It's not irrelevant, I maybe shouldn't have picked on him in particular but it does wind me up a bit when people claim that any criticism of Agar's communication skills are simply down to 'not liking his accent'. He also claimed that people have similar complaints about the way Rule communicates, which is completely untrue, people have a problem with the message he has communicated.

People have every right to complain about Agar's abilities but the fact he says 'us' is irrelevant and criticism is not warranted.

As far as Rule goes he had done a very goog job and whilst I don't like todays article he is only the messenger to some extent and I beleive Kath will decide Agars future and also we don;t know what is really going on at the club, today's comments were a token 'get behind the team and coach' message.

As I said, 'us' is the tip of the iceberg, but it does make him sound a bit dim and since it's poor use of English it is perfectly warranted to mention it. Would you go into a job interview and say 'us' instead of 'our'? I know plenty of people from West Yorks and none of them do it.



You seem to be about only the 2nd or 3rd person that doesn't have a problem with what Rule's said today so good for you, it has nothing to do with what I said to Goochie though!

Let's hope it's a holding statement and smokescreen to buy time to secure a top class coach from down under.

Or Noble from the West Ridiing.

It does not affect his ability to do the job though that's my point.

Really? If you read Jake's thread I posted on the first page I ws disappointed with it. My point was it's a bog standard reposnse and does not mean they won't have had conversations about getting rid and how much more they are prepared to accept.

Your pedantry does make me chuckle.

I would not go that far



I am sure they have discussed the worst case scenario though and although they are backing him now it won't last forever even though they have shown a lot of faith in him. There will be a tipping poin and I think it will come should the fans reaction from Friday continue and grow in the coming weeks.

On it's own no it doesn't but it's symptomatic of his overall communication problems. Debatably it also reflects on his intelligence (not so much that he says it because it is possible that it's just down to dialect, but that he doesn't realise that when he speaks to tv/radio it reflects badly on him to say it)



It don't agree it's a bog standard response, he's patronised the fans one time too many today and he should have known better. Maybe it is all down to Kath in reality, but Rule puts himself forward as the Chief Exec and he makes these comments so why make excuses like that for him? It's just the same culture of blamelessness that some people seem to think applies to Agar.

I don't agree at all.

Not making excuses for him but he is hardly likely to say 'we have given Rich a massive bollocking and told him things improve or he is sacked'. Clubs just don't do that. I don't like the statement but also understand that they are not stupid and will being looking at all options.

So what you want him to do is tell Kath he's not saying these things because the fans might not like him because of it? Rule is just as much a "yes" man as Agar seems to be. This message is coming from the board and James Rule is their mouthpiece, he's said as much on Airlie night before.

Why would you pretend his only other option to what he has said was to say the extreme opposite?

There's ways of giving a vote of confidence without patronising the fans, Rule chose to go down that route anyway.

Really? I didn't hear him say that but I remember him saying at one of the forums that Kath leaves all the decision-making to him. I'm not saying that makes it true, but that's the official line so that's what I'm going to base my judgements on.

I feel he is about to be snatched from under our noses-the Devils take him



So that leaves us with a long-drawn-out hunt on our hands and the prospect of a long term deal for the new man to enable us to lure him here in the first place. Really thought they'd snatch Noble while they had the chance and feel certain that they still could if they act now. And on a shorter deal - which is what we need.

All this pussyfooting about with Agar can only be a stay of execution from what [iwe [/ican all see is the end. Delay is just going to make the final agony excruciatingly prolonged for the increasingly fewer fans who will see it through to the end. What fools they are. This damage won't be easy to repair.

He'd have been crucified in the main for whatever he said unless it had been Agar leaving. Fans had built up momentum that he was set to go yesterday and were disappointed that he is still here.

As I said not sticking up for him but just looking at the bigger picture, if we lose to Quins and then the board have to listen to the fans booing and chanting throughout the Cas game and then should we lose that game too I think the Board will be thinking again.

It was asked on Airlie night why we never hear anything from Kath and the board (before the article in the match programme and tell us etc.). Rule stated that he communicates the boards views to the fans.
Obviously you remember a different version, which really just adds to the confusion about the set up.
I really don't see what he could say differently, what do you think? He had two other options for me: A, he doesn't say anything and you get people rumour mongering as to why. Or; B, He understands completely and is sympathetic to the fans, completely undermining his "staff" and leaving himself open to ridicule for not sacking him.
The first option would probably cause less feverish debate.

I agree nobody was going to like the news that Agar was being allowed to linger yet again, but that doesn't mean that patronising the fans to that degree was unavoidable.



Lets hope we lose to Quins then

Sorry Paul but an inability to discern the difference between "us" & "our" leads me to believe he has an inability to communicate



We are all aware of who is the real power behind the throne and that Rule is little more than Kath's lap-dog. A "token get behind the team message" could have been conveyed in a far less condescending manner but that would necessitate an appreciation of what Hull FC fans are currently feeling. His statement gave a clear message of the contempt that he holds the supporters in. As I said before, Rule's swanning off to Dublin on a rah-rah jolly is inexcusable: other than illness or family bereavement, Rule's attendance at every home game should be his first priority. He has absolutely no empathy with Hull FC supporters, he may be able to point to the success of his business plan but that plan has always relied upon retaining the goodwill of the fans. That goodwill now appears to be in rapid freefall and the only blame for that is laid fairly & squarely at the feet of those responsible: Agar and the poor-pickers of men, Rule & Kath.

I don't agree there were only two options. For example, he could say that he understands the fans completely and acknowledge that recent results have been completely unacceptable for a club of FC's stature... but go on to reiterate the total faith that he and the board have in Agar and his methods to lead us to to our rightful place at the top of the competition. Obviously saying that would require him to stick his own neck out, so he decided just to go down the patronising 'it's only six games, get behind the lads' route.

Kear left in April of 2006 after losing only 4 from 7 and Agar/Sharp had only just enough time that year to turn it around and achieve success. If we wait any longer it will be too late for this season and too late permanently for some fans.

Thought Kear and Sharp were premature dismissals and can't understand why the board are choosing to look at the bigger picture on this occasion when the situation is clearly more dire - both on the pitch and on the terraces.

On a lighter note has anyone seen the kath hetherington twitter page obviously not her like the the agar one but it's just as amusing! @kathhethfc

It was condescending in many ways and he has done himself no favours but I don't believe that the board are completely stupid. The main thing the fans want is Agar gone and a new man brought in and I have no doubts the board will be considering this option but for now will continue to give him support until such time they decide enough is enough. As for Rule not attending on Friday, I won't slaughter him over it, he had some time off and I don't have a huge problem with that tbh.

I trust you mean on the low side? FOr a company turning over £5m, he will be on that kind of money without question.

Or it brings me to say again then, why is he still here?

I see the club imploding over the next 12 months. If we don't get our recruitment right for the end of this season, then it will be longer..

All I see is Puppets ran by the hetheringtons. NO matter what happens until they go, I fear we are screwed.

Agar and the Hetherington's live/lived down the same street in Featherstone. There's your link

I don't see how the RL allow the same family (Hetherington's) to have controlling stakes in two teams?

Conflicts of interest etc...

For what it's worth, I'm picking the home games I go to this year, probably Rovers, Leeds, Saints, Wigan, Wire, Huddersfield. I'm not paying £21 - £23 to go against the others. That's a lot of money the team are going to lose. I rarely miss a home game normally but I cannot watch the rubbish we are producing anymore. It's so obvious Agar has lost the changing room. One of my friends (who has no interest in RL) lives next door to one of our Aussie players and from the horses mouth he has told him so. Plus, he's definately back off to Oz at the end of the year.

Our Board needs to act now. OK, they may need to pay Agar his full contract. Without the support of the fans, money soon stops coming in and they would be in a worse state.

As for a replacement they should pay for the best and go for Wayne Bennet, Brian Smith or Stephen Kearney and pay them whatever they want.

They don't. Gary is an employee at Leeds