No they're not.

I'm not a massive fan of Paea but he seems more suited to SL. Feka could be a good bit of buisness but he could be horrible.

Pea is a good signing. But when you look at perfomances this year and last years target of top 4, it's difficult to see how our player signings are going to change anything.

Err you know the bit where you say bout challeng in 2/3 yrs? Don't know if you noticed but 4 weeks ago we was 1 of 2 teams from a starting point of 94 to play for a challenge cup!!!!

Some of the poorest performances this yr were against poor teams that with the smallest amount of attitude n nous in those games we could of have quite easily ended in the 4..
If you look at our strongest team now, and factor in the improvements that all the youngsters have in them and IF the coaching team can improve consistency n attitude we're not that bad a team. Massively disappointed with how the yr fizzled out n our inconsistency but some of the drama queening going on is utterly ludicrous!
Hudd weren't much better off than us this time last yr with a squad not much different to the one that's won them a league shield n maybe more.
Tweaks, small changes belief,backing n attitude make the difference. Not getting hysterical n writing off everything we've done too simply start again!

You're missing the bit where wigan won the league leaders shield, grand final and a challenge cup with their aussie before promoting the assistant with 6 years experience to coach a top performing side.. Apart from that then yes its an exact copy.

And 6 years were the team improved year on year. The Aussie had also taken over a side on an upward spiral after Noble turned their fortunes around.

On a serious note and not wanting to start a my dad is bigger than yours debate, How much has Pearson got and has he got some big money backers that are ‘assisting’ in financing the club?
The thing is in his previous incarnations as a football ‘owner / chairman’ he has seemed to be the front man for a big money investor, Duffen, Allam, Wilkinson etc. Yet he has come in at Hull as the sole owner. I’m not sure of his business standings and his net worth but I was under the impression that although obviously a lot wealthier than most he wasn’t minted to the level of a Ken Davy, Simon Moran.
If there is no backer and even if Pearson was worth £10m then the FC investment he has made will be making a pretty big dent in his finances so would a ‘cutting the cloth’ exercise be such a surprise. He has come in with a 3 year plan that looking at the record books alone has seemed to work, challenge cup final edging on a top 5 place but this has not been seen to be enough to generate the increased crowds and revenue I’m sure he thought would follow.
Looking at the wider picture that RL is seemingly in decline, crowds reducing across the whole of SL and a seemingly apathetic view of CC games and play offs then you could understand if he’s started to realise there’s no money to be made at this game and it really is an expensive hobby that unless your either one of the very rich or very interested why bother.

As a guess BR, it's because he likes to be the chairman of a club. Footballs to expensive and he has an affiliation with the city.

I don't get the theory that he'll try and improve us and make a profit. I don't think, with the investment needed, it was be possible. He probably believes that he can get us self sufficent with a bit of success.

This. Although you could argue that our patience was a bit thin after the Auntie Kath and Agar years

I don't recall him ever saying a top 4 was gauranteed. As for challenging for trophies I know it was crap but we did get to Wembley.

What he did say was he would not accept scrapping in the 8 and going out with a whimper. So as I see it he's been pretty true to his word.

So why the need for this drastic change of direction now?

We seemed to be going in the right direction so why couldn't Pearson stick with Gentle for another year?

Because some of our performances were ing horrible.

No doubt we can expect more consistency next year then and undoubtedly the gap between our best and worst performances will be narrower because our best performances won't be as good. I can't see us beating the likes of Wire and Leeds or putting teams to the sword like we did Widnes and Cas at home.

That shows something is wrong with the players rather than the coach in all honesty.

One minute your having a go at him for allegedly leading you on about top4 finishes. Now your having a go at him for keeping to his word on not accepting a mid table finish and poor performances in the playoffs. He can't win can he.

What I am saying is that he painted himself into a corner with his promises (or maybe allowed the club's marketing machine to do so) and this raised expectations too much. I think we were heading in the right direction and that he should have stuck with Gentle for another season.

But I doubt very much that any of these players will be shown the door (unfortunately).

If rumours about player coups are true they should be.

The financial mire will appear if/when season ticket sales drop by 20% or more. The owner has made it clear that season pass sales are the lifeblood of the club.

Unless he can pull a rabbit out of the bag in terms of a big signing I think he will be very disappointed by pass sales for next season.

All it would take is bringing in a decent coach then optimism would be up and the season tickets would fly off the shelf. Surely Adam knows this and by employing Radford he's gonna damage his own investment?

Is there any reasons the players would play for another coach.....or have they been told by Radders play for me or I will kick ass!!!! hahahaha

I don't blame AP for wanting to cut costs he hasn't got an endless pot of money to throw away.

Shaul, crooks and lineham are the three bright sparks this season.

I partly disagree here Seb. I think judging by reactions on here and elsewhere that people are sensing there's more that needs doing than simply hiring a proven coach so I doubt that passes would fly off the shelves. That said, I think that a proven head coach in charge would see more passes sold than if/when Radford is announced.

I already have my pass by the way.

If you were coach of another SL team, would you sign any of them? I'm afraid until someone comes clean and says what actually happened, no-one will want any of your players in case they are buying in trouble, and no coach will want to go there either for fear of getting the same 'support' from the players Gentle got.

I doubt that will happen, although it did as [url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/24214706Sunderland[/url, perhaps