I come from the camp where blame has to fall on the players majority of the time. Every manager and coach of every sport make bonehead mistakes, and I feel they are far to often wrongfully criticized. To me it just gets frustrating that some refuse to look past the Manager himself to the rest of the staff as well. A "good" manager will use the input of his staff to the fullest, and make decisions based off of the input received, which I honestly believe Ned does. However, when things fail, the giant pointing finger is 99% of the time pointed in his direction, and his direction alone. On the flip side, whenever they meet or exceed expectations, there is rarely credit given to the him. To me, it doesn't come down to hindsight, I can understand why people dislike Ned, and respect why they feel that way. I just with people would take a more neutral stance in their criticism and not ignore the good things, but rather pass out the compliments when just. Agree totally with FTJ on the ?3, however I don't look at it as a 5-6 game influence, but rather a near wash.