Agar's recruitment is ok but he has so far failed to bring in cover for the one position we have constantly struggled with for 4 years.
Because of our lack of playmakers throughout the squad we need to have a backup who is capable of stepping up to the plate when needed. Instead we have had to rely on Washy/Berro combinations which have constantly failed us.

I was happy with the Long signing, but we needed someone else as well and it failed to materialise, With Longs age and Hornes previous injury and ongoing diabetes problems it was odds on that one or the other would be missing for a period of time.

go to a few matches , see a few games sort of gives you an idea, you may wish to try it on ocassion

Don't start that nonsense again please. Trying to start arguments and then complaining about being a victim is so last season.

I've never believed the hype in Westerman, I think it all came from the media hype that Phil Clark gave him when he first broke onto the scene. He has never stood out to me when I've seen him play. I don't think you have improved your squad,and your league position will reflect that, that's my opinion, I suppose time will tell.

I don't think anyone can question Agar's sqaud development since he took over. He got rid of some deadwood, made some very good signings and has extended the deals of some key players. This is one area he has done very well in.

What he needs to do now is take us from top 5-8 to the top four.

There are plenty of grounds to question his squad development. I agree he did well with the clearout at the end of the 2009 season but as me and Berrigan's Bitch agreed on earlier, Fitz and O'Meley aside his recruitment record has been mixed. As another poster pointed out he has also left us short in the halves for his entire time in the job while this year he spent a six figure transfer fee on strengthening a position that was nowhere near priority. I would also argue that too much of our quality is concentrated in the forwards, our backline still looks incredibly weak for a team that wants to be challenging for top 4.

In terms of renewals, he has done well to keep Tickle when it looked like he wanted to go and re-signing Yeaman on terms more befitting his ability was a good move. On the negative side there's the resigning of Dowes and Radford (2 years), obviously there was a lack of options after LMS and Fielden turned us down but I don't think you can argue that to be successful squad development.

Do you have trouble reading posts...I have posted that Agars recruitment is good, at no point have I said it was mixe

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Unfortunately for you people only have to scroll to to the top of the page to see you agreeing with me

O'Meeley, Fitz, Long, Turner, Lauaki and Moa have all been good signings and Westerman and Sharp will prove to be aswell imo. Plus we have retained the likes of Tickle, Manu and Yeaman. There are always the odd signing that does not stand out like Dowes but we needed the cover and there was no one else available.

In the two off seasons our squad has been transformed and if we get a halfback and centre for 2012 we will be in really good shape.

That all looks good to me.

Regular readers know I am far from a fan of Agar, but his recruitment has been good, especially in the context of who has been available, has any other team in SL signed someone we wish we had, and if they have, would we have wanted them at the same price?

I'd rather we'd signed a player at the height of their game than Long, but I don't recall their being a long list of available players.

Spont on Paul, couldn't agree more.

who'd have guessed

So lets forget about 2011 then? Or just hope for a miracle and our two halfbacks stay fit. Westerman is a good signing if he gets played in position but with Agars preference of playing a 3rd prop at loose man I am not so sure he will be played there.

Who said that?

We can't recruit a top halfback now as we already have two and we would need to cap space plsu all the players are under contract. This year we have signed two highly rated British players, one a winger which will give us a strike option on both sides of the pitch and the other who is a highly skillfull player that could make the 13 spot his own for many season to come for both club and country. Last year we had a good side and if the halves stay fit (a big if I know) then we can compete with the best sides.

Looking ahead for 2012 we must replace Long, sign another prop and I would like to see a centre come in too.

spot on with everything said

If Berro goes and it is looking more than likely that leaves us in the perfect position to recruit a top class halfback. Westerman also needs to play loose man although like i have said before i doubt he will be the first choice in that position with Agars preference of a 3rd prop.

and we ask, again, WHICH top class halfback?

Every club has a price.

Here we go again! I ain't getting involved this time

Lets face it, if the club are happy to let Berro go, then they have a very good reason for it. They could well have somebody lined up. Sammut although not what i would call top class would do a good job here and there have already been rumblings about him.

Really, that still doesn't answer WHO, come on, name names, who do you want, how much would you pay?

FC are more than one top signing from being title contenders.

I agree we are a good coach away from that.

As for who I want, i would take any half decent halfback, at least then we would have a halfback ready to cover. At the moment we don't even have that, our coach is too afraid to try youngsters in their preferred position so we will not know if they are good enough. Yet other teams are not afraid to chuck in a youngster to see how he fares.

Different game I know, but even the greats like Sir Alex Ferguson sign pups.
E.G.......Jemba Jemba and Veron.

we're more than a good coach away from title contenders, we're a whole ethos away (as a club, and as fans), but we are not in the dire straits that some people would have us believe.

I'd agree with that regards the club, not so much the fans. A lot gets made of 'settling for mediocrity' but there's actually not much that fans can do to affect things.