It's often not focus either. There's injuries, illness, fatigue, luck and sometimes players just don't play well and sometimes players just make mistakes.

The way we played v Cas made it incredibly difficult for them to play well.
Presumably, going by the logic on show on here, some Leeds fans think Cas didn't win because they didn't put enough effort in.

There is none so blind as those that will not see.

True true. People forget these guys aren't just RL players but normal guys with normal lives away from the pitch. Most have young families and that can add distractions & worries that can rub off on how you play when you try to take the field. For all we know when a player does have a poor game he might've had a rubbish nights sleep caused by his young baby? Or could be experiencing a strained relationship with his partner? Like the other poster said, these guys aren't machines....even Peacock even though he makes you wonder.



Exactly, some have just jumped on the 'winning from 5th' bandwagon from 2011 which involves people thinking teams only lose matches because they don't give a damn. What the hell happened before 2011 when teams lost? What was the reason? Some are incapable of thinking of an answer that holds more weight, thought and reasoning than "lost because they had no effort", it's lazy thinking which is ironic when they're lambasting others for "lack of effort".

You can't be at 100% all season, which is why the league leader hasn't won the GF since wigan in 2010.

That means there will be poor games along the way. I believe that in the last 2 seasons Leeds have balanced it better with decent league campaigns, though there are still the occasional awfull games, and the team not being fully conditioned could look like them not being bothered

Alcohol is a depressant, if you can withdraw from its addiction then you'd probably be insanely happy,

or maybe it's the coach AND the players. If you think Saturday's game plan came from some sort of consensus between the players then I reckon you're mistaken.

Still dont like him.

Stop making excuses for the London defeat. It was unacceptable given the big lead and the opponents.

I'm not criticising B McD here, just making an observation... When we have won the cup people praise his tactics but after London and Bradford the blame is largely put at the players' feet. Surely, either the manager is ultimately responsible for all good and bad performances, or the players are ultimately responsible for good and bad performances.

A manager is meant to see what is going on in a game and 'manage' the situation to maximise the gain / limit the damage being caused. Not all management is tactics on the pitch, it is protecting people having shocking games, being aware of problems at home and the potential impact on the game, managing the subs and deciding the best team / combo of players for specific matches.

Now, I am of the view that the manager has overall responsibility so happily give him credit for Saturday, but similarly don't absolve him of any responsability when we have done badly and players haven't turned up - they are the two sides of being a manager. You get praise when it goes well and the finger pointed when it doesn't.

Not really. It depends on the game and what happened in it. If in the Cup Final we had played with exactly the same tactics but the players had kept dropping the ball or falling off tackles then you would generally lay the blame at the players.
And vice versa for the coach.
It's a shared responsibility, along with the CEO too.

Personally I'm of the opinion that the players should gain most of the credit when we win and shoulder most of the blame when we don't play well, as I think they are primarily responsible for how they play.
That's not to say the coach isn't important or doesn't get any credit or blame. As I said it's a shared responsibility between coach, the players and the man responsible for putting the team together.

Just questions the need whether to buy a season ticket.

Well yeah, I see that it is a shared responsability but I guess at some point (to use your example) if the player does keep dropping the ball all the time, the manager can't do anything about that, no - but he can take the player off and say 'look, it isn't working and is making it harder for everyone else - so just sit out for a while and get your head right'.

I appreciate with 4 subs and limited interchanges there maybe isn't a great deal of room to do such things, but likewise the manager has a choice in how they respond to what is going on in front of them, even though they maybe can't affect specific choices (or errors) players are making.

But yes, I agree with your point - though the manager will naturally have the finger pointed at them first as they are the manager of the players.