Board Thread:Legitimate Canon Questions/@comment-59.178.177.108-20140225141627/@comment-19765459-20140712002220

Well, it seems that there are some relevant points here:

1) Derek was apparently right about an Alpha needing at least three Betas. At the time, he was quite adamant about that. Hence his hasty choice of some low-quality candidates when he would have done better to bite Stiles (because Stiles already feels some bond with Derek and would act as a bridge with Scott) and Danny (strong, tough and very smart), even though they would have taken more cajoling to bring into line.

2) Scott never fully-accepted Ethan and Aiden, even though they were surprisingly loyal. In fact, at least one of them could have solved some of their problems that first time Scott came to them for help simply by killing him and reclaiming Alpha status! They had little trouble slamming him around and were one throat slash away from one of them becoming an Alpha again. Likewise, for all that Derek romanticizes Scott's "cause", he has not opted into Scott's pack either, preferring to keep his options open to pursue his own agenda.

3) Werewolf powers are somewhat dependent on skill. Kali kicked all kinds of ass because she was a martial artist, and so muscle power alone did not define her abilities. Deucalion, Peter and Talia all apparently had a deeper knowledge of werewolf powers and how to use them fully. Peter can still perform the Vulcan Mind Meld, even though he has regressed to being a Beta (or an Omega depending on how you look at it). Even as an Alpha, Derek had no idea how to do that, because he had never learned. We have also never seen Derek assume wolf or wolf-monster form. Apparently you have to know how. Just like the twins had to be taught how to do the fusion dance.

4) This is somewhat meta, because the actual reason is that Daniel Sharman left the show, but the simple fact was that Isaac was at least as loyal to Allison and Chris as he was to Scott, spent roughly half his time with them and ultimately left with Chris. Apparently he decided that he wanted a father more than he wanted an Alpha. Cora held Scott in open contempt. Jackson always resented him. Erica didn't seem too impressed by him. Boyd seemed to respect him, but it was open to question as to whether or not he would actually follow his lead in a pinch. Quite often, it seems not as if people look to Scott as a leader as much as they pity him and want to help him because he's a nice guy who clearly needs help badly! That behavior is evident in everyone from his best friend Stiles, to Lydia and even Chris Argent. Allison and Kira mostly supported him because they were infatuated with him, not because they were in awe of him. This leads to...

5) Scott has failed to build a stable pack. He himself has kept some viable members (e.g. the twins) on the periphery, accepting their help, but not really accepting them. Derek's grandiose speech to them was almost comedic because he certainly never inspired such passionate devotion is  his own pack (and never tried to)! Everyone else in Scott's orbit is there because they think he's cute, are friends with him or just figure there's no other Alpha around.

Thus far, Scott has been in over his head with the Alpha job even worse than Derek was. He has better backup, but most of them have shown that they can act independently of him. Even Stiles is every bit as effective as Derek's sidekick as he is as Scott's. Thus the missing piece may be that Scott is not a True Alpha in that he has only demonstrated the qualities required once (breaking Jennifer's circle to save the parents) but otherwise he still lacks character, skill or leadership qualities.