And he has had his team I'm afraid. We were told that early doors it wasn't his team. They can't use that excuse any more as he cleared out the ones he didn't want and brought in new players. He's had "his team" for at least a season now, regardless of injuries. We have young players that he and the club have given contracts to and not played, and had loanees from other clubs as well. Did the groundsman sort that lot out? Of course not.

How many years do you think he should have to get a team together

There is the reason why the support was awful



I really h8 people go on and on about or he has had bad luck with injuries and he doesnt have his playmakers. It isnt the fans fault he couldnt find a quality playmaker when every other team could. We are short in the halfs and he didnt bother getting anyone until he got Obst who good as he is. Isnt going to make us into a grand final winning team.

We have so many 2nd rowers and its a joke and we have lack of cover in more important positions like in the halfs and at fullback and even in the backs ...People might say well obst and phelps will cover those postions but one has just got here and the other isnt on the plane yet the club is clueless how to get a winning product on the field imo.

While fans keep making excuses the Board will keep Agar....He has had plenty of time to get a quality halfback/stand off and has failed.

Maybe even 2 or 3 weeks!!?? As I said how often has he even been able to play his first choice half back pairing? I suggest people look back at the time sheets for the last 3 years and just see how the team has had to change from one week to the other. As for its his "fault" for getting Sean Long as he was too old - well would a younger player not have been injured in the same way as Long last year - they would it was just unlucky. Once Phelps has arrived - even though the Tansey and Berrigan situation may or may not have been out of his control - I would conceed that if fully fit that is the team he built. Like I say I am waiting for 5 or 6 games into the season.

Every coach deals with these issues, Agar signed Horney & Longy, he knew saints would not give Longy 2 yrs yet he chose to do that and has to take responibsility for it.
I am interested to know what you make of Agars interchanges ?

Every coach does have to deal with these issues. However (and I havent gone to the effort to check this) but I would guess that no other club in Super League (by a long shot) has had to change the team week in week out as much as we have due to injuries, people getting sacked etc. etc.
And yes if Horne and Long had managed to play all of last season I think we would have finished much higher in the league. Like I say are you suggesting any other player of any age wouldnt have dislocated their elbow in the same circumstances as Longy in that "tackle"?

And to answer your question - yes I do find some of the interchanges odd but I dont claim to know the excact reasoning behind them, and I personally would have started with Obst on Friday night.

A skilled coach should be able to deal with having players missing.

In any case, as I said to people on Friday, the 17 we had out are all good players. The tactics and motivation are wrong and ultimately that lies with the man off the field.

I hear what you are saying about not having his first choice halfs available due to injury.
However answer this. He knows they are injured in the build up to a game, he knows his 19 players available. I would like to think he knows about the opposisiton (i think i did read once, that he said we dont worry about what the other team is going to do.) So given all this information, you pick players, play to their strengths and develop a game plan suited to the players we have available.
Its clear to me this injury story about injuries is part of the game, you learn to develop and have the ability to adapt. That is where it shows how far out of his depth Agar is

Makes you wonder how the hell McDermott coped on Friday night with 5 1st teamers missing form the starting line up and then losing another 3 during the match!! That's effectively 8 players down yet his team managed to not only beat us but play with some structure and cohesion.

I am not sure whether its because Leeds actually have a plan or the fact that all the clubs players buy into it and understand it!

The one thing that Leeds kept on Friday night though apart from anything else that went wrong was the cohesion of Burrows, Sinfield and Buderus - a cohesion we havent had the luxury of for the last 3 years. Dont get me wrong I thought we had enough to beat Leeds on Friday night and if we seriously want a top 4 place should be doing so at home. It was a bad result. I am merely saying I will judge Agar a few more games into this season and not with what he has had to deal with in the last 3 years.

And a few more games into the season, it will be easy for you to find more excuses for him: Long is injured, Phelps hasn't arrived, Obst needs time to settle etc etc.

The time for excuses is over. He's not the man for the job.

Look on the brightside, at least there is no relegation.

That is what worries people most, one team will lose their franchise this year, and it wont be us, that means the powers that be know we are in the Super League for at least another three years after this, does the investment required reflect what is available to us as a club in terms of prize money.

I fear the club is run wholly as a balance sheet, whilst that is sensible from a business point of view, it doesn't make for ambition.

If the end of 2011 / start of 2012 sees record low pass sales it will force the club into action.

Something has to give before then. I can't stand this all season.

If there was, Agar wouldn't be here now.

But ask yourself this, what value is it to the people that run the club, they have 10,000 x season passes in the bank, they have the corporates for the season, so in effect they are missing out on occasional income, does that occasional income mean enough to them to pay Agar off and appoint someone else?

I think the occasional income could well serve as an indicator of what's to come with season pass sales. If gates drop during the season, I'd like to think the board have enough about them to act [ibefore[/i we suffer a significant drop in pass sales. That being said, there seems to have been a drop in pass sales this season as we've heard no figures trumpeted in the press.

i think the best visible protest was the thousands of empty seats in the east stand on Fri night on the TV. very depressing sight.

And of course another one would be to turn our back on the pitch at Huddersfield. We'd all be in the same stand behind the sticks.

Only drawback is that that could look like we're taking it out on the players and I (for one) am not.

In my opinion the evidence is there to suggest that "us brand of football" isn't going to win us anything. I accept that we have not had the luxury of playing our first choice 6,7 and 9 together all that often, but when we have we still don't look significantly better. Certainly not good enough to challenge in games that really matter.

Even taking last year into consideration, when we could have finished fourth, we couldn't beat anyone when it really mattered. At no time did I feel that we could win silverware. With exception of Saints, and possibly the home game against Leeds, we didn't really compete in the games with those who finished above us.

I'd add to that that the lack of continutity in the halves is not responsible for our poor defensive line speed, the lack of dummy runners, the non-existent support play, our tendency to be exposed on the right hand side in defence and the baffling interchanges that seem to take place. Our half back problem hasn't helped, but it's by no means the sole cause of our troubles.

Why will I be looking for excuses for him? If he has a reasonably full team and a couple of playmakers actually on the pitch and we still arent doing any good 5 or 6 games into the season as I said I will be asking questions also.

Im happy that you're prepared to accept such mediocritiy.

Honest question, when did you last ENJOY a Hull FC performance (regardless of result)

Because that's what you're doing currently.



And here, you're already making excuses in advance. If we have a reasonably full team, and if we have a couple of playmakers...

Leeds had loads out on Friday and beat us with 14 men. Lack of playmakers, like I said in my post above, is only a small part of the problem.