The only thing that's not ok is when Leeds (or insert the name of any other club) are not as good as they can be. There will always be a turnover of who is the best at any given time, that's the nature of sport, but you should always be striving to be the best you can be.

At the moment, for a number of reasons, Leeds are not the best they can be, therefore no one associated with the club should be satisfied with where we are.

Yes and it began last season. Winning the GF from 5th merely papered over the cracks of what was an average 2011 season in the weekly rounds by Leeds' standards.

So we have declined? Or we haven't? What you originally said is we haven't worsened. Well, certainly at this point in time, we have. We're not the team we were 3/4 years ago.

Leeds may not be the team they were 3/4 years ago but they are still a million miles off being a bad side in decline. Wigan, Warrington, Catalans, Hull et al have improved vastly over the last 2 seasons and they are now reaping the fruits of their labour with their league positions. If you take a look at the table and consider your next 3 fixtures are Wakefield (H), Cas (H) and London (A), (3 winnable games in the eyes of most). 3 wins would see you right back up in the top third of the table.

I place an opinion on a forum and then you attack me personally....not my comment, and you think you're grown up?

Have a word with yourself mate!!!

That's cleared that little puzzle then

For me LOINERtillidie (primarily a dewsbury fan) is miles away from what most Leeds fans feel about the current situation.

Not accepting that other teams can be better is complete rubbish, this set of players have never won the CC and since 2004 saints, Bradford and Wigan have all won the GF.

The problem for me is knowing that this group can perform much much better than they are, we may be in decline but we are the current champions and beat manly only a few months ago, not being in the play offs at this stage off the season and getting beat at home by 50 would suggest that something is holding us back from performing to our potential.

I've spent most of my adult life supporting Leeds through a very long period where a lot of other teams were significantly better than Leeds. Not a problem with that, it's the nature of sport.

I do agree with Batley though, in that the issue at the moment isn't that other teams are better than Leeds, but that some of us saw this current situation coming a while ago. If we could, then why couldn't the highly experienced and successful sports administrator running the club?

Leeds are falling well short of the high standards they have set themselves, both on and off the field IMO.

Are you talking about the coaching staff or overall? To be fair, the financial position of the club and the quality of the academy set up is as good as its been for a good few years.

Player performance on the field, plus the recruitment and retention decisions made off it. The departures of Senior and Lauitiiti hinted at an understanding that the squad needed to be refreshed. The players brought in and subsequent contract extensions however have smacked of panic.

My opinion is that I will always accept that other teams may be better than us, and that success is usually only short term. However, it pains me to see a club not performing close to its potential.

The first team may not be but the club is performing up to it's potential. There is a large over reaction to an indifferent run of form on the field by the 1st team.

When using the expression "the club" you have to take into account many other things. The apparent rude health of the Academy at all levels at present and the excellent turnover and profit posted by the club in the face of recession.

There isn't a single club in the league that is built on firmer foundations than ours. One only has to look at our near neighbours to realise that. There's no need to over react because the first team are on a bad run of form.

Andy G, if you and others have seen our demise coming for a while when did you first see it? Was last year's title, CC Final and this years WCC within your vision?

There were signs in 2010 that the team was no longer as dominant as it had been during 2007-09, and that Warrington and Wigan in particular were starting to get Leeds's number. The consistently high level of performance that marked out that period became less frequent in 2011, spankings home and away from both Warrington and Saints, then at home to Huddersfield and Bradford in particular raising alarm bells.

The Challenge Cup run in 2011 was hardly indicative of a champion team returning to form, take a look at the standard of opposition. That Leeds needed extra time to see off a mediocre Cas side says little to support your point.

The team managed to buck the trend for the last half dozen games of the season and capitalise on some fortune in the Grand Final. Well done to them for that but it doesn't disguise the fact that over the season as a whole they were now well behind the likes of Wigan, Warrington, Saints and Huddersfield in terms of consistency and quality of performance.

That decline has continued in 2012. Using a home game against a woefully under prepared Manly as evidence of a return to form is a poor attempt at supporting your point. If you want to take games in isolation, why not look at Good Friday, or the games against Saints? Were those games not indicative of a team on the slide falling way behind its rivals?

I know you know and understand the sport G1, are you seriously telling me that you couldn't see over the last 12-18 months the cracks starting to appear in this Leeds side? Did you regard 5th as somehow unrepresentative of the levels of performance last year, and 9th as unrepresentative of them in 2012?

If you are used to drinking champagne a pint of mild is a bit of a come down, and people will grumble.