My friend and I always have arguments about the ability of this guy as a coach. I think that he is very lucky to be in charge of a team like Leeds and that it is the players that are getting the club to the finals, he thinks its the tactical nous of the coach and his ability to get the players up for big games!!

Is your poll a result of them getting done by Wakefield the other night or, are you being serious.
Although Mcdermott has his critics, this guy steered Leeds to the title and you probably should have won the CC last season.
Wow !

Nothing to do with the wakefield game at all. We have had this argument for over a year and only now did i decide it might actually be a good idea to see what others thought.

If he was a good coach he would have a better weekly rounds record and done far better with london.

Yyou may be right but, with the play off system, the weekly rounds themselves are unimportant as long as you qualify for the play offs (as Leeds proved last season)

The games we have won have been in spite of McDermott rather than because of him. Poor Coach.

Would agree with this. I don't know Leeds as well as I do Wigan but the sign of a good coach and team is one that can maintain a high level of performance even in 'nothing' games, and also win even when they're playing poorly.

Wigan have lost a few funny ones this year but I've seen them play poorly by their standards and still win, often winning by some margin. Same for Warrington. When Leeds are off form they often seem unable to grind out the win - whether that's through motivation or application I don't know - though it has to be said they can still raise it for the big games and are up there with the very best on their day though increasingly that form seems hard to find.

They'll be in the contenders at the end of the season.

Rob Powell learnt everything he knows from him.

What does it matter? He's won 13 out of 14 knock-out games while in charge of Leeds.

Exactly. Why bother revising, if you can fly through the exams? Generally speaking though, Leeds might be ordinary, but have they big game winners in crucial positions; Burrows, Seinfeld, and McGuire with Ryan Hall who is always on hand to finish. Meaning you wouldn't back against them when the push comes to shove, but they haven't got a team to be consistent.

At Saints we have a consistent team, but no real game changers! In the current climate, I'd swap.

How can anyone know unless you have been personally involved in one of the teams he has coached?

McDermott is a crazy genius. Sometimes he comes up with game plans which are brilliant. Sometimes he outdoes himself and comes up with plans such as on Monday which are somewhat incomprehensible.

However the most important thing in my opinion is that the engine room of the Leeds team - in particular Peacock, Kylie and even Sinfield - is no longer physically strong enough to slog themselves week after week through the regular season. So they trough and peak like the passing waves. That is the best way to get this group of players through, and hopefully winning when it really matters. It might a lot of people off, but the trophies and finals keep coming. And it's also worth remembering that the "crap in the regular season" stuff began well before McDermott took over.

When all is said and done his record when it matters speaks for itself, no matter what s think. Anyone who has ever spoken to him can see that he's no fool.

FWIW jarvis12345's back catalogue of posts speak for themeslves too - but not in such a positive manner.

I'll be honest, there have been times when i've thought he's useless and times where I think he's a genius.

In the end i've put it down to him trying to get Leeds to peak and use their most efficient tactics at the right time.

By the way I think the signing of Shaun Lunt was a stroke of genius.

Putting a different question forward -

If Leeds could pick a new coach from anywhere else (or even a past one) would you as fans keep him or get someone else in?

The proof of his coaching credentials will come in the next year or so as he starts to rebuild an ageing side.

Bad coach, Nope! Great coach, Nope!, Lucky Coach, Nope! Good coach, Yep!