It didn’t take long for the Raiders annihilate all hope of a successful season that owner Mark Davis was already grading on a curve. After 11 years without a winning season, many fans have already disavowed head coach Dennis Allen, general manager Reggie McKenzie and the veteran players they signed in hopes of making the Raiders respectable in 2014.
If the Raiders have any hope of overcoming their slew of issues, they need true emotional leadership. A calculated head coach can’t manufacture it and a veteran free agent that isn’t performing can’t demand it, because leadership requires credibility.
Allen has had over two seasons now to build credibility with his team. To what extent it exists is unknown, but he’s quickly losing whatever trust fans had left that he was the right man for the job. Allen’s lack of performance is also no doubt testing the patience of the team’s owner.
In the past, there were excuses—legitimate and illegitimate—for the team’s poor play, but Davis made it clear that wouldn’t happen in 2014 via Vic Tafur of the San Francisco Chronicle:
It's not put-up-or-shut-up, but there are no excuses. All right? When I said there was a deconstruction and a reconstruction period, that was to give an idea of what's actually been happening, but it's no excuse… Losing those last games last year was not good. And the way we lost them was terrible. But ... looking at the whole thing, this is where we are, and these guys have an opportunity to show what they can do. There are no built-in excuses...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Oakland Raiders
