Every fan has expectations of their team no matter what club they support so we are no different.
Yes we have this sleeping giant tag because we are. Its recognised that we spend full cap and are in the top 4 (currently that is) for attendance so why shouldn't fans expect more. Players and coaches should acknowledge that fact not buckle under pressure as you allude too. Even now you are still looking for other reasons for our poor performances.
Why bang on about McRae again you know not what went on but speculate on gossip. He's gone now and this playing roster and coaching set up is now Radfords.
Why can you not accept he is now the root cause of this epic decline and being overseen by an owner unwillingly to accept the blindingly obvious.
So no the fans are not responsible and neither is McRae.

You think Wigan fans don't have 'expectations'? Or Leeds fans? Wire? Saints? See those teams crumbling under the pressure?

The fans and media have absolutely nothing to do with the mess we're in. That's down to Pearson being bounced into sacking Gentle and appointing the wrong successor. It's not like many of us didn't see it at the time Radford was appointed, either.

The buck stops at the man in charge. Pearson dug the hole we're in all by himself, and he's the one who's going to have to get us out of it. And he's running out of time.

Its all very well blaming McRae but while he certainly wasn't brilliant and made some questionable signings, the uncomfortable fact remains that the performance on the pitch showed some improvement when he arrived and has deteriorated since he's gone.

Pearson has created this mess .
He needs to sort it .

I'm not ashamed to say I left with 10 minutes to go. I couldn't stomach that dire, pedestrian rugby we are serving up every single week.

I went to every single game under Peter Walsh and I can already see parallels. After 38 years of going, I've never seen such dross.

I stayed til the end to miss the traffic

There have been bad times in the past , of course there have but those times were as a result of the lack of facilities , the lack of money , having no one capable of making a good business decision and possibly having people in charge who didn't have the interest of the club at heart. The utterly disappointing thing now is that we have the facilities , the money , at least to a degree , crowds that despite everything still come in numbers that are double or treble those that went in other dark times , and a guy who genuinely wants the club to succeed who has a track record of success in business and , again to some degree , in sport.
We're holed below the waterline and sinking but the crew are still sitting in the deck chairs and telling the captain not to worry and that the weather will improve and it'll be all right.
It won't unless something changes. You can't change the squad as a whole so it has to be the coaching set up. All of them. Lets stop playing amateur hour and install professional experienced people in order to create a professional culture.
It's tough to watch FC play. The rugby is dour and dumb and the results dreadful but it's the fact that we're a laughing stock that really hurts.

Anybody heard from Wilf? I fear for the end of the diary! Please Mr Pearson , put us all out of our misery, and safe the diary

Couldn't have put it better myself. So I won't.

I agree, I'd also say expectations for this season were low anyway, I think most were happy with scraping in to 8th place and a decent cup run. A lot less expectation that the talk of top4 and cup finals just a couple of years ago.

All I expect from FC is to be entertained.

We lost 7-6 against Warrington at the start of the year. That was the most entertaining game of the season so far. Even the wins have been dire affairs.

Just give us something to watch.

I don't mind watching a defeat of its been a good game, the home game against Wigan 2/3 years back where the entire ground gave both sides a standing ovation and the Wigan fans applauded the East stand being a prime example, we lost but it was a top game to watch.

Heard a very worrying rumour this morning that Pearson is simply running out of cash after his divorce, but of course these rumours gather pace when times are bad.

McRae wasn't responsible for the performances on the pitch...

Pearson made the wrong call after the 'get Gentle sacked' surrender at Huddersfield.
Defensive coach - Radford and our tough tackling centre who resembled a turnstile that day should have paid the price.
Gentle could have been given an enforcer to balance his laid back, nice guy approach - our attack was looking good under him - seeing him in the EELS dugout just shows what a bad decision that was.

Agree. First time I was really disappointed in Pearson's decision-making and judgement. What was he thinking and who was he listening to? And why?

Like Bones - I'd like a pint (well, glass of wine in my case) with Andy Hay.