Criticism and scathing at that was totally justified, he brought the club to a point that fans were against each other due to his incompetence, fans were leaving in their droves, saying they'd not come back. Hardened fans don't say things like that without a reason.
His continual line that it was everbody elses fault and not admit he was failing was sickening to hear/read especially the bit about the fans, in fact he actually continued on in this vein in his interview shown yesterday, he couldn't bring himself to say yes, actually I wasn't up to scratch, I made a lot of mistakes when questioned about the last few years under his stewardship, nope he continued to point the finger elsewhere.
Do i regret putting up a petition, not in the slightest, as I said, it wasn't anything serious, it was just me saying what I wanted to say to the club, it was obviously read and of that I'm glad, it tells them that I and other were not happy with the way our club was going.
Do I regret saying he was a turd of a coach, nope, because at that juncture he was fooking awful and taking us backward at a rate of knots with uninspiring rugby. If just one jot of criticism by fans has an effect in the way LR and the AP think about how they are going about things and change something for the better then that criticism has worked as a positive, if not then it is just fans letting off steam because they at that time are frustrated with how cack things were with no sign of change.

Does LR deserve the plaudits for changing things around, absolutely, I don't think a single person has not given praise and mentioned the turn around which with a little dose of luck and a vastly improved squad over anything we've had for years has gotten us to where we are.
That in itself is not being a 'bandwaggoner' or two faced or a hypocrite or even been wrong, the happy clappers post tripe and think they are untouchable with their bully tactics on the forum, fans should never fear to post criticism on this forum but the forum becomes a den of the downright disgusting behaviour by certain posters whom can't wait to jump on anyone that says something not in line with their singular/blinkered viewpoint.

Well done LR, you achieved the goals I personally saw as a minimum expectation, you turned the clubs fortunes around (ATM at least) and saved your career.
If we win nothing come the end of the season how will fans feel toward things, a question i posed a few months back? Will the massively raised expectation have a negative effect IF we come away with nothing?

Well clearly he needed time to get his team and structures in place. Fortunately Adam Pearson recognised this and stood firm in the face of some pretty unpleasant and personal criticism of his head coach.

Wiganer here, my first final was in 1959 against Hull it was there I learned 'Old Faithfull' I phoned my friend Dod in Hull and wished them well in the final, I hope I'm singing Ole Faithful again, Good Luck you deserve it this season.

Very gracious of you, thank you.

That's got to be a banner at Wembley!

Lee Radford definitely deserves the success given the work he's put in turning the club, and his own reputation as a coach, around this season. Big shouts for Adam Pearson and Motu Tony too, their work off the field, particularly with the exceptional recruitment we've had this season, has turned us from a side scraping in to the 8 into a cup final side and (currently) top of the league.

That Widnes match will go down as being our most important game in years I feel, given how that acted as the kick up the backside which has seen us where we are right now.

Best interviewee in the comp bar none.

Chuffed for him and AP.

They'll all be in the Wembley queue which is great news for the club.

COYH!

And yet almost weekly you come onto the forum on match day saying we are going to get beat when we are not playing awesome rugby, fortunately some fans have more faith in the team and the team stood firm in the face of such negativity



Do you not understand why the coach and indeed the owner were coming in for such criticism. Sack a coach getting us to 6th and a final after the Agar/Hetherington years without the benfits of a top drawer squad/halves and not the maturity of the youth system and then absolute dross for two years? Can you not see why that drives fans to act in a certain way?

Not sure that overhauling recruitment and structures to the extent required should have been expected to yield instant results. Fortunately AP could see foundations were being put in place for a medium term return even if some sections of support were unable to do so and resorted to demanding action which, with hindsight, may have been sheer folly.

As for me, well, make your mind up. Can I be a happy clapper and a negativist concurrently? Or am I someone who simply hopes for the best, expects the worst and takes what comes? Which has been pretty spectacular for the most part this year with the "steaming gap toothed turd" at the helm. Loving every moment of it.

Did you just say that; "fans having faith; bloody hell.

Old toothless done well eh knocker.

He couldn't show any humility if he tried.
Been found out without the involvement of rocket science.
Bless.

Just in case anyone missed the low levels that were stooped to, as reading that you'd assume it was all fair criticism & nothing more: retro.rlfans.com/viewtopic.php?p ... #p18071521 i.rlfans.com/forums/viewtopic.ph ... 9&start=30 https://www.change.org/p/adam-pearson-h ... terminated

Just in case anyone missed the low levels that were stooped to, as reading that you'd assume it was all fair criticism & nothing more: retro.rlfans.com/viewtopic.php?p ... #p18071521 i.rlfans.com/forums/viewtopic.ph ... 9&start=30 https://www.change.org/p/adam-pearson-h ... terminated

i think it will be the rovers game, when we came back from 20 - 0 down that will the remembered turning point. who knows what would have happened if we had lost that one

Saw him in the Mcdonalds drive through queue yesterday and wished him luck - something i didnt think id be doing after what was a pretty poor start. Pearson for me got lucky, he didnt know how Radford was gonna turn out and Radford seemed to really show he was out of his depth at times (like the Shaul on radio humberside interveiw) but hes matured in the roll and and really has come of age so well done Radders - now lets win some silverware

Before Yeamo slipped that ball to Shaul then I truly believe Radfud was gone.

Fair play to LR as he was under the most extreme pressure that I don't think many on here have ever faced.

Lets hope LR is the man. I was totally against him as a coach. I now hope he can bring home the bacon and finally nail any doubts about his competency.

In Adam we trust has shown more foresight than the hubble telescope.

Has some big calls to make in the next 4 weeks.Is he going to put all his eggs in the the Challenge Cup basket and wrap some of our main players in cotton wool and risk missing out on a top 2 place or play them and take the risk on picking up injuries and losing them for the Final.

Rather him than me.

Maintain any kind of form for the remainder of the league campaign and he'll have done a magnificent job. Cup finals are special but they are also a massive disruption.

Quote ="Doom&Gloom Merchant"Just in case anyone missed the low levels that were stooped to, as reading that you'd assume it was all fair criticism & nothing more: https://www.change.org/p/adam-pearson-h ... terminated '" "So it is up to you to hold your hand up and say you got it badly, badly wrong." Still waiting?

Quote ="Doom&Gloom Merchant"Just in case anyone missed the low levels that were stooped to, as reading that you'd assume it was all fair criticism & nothing more: https://www.change.org/p/adam-pearson-h ... terminated '" "So it is up to you to hold your hand up and say you got it badly, badly wrong." Still waiting?

Indeed. Hopefully the magnitude of the ask, for a team that finished 8th last year, is well appreciated by the supporters if we lose a few over the coming weeks.

Congratulations to Lee Radford and the rest of the back room staff on what must be already considered a successful season. A Cup Final appearance and an almost certain GF semi final appearance far exceeds my expectations for this season. Whilst not picking up some silverware at this point would be disappointing it cannot detract from the significant improvements made by the club this year.

Lee Radford is the best young coach in SL, and he bleeds B&W.

Let's not forget motu tony's part in all of this. Without his contacts and recruiting skills I doubt we'd have the squad we do for the coach to work with. I also think that richard horne's involvement on the coaching side will have taken some of the pressure off radford. it was blatantly obvious that radford and last wasn't enough resource to coach a SL team

You only have to look on the Leeds board to see how quick it could all change back!! , This season has exceeded many expectations already , Without winning anything , Well done to all involved .

Every member of that backroom staff has had a hand in the current position of the club and deserves any plaudits.

Win or lose at Wembley, this has been the best season since 2005 and we are genuine contenders for the 3 pieces of silver. I've spoken at length with Radders and seen first-hand the work he puts in, from the end of a match to the early morning prep for training and the restructuring he has put in place. We must have the best team-spirit in the league and that will take us far - for that we have Pearson to thank for maintaining faith in Lee and giving him the funds to go about his business, from the charter planes to the cryo-chamber and the carte-blanche approach to team building with Motu.
We have a set of South Sea Islanders that can rank alongside Kemble/Leuluai/O'Hara and Ah Kuoi and the enviable youth coming through.

Radfords words at the end of his post-game interview have elevated the man to a higher status: "I want to get rid of that song."