than not, he certainly is a great man manager and has the players wanting to run their blood to water for the club and team mates. What we haven't had under McD is any submissions from the team and they have never given in and not tried to win every game. The pain of losing a game is evident on the players faces .
For me McDermotts management of the team while we have major injuries within the squad has been sublime, we have been playing mostly entertaining rugby where we could resort to pushing the boundaries of the rules like Shaun Wayne's Wigan we have played within the spirit of the game rules.
Whilst Mags is out and we are playing the likes of Sutty, Lilly, Goulding and Ashton to cover reshuffles and accommodate changes to the first team playing squad, this is where we will see the strength of the coaching system.
It is a shame that McGuire has been injured in the first hit out of the season as we still don't know how much he is going to step up post Sir Kev, JP and Kylie era.
Time will tell but I, for one, do have faith in our coach and the team supporting him all the way. We can't expect to win every game, we are playing some quality opposition and this year I see it being one of the most competitive right across the board.

Numerous times? You fail to mention the many times he has prepared the team so well for numerous big games with bespoke game plans, or how he has introduced and developed younger players or successfully managed the ongoing transition of aging stars. Neither do you record that he inherited a squad that had lost it's winning ways and was playing poor rugby the previous season.

No coach or player can be free of human errors and mistakes and often decisions that appear bizarre and unconventional from the stands are founded on inside knowledge regarding fitness and training ground form.

What you cannot deny are his record breaking achiements and his ability to develop the team to play outstanding and attractive winning rugby. These are the big picture points that dwarf differing views with regard to interchanges.

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I agree with that, all I was saying is that he isnt perfect and some of the stick he gets on here is warranted (although any calls for him to leave are not)
the bizarre decisions I were talking about dont just include the interchanges, its also things like the unused sub and not naming Lilly the kicker in the last game when he was on the field