To be fair to Curle, I don't think he's an entirely bad manager. He's just a very stubborn and predictable one. He wants to play in a very particular (albeit unattractive) style and on its day that style works well.
I don't know what he put in their tea during the playoff campaign, but whatever it was on those days his gameplan worked to perfection. We played brilliant ugly football and it was great. We steamrollered both Cheltenham and Exeter. They didn't know what had hit them.
I think adrenaline was a big factor though and the players all exerted themselves to the max of their ability. It's impossible to maintain those levels over a season though, especially when you lose the core of the team, and as a result last year really exposed his limitations.
Some folks forget when the man did good.