This more or less puts that to bed. All the criticism at the club for LETTING players go
is now put in perspective. Well said Captain.

I think you're missing the point a bit, and since everything in the garden is now rosy, now is probably not the best time BUT - I'm sure the criticism wasn't just about letting those players go, but the manner in which it was done and the apparent lack of like for like replacements. That's been done to death however, and Sunday's win has settled nerves on both sides of the argument.

Regarding JD's interview; there were comments very similar to these from him several weeks ago (can't remember where) and I posted on here at the time that it was good to see him say what some fans were thinking, without the political smoke and mirrors that club officials are compelled to use. He does seem to have a very honest and affable persona - you'd think if he does hang up his boots, he'd be a shoe-in for some punditry work.

Well said JD, glad someone has come out and made the fans aware of the situation. We only want players that want to play for us.

yes well said jd and well played. fantastic effort from the captain and regarding the departed players, i hear at least one of them is not settling in very well. seems to be having a few problems. how sad!

And just what point do you think I am missing?

A BIT ???!!!
And who the hell said everything in the garden is rosy ?

No - it is YOU who is missing the point. The right time to let a player go is when they no longer want to be with you / they won't play well for you / are costing you money and/or you can get money back from them.

You then try and get the best replacements you can with your resources - someone who wants to be part of our club - you accept that there will be a 'bedding in' period and you get on with it.

THE POINT is that the club made the right calls for the right reasons - that doesn't mean to say that we are happy with it all, but the club have done the best that they can FOR the club.

At the risk of going off on a tangent, and repeating something that has been done to death, could we have done better from the Tronc "deal"? Accepted he didnt want to play with us, and its almost pointless in making him do so. Am i right in saying we got nothing in return for him from the Bronchos? As far as I can see we held a decent hand, but on the face of it got nothing in return?

Go back to JD's comments - what we gained was the riddance of a 'cancer' that was creating friction in the dressing rooms. We also 'gained' the balance of the contract monies that would have been spent supporting a player in a lifestyle he wanted out of.

As there are transfer fees between here and Aus, this was the best deal alround - in fact I'd have got shut of him 3 weeks earlier!

Accepted - but we got no actual "payment" for the player?

No - and yet every single person at the club will tell you that we are 'better off' - now how did that happen?

This is a circular argument and I don't want to portray myself as a doomsayer by repeating the same criticisms over and over again; I maintain however that from a fans perspective, the departure of some of our pivotal players appeared to have been handled badly, for all the reasons I've already stated, and that was compounded by the lack of information that was forthcoming at the time.

Whilst everyone 'at' the club may think they're 'better off', I don't, since I'm not 'at' the club, I just pay out a significant portion of my disposable income to watch them, and I like winning more than losing, so at the moment, I'm not 'better off' ta very much!

You seem to be clinging on to the argument that we would somehow be better off with Brough - who didn't want to be with us but 'would stay if he had to' - or with Tronc - who clearly just did not want to play.

Instead we have a squad that are clearly very tightly bonded, have been through the mill a bit and are determined to 'give it their all' for us and the club.

Running a RL club is no easy thing, and is made ever more difficult by having these matters played out in public (something most businesses do not have to deal with), but sometimes it is just not possible to give out all of the details and we, the speccies, have to rely on the coach and the club to do what they think is best. They have, and although most of us have been miserable over the past 6 weeks, we now look a whole lot better placed than some of our neighbours - who are on a downward spiral - having spent a whole lot less to get there.

I would change nothing!