After more than half our league games we’d won twice as many as we’d lost and looked to be on course for our best season in around ten years. At that stage I’d have said Brian McDermott was doing a very good job. In fact I’d have said he was doing a similar job to what Roy Hodgson achieved at Fulham in the Premiership last season. Five matches doesn't change that for me.

In the past five weeks or so we’ve had the sort of injury crisis anyone would have struggled with. Not so much the numbers missing as the fact that all our least easily replaceable individuals have been out simultaneously – I don’t really see what McDermott could have done to avert that. Take Senior, McGuire, Burrow, Buderus, Sinfield and a first choice forward or two out of the Leeds team at the same time and I think they’d struggle, though maybe not as badly as us as they're a bigger, more established club and have more depth. If the other “surprise” pacesetters Hull KR & Huddersfield had been devastated by injuries as we have I suspect they would have lost a string of games and fallen by the wayside as we have.

Whether we bounce back or keep falling depends largely on how soon the injured players are able to return IMO and has relatively little to do with Mac’s coaching ability or otherwise.

Obviously the top 5 finish that looked a possibility not so long ago would have been tangible progress and evidence that we might establish ourselves as a regular play-off contenders, so the fact that this now seems improbable is a setback, but I see no evidence to believe that the current run of defeats is part of a long-term slump.

Whether the coach responds in an irritable or inarticulate manner in the immediate aftermatch of a defeat or politely says what people want to hear makes no difference to me.

And whether we "make the play-offs" in 8th place or "miss out" in 9th makes not a jot of difference to me either, apart from the obvious fact that I'd like to see us finish as high as possible.

does to me.....I want to prolong my (border control willing) season here as long as possible

I don't understand why you ask for people's thoughts if you then simply choose to ignore them and set off on a rant of your own. I didn't put any excuses into my post so I don't understand how you found any. Kindly identify them.

McDermott should stay IMO.

excellent!

I had told Listy to post my thoughts on this as I was away. Since he forgot, and I'm back, I'll wade in.

McDermott's taken the club as far as he can. If he concentrated half the energy he puts to use slagging players off in press conferences into actual coaching, we might still be top four. Injuries only paper over the cracks. McDermott's running out of ideas and can't get the best out of the marquee players, Randall excepted.

Im not sure about that. I believe we have only played 11, 12, 13 together once this year.

Lets look back on the season when its over. We are approaching a critical part of the season and disruption at this stage is the last thing we want.

You're not really suggesting that a few rants on here from Lister and a couple of his acolytes constitute disruption are you?

I think he was writing what he hoped David Hughes was thinking

Don’t ever discount supporters influence in sport see Newcastle football as a classic example!

Several orders of magnitude greater than on here.

You refered to what would happen if there was an injury crisis. An excuse for McD.

I ask for peoples thoughts yes, it doesn't mean I don't have an opinion on the matter myself though and obviously i'm going to post it and discuss others opinions that I don't agree with. I thought that was the point of a discussion forum?

Of course that's the point.

However, as you made no attempt to discuss what I wrote, which contained no excuses for anybody, I'm not interested in prolonging any discussion with you.

I discussed 50% of your post - you making excuses for McDermott - and asked when the excuses become to much.

With regards to the rest of your post that I overlooked (which I apologise profusely for doing so), then of course not, but the 6 coaches below are all in different situations so it is irrelevent what they are doing - our coach has, hypothetically, missed the playoffs 3 seasons in a row and we would have gone backwards on the pitch since he started.