I will counter that with the fact that without Geoff Roebuck there wouldnt have been a club for Carl to "save".

Fair point ob Carl dipping into his own pockets but just think who fills those pockets... Us and the rfl.

What irks me with the Wellington Albert situation is that one week we were in for two international forwards now the squad is fine and doesn't need additions..but it needed two forward but a few months ago

I totally agree DM

I too like Carl but sometimes he engages his mouth before his brain ,which makes him look foolish.
ie Wellington and Stanford Albert and the five year plan nonsense.

I also agree that there may not be a club without him , but pardon the pun "the goal posts have been moved" and I just don't see the club progressing under his leadership.

We have the stadium , we may have a Super League back room but we don't have a Super League side on the field , and that's what counts.

If a town the size of Doncaster cant sell more than a few hundred season tickets ...........,at what is the bargain of the century, then there is something very wrong , I know the club are trying to engage with the community clubs , but this should have been done years ago.

The Doncaster public have always been a fickle bunch , but there needs to be more people coming through the gates to make the five year plan come to light, and if the product served up is good crowds should increase.

Hopefully RH can achieve that this season.

I'm sure Carl does things with good intentions and it can backfire at times. With hindsight it might have been better not to mention the Albert brothers but he wanted to try to keep us informed. He never actually mentioned them publicly by name, it was a conclusion that was drawn through inference. I'd rather have a CEO who is prepared to communicate with us, rather than have someone who hides behind a desk all day and isn't approachable.

The goal posts have been moved - due to the stability that Club Doncaster brings. Club Doncaster needs to be given some credit for that. Of course we would all like the owners to pump more of their money into the club but we have to respect that they have the right to manage the club as they see fit. They're not in the business to fail on the pitch but they're not in the business to see the club go bust either.

I too am concerned that a town the size of Doncaster can't sell more season tickets at a discount price. It sadly leads me to the conclusion that maybe the people of Doncaster don't want a rugby team in their town. Maybe it's a chicken and egg situation and the fans will come when we start winning, although the crowds didn't noticeably increase when we won this league several seasons back. Apart from the odd few who stay away out of principle now, I don't think the current ownership is causing any significant drops in attendance levels. We're starting from a low base and it's not easy to get the numbers up quickly.

I agree we should have been doing more work in the local communities in the past but at least we're moving forwards on that one now. The kids of today are the fans of tomorrow.

I don't think it's a counter argument with regards to the excellent work your dad did for the Dons, Steve. It goes to show how much worse off we all would be if it wasn't for the dedication of the people who either work hard for the club now or who have worked hard for the club in the past. I fully respect what your dad did and I'm very grateful to him too.

The decision not to sign any replacements for the Albert brothers is the decision of Richard Horne, not Carl. The money is still there to be spent if he needs it. I suspect Mr Moimoi isn't eligible to sign for any professional club at the moment but who would Richard be able to spend the money on now? There isn't exactly a queue of good quality players looking for clubs. At least the cash is there if Richard needs to spend it.

I am of the mind that we STILL need those forwards.
Other sides have some gritty forwards ... notably the Cumbrians, Keighley etc.
What apart from a few exceptions do we now have?
Christ we have a weaker pack than last year and we only struggled to 6th THEN!
Most if that under Horne, who I personally do NOT rate.

Hall has chosen badly the last few times. I would blame him for that ... too easily sweet-talked.

Mark my words.

It is the detail that matters.
I couldn't give a toss that someone has an aim or vision for this or that.
My question would be "Just how in detail will you achieve this aim ... down to the nuts and bolts?''

So for Carl it would be .. "Just how in detail will you fulfil the five year plan?"
For Horne it would be .. "Just how in detail will you get us promoted?"

I would like to know how the club is going to respond to the seeming termination of the loan spells of Litten and Lane to essentially play in a friendly the otherside of the world. I don't begrudge the lads the opportunity be we were told the players were on loan the us for the season not some half cocked dual registered affair

Yes they made a big thing of the loan players at the launch night.
They were pivotal to the attraction of a season ticket after their fine performances away to Toronto.
Not more bleeding part-timers.

Maybe a question to be skillfully avoided I'm next weeks In the dugout

I would imagine it was always Richard Horne's intention to play as many of his own squad this weekend in the first game. It must be a good move for the two Hull lads to have got the experience of going to Australia. This is experience that we will be able to benefit from as the season progresses. It doesn't make sense to keep those two lads here just for the sake if it, when we've got a fully fit squad for the Coventry game.

We've got plenty of flexibility in who can come from Hull. We can only have 5 players in the match 17 but it doesn't mean we can't have more players registered to play - if we need them.

Carl's not stupid the '5 year plan' idea bides him more to pick up his hefty ceo wage slip, one of his last statements in the free press report was 'if it all fails I'm big enough to shake hands and go our separate ways' fans outside the gullible circle know that's utter BS as if he had any decency he would of done the right thing at the end of last season, we can keep bringing in 15 players a season and firing coaches twice a year but the problem lays elsewhere.

You play your best side irrespective and they are among those, otherwise why get them?
So for me they start and Australia be damned.
Is it a bleeding charity we are running?

Let's look at this squad shall we?
Hardly different from last season apart from the addition of a few players.. say 5 ... all of which have pulled up NO TREES in pre- season games.
Jesus!

There is no one incomer that has revved me up ... not one.
I thought the Hull lads would when they eventually got to play ... but no! They don't exist.

Jesus .. it's a joke factory!

Thank goodness for Miloudi.

Please spare me a lengthy answer about how we have to accept this and accept that.

Agreed, EXACTLY! SO well said.
The Best 5 points spoken for a long time.