Hi Arnie,
I suppose that whether or not you need to knead (no puns intended!)depends on what exactly the "mixing" program on the breadmaker is meant to do! How long does that program last?
Kneading is essential to give your bread its elasticity, so unless the machine is doing this already, you definitely need to do it, and as your last loaf wasn't good, this is the first thing to look at.
I have just made some bread myself today, and to be honest, there is not really any mixing involved - having added my yeast, salt and water to the flour, I just got my hands in to bring it together and to knead.
After the first kneading, leave the dough to rise , then yes, it is best "knocked back", although the instructions on the yeast sachets miss out this stage.
Knock it back, shape it/put it in tins, then leave to rise again before baking.
There are several factors that can make bread brick-like: I make some sourdough bread yesterday and it went in the bin (with a heavy thud!!!), it was so bad. I am pretty sure that my starter (sourdough equivalent of yeast) was to blame.
Is your yeast fresh? Is it the right sort for the method you are using? Did you use strong/bread flour? Are you using a recipe that you have used before?
Finding the right combination of factors that produces a great loaf for you can take time, but stick at it - keep trying different things until you find what works, because nothing beats a lovely fresh, soft loaf.
Cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with a college education.
Mark Twain
or do I just set it aside to raise, also once it has risen do I have to knock it back and let raise again, the first one was like a brick and almost blunted the knife 
anyway made a second loaf and this time paid more attention to what I was doing, I used 650g of strong bread flour,(white) 10g salt, 4 tablespoon of olive oil and 15g of allinsons dried active yeast, reactivated the yeast with teaspoon of sugar in tepid water and then placed everything in the bread machine which mixed it all together for 10 minutes.
