It's a good read atm.

To be honest, I dont really get the "years of under funding" line which AP used when he first took over. I could well have been a "I have listened to the discontent and I want to get the natives on board" type comment.

Even if over the last how ever many years it was, we didn't spend the full salary cap, with the first team personnel we had it's not inconceivable to suggest were pretty close to it.
If that comment was aimed at youth development then the impact of investment in that area will not be felt for a few years yet. if our youth development was so poor in the past then Green, Kent, Bowden would have been no where near first team consideration.

I am not for one minute saying things were anywhere near adequate under Agar and Kath, but I fully appreciate the positive vibe an incoming owner will want to put on things.

Are we back? I think we have to be realistic to know we haven't really been there yet, not until we end top of the tree and taking home the main prize.

Are we back in with a shout of giving the current contenders something to think about, I reckon so. But the main difference is not financial investment, it's having a coach who knows what the job is about.

the under funding i'm on about is the lack of proper facilities that that juniors (and at time the first team)had to put up with . gordon street school should have been pulled down in the 70's when it shut. having to walk on to st georges road to train on a old cemetry with dog muck all over the place. Limited times for training due to the lack off floodlights.
this sort of enviroment could have held back their development.
I know we have players now stepping up to super league but how many others could have stepped up with the right facilities.
I know the boulevard is part of our history but the lack of a proper base for the development team and players has held the club back over the past few years in bring the younger players through quicker

Think we are definately improving. However, we'll have a better idea in a month's time. I think there is a lot more positivity and yesterday's victory will certainly help.

We need to keep ourselves in perspective. We need to remember we have never been world beaters. In the past sixty years, we've won one title and two Challenge Cups. We had a very good spell in the early 80's, a decent team in the early 90's and a few moments in the mid 2000's.

We could be on for a new era, I hope so. I like Gentle and I like Pearson. Could be some fun days ahead and I think Hull fans generally have a good handle on where we are and how we are performing. Let's enjoy the ride!!

In terms of playing as a team, hacing gameplans, building a squad, players getting coached correctly and having ambition then yes we are back. However still a lot of work to do and I still maintain we won't finish top 4 this season.

For us fans it's just great to finally have some justified optimism in our great club again.

The standard of support play is improving week on week. Against rovers we had multiple players flooding through when someone made a break. Great to see and something we haven't had for years

I watched a highlights video the other day from the 2006 season and it was unbelievable how many players were always there in support. Something which has been missing the last few seasons, but looks like its now being rectified.

The try scored by Yeaman was one of the best I've seen in a long while . There were still players in support who could have taken the ball off Yeaman to score.

With Briscoe lagging 20 metres behind, which was a bit surprising.

So Warrington and Saints are crap then = 3points

I think he was struggling with a knock.

Whole attitude has changed, all down to Gentle.

we're not quite there yet

I was looking at the league table thinking that it was something of note that Hull FC where quietly going about their business heading up the table. Not sure when you have to fill your missed fixture with catalans. But those four games could have a massive impact on your season. Catalan away, Wigan, Huddersfield and Leeds.

Win them all and you have to start thinking title contenders. Win half and top four must look a pretty good bet. Lose them all and then it's back in the mix with the rest of us.

To a certain extent we are in a "false" position. Fixtures have been kind to us and we've played all of the bottom 8 and only 1 of the top 6. Plus we've had 3 away matches and 6 at home (due to rovers fixture switch and cats cancellation), however you can only play what's in front o you and we don't know how we would have gone against wigan, leeds, hudds, cats if we'd already played them.

Major issue we have is taht we're coming into a tough period with a stack of players missing. If any more of our established players pick up an injury then we're re in some serious trouble.

I'd take 1 win out of the next 3 league games as things stand and feel we're in good shape for the rest of the season. Like most, my expectations this year were pretty low so I'm just enjoying things as they stand

Completely agree, and disappointing that we couldn't get the game on in France as would have been a great chance for us to win IMO. Realistically we need to make the play-offs and win a game to show progression, anything else is a bonus for me.

Cup's an interesting one. With a lot of injuries, would probably be best from a league campaign point of view to get knocked out on Sunday (which I expect will happen anyway), but a good cup run would build some momentum for the cub.

Totally agree with that...

Said this a few times , wherever we are on May 6th is where we will finish

I knew I should've added a wink to the end of that post, if only to appease the hard of thinking

Cod'ead, suprised anyone listens to what KT170496 says anyways.

Ramblings of a mad man

I don't think we are anywhere near the finished article yet but we are moving in the right direction. As other people have said we will know better when we reach the half way stage, but we are still not playing with the same intensity as the top teams.
I think the most important thing is we are steadily going forward and if AP is true to his word and keeps flashing the cash then PG looks like the man to make us in to the team we have all wanted for so long now.
That said we will most probably have a few losses soon and i hope the team can take the losses and carry on.

Gentle will learn more from today's performance then the derby whooping.
Are we the finished article?
No not by a long shot but we are making very good progress in all aspects.

think todays' game is hard to judge if we are back, 2 games in 3 days is not the normal weekly schedule, i'll wait until the wigan and leeds match to pass judgement

Not the finished article by far, but the signs are there. The little things such as playing with a smile on their faces are evident. They are together as a group and trust each other and above all, trust in the gaffer.