Haven't said any different!

The mistake that many coaches make, at all levels of the game, is thinking that their voice should always be the loudest. A good teacher doesn't give all the answers but instead asks the right questions, ownership of their own development is what makes teams and players achieve their personal best.

Didn't say you had

Never had you down as rabidly-anti BMcD, your opinions always seem very balanced to me whether praising him or slating him.

On a "Happy 5th Anniversary to McDermott" thread it would be nice though to just keep to the positives with no ifs and buts for once.

Spot on.

I think one issue he deserves praise for is how he dealt with the whole 'Legends leaving' emotion side of things.

We spent most of the year straight batting that issue saying it's not just about those guys, it's about the squad as a whole. But just at the end for those last 3 weeks after the Cas loss and we were on our knees they turned around and unashamedly started to use it and it's arguably what gave us that lift to turn things around in those last 3 weeks.

Use it too early, could've been too much. Try and straight bat it all season long and you're probably trying too hard to downplay something that was too big to fight.

I was definitely a doubter but am now a convert to the BM fanclub.

Results speak for themselves, and he's the most successful coach in the club's history. It really is as simple as that.

if we had drawn at hudds and lost at old trafford what would the consencsus be ?

BUT we didn't draw at Huddersfield, nor did we lose in the Grand Final! Such conjecture gets us nowhere. We won the lot and it is ultimately all about results. I have been going down to HQ since 1975 and have never known a season like the one which has just ended.

IBWT

In Brian We (Must Surely) Trust. He has earned the right.

Didn't Shaun Wane say something similar in the televised build up to the WCC a season or two ago?

If Sinfield consistently had a 50/60% kicking percentage we'd think he was a rubbish kicker.....he doesn't though does he.

poor analogy
the kicking is in sinfield's own hands (feet) if he that% he wouldn't be kicking.

Brian had no contol over dannys genius and the bounce of the ball.

did powell take the fall for the decision at cardiff

did brian survive by wigans decision at ot

Same with all good leaders. You need to be able to devolve part of the responsibility to those you lead.

Once a player leaves the dressing room, there is little a coach can do to influence their performance though. They can't make them put that extra little sprint in to make a vital tackle, or push up on the shoulder of the ball carrier to support a break. You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink.

It's why I think coaches get too much stick when things go wrong, and too much credit when things go well. They are a cog in the machine that delivers the ultimate matchday performance, but just one. So many other variables go into success or failure.

What would James Webster have been able to do at Wakefield, had he been given the squad at the start of the season that Brian Smith finished it with as an example?

Seriously? I think he'd still have a job had we lost by a Hull KR-esque 50-0.

You can say that about any coach/manager that they have no control over the bounce of the ball or the decisions the opposition take.

Man Utd better take down Alex Ferguson's name off that stand because he never scored those goals or saved those shots.

You really do sound very bitter about the guy to the point of being embarrassing.