the reason smith got it was because our summer lull of 5-6 games happened EVERY YEAR. True, this doesn't look good, but if all that can be levelled against Bluey is that hwe lost 2 games on the bounce, that's very different.

No it didn't.
In Smiths 1st season we only lost 2 league games all season.
As G1 has stated about the same time last season Smith was getting slated on here with calls for him to leave immediately. Claims we only played well and won the GF because the players knew Smith was leaving are a joke, unless it was intended to mean they gave everything for a coach they regarded as one of the best and wanted to send him off a champion.
We have time to turn it around this season and the 2nd half last night was promising.It was the best we have played for a few weeks (IMO since the Wakey game at home).

And this my friend is a perfect illustration of the hypocrisy I am talking about.

All of last season Smith repeatedly stated that the team's objective was to peak in Sept/Oct. The players said this. During the "slump" last year none on here would have a word of it. Nobody. You were one of his sterner critics though you were not alone. it was dismissed as an excuse as the blood of our greatest ever coach was bayed for.

Yet it is exactly this mantra that you're all willing to roll out on behalf of Bluey to explain away the last three defeats.

I dearly hope Bluey can emulate what Smith achieved. I have minor concerns the more I see Smith's structure fading within the team and Bluey's off the cup approach being caught out more and more. Individual brilliance from talented players will not be enough to win this league and its' something we've been relying upon more and more.

I think it's only been present when we've been in some bad positions score wise,the structure was there in spades early season,we've just hit our blip.
Out of the last 3 defeats 2 have been down to missed goal kicks so with even poor stages during the matches we have'nt been far off.

yet i feel we are more structured now. under smith at times we struggled to break teams down at times and relied on a bit of individual skill.
perhaps the detractors in the middle of last season remembered the dire season before?

Fair enough David.

Smith got my continued support for the unheralded two championships he brought the club but whatever floats your boat I guess.

I finished my post with "whatever floats your boat" and you posted that picture.

I have to agree, yet it sounds like I am arguing.

Under Smith, (whom I have to respect because of the success he brought to Leeds) we tended to resort to the kick out wide to get over the try line. However, under Bluey we look like that we use more creative plays, off individual skills/players to get through the centre. Which I think let us down a little last night, players broke through the line but were not well supported. Creative yes, communication/set play no...

to be fair, Bluey has made some bad calls. Watkins played well & gets dropped, Ellis has neither the pace nor the agility to be a centre. Injuries such as Gibbo, Toopi, Ablett, Kirke etc. are unfortunate, while suspensions (Scrutons) are our fault, but something we can do nothing about. The only change i would have made to friday's lineup would be Watkins in for ellis at centre (Lauititi dropped to bench) and Smith for Hall. Other than that, there's little bluey can change. But if we have to go with a SR in the centres, Lauititi would be a much better pick than Ellis.

He's injured,and lets not forget he's only 17 you can't expect a lad who's learning the game to play every week i agree with the way bluey and the staff are nurturing him.P.s when watkins was taken out of the first team squad we had players returning i.e ablett who were more experienced in that position.

Do you know what? I'm not really bothered if it's perceived as hypocrisy because I know it's not meant as such. It's a genuine appreciation for where we are right now. I have criticised Smith before, but at the time I felt it was deserved, still do to some degree, but I now realise that it is impossible to play at the top of one's form permanently.

My opinion, and I'm just as entitled to one as you are, is that we are holding something back in the tank. Maybe we were doing that before, and I was less inclined to believe TS about it.

In the words of the Daily Mail Dylan, he's no son of mine.

I don't think we are holding something back,i just think it's our sticky part of the season.
There's still enough games and time to turn it around and i've every confidence we will