Quote anarkik="anarkik"No but I'm quite happy to do so if you think they'll heed my advice
As I explained in detail there are lots of other decisions that have cost money, these go largely undebated, however when it comes to McNamara it appears finance and the structure of ownership preclude change according to your argument. Yet the cost of persevering with him long after many clubs would have acted has, I would argue, had enormous cost in terms of gate receipts, good will etc and the cost of dithering now could seriously and permanently damage the club. I don't doubt finances are partially a reason behind the indecision, nor do I doubt Hood has a soft spot for McNamara and that might make it a difficult thing to do for him personally, but I think decisive action now could ensure those that walked away last week might just return before they find other ways to part with their cash and never come back.
Let's face it we'll never have the rebuilding/re-branding opportunity afforded by the advent of SL again, nor do we have a new ground on the immediate horizon, or a rich benefactor as you point out, so we need to preserve the fan base we have if we're not to enter a longer term decline catalysed by the Board's failure to act.
It would hardly be a rash jugement and it would be difficult to argue that Steve hadn't been given plenty of opportunity to prove himself in post.'"
Pretty much sums up my thinking too. The board has shown great patience with McNamara and has backed him 100%. However even taking into account the difficulties he's had in managing the transition we ought to be showing signs of coming through the other side.
Quote anarkik="Wigan Bull"The truth is NONE OF US fully understand what is going on behind closed doors. That applies to the financials and the playing / coaching side of things.
All we can do is judge what is on the park every week, which by their own admission has been pretty dire.'"
Agreed. But there comes a point where one has to speak out and vent frustration. People have been judging whats on the park and voting with their feet. Something's got to give if things continue as they are.
Quote anarkik="Wigan Bull"
Before the season started Macca & Hood aspired to a top 4 finish and a final appearance. That was more than I excpected tbf, yet they seemed pretty confident of this.'"
I must confess to being amazed at that level of expectation and confidence too.
Quote anarkik="Wigan Bull"
THIS will be the criteria / benchmark I'm going to keep in mind through the season. If we're no where near that goal in October, then it's time for change.
As it stands now, 2 games in, it's a little too early to tell.'"
That's the criteria but I think there's a danger in looking at each season in isolation. I would have expected to see some improvement in some players over the past couple of years and signs that the bad habits the team has are being overcome, that should happen if the coach is having a positive effect. Unfortunately I can't yet see any improvement, we're still doing the same things wrong on the field despite all the re-assurance coing out of the club. I'm not asking for us to finish top 4 every season but an improvement should be taking place by now.
I know we have some new players and things take time to gel but so have our competitors who seem to have made a better start, despite our many warm up games. Existing players seem to be making the same mistakes that they've made over the past three years so whichever way you look at it some players aren't responding to the coaching methods. I'm no playing expert but some of the things on the field are obvious to us all.
