I suspect Agar's got a year to make a big step forward. Bums on seats pay the wages and a side with potential only excites for so long.

Yes ,but I was referring to the rumour going round now about the present coaching position. At present the club maybe thinking we now have a group of young players showing potential with new signings coming in and maybe a scenario like when Smith was appointed to take them to the next level

Don't remember him dismissing something ( like he has the Carr rumour) that later went on to happen. He seems a reliable source to me.

tom briscoe? denied it right up to signing when everyone knew

OK, Don't remember that but it was 8 years ago!
He generally seems pretty accurate imo.

I remember it well.
its yesterday I struggle with.....

Not sure Peter Smith denied it but he reported GH denying it.

splitting hairs there marty.
and I have none to split!

Agar has done a reasonable job I think considering all the injuries etc we've had. Although if Brian McDermott does indeed become available will Hetherington be inclined to bring him into the fold?

Apart from the lingering fall out from how it ended last time Brian Mac would be absolutely the wrong coach for the team as it is now.

Carr keeps being mentioned. No smoke without fire.

Personally id be happy with Carr, whether that’s next year or the year after, he seems highly respected and I think we looked better when he was involved with us.

Weve also done very well with young up and coming coaches in the past - Smith and Mcdermott were both at the beginning of their careers, just getting a successful coach from Aus isnt some kind of proven guarantee of success with a club.

Yep absolutely. There's a bit of magic dust and fortune in getting the right mix of coach, staff and players at the same time for success.

I could probably coach Penrith Panthers to a clean sweep in super league next year, but that wouldn't make me the best coach in super league.

I guess you'd have to think about where Sean Long fits in with someone like Carr. Interested to see whether Sean stays after this year anyway.

I can't make my mind up on this. It partly depends on how good we think the support coaching staff are on the technical components - i.e. do you bring a real technician in, or a man-manager.

Sometimes I think that with so many young lads, we need a bit of an old man Yoda around the place for them to look up to. If you're 17-18-19 and have a few demons in you, that father figure can be exactly what you need.

I'm hearing quite a bit of talk about James Webster coming back as assistant. Fev fans rate him as a coach and say they've played good rugby with the resources they have available. Interesting to if it materialises. (Also talk he's being replaced by Brian Mc, which my Fev mates aren't happy about)

He has been a failure at SL level - didn't he coach Hull KR back into the Championship? To me he is another Chris Chester. I look at these coaches and wonder if the likes of Saints/Warrington/Wigan would be considering them?

This is a big club that should be looking to employ a top coach - no point investing in a great squad if you have them coached poorly. The coach is a key ingredient in the success of the whole - how you integrate youngsters, how you manage the 17 on game day - the style of play - this is supposed to be entertainment after all, input into recruitment, developing other coaches, working with conditioning etc.

What did you expect Webster to achieve at Fev that he didnt achieve to make him a failure? He had little chance at KR as an inexperienced coach with a weak squad. Chester led Wakey to the playoffs in his time there didnt he? Is he a failure cos he didnt win trophies?

You say Saints wouldnt employ somebody like Webster cos yet they took Richard Marshall from Halifax.

Webster is a very capable assistant coach, has increased his experience and a very good guy.

Agreed I always find talk of coaches and 'achievements'' odd one.

There has to be a lot of things fall into place for a coach to be successful, its not just about their ability.

Look at Wayne Bennet with GB or Tim Sheens in SL.

Also Coaches get written off far too early in their career by some, take Agar, he is a good coach and he's still young but everyone has written him off, Steve Macnamara went through the same.

I don’t know if it’s just me but I can’t do with Macnamara at all.

Agar talks a lot of sense IMO, and he’s grown into his role at Leeds.

I’m very relaxed about the situation at present. When the time is right I’m sure they’ll make the change.

Nah its not fair to say hes bluffing his way he did his apprentice and has coached for 20 years now.

Could easily have said Tony Smith wasn't the right coach for Leeds. Relegated with Huddersfield and hadn't achieved anything. But look how that turned out. Good coaches can be in the wrong environments, we've seen that too.

Not quite the case, the time at Huddersfield was very productive for Tony Smith and definitely wasn't the wrong environment, at least not by the time he'd finished with them.

Whilst Smith did take them down in 2001 it was after Huddersfield had already finished bottom three years in a row before he took over but had not been relegated. That fourth season saw him come in at the same time relegation came back and ironically Huddersfield under his guidance were much more competitive than in the previous years and only went down very narrowly, winning more points and with a notable reduction in the number of absolute hammerings they got. The improvement in the way the team played and Smith's impact across the club was obvious even then.

The following year he brought Huddersfield back up undefeated and then broke the mould by keeping them up when they returned to Super League, setting up the years of relative stability in the top flight which followed. Huddersfield were very disappointed when he said he was leaving, even more so when it was later announced he was coming to Leeds. But his work at Huddersfield meant he had already established himself as a bit of a rising star amongst coaches.

Agree with that. My point was that people could have complained when we brought Smith in because on paper he hadn't achieved anything of note. People cry out for people with huge CV's of accomplishments but those coaches aren't floating around. Clubs look at the factors you've mentioned above to find the right fit. But soke fans just go off the small details they know about someone

Excellent post - describes Smith to a tee - he is all about positive evolution

I see Hetherington has confirmed that Agar will take over Sinfields role at the club.
It will happen when the right coach becomes available says GH it might be this year or next year but no pressure to bring in a new coach yet as Richie is doing a fantastic job.