The Shanapologists need to see reality now

The emporer has no clothes.

That much is clear now, many of us were against the Shanahan hiring from the start.

Some jumped off when he signed McNabb and dumped JC17 for a ridiculously low price for a NFL QB with as many starts as he had in a QB needy league.

Many lost faith when he took an effective 4-3 defense and without the personnell to pull it off went to the maddening fultily of the 2010 Haslett 3-4

Some then jumped off when he benched McNabb for the 2 minute drill.

More departed when he dumped McNabb for good and ran a PR campaign to discredit the QB that he himself gave away the crucial pick 37 plus a 3rd rounder the following year to acquire.

When he came into the season with the awful Beck/Grossman QB combo and tried to make us beleive that his system was such genius that he and he alone could reclaim these 2 QB's from the NFL scrap heap and make them stars and prove his own genius.

But through it all there were the apologists, the excuse makers and the true believers.  A bunch of people in the media and on this page who continued to beleive that SHanahan was the answer, when all evidence said otherwise.  No Head Coach had ever taken 2 teams to a Superbowl Championship.  Shanahan had been FIRED in Denver after poor performance for the better part of a decade in a terrible and weak division.  They pointed at the Elway Superbowls forgetting that even though a Head Coach is incredibly important, having John Elway sure does make a Head Coaches job a lot easier than having Rex Grossman or Beck.

For those of us who had the temerity to criticise the ridiculous moves in the begginning of the Shanahan era there was venom and vitriol.  Every step of the way Shanahan had to prove his genius rather than just helping this team grow and commit to the re-build that was so neccesary after the horrors of the Zorn era.

Giving away a competent QB and 2nd 3rd and 4th round picks to go for the win now move of getting Donovan McNabb and Jamaal Brown was disgraceful.  This is not hindsight, those of us crying out for a true rebuild of this team saw the folly of it from the start.

Moving from a 4-3 to a 3-4 after giving away the draft picks neccesary to fill the holes created by this change of scheme was just utter madness.  It was coaching/GM schizophrenia, were we trying to win now McNabb/Brown or building for the future by changing scheme.

Hiring his son no matter his qualifications was a poor move because it screamed of nepotism and told the world that not only was Shanahan here for a number of years but he was so confident of his genetic genius that he would also give us his son after we were finished winning SuperBowls with him.

Well Mike, the NFC East is not the AFC West, this is brutal division, there are no Al Davis Raiders and Herm Edwards Chiefs to beat up on over here.  In a league that is evermore dependant on Stellar QB play in the no-contact on recievers era your zone stretch running plays are not going to take a team far.  And Rex Grossman and John Beck were never the answer.

Jason Campbell was the perfect QB for a rebuilding team, he provided solid, middle of the pack QB numbers for a team that was committed to a multi-year rebuilding program.  Without McNabb & Brown we would have been able to grab a Nose Tackle and Middle Linebacker along with a receiver or Free Safety to help rebuild real areas of need in middle rounds of the draft.  With a cheap and loyal QB for 3 or 4 years we could then have waited until this year coming up to grab a decent QB in a deep class at the position, Matt Barkley or Landry Jones for instance.  And when that player came in he could have competed with Campbell for the position on a team that had started to fill its many glaring holes.  But Shanahan knew best, well look at the Shanaplan now apologists.  We cant get stops when we need them and we cant score points.  We are a Joke, and as long as Shanahan remains so will our status as a cellar dwellar in a tough division.

No doubt the apologists will lauch there usual tired defences of this regime in response to this post, but the facts are on the field for all to see.  Shanahan may be a decent coach but he never should have been given Personnel control.  Bruce Allen is not the answer either, he along with Gruden (another saviour in waiting) presided over the complete destruction of the team painstakingly built by Tony Dungy in Tampa and like Mike was fired.  Tampa now looks good because they committed to youth, youth at QB, youth at RB youth all over the field and most imporantly.... YOUTH ON THE SIDELINES AND FRONT OFFICE.  But its OK Shanapologists use the same old tired excuses, the facts were on the field in Toronto and will be on another 9 fields as the season winds down.  Another 4th place finish in the NFC East another TOp 10 pick, this is the result of the Shanaplan.