All very depressing as a long standing fan ,who’s only way of supporting the club is standing on the terraces and backing them as hard as it’s getting . Looking at the sky pundits smug sing faces showing the tries last night really got to me , we are the butt of RL at present . Hindsight is a wonderful thing and it’s getting increasingly evident that the combination of rookie coach and a weak squad is the perfect storm ,couple with a not too shabby injury list . Would a director of rugby have been a prudent investment, to shed some experience and a calming influence at the club . It’s the easiest thing in the world to see the problems we face ,but coming up with credible solutions within our constraints is going to be incredibly tough .

You're right and to be honest we've had it coming for the past couple of seasons.
it's the old chicken and egg thing I'm afraid. The supporters won't support until there is at least a competitive team and there won't be a competitive team until the support increases. Michael Carter has repeatedly said if the gate increased he'd spend more.
So, until that changes or the mythical (in Wakefield anyway) sugar daddy arrives it's status quo.

ashton simms on his way to you guys

We'd probably get it wrong and sign Joan Sims.

Aren't they a similar age ???

Dont talk daft

Carter seems to be deflecting from any blame here. Whilst he has done wonders in the past, clear to see that in recent years he's let the squad get gradually weaker.

He allowed us to go into the season with one recognised fullback, that was plain for all to see. Gaskell at fb didn't work last year, should have been addressed and is the route cause of most of our issues this year.

I would say we were clearly light at 9 too. Argument that we had 3 in Hood, Kay and Bowes perhaps but for whatever reason Bowes doesn't seem to really be fancied there.

Top it off, our club captain and presumably one of the top earners played 6 all last year. Even with him we barely stayed up, he was replaced with a championship prospect.

We let Batchelor go and bring in an ex NRL player at the end of his career in Proctor. Obviously no knowledge of this, but its reasonable to assume Proctor will be costing us more than we offered Batchelor. How can that be justified, one of our best players last year, coming into his prime should surely be worth more to us?

Again not sure of all the details here, but Gaskell was seemingly brought in to cover FB and half (although FB never worked out for him). Presumably costing us more than we offered Hampshire (if there was an offer) was who was decent enough cover for both these spots. Carter in charge of recruitment/retention and negotiations has not been a success in recent years

The main point I get from your post is we don't know any of those details, so can't see how you can draw a conclusion.

I think it is reasonably safe to assume Proctor + Gaskell cost trin more than Batchelor + Hampshire? Regardless, conclusion we can draw is that those in charge(MC) sent us into this season with a squad not up to scratch or with sufficient cover. That is something we shouldn't forget.

The trouble is that it's getting to the point Pops where,if we don't start winning, and there's very little time left, people will draw their own conclusions, right or wrong.I agree with the sentiment that we should have employed a Kear-type director of rugby, or at least someone on a part-time retainer type deal to advise on player recruitment and retention, but that person would have, almost certainly, demanded more resources,and therein lies the rub.I will always be grateful to Mike Carter for saving our great club,but at the very core he's a money counter and not a 'dyed in the wool' rugby man that we've needed to do the wheeling and dealing these last few years.But it is what it is, and if we could win tonight it will do us the world of good.

Michael Carter has on the whole done a very good job as chairman and CEO, but I do think that this was the one season to adopt the philosophy of 'speculate to accumulate'.
With the ground improvements at long last coming to fruition what an acute disappointment it will be to be relegated.
The irony of that situation is what certainly deflates myself and other long serving, long suffering supporters.

In our context, we speculated by getting Smith, hoping to accumulate by developing him into a SL player quickly.

It's not, spend money you haven't got to get a better player hoping they don't get injured and hoping they'll turn your team around.

Saying Carter should speculate to accumulate is like telling someone at a food bank to shop at Waitrose as they'll be healthier.
It's probably true, but it doesn't help them.

I accept recruitment hasn't been great over the past couple of years but Carter is only going to pay for people the coach wanted.
It would have been nice if Lineham and Gaskill had been better, but they aren't, so we have to move on with what we have.
Next year, whichever division we are in, a lot of contracts will end and Mash (or whoever) can build his own team.

Just need a win to set that ball rolling.

I imagine that (and mostly through necessity) MC’s first words to anyone in the club are “No” whenever asked something. The spreadsheet will always win - that is the single reason why we still exist, but also in the same vein that is the single reason why we exist in the current form. Squad perpetually diluted year on year.

MC hasn’t done a great job as CEO. The CEO is the whole brained visionary who energises the room when they walk in, unites all types of people and stakeholders - internal and external, excites business and navigates the ship through waters both choppy and calm.

Michael is a great CFO, or financial controller. The Key holder, the protectorate of the treasury, charged by the board to keep the business liquid and trading. Michael is a great financial controller.

He hasn't let the squad weaken o purpose!!!

We have lost 300k in central funding and have had to replace a pitch, lights and renovate the Cats bar roof from our own funds. Where do people expect him to find that money, his sock draw?

Seriously though, I honestly can't understand why people who I assume run their own finances in a prudent manner seem to believe that somehow magic money exist for a RL club - it doesn't.

Our crowds are crap and always have been in SL, it's taken years to win back the trust of local businesses, and endless delays through no fault of our own to get the ground finally updated.

Do fans honestly think they could do better? I know most of us do but I also know most of us wouldn't last ten minutes. I get it that for fans the sport is a bit of a fantasy to help lighten the realities of life, but that's on the pitch. Off the pitch the rules of the real world apply, thats a fact, it's final, there is no argument.

Carter and Co have not weakened anything, circumstances have, and if fans can't work that out then they are not looking.

Can we just not be realistic, please. We've hit a hump in the road, but together we can get over it, pointing fingers simply doesn't help, never has.