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.

Taibi,Milne, Miller, Prunier, Bellion... Could go on although obviously he's been in his job ten times longer than Agar, point is even Fergies record in the transfer Market is considered to be mixed. Agar has made some good signings and some bad ones but idea that he is this great recruiter doesn't hold under scrutiny.

Yes it does hold under scrutiny! The majority of his recruitment decisions, by that I mean players in and out, have been good ones. The odd mistake sure but in the main good decisions.

Just a shame he seems incapable of doing anything with them when he's got them

But 'recruitment' means identifying people suitable for the job and then attracting them? Nothing to do with getting people out the door where I agree he has made some good decisions.

Fitz,O'Meley, Moa - Great Signings
Thorman, Reardon- Disastrous signings
Long - Too much time injured to be able to judge if he's been a good signing yet
Turner- Good signing on paper but hasn't shown much improvement yet, shocking in defence, best position still unclear
Tansey - Talented but inconsistent, can't yet be categorically said that he's the answer at fullback
Lauaki- Hasn't shown his ability anywhere near enough, been here over a season and we still don't know his best position, can be a liability


If that's not a mixed recruitment record I don't know what is.

It's recruitment and retention, squad building!

It's only mixed from your interpretation, I think Tansey has been a good signing for us and helped us improve our attacking options, ok he has dropped the odd ball but far too much is made of that. Lauaki has done well overall, he could do better I believe but in now way has he been a bad signing. Long was a good signing, he has not had enough pitch time to show it but it's not Agar's fault he broke his elbow. Turner has potential and had a mixed first year whilst Thorman and Reardon I agree with.

Overall along with the players he has got rid of and those he has kept then that is a good record to have. Sharp and Westerman will be success too I feel.

That's fine but I was talking about recruitment! If you broaden it to squad-building then I agree that he appears to have made mostly the right decisions in who should leave.

Re his signings though, I like watching Tansey and I'm not so worried about him dropping the odd ball as looking at whether Agar has found us a genuine fullback, a position we've struggled with since S Briscoe left.

Lauaki we'll have to agree to disagree, he has all the potential to be an absolute wrecking ball but he just isn't

If you interpret Long as a good signing then fair enough but I don't see how when you admit yourself he hasn't shown it yet. He hasn't shown it because of injury but Agar knew he was injury-prone and took a gamble, O'Meley was a gamble in terms of fitness and it paid off so Agar gets the praise.. therefore when he takes the gamble and it doesn't pay off you can't also say he's done well!

Westerman and Sharp are irrelevant as they haven't played yet.

I think since stepping up to the top job Agar has done well (overall, with just the odd exception) in assembling an improved squad. Utilising it has been a bit more uneven - but even there I think a 16-11 record is a sign of green shoots. It may not have been a sparkling spectacle but perhaps you have to walk before you can run.
The issue of negativity that Standee raised I suspect reflects the way the season ended on a bit of a downer, but I think running-down Agar is a habit for some of you. Complaining when you're losing - fair enough. But then when you start winning, you complain about how you are winning - that is 'hard to please' IMO. He annoyed me twice last season - that has got to represent progress!

Reardon was a poor signing from a PR POV, didn't really matter in Rugby terms, did it?

Bit confused by this as you say we are negative because the season ended badly (3 straight defeats including the playoff) but then go on to say we are negative even when we are winning... it can't be both?

Re Reardon no it didn't matter on the playing side but making a signing that you know is going to cause a storm and then realising the guy wasn't even able to play is hardly the work of a master recruiter

It can be both.

I think Hull FC fans' perceptions of 2010 have been, perhaps understandably but probably excessively, coloured by a disappointing end to the campaign.
One of the ways in which that manifests is in de-emphasising or devaluing earlier successes.

That is a simplification of course and it wasn't like there weren't complaints earlier in the year. Some of them justified - I can do gloom, but you make it difficult by being so miserable already.

Spot on. Fully agree with the above.

stop been negative, get behind the team and im very confident that 2011 will be better then last. recruitment been good and with still room to sign someone else were going into the new season with a better squad then last and with better luck with injuries espcially to key players then who knows what can happen. i dont think agar is the man to take us to the top and challenge for honours year in year out but i will certainly get behind the club and hope agar proves me wrong lets just see how the season goes before we start moaning ffs.