All I have to say is...
Only one of them was the greatest captain in Starfleet history and his ship wasn't the Titan.
After all- which one of them convinced Deanna to put on a uniform? Sure wasn't her Imzadi.
I've heard it mentioned many times: Riker would be a captain on any other ship, but since he's on "The Enterprise", he's only the first officer.
So imagine you are Riker, as #1 on the flagship of the fleet. Picard becomes "indisposed" for whatever reason. You are as good as any captain, but not on the Enterprise. Starfleet decides to assign another temporary captain, instead of using Riker, who already knows the ship/crew/etc.
I know I'd be pissed, no matter who the temporary captain was. I'd feel slighted.
Now image you are Jellico. An accomplished captain (who very well could have been the normal captain on the Enterprise), who may or may not be assigned to a ship. Picard becomes "indisposed" for whatever reason. Starfleet decides to assign you as temporary captain of the flaship of the fleet. It's truly an honor to be chosen to that position. You don't know the ship, or the crew, very well, so are an outsider. An upstart #1 (who is NOT a captain) feels he should be in command. I'd feel unappreciated/slighted as well.
Looking from either position, I can totally understand Riker and Jellico not liking each other, to say nothing of different command styles. Both have a good claim to acting captain, and neither are particularly wrong.
As another crew member on the Enterprise, who would you like to see as temporary captain?
But I would give Jellico a huge advantage over Riker- namely that he basically defeated the Cardassian Empire through being a pure hard-ass.
If we are ranking captains, yes, Jellico totally wins. But I can understand why Jellico and Riker dislike each other.
It's Jellico. He's the jerk.
How do we know this? Because he's played by Ronny Cox: Professional Jerk.
I get the joke, but I honestly don't think Jellico is a jerk. He's a military man. He wants his ship run in a military manner. Captains like Picard, Kirk, Janeway, etc. are not especially interested in a ship being run that way despite being in the military. I am guessing they are more the exception than the rule. Maybe that explains their success, but Jellico was also a successful captain. He just had a different way of running a ship, a more traditional way.
See also: Shaw on Picard. I know he was portrayed as an asshole (until the end), but he was clearly a very good captain.
Now that I watch it older and with leadership in mind:
Both.
Jellico needed to make it clear what his priorities were and why. He needed to acknowledge the sudden change in everything (mission, preparedness, strictness, etc) and hardship on the crew. He didn't have much choice but he had to go about it differently. Without clarity his changes just seem harsh. He should have had a preparatory statement for the crew when he took command and a closer rapport with Riker to get it done.
Riker and all needed to respect the Captain's direction. Also if Jellico couldn't convey it, they should have picked up on it from the mission and their training as officers. Especially Riker, who is supposed to be ready to be captain in case Jellico dies and who should have given the other officers any support missing from Jellico.
/c/StarTrek: Your safe harbored Spacedock in these Stellar Seas!
Fire up the inertial dampeners, retract all moorings and clear space dock. It's time to boldy go where no one has gone before!
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