Personally, since we're finishing this year no better than we did under Ricki (barring a miracle win against the Tards away), the jury is still out for me. I have changed my mind on Merrick's strategy and coaching; but he might be beating his head against a brick wall getting our complacent, mediocrity-accustomed senior players to perform. On the other hand, if he gets Burns to stay for next year, then I'm wrong again.
You do make a great point about managing public expectations vs inhouse expectations.
As a point of conversation, has it crossed your mind that the years Ricki did what he did, going as far as he did, he could have over achieved? It is possible for average coaches (and I am not labelling Ricki an average coach here) to go further than they should do making them seem better than they are.
