Said it before, thanks McDermott but it's time for change.

Some really poor league finishes.

I think we are kidding ourselves that we have much chance in the play-offs after losing 5 in a row against 4 in the lowest places in the league and a team in poor form (saints)

Been a 3 game season. Macdermott deserves massive praise for the game plans and performances v saints, Warrington and cas in the cup. Odd game apart it's been absolute garbage and he has take the criticism for that.

It's a good job the cup was so late in the season or we would be looking at missing the top 8 given our relegation form we have shown in the second half of the league this year.

5th, 5th, 3rd & 6th is pretty abysmal considering the talent he has had at his disposal.
He sure does not give value for money for the hardened supporter who go to all the regular season games.

No its not - the key players are significantly worse than they were then - Sinfield is nowhere near the player he was, he has been very poor this year, Peacock whilst closer than Sinfield to 2012 he hasn't had the impact he did, McGuire is slower and Burrow has less impact - as for JJB and Bailey the less said the better. This is an ageing side that has struggled to compete with the better sides in SL in SL. Its form in the second half of the season has been nothing short of pathetic - I can't see Wigan being too worried about pitching up against this side nor Huddersfield nor Warrington, nor Saints.
.........

I certainly wouldn't be bothered if he went to be honest,

It is the current top 8 playoff system that is the reason teams such as Leeds are not giving value for money during the regular season. Wigan fans have been just as frustrated with some of their performances at times this year. Next season will be a different matter and we will have to show consistency. If we fail to make the top four next year then we have obviously not been good enough over the weekly rounds, at the moment it is the format that is the main problem.
I agree that our league form has been poor but to say the team can no longer compete with the top sides is plainly wrong when you consider that we have not lost by more than 6 points on all but 2 occasions.

Leeds can compete fine with the top teams - as people have pointed out it is the teams at the bottom of the league that are the problem, seeing as we keep getting turned over by them whilst also being second best too!

That has been true this season but in the past it has been the other way around. We have beaten the lower sides and struggled against the better teams until the playoffs. Next year will be different and I'm looking forward to that.

I'be been critical of McDermott, but haven't been in the McDermott Out camp since 2011. During that season we were awful, and he looked overwhelmed, but credit things were turned around and winning the Grand Final gave him deserved time. (It could all have been different though. If the last minute penalty at Wire in the semi hadn't been given, then he wouldn't have had that credit to bank)

Since then any misgivings about regular season form, mystifying substitutions, lack of attacking structure and plain value for money have been countered (except last year) with silverware. But looking forward, we need to plan for a new league structure where getting in the top 4 is vital. We need a coaching set-up that can guide us through a season and McDermott, with finishes of 5th, 5th, 3rd and 6th has consistently shown he can't do that. Even if we somehow turn our relegation form (9 points in the second half of the season) around and make the GF, the case for a change of coach is stronger than it has been since 2011.

21 errors made by the Leeds players. What can a coach do about that from the touchline? Loss of form too is a problem. Hardaker has not been the same player since his suspension and in the last few games has been a liability. Watkins, Briscoe and Sinfield too are struggling for consistent form. There must be a big worry regarding the fitness of Burrow who Mac prefers to play the full 80 as last night he played less than half that.

I would have rested the 13 first choices plus Aiton as with nothing to play for the best we could have hoped for was confidence boosting resounding victory which was most unlikely because getting the older players mentally up for a meaningless match would have been well-nigh impossible.

There is one big positive however. The coach and squad have plenty to work on in training this week and the players know they can do so much better.

The coach cant do anything about errors, the coach cant do anything about the form of individuals, its impossible for the coach to get senior players mentally up for a game?

Makes you wonder why Leeds employ a coach at all?

The context was this specific meaningless game. What would you have done about the errors from the touchline? or that his two centres and fullback only made one offload each and 2 clean breaks between them?

The views of the Fellatio brothers are becoming increasingly isolated on this forum, though I'd still expect McDermott to be allowed the opportunity next season to establish his top 4 credentials for when it really matters.

Leeds started the season very well, but as soon as a playoff position was pretty much secured (not mathematically, but... y'know) they started to drop as the CC reached the latter stages. They got the CC won, but because of the position of the CC and the proximity to the end of the season they've dropped some points and haven't been able to recover. The last 2 weeks have been a result of the CC and the massive effort against saints a couple of days after.

People are going over the top about the league form. The margins have been fine, very fine. The sinfield drop goal hitting the post v hudds, the last 5 mins of the cas home game, some of the disallowed tries at the end of games (wigan MM, hudds home). Had a few more 50/50's gone our way the table would look alot different. Saints have had some of these 50/50's (last minute against cas early season that was incorrectly allowed) v us a couple of weeks ago etc. hence they are in the top 2 potentially top.

Leeds league form is largely irrelevant under the current format, and this is what has allowed leeds to finish lower down. Next season, leeds need to be better week in week out. If they don't finish top 4, GH will decide Mcdermott (and quite possibly this team) has run it's course.

But let's not judge this season by next season's standards. To say garbage and stuff like this is just knee jerk when they have the best defence in the league and were in the top 2 until the CC semi and final.

Wrong. It wasn't about one match. They have been playing like this for months, surely then it passes to the coach to sort it. Although maybe you are meaning the above sarcastically.

Form is down to guaranteed places. Create competition then you have better attitude and better mentality. This is the areas the coach has failed, rather than tactics.

Of course I did, did you miss the "?", the post was in direct response to the nonsense from McDermotts No 1 defence counsel.

Had I selected a full strength side for a meaningless game, in direct contrast to how I prepared for CC games (i wouldn't btw) then I would have made a genuine attempt to practice a play off pattern of play to contrast the dire 2nd half of the league season that had seen relegation form.

You know, simple things like a consistent kick chase game, low risk exit sets, building pressure in the opponents 20. Practice some plays designed to give some, any, attacking opportunities to centres and full back in space. Players instructed to play within some specific parameters, like a recent game in North London?

Not a random kicking game where Ablett was the only one to consistently chase hard, taking 2 point shots instead of building pressure, risky offloads in our own 40, an attacking threat predictably limited to Burrow trying to duck through the line.

Maybe there was a plan and the players completely ignored it, again.

Or maybe, perhaps, the coach isn't quite getting it right based on 4 years of weekly round evidence; notwithstanding his phenomenal knock out record.

Leeds were fine until the millennium defeat by Wigan or should I say mugging?anyway we seemed to become erratic after that

And that's a long tine ago. Hence why it is a bigger issue than that made out.

I agree, our detoriorating league form seems to have started from the hiding in more ways than one at Magic.

yeah, that 'hiding' where we lost by 4 points and Moon had a try that would have won the game scratched off.

Scorline showed a close game, but Wigan really gave it to us and were worthy winners and I don't think we have been the same since in my opinion.

Some peopel need to get their story straight.

'Wigan out-enthused us and played uss off the park'

'Wigan handed us points but we were terrible'

Which one is it?

Face it, Mac-Haters. The difference between 6th and 1st for us over the course of the season is 28 points. That's how many points, scored in the right place, would have seen us romping to a LLS win. Let's not also forget the likes of Moon & Briscoe's disallowed tries or Watkins' foot in touch at London.

Leeds have not been far off the pace this year - evidenced by our beating the team that are going to win the LLS twice from three occasions.

Since Hull KR are towelling Wakefield, they will move to fifth from bottom.

This means that we will have lost to all of the bottom four.

Still, they were all close games, so not to worry, eh?