Spot on. A legendary FC moment is Swain giving everything he had got at Cardiff to charge down the Leeds drop goal. The current team are so dumb they won't have twigged a drop goal was on and then would probs stand hands on hips watching it

I think on the surface you could say the days under Hetherington have been similar to those under Pearson but that about the only similarity. Pearson has invested in the club heavily as opposed to Hetherington who did enough to ensure fans still turned up in numbers but maximised her & other shareholders take. Where I feel Pearson went wrong has been listening to wrong people in terms of rugby related matters from the off. As I said previously he should have backed Gentle instead of Radford which is where I believe the Hull mafia really took hold. McRae was another at the start who sadly tarnished his name at the club in his second spell at the club. I also don’t think appointing Clarke as CEO or involving him in recruitment has been a wise move. I think Adam has needed someone within that DOR role for far too long. That is what I believe Smith told long term at the club is

What is disappointing and frustrating to the fans must be even more so to Adam who has given the players just about every tool required to deliver success other than the right Coach, which I think he got right in the first place but he just didn’t back him.

I've been warning you for some time about the way the tide was turning you wouldn't have it.

Off the pitch the chasm is even wider.

The future is Hull Kingston Rovers.

Agree with all that, Gentle had a rushed together mix of last minute and journeyman players in 2012 yet finished 6th with I think the best home record we've had at the MKM? 2013 also was a 6th placed finish but Ellis limped off before his first game and that was a massive blow. Then the players downed tools at Huddersfield and that was the que for 2 more poor seasons before Motu Tony's signings did the business.

Sadly Pearson's record of hiring coaches was also patchy at City, appointed Peter Taylor and Phil Brown who are in the history books but there was also a list of Jan Molbys and several other flops.

It's like today, if we knew one of rovers key tactics is for Abdul to kick it as high as possible...why weren't we closing down Abdul on the last to put a bit of pressure on him? Can't remember one instance of us closing Abdul down. Separately, I know he went off injured but Clifford's bombs in the cas game were similar to Abdul's, why haven't we seen any from him in the last couple of games?

It was a gimme two points and crazy to turn it down with one play the ball to go.

Enjoy celebrating, Des. Hopefully more of a game at CP later in the year, I think you may have the Clive Sullivan Trophy wrapped up already though.

Obviously with abridged accounts it's difficult, but Hull have lost about £2.5m since 2011 (think this was when AP took over). We can argue that there have been many poor decisions and also some good ones over this time period, but we are where we are. If we are stuck with a squad of the current calibre because that's all we can afford I'd rather drop down a division tbh. We can't compete at SL currently.

I think that I understand the why?
We are to have a big clear out, but TS wants to give the players we have every possible chance to prove themselves. A Derby is a very good stage to try and get the best out of them.
It's going to be very difficult to get rid of 20 players and replace them all. It certainly is a transition year and you have to be sure that a new player available, is going to be an improvement.

A part of that 2.5m will be Covid, all those behind closed doors games and a drop in merchandise sales as people generally buy stuff to wear at games.

As far as I'm aware we are spending full cap (we keep being told there's no spare cap to wheel and deal) and the backroom staff is bigger than it has been for years. So we are spending the money just spending it badly.

We're "at budget" not at full cap

True but how the debt arose doesn't change its existence or that it needs servicing. I thought we were £500k under the cap but could well be wrong.

Which coach?
Bonaire, Dave K or T Smith??....hmm let me think

Maybe give Balmforth a run at six.Big lad with a bit of pace.Could use his strength to run at defences which we desperately need from half back.
Needs to up his fitness but surely cant be as ineffective as McNamara

Hmm interesting, know that our 2020 squad was billed as our most expensive ever. Then Reynolds was allegedly our highest paid player ever from 2021.

But since then we've lost several big salary players like Fonua, Gale, Reynolds, Mau'u and Connor but have made several signings such as Sutcliffe, Trueman, Hoy, Clifford etc so it's hard to gauge how much the budget has dropped.

Good post but you might think its a good idea to drop down a division and I would agree in principle with this crew making up the playing roster but in practise with our current costs of using the stadium and the facilities at the Uni, and our lease up for renewal (and in fact under consideration if we go down any way within the terms of our lease) plus a big reduction in Sky money and a massive debt to pay to the government (who aint interested in what competition we are playing in we still have to pay up) plus the fact that our owner hasn't got a bottomless pit of money, its pretty commonly known within the club that we would struggle to survive as a club at all where we relegated.

That was an accurate forecast then.

In defense of Radford he did make one or two decent signings like Ratu unlike Hodgson whos have all turned out to be poop.
Getting rid of Peter Gentle was a big mistake by Pearson

He didnt have to wait until the Derby to see if any of them deserved a contract extension previous results and on field perfomances should have been enough.
Its not difficult to get rid of them as they are OOC at the end of the season.They just leave the club
What the club need to do is wheel and deal couple of players in order to ensure we stay in S/L.The rest can go at the end of the season
The problem we are going to have is attracting the players we need

For me we’ve gone down hill since we tried to create club hull and tried to copy the Wigan method a few years ago . I’d also like to know who decides the contracts amd how much and how long , because it’s been amateurish for years compared to other clubs . This playing squad is so unbalanced and overpaid, surely someone should be held accountable , if it’s Clark how has he got this job from been gearing the crowd up before the game . Also I’d question Carlos has captain, last 2 weeks I’ve watched him now behind the sticks when we’ve conceded, just looks to the sky , seems to be griffin who does the talking . Anyway smith stays for me , can’t get rid of another coach before this bunch over paid so called players. How do some of them go home and look themselves and Their families in the eye and be happy with themselves .

Yeah I was thinking more of an administration/part time/Costello relocation scenario. I just think that's becoming more likely. As you say we've got big cost commitments and after paying for them can't afford a squad that can compete and time to address this is running out. Neither option is that compelling is it?

Absolutely.

Dan Tomlinson on the money again he'll be getting barred from the club soon. https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/r ... es-8334414

Dan Tomlinson on the money again he'll be getting barred from the club soon. https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/r ... es-8334414

As we well know injuries can turn squads and games around,but this season we seem to have a pretty decent squad and confidence,whereas you seem to be in the position weve been in for years till now,when first choices get injured were struggling.to replace them..

We've definitely done a bad job on contracts and singings but who makes the decisions on signings at clubs (coach or directors/transfer panels) is a tough one to get right.

Tony Smith cited not having control as a reason for leaving Rovers so you presume he will be the decision maker for any new signings, in fairness to James Clark his role is then 'make sure you get the deal done' rather than checking if better options are out there.

Good example is Fonua's return, clearly Radford wanted him back so the club just completed the coaches request and got him back, when in hindsight we were thinking sentimentally and not actually checking his recent NRL form or fitness and if better options were out there. Had James Clark 'blocked' that transfer you'd imagine Radford would have been fuming.

This season is over. Is it just a case of staying up and making massive changes? I would have thought there is a lot of talking and phone calls being made regarding players. Surely Litten Balmforth Staverly Gardiner Barron Etc deserve a chance. Not to throw them all in together but surely 2/3 in the 17