How any Leeds fans can criticise Hetherington is totally beyond me!!!

I don't think most think money is an issue. Longer term planning is possibly more of an issue. I have said this before Kevin Seinfeld' made a lot of people at Leeds i.e. coaches, players, CEO look a lot better at doing their job than they actually were.

2015 was a great season for Leeds but was it worth compromising the following 3/4 season for due to a squad hamstrung with inferior players tied into long term contract where longevity of contract is traded against pay? Do Leeds really want Delaney until 2018? This strategy restricts the agility of the club to react when things start to go off plan. Perhaps Handley only signing for two years is acceptance that young players will not be tied down for long periods on miniscule monies in sport where lack of talent is an issue.

Is this squad strong enough to compete next season, does it have the quality in the right positions - only time will tell.

As you say if GH was the type of CEO to listen to fans then maybe things could have been even better not replacing Kevin Sinfield' has proved a monumental oversight and has seen the team now facing the likes of Batley and Featherstone rather than Wigan or Warrington. Perhaps if he had listened to the fans this could have been avoided?

The desperation at HQ is plain for all to see - I was run in June to see if I would renew my season ticket - when I asked what would happen if we were playing in the championship the girl on the phone was unable to proffer a response.

Who would you have replaced Sinfield with Sal out of interest??

Oh look, a fan who thinks he knows more than GH.

I'll give you a tip - you don't replace players like sinfield. They are pretty much irreplaceable. You adapt without them. Could someone have been signed to mitigate his loss? Maybe. But who was really available? for what price? what was our cap looking like? what was their mentality like? There's lot's of ins and out's to it we don't know.

Furthermore, at times this season the entire team has been fundamentally broken. It's too simplistic to simply put it down to a failure to sign a sinfield mark II, because there's been so many different factors.

Everyone is a realistic scenario I know for a fact Delaney has wanted out for a while. Im not saying all could come to pass but some my well. Keeping hold of Segeyar has to be the number one priority but thats entirely out of the clubs hands if he wants to go. If we dont have a new half back in place next year the club will have been grossly mismanaged.

so this is a successful season is it? Avoiding bottom place on the final game and playing in the middle 8s? Are you expecting a late run to the grand final or something! Top 4 should be a given with a club Leeds size, anything else is a failure. If you start accepting this sort of season as the norm it wont be long before we are in the same position Bradford find themselves in

This season hasn't been a success, that has been plain for all to see, but the last 4/5 games and hopefully the middle eights will show that actually we are not a million miles away. Whether that's a compliment or an indication of the lack of the quality in the league is open for debate.

In terms of the squad, I think you don't and are not able to do a big revamp over night.

The backs are proven class, with Handley and Keinhorst decent back up. Im hopeful Hardaker will come back refreshed and ready to go. The pack has shown it can mix it with the best if set up properly. Chiko is a must. If he goes to St. George than I'd try and get their current 9 Rein over. Props are OK, back row has a few too many workman types, but the attacking kind don't grow on trees and having Ward will be like a new signing anyway.

The big question mark is the halves. Lilley and Sutty might not be good enough, and even if they are, it's unfair oe unrealistic to expect them to carry us every week. Burrow is best of the bench in short bursts, but can cover 7. Danny Mags unfortunately looks done.

I feel like our main problem this year is consistency and an ability just to play solid rugby, both which can imo be fixed by a dunneman type.

I suppose we'll see, one things for sure, Everyone involved at the club wont want a repeat of this season.

not sure how anyone, at this moment, can question Hetherington.
nobody saw this season coming, including everyone on here. if changes are not made next year however, especially signing a quality hooker ( should segayaro leave)and half back, then he seriously would need to be questioned as it's obvious what we need

I disagree on that first bit Tad, unless you just meant bottom four and quite this poor? Our planning has been woeful for this eventuality, so it was clear a massive drop was always coming.

Agree with second bit.

The thing is, the people who saw this season happening, were saying the same thing before last season, and the same thing before the season before that, and the same thing the season before that etc etc etc.

Some expert level battedry on display in this thread.

True. After the way the 2014 season ended you had the same people saying we wouldn't do anything in 2015 because the players showed they weren't good enough to beat the better teams in the league and we wouldn't make the Top 4.

Skip forward 12 months and they're saying anybody could coach that team to a treble.

Those claiming they saw bad times coming are nothing more than the definition of 'even a stopped clock is right twice a day' given the longivity of how many years they've been saying it.

Also I guarantee the same people complaining about players being "tied up" to long 4/5 year contracts would be the first to complain if we were constantly signing players to only 2 year deals.

You sign your key players to long term deals. The Delaney one was a massive risk as has been shown by his inability to string games together this year. Leeds are now stuck with him for two more years unless they can get someone else to take him on or agree a settlement.

Signs players on short contracts - no forward planning, in 2 years they'll either leave or we'll have to pay them more.

Signs players on longer contracts - we are decreasing our mobility long term, what if something goes wrong and we can't freshen up the team?

Signs halfback in the off season - Why aren't we promoting young players? Lilley has been a shining light and we reward him by bringing in a second rate aussie. It's Mcdermott! He doesn't trust young players!

Doesn't sign half back in the off season - What are we crazy? The failure to address the glaring needs in the squad is gross mismanagement!

The club, GH, Mcdermott.....they're all damned if they do, damned if they don't.