He held his own against a superior force for 18 months, I wouldn't say he's incompetent. Just not godlike. Like Steele.
It was definitely a challenge for him to make inroads into the Jovian Rim with what he had to work with (and the constraints he was under)--even with only the 3rd Fleet as opposition. He had to avoid a major engagement like the plague after the beginning of the war, as he'd be badly outgunned, forced to protect his 'one shot from unarmed' Hecate destroyers with a bunch of Deimos corvettes that would be seriously outranged by Karunas (out utterly overwhelmed by a massed Karuna, Sanctus, and Uriel/Kent charge).
If the 1st and 2nd Fleets provided more than token support at that time period, I can't see how Severanti would have been expected to make any offensive gains without heavy losses and/or using a total war protocol.
Steele is awesome and a brilliant commander, no doubt, but a huge part of his success in the Sol theater is that he has access to a slew of the cutting edge of Tev technology and designs. It simply gives him so many more options than Severanti ever had; what makes Steele's performance so impressive regardless is just
how well he utilizes those options.
