Think that is the main concern Will quality players want to come and play for Wakefield for a untried S L coach If you had the chance to play for M Applegarth or T Smith who would you want to play for .

It was obvious that this was agreed prior to any review or the quickest appointment. I know you are hoping that the club know best but to appoint our second assistant without even seeing who may want the job smacks of the usual modus operandi of cheap. I wonder how he will be able to sell the club to any quality players or will it be just those looking for a final pay packet coupled with those returning from long injury absence.
I hate to burst your bubble but we have offloaded most of this seasons squad and do you think he will boost season ticket sales. We know the club prefer those that agree with them so that may of helped his appointment.
I am not an accountant but the accounts submitted for the period ending Nov 2021 showed an increase of cash in hand of over £500,000 to just over £750,000 plus the stakeholders loans reduced by £80,000. I suppose there may be a reason for this but interesting none the less.

Well i think it’s a mistake but there you go. Good luck to him, i hope he proves me and many others wrong because we sure need him to.

I'm thinking you don't actually know if they talked to anyone else?

If it was so obvious then why didn't you point it out to those of us who did not see the obvious, also can you name the players we have offloaded, you really need to get rid of the bitterness that's eating you up, get down to a game next season and cheer yourself up

A McDonalds' Happy Meal wouldn't cheer him up I'm afraid.
That is obvious.

Good post Luppy....along with most others on here, I have to admit to being under-whelmed by his appointment, however, it's posts like yours (from someone who actually knows how he can perform) that partially help to alleviate some of my concerns. Obviously his ability to perform successfully will depend massively on the calibre of players being brought in and the way the retained players can adapt to playing with the new-comers, so Mash clearly has his work cut out from the get-go.
So for me, we all have to now get behind him and the rest of the new coaching team (whoever they may be) and just hope that we can hit the ground running come February

It only became obvious with the speed he replaced WP because it didn’t give much time to do a full review don’t you think. I don’t know the full list because we are still to produce the final retained list but even you must know the first team regulars who have left.
I am angry yes because they are treating supporters as fools every season since the fans persuaded MC to sack his friend Chester we have seen the funds dry up and once again they reduce it further.
I look forward to the quality of player our new coach can bring in and if you think it will be his decision you are kidding yourself.

Oh it’s obvious is it. Everything is obvious after the event and you’re the expert at that.

For all we know it could be they had planned to get rid of WP prior to the end of season regardless of the late success, there were quite a few on here that weren't satisfied with him and maybe the board thought the same, has there been a statement from the club confirming his appointment ? or maybe somebody else is in line but just not yet finalised.

What you said were the players we let go that's why I asked you, there's a world of difference between the players we let go which I don't know of any, and those who were out of contract and were offered better terms at other clubs and also those retiring and going home, I can name you all of those players as I'm sure you can, but I believe you are guilty of implying it's the clubs fault in an effort to once again cast doubt on the competence of the club and it's dealings.

Well firstly I believe the only thing you will be looking forward to is the coach if it is Applegarth and the club falling on their face if it goes pear shaped, I personally have no insight to running the club neither do I suspect have you, and whether it's Applegarth or anybody else I've read it from Carter himself providing it's within the budget the coach is in charge of recruitment, unless you know different.

"The fans persuaded......"

You really do live in a world of your own.

And how have you seen the funds dry up. As far as I can see we've continued to recruit.
And although I was expecting something different, you have no idea what Mash is being paid or how much he is being given for recruitment so you dont know this is the cheap option.

So in summary......you don't know.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0d09x5v JD interview with MA and JM Interesting!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0d09x5v JD interview with MA and JM Interesting!

I am pretty sure as a person who has performed numerous reviews that this will have been continuous since 12 months ago. A clue was given in the initial appointment of Willie that it would be subject to a review and an initial 12 month appointment. Willie brought in Cummins as his assistant almost immediately and Mash was also moved to assistant with responsibility for the Academy and reserves.

We had a few pre season signings by Willie that have not featured in the first team other than friendlies, we had signings that were questioned due to the position they played andfwhen they got a game we deemed not good enough not by the coaching staff but the supporters.

Start to the season was OK a few tight games that we lost, Warrington away were excellent performances both in the league and the Cup. Wigan at home in the Cup we payed 40 minutes and fell apart. We had a shocker against Leeds, the second half v Salford was one to forget. Salford away woeful. Toulouse away woeful staff blamed one player who was dropped. Toulouse at Magic terrible how the coach carried on with 2 at the marker when we were 1 man down and persisted it with it whilst tries were pouring in I will never know. Castleford at home poor. Hull KR away another to forget against a weakened team.

Pluses post Hull KR we put a run together the defence got sorted and we built some confidence with some great performances however sadly not enough and too late. The club was basically Championship bound until then.

Over the season 5 out of 10 not good enough and the appointment of Cummins as the assistant for defence was the wrong one and in my opinion.

Mitigation

Injuries Bill, TJ (Salford game and beyond) Lyn, Kershaw Pitts, Dave out for a few weeks, Kaye.

Positives

Corey Hall great signing, Murphy got a break through due to injuries, Bowes (thought he could have had more game time though when Hood was injured.

I could go on but get the gist this took me the time to write it there will be lots more positive and negative.

M A knows the club and knows what he's getting in to.
Make your own mind up what that may be.

I feel much better about this after listening to the press conference.

I'm looking forward to seeing who MA brings on board to work with him.

I do like Minnards too. I trust him to make those tough decisions.

Agreed, his self belief and commitment shone through, as did JM's feelings for the club. This is a decision that has been made with the best intentions in my view. Let's see how it goes.

Mark comes across really calm and concise regarding what he’s setting out for next year in regards to what the club wants. I feel we are banking on using Marks academy experience of playing a more youthful team next year, with hopefully added quality around them. We have a great crop of players coming through with hopefully a fair few ready to step up next year. These are some of the best youngsters we’ve seen come through in a long time so again that’s fairly promising. There can be lots to be potentially negative about, but even Ivan Clearly would have a job on sorting us out for next year…… and some would moan at his appointment.

I seem to remember that it was Mark Applegarth who spoke well at half-time during the Cas victory. It makes you wonder to what extent it was Willie behind the upturn in form, or whether Mark was the person beginning to steer the ship. I don't know, but the improvement came out of nowhere, whereas we had looked lost for so long.

Well done Mark Applegarth… I’ve been impressed by his work so far… sometime you just have to give the talent an opportunity and see what happens!

Ps Minnards management experience is beginning to show through… and it seems he’s coming more to the fore

Back into winter (summer for me) hibernation now…

A good listen. Good appointment looking forward to the new setup.

Up the Trin

Been saying that all along. It was as if we had new coach syndrome all of a sudden. The attitude changed and there were small differences to how we were playing which weren’t there before. Of course we don’t and probably won’t know but it certainly seems Mash won’t accept anything but hard work, commitment and the best a player can give.

I'll be honest, when I first heard, I was a little sceptical..

I would have thought, that with WP's win ratio (40+%), I thought he'd only be replaced right now with a more experienced and stronger willed coach, who could change the mindset and cultures within the club. Given the fact that the recently mentioned on here (not be me) players revolt went as far as the BoD. Granted, I did touch on the subject of a part time mentality on the training pitch several years ago, which were dismissed by some on here, maybe that is still the case. Personally I thought that this type of personality was needed, to improve things in the long term and not just short term.

Can Mash change these mindsets, I'm not sure, but I hope so.

One thing for sure, he has my back, just as much as WP, Chessie and previous coaches in the past 40 years or so have.

Just listening to the press conference. Is that Peter Hitchens or John Minards?

I think those saying Applegarth was the reason for the upturn in performances last season are really doing Willie Poching an injustice. I get that people want to find compelling reasons for Applegarth appointment but attributing someone else’s work and efforts to him is a bit of a reach. We saw some very good performances from the team sporadically throughout the season, we strung 2s and 3s together then had a decent finish which IMO was in character for the team.

Applegarth will stand or fall on HIS teams performances and results during the coming season just as Willie has!

On that I find some of the statements by the club/Minards a little bit disingenuous. Based on Carters constant insistence that we spend less than everyone else in SL, where exactly did they expect us to finish in the League?
We lost by one score or less on 8 occasions and finished 10th above Warrington and 10 points clear of relegation. Yes it was frustrating and even worrying at times but Willie Poching was never afforded a complete pre season which included spending the recruitment budget on players he felt we needed. Despite that Poching had a 47% win/loss ratio, tell me the last Coach who bettered that?

Exactly what type of review can you possibly have undertaken, asking players who are leaving the club? Speaking to staff behind Willie Poching’s back while he’s still in post? Sorry but it doesn’t ring true to me and Minnards complete shut down of any insight into what the review entailed suggests to me that there was no review and they just took the decision because they didn’t feel happy with Willie.

Good Luck to Applegarth, I hope it works out for him, the club and the us (the fans).
In 12 months time the decision might look like a stroke of genius but no matter what the outcome good or bad, I’m not convinced by the BoDs explanation.

Listening to the heritage podcast with Corey Hall , he goes on to say how mash can’t do enough to help in any way he can with all the players and goes that extra yard ,and is thought very highly by all around him . Let’s be honest did anyone think Ivan Cleary was on his way , monies tight which ever way you look at it , he’s been offered the job and could have easily said no thank you and gone back to his day job bringing our youngsters on , but he’s grabbed the bull by the horns and is obviously confident he has what it takes to get a competitive team running out at Wakey . Minards says there is money available for recruits and retentions , so expect incomings in the near future . We’ve obviously cut our cloth accordingly , and I for one hope he’s a roaring success and makes the like of Wilkins choke on his sarcastic belittling comments .