Why has it taken to the end of the season for this to come out? We could see that there were problems from game 6 (and to a certain extent, although masked by the 100% record, before then).

Surely this:

"Got its approach to player recruitment wrong in recent seasons, leading to an unbalanced squad.
Was left with a team lacking 'seniority, experience, leadership and quality'
Failed to find a suitable replacement for Paul Cooke following his move to Hull KR.
Should have made the play-offs this season, despite the injuries suffered."

is in some part due to Agar himself given that he's been there for a good few years? Has he had no say in player recruitment? Can he not provide leadership? Did he not ask for the club to find a replacement for Cooke?

Raises more questions than answers. Very disappointing.

It hasn't. These issues have been discussed on here and elsewhere ad infinitum. Maybe the coach didn't think it appropriate to be criticising his team in public in this way during the regular season in the local press ? That's a fair stance by a coach to take in my view



Regarding Cooke didn't we try Adam Dykes and Matt Head ? Neither successful although they did show a glimpse of what could happen playing a good half back in the team.

Also I really can't see where this idea that he is absolving himself of blame comes from. Where does he say it isn't in part down to him ?

It doesn't and I never said he was.

Surely Dykes and Head were SHs when Cooke was a SO/LF. So they weren't actually his replacements were they?

Criticism of an underperforming team is perhaps not the right thing I agree, but what else can he do? Doing nothing in public had a fantastic effect - I'm looking forward to us competing in the play offs. Oh wait...

matty head was a great player just injury prone same as dykes...but theres one differance between the two...dykes left the club with only good words to say about us but on the other hand head thinks the board are a bunch of winkers for what they did to peter sharp can you beleive...and that 100% genuine aswell....from the horses mouth

Apologies it was this bit of your post:



that I misinterpreted as you thinking he thought he was not in part to blame.



Cooke was the ball player on one side of the field and Horne on the other. Not really sure whether who puts the ball in the scrum these days is all that relevant. Head and Dykes were chief field kickers (as was Cooke) and were pivots on the side of the field that Cooke used to be so I would say they were attempts at his replacements.



He was critical of the teams performances in a general fashion during the season (and who wasn't ?

) but this article basically says that he didn't have the right players. There is a difference.

No worries - I wasn't letting him off, they were rhetorical questions as he must have been involved.




Fair enough, but they were different types of players, more in the Horne mould imho, with Horne himself possibly taking the Cooke role and it didn't work. Was there a plan B?



True and the whole Crocker/Hame thing didn't help. But a decent coach should be able to get a decent performance out of his players.

Matt head rang the hull daily mail after leaving the club, and wanted to sell a story telling all about the bad within the club - the HDM said no

Couldn't agree more and in my first post in the thread I say as much. I think he's lucky to be still in the job tbh. He will be under massive pressure for the first 3 months of next season. Make or break for him I would have thought.

Indeed, the problem will be if any alternatives are available, or if we simply "promote from within" again, which is my biggest concern.

If he goes then we simply MUST replace him with a top coach from outside end of.

Who is going to be available after 6/7 games next season, especially when Wigan and Celtic are both looking for coaches.

Fair point. On the other hand who is available now and looking for a contract that would be of the right calibre ?

No idea, I just think it is always best to recruit either mid season for the next season (which is what we should have done this year), or do it in the off-season (which, in all fairness, for successful clubs, is a few weeks away!)

I agree Dave, he has been the only coach is recent seasons to get rid of some of the bad eggs and his recruitment for 2010 looks to be very good. I have issues with his coaching abilities but he has at least started to make some important changes to the squad.

If you were to look back 2/3 years, you would find that there were only actually a small minority of fans on here that were strongly questioning our recruitment and retention at the time. Myself, Simonhullfc, Sebasteeno and a few others were all castigated as some sort of eternal pessimists, unworthy fans or some kind of traitors to the cause for those opinions.

We spent a lot of time arguing with the same old people on here but now, all of those posters have turned a full 180 degrees and are towing the line of the general opinion which is nice to see !!



Over the last year or so, the general opinion has gradually changed on here and now everyone seems to have the same one. EVEN MR AGAR !!

Kear and especially Sharpe took our squad backwards at breakneck speed to the point where we were no longer a force in SL.

I, like many others, am not sure about Agar as a coach but at least he is recruiting very well and because of that, next season we will have the strongest squad that we have had for a long time. Probably since McCrae's squad of 2004.

So he doesnt mention his tactical failings?

I think you will fing that plenty of people question/congratulate the club on every signing that is made so not sure where you get the fact that there in only four of you.

Agar has the first 8 games to prove 1, he is up to the job of being a Super League coach, and 2, he can build a winning team. Let's hope he proves us all wrong....

The smell of success if beautifull, but I can't remember what it smells like......

I love the idea that only the "fanous four" ever made comment about the club, laughable!!!

Don't know where this idea of "four" has come from but you should try getting to the odd match before posting such garbage.


HTH

yeah he void of tatice and ideas and he hasnt recruited anyone or had any say in the last two years!

he's still talking like he's a newbie who's just arrived at the club, yet he is one of the longest serving members of staff!

I simply don't believe that he had no input over signings over both Kear and Sharp.

also he fails to mention his own poor decisions, such as signing Thorman..when honestly a year out of Webster (who we spent months trying to get a passport for lets not forget) would have been the better option IMO.

the ""When I compared us to other squads in the top eight they were spending bigger chunks of money on the players at the top end of their cap where we were investing more money lower down the pecking order." is quite interesting though, makes you wonder if our 'top' players really are on huge money, or if we are just paying the whole squad quite an average amount.

Hes out of his depth. End of!

We've had a strict wage structure for some time. It's why we lost cooke

So what happens if we start 2010 as we did 2009?

If we win our opening five games does he then get a pat on the back and an 18 month extension to his contract as he has clearly proved his worth as a top flight coach (allegedly). Only then for the season to end with only five more wins from the next six months and we're right back to square one again.

If Agar is still in charge come June, chances are we'll finish in the bottom four again. If he's still here in September I think there is a very real chance we could be 14th out of 14.
The longer he stays, the greater the long term damage will be, and the longer it will take to put right.