In fairness to McFadden, he has at least overseen a change of attitude and confidence in his players. Pre-change, the Warriors were a befuddled, miserable sight at risk of permanently alienating their fan base. Post-change, they look competitive and a helpful draw could see them make the finals. McFadden seems to have player support in a way deposed coach Matt Elliott never did.
Sherwood had a 59 per cent win record - not bad when you tot up the win records of successive Warriors coaches, most of whom would have given their left, er, ear for that. McFadden has a 50 per cent win record, the same as Ivan Cleary - only the latter carved his out over 137 NRL games (including one preliminary final and one grand final) as opposed to McFadden's four. Wonder what Bluey McClennan and Elliott make of McFadden's four-year windfall.
Sherwood, having inherited a squad that wasn't his, set about promoting youth. That kind of investment is nearly always good, as the Warriors know - linking the sharp end of a club to a wellspring of young, talented, hungry footballers.
Sherwood didn't have the time to develop that and he probably wasn't quite the right personality. His eccentric squiring of a mouthy fan into the manager's chair on the sideline during one game as a bit of good humour may have gone down well with the fans but may not have been the done thing, old chap, at a posh club.
Plus Spurs got their backsides handed to them on more than one occasion by clubs they desire to emulate, which was probably the real reason for Sherwood's demise. Being smacked 5-1 at home by Manchester City, 4-0 at Chelsea and Liverpool, and home and away defeats to Arsenal will have gone down in the Spurs boardroom like a cup of cold sick.
That's McFadden's immediate task - credibility; avoiding the horror shows that got Elliott fired. He may have the job for a variety of reasons - the players like him, there are not many options around, the club may be safeguarding their investment so he doesn't go elsewhere.
Warriors boss Eric Watson is now telling us he always had McFadden earmarked as a head coach of the future. Strange we never heard that one before. If he was so crash-hot, how come the Warriors chose Elliott in the first place? There were allegedly experienced coaches available like Tim Sheens but McFadden's appointment suggests the club have finally given up on that ludicrous press conference when Watson and co-owner Owen Glenn gobbed on about being the best sporting franchise in Australasia and their pursuit of a marquee coach.
Four years is a lot to live up to as a rookie coach and let's not forget CEO Wayne Scurrah said after Elliott was axed that he would resign if the Warriors didn't make the play-offs. McFadden's confirmation makes you wonder whether Watson's club are happy just to have excellent profit and loss accounts and a close-but-no-cigar finish every year.
The holy grail of the NRL is the title. Is McFadden the man to deliver it? It's unlikely we'll have to wait until the end of 2017 to find out.
