Two words sum up this season. Dire & Clueless.
The highlight of the season was the final hooter on Sunday.
Another season where players with flair and invention were shown the door to be replaced with willing workhorses, who then had any thoughts of inspirational play coached out of them.
A season where the pitches were either too soft or too hard.
A season where passing the ball seemed to be a dirty word and backing up a player in possession a rarity.
A season of declining crowds ( but oddly not according to the published attendences LOL )
A season of hopeless P.A. systems on a Sunday, but very good the previous day usually.
A season of invisible directors who were quieter than a Trappist male voice choir.
But hope springs eternal and there were some positives:-
Fax TV, a great idea which improves all the time.
Keith Holden. His enthusiasm created a buzz every time he came onto the pitch.
Andy Bracek played his heart out every match, usually having been selected in the wrong position.
Fax still have a core of about 750 fans. There is massive potential waiting for good rugby.
There is passion for the club. Harness that passion and light the blue touchpaper.
Appoint Barry Eaton as the next coach and "Bring On The Bulls"

I thought I would write with an alternative view point away from the pitch but my view on the season.

At the beginning of the season I was asked to help the coaching the team with the new performance software. This software has changed how I view the game now. We took an age to get to where we wanted to be in analysis. Obviously this is only a small piece of the puzzle but it was something we wanted to get right to help move forward. Very interesting to see the software and the camera angles to view how the game was played. It can only help us moving forward now we have everything working fully from the beginning of 2015.

The second view point was trying to improve the communication as I saw the hard work of the BOD and the office - it was a shame you guys couldn't see it - hence the "re"-birth of Fax TV. I wanted to create a channel to show you guys a glimpse of the hard work and not the stuff produced by Alex Simmons. KH was brilliant at bringing ideas and supporting the channel because he felt the same. KH brought in the fantastic folks at Hudds Uni to help too. I loved interviewing Karl midweek to try to get the message. Some folk have said it can be too serious but I felt we needed to get the message across. More to come next year - I promise. The BOD have been quietly brilliant in their support especially Michael Steele - who wrote a recommendation for me on the professional network LinkedIn.

This season has been hard for various reasons and you all have your reasons. 3rd place is what it is. I would rather be there than the bottom of SL. I enjoy our battles versus Leigh and Doncaster. Fev not so much. I know the players have all tried but it simply has not happened but that is sport in my eyes.

Moaning folk about the PA - yeah I understand, I wish I knew why it is different on various game days. Past few games have been a different mic which is dross. My favourite bit was the singer Scott Conrad for the Fev home game - it was something different.

Yes i have now managed 10 seasons,i have to say my resolve & commitment have been tested this last couple of seasons.Ihave now seen 306 consecutive Lg/Cup games & missed 2 of the last 507,not sure about next seasons away games as i said to Hudd-Shay on another post "Hang on every game is away for me".
Onwards & Upwards keep the Faith

Whether we have 750 or 1250 hardcore fans it just illustrates how difficult it is for the club to get back on an upward spiral. How the club can build a successful business on such low income streams is beyond me. Its a miracle we are still going! For me I find it impossible to be really positive about the future. To get better we need a major injection of quality in terms of playing staff and coaching setup. It seems an enormous task but we need to hit the ground running next season; no easy matches (and some very difficult ones) but we still need to be competitive from match 1. OK defeats are acceptable for what is likely to be a transitional season but we have to competitive. Being on the end of a walloping does nothing for a young players confidence. I await with interest the news of the new coach. Hopefully this will be a quality appointment. There are many reasons for our demise but for me the principal reason is that the board have made some appalling decisions over the years in the selection of the team coach. This goes back to our even to our SL days!

Doesn't seem that long ago but i can remember having to get to Thrum hall for 2-15 for big games as they locked the gates at 9800 attendance.You couldn't envisage at that time that 90% of our fans would lose interest.