That is what I'm referring to yes, I'll ask again how many Finals has Powell won as a coach?

And if you want to talk about non finals being big games, even last year when Cas were blitzing everyone left right and centre they couldn't get up for a knockout game in the CC (same as this year)

Look I think Powell is a good coach and will become a great one but he needs to show he can get his teams over the line in finals for him to be a great coach IMO, he also need to stop the ref blaming and victim mentality.

I've not claimed Powell is a great coach. I'm not aware of any Cas fans on here saying he is. He probably will have to win a final to be classed as one. I would say that I think he is the best British coach, without a doubt. To be honest, there is hardly any competition. Chester, Wane, MeDermott, McNamara, Betts, Perhaps Cunningham? To say only finals are big games is frankly stupid.

When I say big games I am meaning actual big games with something i.e a trophy or championship at stake, in this context that is what I am classing 'Big Games' as.

Has Powell's teams won some important games - yes Has Powell's teams won any really important games - No, will he in the future - yes, in fact I can see Cas winning the SL title this year.

Can we agree he has won some 'must win' games?

Yes, just not any 'definitely must win or that's it' games.

Why does someone have to win a final to be classed as a great coach? There is far more to it than winning finals. If a club assembles the best set of players, then that team is far more likely to win something than one that has not. What the respective coaches do with those sets of players is far more important than the success rate. And a team with less established/rated players actuall challenging is a bigger success than one winning when expected to. To compare like for like you would swap the coaches round each season with the same resources, that would prove a point clearly.

Powell, as an example should be more measured against the what he achived in developing the great Leeds side that went on to dominate, rather than what he has so far achieved at Cas. Without Powells contribution for example, McDermott would never have been in a position to achieve any success.

There has been many great coaches throughout time that have achieved no trophies. That doesn't mean they are not great coaches. Development of players across the game is another big measurement of a good coach. Advancing those players from the basics they have at junior level to the top of the game. This is another factor that the likes of Powell, amongst many global coaches, have massive ticks in the box for.

Powell did a great job at Leeds in clearing out the dead wood and I acknowledge his part in paving the way for the success of the team that followed.

It's just my opinion that Powell has now been in a position to win a few trophies and failed he needs to get that monkey off his back.

But put him with the same players McDermott had at his disposal and he would have won the same, so I see no monkey on his back. How many Cas coaches over the years have put up the same level of challenge he has achieved? how many former Cas coaches have finihsed top at the end of a league campaign? Then look at how many have turned a team around so quickly from relegation candidates to trophy challengers? that is some achievement.

You are defending McDermott at all costs, but yet he has one massive monkey on his back to shake off. He still hasn't taken a club/side forward. He took London backwards, and he has done it at Leeds. The winning trophy's bit shows exactly why that measurement shouldn't be the be all and end all, because Leeds have continued to win the trophy's despite regressing. But to some fans it is all about the winning trophy's and nothing more. On that there isn't really an argument to be had, as it is black and white. Just some see the bigger picture.

I've stated Powell is a good coach and praised him for his time at Leeds as for him achieving the same as McDermott if he was at Leeds, you cannot possibly know that for any certainty and is just conjecture on your part as you are berating McDermott at all costs, you simply cannot and will not give him any credit at all for his and the teams success.

I did give him credit last year, I thought the achievement of winning that was greater than anything he had done previously, as I don't think the resources were the same he previously had. So coming through that, despite the competition been at a lower standard, I could at least say he had managed that situation well. The fact still remains though, he was carried through by a guy playing his last game for Leeds who put in a performance he hadn’t done for a few years, and most important we didn’t play Saints in the final. Saints were on the up, and but for goalkicking losing the semi, they would have won the GF last year. But despite that, I still think finishing second in the league last year, was an achievement I didn’t think McDermott or the team had in it.

I think last year was McDermotts biggest achievement as well, and I think winning from 5th was a fantastic achievement and I put that down to McDermott more so than the players (I think the players themselves said similar). I think 2015 is one year I would put solely down to the players, with 3 legends of the club leaving I think they simply wanted to win everything at all costs.


Again you cannot use conjecture as fact, Saints may have been on the up but history tells a different story regarding Saints and us in Finals

I am in little doubt he will be judged a great coach eventually. He is till relatively young, but since he returned to the game he has had success year on year. It is a very good point you raise about previous Cas coaches; the team c1992 under DVDV had far more natural talent at its disposal in Nikau, Kemp, Blackmore, Crooks, Sampson, Ford, St John Ellis but, despite its Regal Trophy, was far less consistent.

The problem with that is people like Gotcha keep telling us that the competition is getting weaker and weaker each year, maybe thats why Cas have been able to rise u the table? I'm not saying thats the case by the way.