Martin's gone, and it was his ultimate responsibility, but who should have done the job of checking such as this while he was away? We haven't always had a Director of Football. Surely there are procedures, check lists or manuals to follow on issues such as this?

Derr!

The cash in the budget freed up by not paying one salary would fund the other.

You know what. I've been itching to say this for ages but I can't hold back any longer. I think I'll say this and then go away. It's been more and more frustrating reading this absolute tripe for the last year or so and I've had enough.

Chris, this 'majority' that exists in your head haven't a clue about how a club works and by that I mean the inside of a club.

Dressing rooms win games, not board rooms, and been an official or a director of a club is worse than playing the Sims or the hardest strategy game ever invented in that you have to juggle the needs of a thousand and one different people, without upsetting the players, coaches, staff, officials, speccies, press, RFL, sponsors, council, Sky, bank, groundsman, players wives, cleaner, fellow tenants, past players, other clubs, the safety team, local charities, local amateur clubs, local juniors and a hundred and one other people who think 'they' own the club. And all the people who then actually spend thousands of their own money and actually get up and do it get told they are doing it wrong.

Tinker with the coaching or playing staff to make it different to what goes on elsewhere (other clubs) just because you - as a speccy with no idea of what does go on in a dressing room or at training or in a contract negotiation - don't adhere to the same culture at work - or think someone's having an easier time than they should, and you risk the place becoming an unattractive place for players to come - why should they? When a Coach loses the dressing room, it's time to go. Until then, don't get involved.

All this idealistic claptrap about you 'paying their wages' by paying in is bull too. If you're not happy don't come. You have the choice. We're playing exciting stuff currently, and the club IS being run properly. if that's not enough, then you live in a different world to me.

I'll say this. Halifax are not going to be in Super League next round, or probably the round after that at least, unless we get a benefactor back. And we're wasting our time even applying. Deep down, it's probably only being done because the Club daren't not put an application in for fear of being deemed unambitious. Get real people.

And stop blaming the RFL for everything from not checking our team sheets to closing the door on promotion. In my mind they're doing right by not allowing clubs to bankrupt - and make a show of themselves - by joining the big boys for a year of losing nearly every game in Super League then coming back down. And the conspiracy paranoia about us being 'not wanted' is rubbish too. We just haven't the people who can handle the politics at the moment.

Rugby League (and I don't mean the RFL) is 'run' by a small number of very shrewd and intelligent people and unfortunately we've not got someone in that gang at the moment, and a few years ago managed to offend half of that community in a way that set us back years.

Remember them? A group of 'advisory' speccies who were so dissatisfied with the way things were that they had a go themselves? And look what a balls up they made of it!

So, how about shutting up bleating and letting the people who know what they're doing - and are doing an amazing job with the resources to hand - get on with it? Because believe me, if you spent two weeks working in the environment that is professional sport these days, your opinion would change, and you'd be cursing everyone on the list above before you know it.

Don't you just love this message board!?

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Speakers' Corner has nothing on this place. It's a think tank without the brains