as a cats fan, i see bomber thompson constantly blamed for the lack of hardness and leadership on the field... 2 things he had in spades.
With Thomas you see the same thing; he is constantly blamed for not getting the side to gel and work through the injuries, but on the other side, the players supposedly love him, would do anything he asked, etc,etc.
Honestly he probably got more than enough time to win a flag with a injury free list, but those injuries will always be used to defend him, but he at least got more than 20 games to work his magic, as opposed to Malcolm Blight, now that was a joke...