.....we had Tony Smith as our coach with the same squad. Would we be any better?

I was impressed with the Wire in the second half of their game today and it got me wondering how Smith has improved the Wolves.

Yes we would.

Definatley Yes,,Wire are a different team now that Smith has taken over there,,think it was said they have won 5/6 games and they were impressive 2nd half,,,.I hate to see coaches go but it looks like Mac*s time is up....

Hard to think that we could be any worse.

Doubtful, other than the normal (usually temporary)jump in performance that you normally get with a `new` regime.

The differences in circumstances between Wire and the Bulls are very large; The squad at Warrington have been massively underperforming, since given the names on the teamsheet they really ought to be in the top two or three, whilst we have what, by the standards of recent years, is a relatively poor squad.

That said, Smithy has shown himself to be a very capable coach who got the best from a poorish Huddersfield squad before his move to Leeds. Can`t comment on Wire last night though as I was otherwise engaged in Salford

Dunno, is the short answer. We haven`t got another coach so it`s all hypothetical. We might have been bottom, who knows.

If we`d been regularly hammered I`d be more concerned, but we`ve generally been competitive; if the players were showing any lack of spirit or involvement I`d be more bothered, but they`re not. The majority of games we`ve lost (or won) have been by around one score so clearly could have gone either way. With just on a bit of luck swinging one way or the other we COULD have been below Celtic.......... or in the top four.

Hopefully things will get better and the ball will bounce our way a little. Whatever happens this is no time for pointless knee jerks since, one of the few certainties in life is that all coaches are doomed to fail (on the basis of results and being sacked because of them), it goes with the territory; sack the Mac and get someone who has failed elsewhere, plus ca la change?

Nil desperandum.

Why do people just keep getting hung on this season results. The problems go further back than that to mid-season last year. Since beating Wigan in round 12 last year our record stands at 11 wins from the last 29 games. IMO that can not be described as making progress.

If I had to put [isomething[/i at the top of the list of what's bugging me is how come, for a long time now, the team as a whole can come out on so many occasions making such sheer weight of numbers of basic handling errors. More games than not, the catalogue of dropped passes etc is really quite unbelievable for a SL team. And I can't see that that is a coaching issue btw since for example on Friday Menzies was at it, as were one or two other senior players, and I doubt he has anything to learn about catching a rugby ball. But I'll admit I am devoid of any explanation at all as to why we fsck up as much as we do, save to say that we do.

Some of your comments I agree with but the sentence highlighted made me smile. I don't think I have ever seen a bunch of players with less spirit than Bulls this season.

Finally we get a result like we did in Scotland, spirit should be high, we can finally kick start our season against the team bottom of the league and then we have a spiritless performance like we did. We start games like we have already lost, heads are down and there is clearly no motivation or drive. Even after the Wakefield game when I met a few of the players they looked thoroughly depressed, no excitement about getting a result and certainly none of this spirit you have mentioned!

The team is not playing as a team, a few individual efforts have kept us close in some games but there is certainly no spirit in the Bradford team at the moment and that is clear to see by most, there are deep issues in the team and at the moment I can't see us digging ourselves out of this hole without major changes.

Well whenever I've played (albeit at much much lower level) handling errors are usually down to a lack of concentration on what is happening and/or a lack of familiarity with other players. Sometimes it also comes down to plain ability though this is less of a factor when you get to SL level. Lastly they can be down to fatigue when tiredness causes players to make mistakes they wouldn't make when fresh.

Coaches can work to address many of these areas, they can ensure the team is a fit as possible and everyone is familiar with everyone else. Concentration is more difficult to ensure, especially if players have other things preying on their minds.