Not had is best of seasons

It is worth mentioning that a couple of people involved with budgets and whatnot are no longer at the club, its not even worth imagining what would have happened to the club if our current board had of stepped down. Mark Moore is nobodies fool, we will be fine with him at the club.

The reality is we are not quite good enough for top 4. 5th place is not a bad effort. Without significant funding we will struggle to mount a challenge for top 4 and can see it only getting harder. As expected if Fev, Hull KR, London and Toulouse make the top 4 it leaves us further behind.
We need a halfback and letting G Moore go in my opinion is a mistake. I thought the new signing was a halfback but instead we get another forward

.
We don't have much money and this is well documented. So to put it into context maybe 5th is not a bad season.

Agree with what's been said. Think we're probably 4 quality signings away from making a real challenge on the top 4. Need a half back, a hooker, a winger and another forward. As much as I like Ben Kaye and Brandon Moore, they're far too slow at the play the ball and it looks so pedestrian, so we can never build any real pressure. It was a breath of fresh air watching AOB at hooker earlier in the season

Like you I think Moore is a good businessman and that he is firmly in charge and it looks like he is having a clear out. I was told by an insider this week (and they may have an axe to grind so its secondhand)

- Ramsey is an accountant and has taken over everything to do with the clubs finances.
- Steele is stepping down from Board at end of season.
- Croad is still very unwell and not involved at the moment, but it was his deals on players contracts and bonus promises that means we have no cash and may be in debt this year if we don't finish in top two.
- The club shop has lost money and we are struggling to get income promised to be paid.
- The lottery team have taken over the lottery (its not been sold as I thought) and will run it independent of the club.
- RM is not happy as he has been asked to cut spend for next season if we finish outside of top four and will still have less money if we are fourth.

I have been told Moore is trying to get a new BOD and this week he was at the Shay talking to two past Board members, one who was a chairman, to try and get them involved. That to me sounds like a good base plan if they will join.

Lots of changes, which sound good, but worried about lack of cash as I can't see Moore putting in large amount.

Sounds like we're on verge of administration without help soon.

I responded in bold and as you say some of the changes will be good, its a real shame about Ian Croad been unwell as he never seems to get the credit he probably deserves in helping the club to keep running for many a year now. Id challenge anyone who thinks it easy to try and make the same commitments he will have had to make. The sad truth in RL that some Fax fans never seem to get their head around is that there is no ambition without a stackful of money and the best we can hope is to get by and still compete, which to be fair we are doing, but until someone with a boat load of money wants to get involved we are in the situation we are in for the foreseeable future. Our current board may "lack ambition" but they are doing a great job of keeping the club alive and Im sure if someone wants to help them out by sticking a few grand of their own money in they would more than welcome it.

Hope you are feeling better soon Ian.

That's a bit of a leap!

Still I'm sure the RFL will leap to help out as equally as they did recently with another club

I do like a spun story from "sources with axes to grind" and "un-named insiders" - always good for a laugh

And so is using a pseudonym to decry a lack of appreciation...

A small point - I didn't say that I had been told we budgeted for top two, Simply that unless the club finishes in the top two the BOD have overspent and we will need to depend upon them filling a considerable gap. Hence Moore will not commit money to pay for the present BOD's mistakes.

I believe that the amounts shown in the seasons budgets and what was promised to players by the director in charge of players wages has, last season and this one, been very different numbers....hence the gap.

I think regarding the second part at the early fans forum it was mentioned about discrepancies between figures compiled between ex members of the club and what Ramsey actually found. By the sounds of it there was quite a bit of tidying up to do. IMO its better those figures were found when they were and maybe it might be a case of the the club taking a couple of steps backwards because of them but hopefully it will help in regards the long term future of the club.

er, pardon?

If we have some financial issues it will be a case of cutting our cloth according I would guess so as to preserve the long term future of the club.
Next season we will have Hull KR or a relegated sl team; Tolouse;London; Toronto; Bradford all full time(as I would guess there will be a reprieve at the death for them); plus Fev;-5 full time and one consistently strong part time/DR side.
Going to be even harder next season to get into the top 4 I'm afraid with our current circumstances.
Still have my support win lose or draw.

If as people say 'Fax are in a financial mess, when and how will it bottom out?
Do not rely on RFL to help us out, when we were relegated from S/L no parachute payment was made to help the club, if I recall Halifax were the only club not to get this payment. We all know that a S/L licence should have been granted a couple of times, the infrastructure was in place, the team possibly could have competed and grown over the three years. however Red Hall and certain members therein( one of whom was on our board) do not like Fax, and would do almost anything to keep them down.
Although it should not affect the players, rumors and uncertainty will always have a knock on effect, although if I was a player in those circumstances I would sure try my best to shop window myself!
I am sure RM is doing his best, although some tinkering has been surprising, but we as fans do not get to know the ins and outs, were there internal discipline matters? that rightly so have been kept in house.
I would like to see Halifax RLFC back in the big time where I feel they belong, but at present with the present circumstances and the possible reintroduction of S/L franchising, not a snowball in hell chance.

Long live Fax, and if it goes belly up, do it in a blaze of glory.

We definitely need a scrum half with the ability to take us around the park and take some of the pressure off Muzza - the only thing Johnno has done consistently this season is prove that he has not got the ability to do this.

This season could have so easily been a disaster following on from last season - both on and off the field. On the field, the lads have knuckled down and proved a lot of folk wrong. Many expecting us to be relgation fodder.

Off field departures in the close season, mainly people who seemed more interested in self promotion and undermining the incumbent board, could so easily have left the club in a mess. Mark Moore and Stuart Ramsey seem to have brought a more professional approach to things behind the scenes. Yes - money may be tight, but with a bit of sensible investment in the right areas, some more commercial activity to bring in a bit more cash, we won't be a million miles away.

Looking at the squad as a whole - we seem to have a lot of players who have been at Fax for a number of years. Maybe it is time for a refresh in the off season, and start to build the club up again.

While I sat watching us getting beat by Toulouse last week I had the terrifying thought that I was looking at the very future of RL with a team with no fans playing us and beating us fairly easily who have somebody obviously pumping money in which we just cannot compete with and as you say next season we will also have Toronto joining them along with London so there will be some games with hardly any fans there apart from 'neutrals' yet the RFL think this is better than clubs like us who actually do take fans okay not as many as we used to but you wonder why when we are getting pushed further down the pecking order!!!
I felt sad I really did imagine a SL with a top 4 of Toronto, Toulouse, London and Catalans or a Challenge Cup Final with 2 of those 4, probably won't happen but what if it did???

Toulouse do have fans, go to a home match and see them.

There is no one person 'pumping' money in; It's no different to many clubs in the division with an owner but Toulouse does have a strong ring of businesses supporting it . It's called good management, something many clubs need to look at maybe ?

Spot on. Unfortunately there are some who would love to see that scenario.

I feel that we should be more concerned about improving our own support not relying on away supporters. Role reversal if the majority of sides were based in the South of France how many of us would be willing or able to travel there every other week ?

What can we change? I would say not a lot, if Richard can spot a couple of players not giving it what's needed at our level, can ship em out and get in one decent honest player, and bring through a reserve, that makes perfect sense to me.
And if the people running the club think we have fringe players not worth keeping then so be it.
It's got nothing to do with what other clubs do, away fans, or the RFL, as long as we are doing what we can, then so be it, its going to take time, but maybe next year or the year after that, things will fall into place.
I would call for less paranoia, scaremongering and more confidence and support in the new back room regime, and we wont get a better coach with our finances.

Well said jtbf

It's looking like the dulls forum with all the people commenting on things with out what appears not to be true.

The Toulouse game was far from a disgrace against a full time team.

Look at the results we have had :

Lost to Toulouse at home with some questionable decisions
Lost to Fev at home in last minutes
Lost to Fev in challenge cup great defence not so good in attack but to lose by so little with the possession we had not too shabby
KR away great effort against full time near super league team

Connor Robinson and Gareth Moore gone so what. Connor never seemed to cut it and Moore was only any good when he could be bothered. Luke left from what i can see for other commitments outside of Rugby which no one can fault for what he is doing. Great cause.

Lets get behind the team instead of moaning we are 5th .....still a chance to get in top 4.

Sorry for any typos or crap grammar too many shandys on the garden

Oh and dont forget the reserves...well worth the investment look at the players we have in the 1st team Brandon moore elliot morris and Woodburn hall. Hopefully more to come through including punchard who may be our new number 7.

Shame we lost rawsthorne looking good at Hull