So is Radford a good coach or has he just got good players you do seem a bit clueless when Ellis doesn't play so is he your Sinfield

He wasn't coaching much when his most experienced players locked him out of the changing rooms at Widnes. I'd say Motu's recruitment added to the experience of some of the players + luck on the injury front is making Radford look good right now.

We have won games without Ellis ,the loss was nothing to do with Ellis not playing they looked off the pace from the start.It looks like you cannot accept the fact that we are doing well ,you cannot knock the players or Radford so now its luck we are doing well ..how sad is that. The difference is we did not recruit players with a history of injury (for a change) we started with a big squad not like Rovers who even your own fans said it was a risk .Hudgell cut costs and took risks its failed big time. Pearson has put money into the Club from top to bottom ,Hudgell and Smith have conned you and you fell for it ,all the spin and hype was just that and it carries on and on. Last season Hudgell said he would rather be in middle eights rather than struggle in the top eight with no chance of making top four,so why his he risking playing players week on week with injuries and having to be given injections just to get them out there or is that just a excuse for poor displays

Chomp chomp I'm not knocking Radford or the players and I couldn't care less if your doing well or not I don't support your team if you looked at previous posts on this subject you'd realise I was using it as an example to Jake regarding Brian Mac but don't let that stop you making stuff up

You have won games without Ellis. But the solidity of victories with him in the squad makes the Dullers a far better team. But to solely put your season down to luck wasn't what I was saying. So wind your neck in.
I was saying it was a factor, whilst complimenting Motu tony on some good recruitment. But you read what you want to, As it seems a few of the FC 'faithful' are getting a little precious over their team.
As for us, we are crap, and we've known it all year. But thanks for reiterating what we've all known all season.

I'm not sure if radford is a good coach or not, only time will tell I guess but it is his first coaching appointment and he has taken what was a pretty ordinary Hull squad and improved it over time and it now sits at the top of SL and is in the semi final of the CC. mcdermott has been a head coach for 8 or so years and achieved a massive amount of success in that time at leeds but did nothing of note at london and is struggling big time at leeds this year. I know which one I'd rather have coaching my team as I have no belief that mcdermott could assemble a squad from nothing. At leeds he probably has the best infrastructure and support in the British game and he's still not doing it. What do you think he'd be like at rovers with none of those advantages?

I guess one man's luck on the injury front is another man's sensible recruitment, effective conditioning and rehab and running with a big squad so you're not forced to field players when they're really too busted to play.

It's a shame that leeds facilities, excellent squad, fantastic youth system and pots of money aren't making mcdermott look good right now

I don't know what's more shocking - peacock blabbing about your new coach or the fact he attends dinner parties

To be honest we haven;t been great with or without him in recent weeks. I'd have said shaul was a bigger miss against hudds but I doubt we'd have won if both had played. We were suffering a hangover form the cup game against les cats IMO and their performance on saturday seemed to me similarly lacking in energy

At the end of the day better players make the team better were better with Campese and Hull are with Ellis and it was interesting watching the cats game and Glen Stewart nearly didn't play as he badly grazed his knees because of all the sand on your pitch

glen stewart is obviously a whinging aussie then as no one in the Hull camp was complaining about grazed knees, although to be fair, my 10 year old daughter badly grazed he knee on Sunday and almost missed her gynmastics class as a result.

I fully agree that teams play better with better players but it still doesn't explain why leeds are bottom as they have a better squad than plenty of teams above them

I agree about Leeds to go from treble winners to bottom of the league is a pretty big fall and can't be down to losing 2 players

So you're saying the side looks better with their best player playing? Revolutionary thinking there Hessle.


There are a few factors in how well we're doing this year IMO: Team morale & solidarity at a high; astute recruitment; Radford getting better as a coach & getting more out of the players (we've seen big improvements in individuals this year); and a decent injury record.

Time will tell if Radford is a decent coach. There's no doubt he was promoted to head coach too early in his career, but he's persevered, taken a not of criticism & personal abuse (from certain 'fans') on the chin, and seems to have got it right this year. He also inherited a hell of a mess in terms of our cap structure, which took a couple of years to sort out. I'm just enjoying it, the nature of SL means that fortunes could turn very quickly.

As I said earlier in the thread, I've attended a 'masterclass' with McDermott, and have been at a few dinners where he's been a speaker. He's an odd bloke. Very dour, unengaging & generally not very likeable. I think these character traits could be a part of why he's failing this year at Leeds, having had Sinfield & Peacock there in the past acting almost like a buffer between him & the rest of the squad.

Saying all that, the man who'll know best is Peacock himself. If Peacock thinks he's the right man, it'd be difficult to argue.

Not all of it, but a considerable amount. Sinfield in particular is an absolutely crucial miss. Leeds have been a completely different team with and without him for years. Remove Peacock at the same time and that's a huge amount of quality and leadership gone which they simply didn't have any replacement for. Recruitment was poor and nobody from the existing squad stepped up.

I feel Steve McNamara is possibly a cheaper option for us at Kr. So if that's the case it doesn't fair well for new players next season and bet we don't implement the big signing option and I wonder when Kr will announce campuses. Cos in Dave nosey parker it stated on the Matty smith to saints story that Kr could be looking for a replacement with campuses seemingly retirement impending. I just don't know how much Kr will have to spend on players if this season is anything to go by.. I mean we cannot just get rid of players can we like tiles