Doubt very much that by Marketing New Passes on our return from Wembley they will then announce either of these as head coach - It would be the biggest disaster of Adams time in charge. In my view our offence is a mirror of Radford as a player.

Doesn't surprise me, I like Gentle but have major doubts now, not just because of this weeks final, but over the course of the season.

In attack we are as clueless as we where under Agar, and you could even argue we are worse because we no longer have Manu & Moa to creates gaps. His signings have largely been anonymous, with players like Johnson & Crookes not even making the team most weeks. We're 7th in the league, which is just where we where when he took over. The only area's we've improved is in defence and bringing younger players through.

I think he'll get the start of next season, but if we make another poor start he'll be on the next flight home.

The references to Uncle Kath and Agar does make you realise there is a bright side, even in the situation we are at the moment.

as much as I disliked Kath & Agar, are we really in a massively stronger positon now?

off the field we are stronger, and I am encouraged by the youth development and young players we have coming through, but on the field:

in 2011 we finished 8th, winning 13, drawing 1, scoring 718 points, letting in 569 points.

this year with 2 rounds to go we are 7th, having won 12, drawn 2, scoring 606 and letting in 492

as much as it pains me to say it: that isn't progress.

and before people say 'Gentle got us to Wembley' don't forget Agar did that too, and we put in a far better display against a Saints side that were a lot stronger than Wigan were on Saturday. Gentle has a lot to prove.

Yes. And anyone who can't see that has little idea of how success is achieved in professional sport.

I disagree, I think people are letting their personal option of Kath & Agar cloud their judgement of what Gentle & Pearson have done so far.

We are still the same average mid-table plodders we've been since 2008, and unless we have a string of top quality signings in the bag, I can't see 2014 being any different. In fact the squad so far looks weaker.

are you serious, investment off the pitch is massively different

OK so you tell us what infrastructure improvements were made by the previous regime. They were taking their dividends and investing nothing in the club. You can't undo these sort of things overnight. Adam has invested massively in the club and our youth set-up (the future of the club) is the envy of many. We, and most of the other clubs, cannot afford to be bringing over NRL stars who would be demanding a fortune, so we have to grow our own. If you can't see the good that's being done at the present time, then you're walking around with your eyes shut.

We have far, far better facilities off the field. We have a far better youth development system in place. Both of these are absolutely critical in building sustained success, and we would never have had them under the old regime.

We have a young and primarily English squad that has the [ipotential[/i to be developed into a top 4 side. Something else we would never have had under the old regime.

And we have an owner who is prepared to spend money on infrastructure, coaches, and players to achieve success. Once again, something we would never have had while Kath and co were around.

Only people who expected Pearson to wave a magic wand and transform us into world-beaters overnight could be dissapointed with the progress the [iclub[/i is making.

Ok just playing devil's advocate here but could someone please list the improvements that have been made of the pitch by Pearson and how much has been invested into these areas?

Are you serious?

Bishop Burton, no longer at Gordon Street to just start a fairly long list.

Did you miss the devil's advocate bit?

So how much has been invested into Bishop Burton by Pearson. I'm also aware of the Gordon Street set up but the u21's/u18's were also training/playing up at Brantingham which isn't to shoddy.

You can't "play devils advocate" and ask such loaded questions, if people don't want to believe/admit that AP has done masses for FC it's up to them, I can see just what he's changed at the club, and it's massive.

I don't deny there is fantastic work happening off the field, but after 2 years I expected a few green shoots of progress. This season has been a massive disapointment, we've been inconsistent in the league, our attacking play is still woeful, and being nilled at Wembley is just embarassing however you dress it up.

last time we went from being average to good (2004) you could feel the signs that brighter times were ahead. In 2004 we played some fantastic attacking rugby and finished 3rd, and even though the season fizzled out becuase of injury, you could feel that a trophy wasn't far away.

right now I don't have that feeling at all, I feel we are stuck in mid-table malase and are no nearer breaking out of it.

sure the work we are doing off the field with the youth development may lead to us unearthing more Ben Crooks' and more Tom Lineham's, but this isn't guaranteed and I don't think many fans will sit through more years of hype and no delivery. The club is already losing money on the gates we get, I worry about what will happen if another thousand or two passholders get disillusioned and stop going.

of course as a fan I hope i've got it completely wrong and that we are about to go on a run of finals, top4 finishes and trophy wins. But right now i'm just not feeling it.

Well, under the previous regime Green, Bowden, Shaul, Lineham and Crooks wouldn't have played a single game. We'd have loaned players from Leeds.

still in the playoffs and appeared in the Wembley CC final, am sure fans of a lot of other clubs would live with that "disappointment"

I think some people need a reality check

and I completely agree with that, but in the cold light of day we still aren't winning any more games than when we bused in loanees from Leeds are we?

even the much maligned Agar got us to a CC final, and we didn't play as woefullyin 2008 as we did on Saturday.

and getting to the playoffs is all good and well if you're actually going to do something when we get there, the fact is most important games we flop spectacularly, and the only hope we have is frustrating teams with our defence and keeping the score down because our attack is so inept.

Yet no one can actually come up with any specifics or figures to back up these claims, or can they?

I'm aware we've moved our set up from Brantingham/Gordon Street to YPI and Bishop Burton. However these venues already existed, so what specific investment has the club made in them is surely a fair question to those that claim significant money has been made in our infrastructure.

True, but these players are gaining experience and Hull FC will benefit from the experience these young guys are getting, another season or so and these players will undoubtedly get even better which will be great of us. Previously the only beneficiaries were Leeds.

To be fair that was Peter Sharp's team. Agar hadn't had much chance to destroy it at that time.

none so blind as those that refuse to see

Nobody is refusing to see. Just asking what appears to be reasonable questions that some (those that claim investment has been made) are finding difficult to answer! after all this is what a forum is for surely.

And I suppose the opposite Devils Advocate question would be how can you prove no invest has been made?

True, but if we finish eighth is that acceptable? Reaching the Challenge Cup final was an achievement but it can't totally gloss over a poor league season.

We may have taken at least a point off everyone but Huddersfield and Wigan but we've also dropped at least a point to everyone apart from Salford. Too many unacceptable results this season: Rovers and Wakefield at home, Widnes, London, Cas, Catalans, Bradford away.