I am not a member of the board and I claim no inside knowledge of the club finances but I do understand accounts and would like to think I have some knowledge of running a business.
Hull FC or at least the company behind the team are a small company as defined by UK legislation. This means that the accounts do not show profit (although admitedly its not too difficult to work out), turnover, directors remuneration, coaches wages or any other of the numbers being regularly banded about by those in the know.
In addition to this, as was pointed out by Mrs B, last time I looked, which admittedly was a couple of years ago, the company had negative reserves so was not able to pay any dividends.
Anyone throwing numbers about is either making them up, basing their comments on hearsay and rumour or (unlikely in my opinion) received the information in privaliged circumstances and should therefore keep their mouths shut.
By all means criticise the board for offering RA an extended contract or for not removing him now or even earlier, thats a matter of fact and opinion but how anyone knows that he was cheaper than Peter Sharp or John Kear I'd be interested to know.

In answer to the OP in my opinion people criticise the board for 1 or more of 3 reasons

1 The treatment of RA and perceived lack of ambition (fair enough)

2 Because its easy to and makes people feel part of the gang (or cuddle crew if you prefer)

3 Because they perceive the board members to be wealthy (rightly or otherwise I've no idea) and it makes people feel good to do a bit of "fat cat" bashing - ie pure jealousy.

For what its worth my opinion is that on the whole the board are doing a good job except that I do believe its time for a new coach

The board of any company is ultimately responsible for all aspects of it's operations. In this respect our board have done a great job in many areas - finance, marketing, sales to name a few. Unfortunately the product the company produces is poor and this aspect is what most customers (fans) care about.

The main difference with a sports club is that the customers have a much closer connection to the product than most others and so feel a much higher steakholding in the company. The board are responsible to all steakholders, so the fans are not only hurt and disappointed by the poor product they pay for as customers but also feel let down by the board as steakholders in the company - slating therefore ensues!

Good post. The context as well is the profitability of other SL clubs:

Leeds 720,871
Warrington 159,514
Hull FC 77,141
Castleford 26,679
Salford -19,651
Wigan -40,715
Bradford -72,209
Wakefield -202,379
Rovers -297,828
Huddersfield -823,739
St Helens -861,810
Harlequins -1,936,804

Leeds apart, then, it's fair to say that SL clubs struggle to break even unless they get a cup win like Warrington. In all cases pretty much apart from ours there is a note in the accounts stating that a going concern basis for accounts preparation is only appropriate if the support of the directors continues, so directors are putting money into the clubs as opposed to taking it out. To me, it seems highly unlikely that FC's directors are all taking a salary of £100k each and yet FC can still return a profit - just doesn't stack up IMO.

When people refer to the club as a cash cow, what they actually mean is that the fans inputs mean the directors don't have to put their own money in, and that is a good thing, having a self-financing business model. However, what we are seeing now is a big gap in income for the club. If the directors are not minded to make up the shortfall, it's not hard to see that the obvious thing to do is cut the wage bill, and the biggest wage bill at the club is the players.

iirc,Leeds sold land and property to gain a profit last time?

No, that was the year before. Their profit in 2009 including the profit on sale of fixed assets was £3.6m. Their operating profit excluding this exceptional item was £721k.

now i know quins have david hughes who basically bank rolls them and pays all debts but for how long can they go on for what if 1 day he decides enoughs enoughs and leaves

Most clubs apart from ours have directors propping up unsustainable business models.

yeh they do but quins are losing near enough 2 million a season for a super league side to lose that much money has to be a major major concern and i know other directors pay little debts ect of but were talking massive money with quins