For context, as the hooter went in came my two young daughters from playing in the garden and asked me to get them something or other, to which I essentially told them to sod off and go back outside. The fact that I was a bit of an a.rse with the two people who mean more to me than anything else on earth makes me damn sure that if I'd had a microphone in my face immediately post match I'd have been an absolute d1ck.

So as a human with the capacity to be an utter muppet I'm inclined to accept Jimmy's apology, and I'd hope the others he apologised to will as well.

Well yes he did, but he also said we'd have fewer in the squad and I'm guessing he didn't mean just a couple?

We've got [on my reckoning 27 currently signed for next year. If we take the 27 and add 6 currently 'lined up', that's pretty much the same as the season just past. Our average number [iregistered[/i, at any one time, what with players leaving or going out on loan and arriving late in the season would have been around 33.

Last seasons' full list, with not all here at the same time, has 36 names on it though 4 of those never actually pulled a shirt on.

A squad of around 30 is more than plenty, if (a) all of them are at least good enough to offer something and (b) we actually fekkin play them

Would agree with that.

We do seem to be getting mixed messages from the club though. Smaller but stronger, another six "lined up"...which is it?

Also, we are all one year older, uglier and wiser - which includes our academy lads. Are any of them anywhere near a chance in the first team squad, does anyone know?

We missed the boat in recruitment for iur U19s last year due to the off fiel issues so all of the highest rated lads were snapped up by other clubs.

Despite that our U19s have come on a lot. Whether they're ready for 1st team I don't know. Prob not yet.

Our U16s were recruited in happier times and we have some good prospects. Some have moved up to the 19s now.

It might be a year or two before we see any top prospects in the first team.

Yes, I seem to recall this being explicitly said, perhaps at one of the fan forums or gatherings.

I think it was said that most of the U19s are at the younger end of the age group, so we'll probably not see anyone pushing through into the First Team squad for a while yet.

But I'll stand correction on that if anyone knows better...

However, don't we need 8 homegrown players in the squad? As far as I can recall, we only have 5 (Addy, Crossley, Mellor, O'Brien and Olbison), so unless we re-recruit some of our homegrown products, we'll need to promote 3, even if only in name.

Yes I suppose that's another downside of offloading Brook, Conroy and Bates.

Is Crossley 'home grown'?

Yes. He came through our academy set up before being offloaded to Dewsbury.

would imagine academy lad that had a run out in one of last league games will get promoted next year so thats six. Homegrown rule is 8 for SL. is it same figure for championship given some clubs dont even run academies?.

Doesn't Lauaki count? Looks like at least 10 stone of him is home grown?

get into a habit of quoting twelve month old SL rules as thought they do apply to our current position.

Quite damning from the departing Harrison really: www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/s ... est_of_me/

Quite damning from the departing Harrison really: www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/s ... est_of_me/

Quote ="Pumpetypump"Quite damning from the departing Harrison really: www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/s ... est_of_me/'" Would we have been better with Harrison than Lowes? For all his experience he drove Halifax into a big hole. They seem to be similar personalities, and surely before Harrison signed he knew it would be Jimmys show throughout, and his role would be marginalised to that of nodding dog?

Quote ="Pumpetypump"Quite damning from the departing Harrison really: www.thetelegraphandargus.co.uk/s ... est_of_me/'" Would we have been better with Harrison than Lowes? For all his experience he drove Halifax into a big hole. They seem to be similar personalities, and surely before Harrison signed he knew it would be Jimmys show throughout, and his role would be marginalised to that of nodding dog?

Tbh that was my initial thought when Harrison was appointed. Too similar to jimmy. Think he needs someone who looks at game from a different perspective to bounce ideas off.

Some stuff from the Harrison article

Sorry?


Sorry? Surely, the starting point is why we DIDN'T "play with what we had". Half the squad may as well never have been signed! Also, it begs the question as to what was the recruitment policy. Clearly from this, it was nothing to do with Harriso. Is it right that it was little or nothing to do with Lowes either, and that Ferres made the signings? I suppose that would fit with Jimmy's personality - "I didn't ask for him, I don't want him, I'm not playing him"?


Very strange. If a player is unproven -but you never play him - how will you get to know whether he is capable of being proven? We seem from all this to have been stuck in some sort of irreconcileable dispute between the coach and the club. Unless Lowes really did want all those players, as individuals - but if he did, then why would he never use them.

Agreed. It's a clear statement that Ferres has signed players Lowe's didn't want.

Well there does appear to be a clear disconnect between players Ferres deemed appropriate and how Lowes feels about the same players.

I can't recall how long a time period Ferres was recruiting before Lowes came on-board, but clearly Ferres had to begin recruiting in earnest as he couldn't have known how long it would take to get the first team coach on-board. You would think that Ferres has been around the block enough to in theory be trusted to commence that recruitment process.

Lowes and Harrison are cut from the same cloth - blunt, arrogant and full of attitude. Neither know the difference between being a boss and being a leader of men. I can imagine them both ranting and raving in the dressing room, struggling to put a coherent sentence together.

If those are the criteria for the coach, then we've got a busload of top candidates on these boards

Jimmy took over before relegation was confirmed, so I'd say he came in sort of late June -ish. Don't really have a clue as to [iexactly[/i when recruitment started, but I'd guess it certainly didn't get into full swing until our position for 2015 was pretty certain, ie around the time Jimmy rocked up or very shortly afterwards.

I've always felt that a number of players were signed from Youtube videos and, probably someone known to the club in Aus, saying they might be OK. Clearly, two or three weren't good enough for to Jimmy to risk in the side, so given the standard of a couple of others who were played, that is some indictment.

Considering the Bulls had been playing with "Skinny" squads for the past few seasons, I suspect part of the brief was to make sure there was large playing squad to increase competition and cover the usual injuries accrued from pre season right through to season end. Hindsight by some says quality over quantity, which considering the Bulls precarious finances meant good players were not going to be easy to find.

Absolutely Blotto. It was always going to be difficult to recruit 'quality' players after being relegated - in fact, we did well to retain as many of the previous year's staff as we did, no doubt helped by the fact there was no promoted club that season, if there had been we may well have lost far more than we did.

The Harrison article does seem to suggest that Lowes is very much a my way or the highway sort of manager. I just wonder if that, combined with his little tantrum after the MPG explains our less than stella performances across the year?

I have to say, I'm still not conviced by Lowes as a head coach and I'd be surprised if he's still in charge this time next year should we fail to gain promotion again.