If you can't get excited about a new season then it is time to pack in, why are people obsessed with pouring cold water over optimism.

i get excited everytime we play. This year will be better than last year!

I take it by that Alan, most of the players are on large bonus payments that is why they have signed.

People who think all the players have come for peanuts and all that jazz need to get real.

Nah come on,who's said that?

No - it's simply that we haven't budgeted to win every match - so, if we win them all, we'll be down on our budget, because we'd have to pay winning pay every match, rather thyan losing pay on the 'x' matches we have budgeted to lose.

I'm with you Lynda. There's nothing wrong with being excited by what we've seen on the pitch, but we mustn't be lulled into thinking our problems have been solved, or that 'the next person' is sorting them. We've all got a part to play.

Come on guys - give Lynda a break.

The title of her post is "Before we get too excited". The emphasis on the word "too". It is great to be excited and enthused, as I am sure she is, about what we have seen on the pitch so far.

BUT, it is simply good forward thinking to make sure the foundations are going to be strong enough to ensure that what happened before does not happen again. Some people and some organizations love to operate in "firefight mode" - always dealing with emergencies and never planning long term.

Some fans will only care about the results on the pitch as soon as they get the slightest hint that the panic is over. Look how LISA membership declined when people felt Arthur was bankrolling the club (as he was in the end).

The fact remains that the healthier our finances are, the quicker we will be able to achieve our aims on the pitch. All successful organizations are NEVER satisfied with where they have managed to get to, they never rest on their laurels.

The need to raise funds and keep rattling the tins in various ways may well be turn out to be a permanent one - no it shouldn't have to be that way but its a fact of life, especially in this economic environment.

Now is the not the time to get "donation fatigue" or think we have reached the end when we have only just started - and now is certainly not the time to take a pop at Lynda who has moved heaven and earth (as have others) to get to where we are now.

It isn't just about whats going on on the pitch.
After the last 6 month why can't people feel optimistic about whats going on off the pitch?

How did those that were collecting outside the ground on Friday night get on ,well done by the way for doing so

I'm glad you asked this question cos i got an email asking me to ask the same question and i forgot all about it.

I was also asked t ask linda....do you think you set the ticket price '£15' to high for your poker night?if a couple came it would have been £30 entry plus taxis and drinks etc and it would have made for a very expensive night?.

John
I didn't set the price Kevin from the Bull and Butcher who organised it did. He wanted to do the event to raise the club money.
He wanted to make it a really quality night out, with quality food.
Also wanted to get hundred people in which if £15 a head, would mean take out £5 for the food and that would leave £1000 profit for LISA to give to the club which would have been brilliant and Im sure they would have been made up with that.

Thanks linda ive sent that to him

We should be really excited with what Paul and Dukes have achieved in such a short time under immense pressure. The start we have had is fantastic I am sure we will be in the running with Fev and fax this season no problem on that front.

However like I said in my last post its not just on the pitch that matters its off the pitch too. We have to walk before we can run, lets not forget we are a club in debt, this years monies from the RFL are paying last years tax bill so finances are very tight.

If we average 2000 spectators per game we cover our cost and pay off some debt, 2400 per game we will be debt free by the end of the season. Under 2000 say 1600 we are losing money and will have no choice but to cut cost. So just think when we played Fax the other week 1,300 fans, we lost money and this season that will be one of our biggest games!!!

We need more revenues into this club, biggest revenues are from ticket receipts and LISA with a number of small sponsors. We don't have an Arthur Thomas, decent sponsor or revenues from LSV like we had at HP

If we want to be successful and follow in the footsteps of Widnes into super league we have to have a plan. Relying on the fan base, LISA won't cut it you only need to do the basic maths to realise that.

Its not going to be easy there is so much work to do, but what worries me the most it is in areas that as a club we have always failed, planning and finance!

What has been achieved so far is fantastic, better than anyone could expect but we all have to keep our feet firmly on the ground.

I believe in this club and together we can make this happen if we have a decent plan with realistic goals!

To whom?