The squad that jd has put together is has good has any in the championship these games are for the team to sort out how they can play with differant players and to let jd see what talant hes got. Bring on the northern rail cup then you can judge what the team can do .My personal opinion is that they will hold there own and give the socalled big hitters a good going over starting with featherstone.Stay behind the coach and team make cougar park a hard place to get points from

No it isn't.
If Keighley get in the top six and get through the group stage of the NRC you should class that as a massive stride forward and something to build on the season after.

There is nothing wrong with the chairman talking the club up.
But and its a [sizebig[/size but it needs to be done in the right way.

Coming and saying we will be going for SL in 5 years (now 3) and it not happening makes him look silly.

Saying we will go and beat Fax by 20. Makes him look silly when it does not happen. It also gives ammo to ever other player/fan/chairman to use against him.

He would have done better saying something along the lines of, "We are really looking forward to our game against our near neighbours. These are normally good games that both sets of fans enjoy. It will give JD a chance to try one of the many combination he has this year. It will also go a long way to help us prepare for a bid at SL in the future".

Sorry Jim, but - rubbish....

Aim high..

Never mind the newspaper copy, well rehed, conciderate and politicaly correct statement - tell as it is, form the heart, with enthusiasm, motivational and with belief...

Who cares if he aimed high and missed?

Who cares about daring to dream?

Follow the dream and then live it.....

I promise you this, nobody will follow if the message is weak.

Merry Christmas pal and a Happy New year

I agree with Jim, trust is a big issue with many lost Cougar fans. Broken promises and rose coloured spectacles never ever gain trust.

What jc with a team that youve got there is no reason why you cant get to the final in both comps

I wish,but its unlikely.
On paper you've got a good team but your new signings are getting on a bit and i think it'll be a long season for them,don't know about your squad depth though?.

I agree, I don't think a club chairman should conduct themselves like that.

As for the bold statement regarding Super League, I could have almost have understood if he'd backed it up with a clear vision of how it was going to be achieved.

We're only 2 years away from having to submit the franchise bid, where the club will have to demonstrate that it is better equipped than any other applying club outside Super League, be it from the Championship or from abroad. Like Halifax tried and failed to, we may have to beat a current Super League club. What do we need to achieve?

- Win the NRC or reach the championship Grand Final. To be fair the club has put a good squad together, but so have a lot of Championship sides. Halifax and Featherstone's squads are better than ours.

- Achieve an average attendance of 2,500. There's a lot of hard work going on behind the scenes at the club to improve this. However we struggled to get 1,000 through the turnstyles for most games last season. Even with more away fans and the hard work going on at the club it's a massive ask to improve attendances by 150% in 2 years.

- Deliver a Super League standard stadium. Here's where it all falls down. Of the clubs already eligible to apply (Leigh, Featherstone & Sheffield) one has a near brand new ground that has hosted England games, one plays in a 35,000 all seater stadium that's hosted Premier League football, and the other has plans in place to redevelop their ground. We are miles behind, at the very least the RFL are going to want to see detailed plans, with full planning permission and funding in place to build. The likelihood is they're going want to see bricks and mortar. Given how long the planning process can take the club should have an outline plan and design for a Super League standard ground in the town.

The thing is anyone can make these bold statements, in 3 years time I'll be driving a brand new Ferrari. I don't have a driving licence, I don't have a house with a garage, and I don't earn a 6 figure salary but I'll be driving one in 3 years time........Honest

To many times the fans and local business have been let down.

This cannot happen again.

The message does not have to be weak.

It has to be right.

I am new to this forum and don't know any of you. I can only go on what I read. Sounds like you have a Chairman who is trying to inspire and motivate and just gets a bit carried away. A well respected coach who is trying to bring a mix of experience and youth. Folks - we can't change what is going to happen. Maybe influence a little - but it has to be positive. How do you think your JD and players feel when they read the negative comments that seem to be all over this forum? Come on you guys - you've had 1 run out and some of you are already writing off this season and undermining the confidence of the team! I'm with the positive guys on this one.

You will quickly realise that this forum is like life: some have a pint pot that’s half full, others that is half empty. Some have a personal axe to grind, others just like moaning.

Sometimes, I think our Chairman has a tendency to get a little over excited and I wish he would just think a little first, but then I look back a few years and remember who we used to have at the helm and I know whom I prefer.

The Chairman and directors are by no means perfect but bloody hell, no one can accuse them of not trying.

I do not have huge expectations for this year, but I am certainly looking forward to it. It's a bit like buying and easter egg: some people are drawn by the spectacular wrapping but feel a little let down by the size of the contents, others ignore the glitz and just buy it because they like the filling.

You are right about the chairman.

The thing is I was brought up that if something is too good to be true it probably is. I've been coming down to Cougar Park for two thirds of my life, I heard chairman after chairman fail to deliver on whatever wild ambition their inflated egos have set themselves. Of course I want to see ambition, but it needs to be allied with a well planned and measured approach. When I heard Gary Fawcett first come out with the Super League comment I cringed, I'd heard it all before and it had ended up in catastrophic failure. Now if he'd have said "I want rebuild the club, establish ourselves as one of the best run Championship clubs, in the way Batley have, then in 5-10 years use that as a catalyst to push for a Super League place" I'd have been impressed.



There's no one on here who's written off the season. There will always be optimistic, pessimistic and realist fans of any club. Believe it or not, I'm optimistic for this season (see my sig) but I'm realistic to know there are better and more established squads in the Championship this season. The minute I heard the teams being announced at The Shay I knew we were in for a beating. The Fax team had some of the very best players in the Championship in it. Our team was missing half our best players and had some bit part and Championship 1 reserve team players in it. To be honest in the first half we did well and were only 10 points behind. To some riding the wave of optimism that signing all these quality players has created, it may have been a harsh reality check. It won't come easy for us this season.

From reading this thread Gary is damned if he does and damned if he doesn't.
He has to show ambition, would JD or any other ambitious coach hang around if a chairman states he is happy with Championship RL for 5 to 10 years. Would sponsors be inspired by such comments, would potential new fans be inspired, short answer...No!
There are a number of comments re trust in the directors. Be thankful that they took the club on. Why anyone would want to be a director of an RL club defies logic. It's all your fault if it goes belly up and all the player's and coach if it goes well. And as for tarring the current directors with the actions of the previous incumbents serves no one at all. You cannot effect what has happened in the past but you can effect the future.
If some fans believe that they can do a better job then stump up the cash and become a director. Failing that volunteer your services and help the club, don't bitch on a forum.
As for the Boxing Day game. Yes, it was not the greatest result but JD will know a hell of a lot more about players and tactics than the Halifax coaching staff. Judge the team against York, Batley, Swinton, Sheffield etc in the season.
We have a good squad, a great coach and a buzz about the club. There will be triumphs and adversity throughout this season and we need to treat them in the same manner.

Stealth, when you get your ferrari can I have a lift to the Grand Final?

I went and watched the game on boxing day at halifax, and these are the conclusions I reached. 1st of all there was at least 6 players who should be in 1st team who did not play. The 1st half wasn't that bad really we were still in the game although we suffered some injuries. We seemed to miss quite alot of tackles and Halifax always looked a yard quicker than us. Friendlys are there to fine tune your team and workout any problems and issues you have, seemed like the cougars still had fat bellys and maybe sore heads from christmas day. Who can blame them 12 o'clock kick off on boxing day is a tad early. I for one am not concerned by this performance to be honest, it is what it is a friendly!

Come the season I believe the cougars can and will compete with any team in this division and I'm so looking forward to it. If you look at it with a big outside view, how many of you at this point last season would have given your right arm and left leg to be where we are now and your left arm and right leg to have the squad we have.

I have heard rumours that there is plans for a new stadium, is it true who knows but the fact there is rumours has gotta be good.