Quote: BP1 "Tom Lineham?
I would just like to point out that when I posted my (very short) list of retainees last night, I was projecting onto a desired scenario sometime in the future, some 4/5 years into the future in fact. I wasn't advocating that 95% of the 2014 squad should be heading through the outdoor come September. Plus, after the events of the last couple of weeks I am currently in one of my very cynical moods.
I will repeat though that if we were looking to build towards a Grand Final winning team in say, 2019, then right now my only absolute definates would be Shaul & Lineham. Added to that would be a (short) list of probables/possibles including Westerman, Houghton, Crooks and one or two others.
The rest, by and large, would be gone by 2019, due to a combination of age/attitude/ability. I agree with Pmarrow in that we have become soft and sentimental and it is one of the reasons why the development of Hull Fc as a club has driven straight down a blind alley since October 2006.
Just out of interest, does anyone know how many of the Leeds side which won their first Grand Final in 2004 was a first team member in 1999. Or, similarly, how many of Warrington's 2007 vintage took to the Old Trafford stage in 2012. The point being that Leeds & Wire were the two clubs who held the great under achievers tag before we assumed the mantle. What kind of player turnover was required to turn those two clubs from continually falling short to regularly putting silverware in the trophy cabinet.
Leeds, in particular, are an example of how employing the right people in the right position at the right time can turn a perpetually under achieving club into one of British Rugby League's genuine heavyweights. It's been done before and it can be done again, but it will require vison and determination with a commitment to ongoing self improvement in all aspects of the club allied to a clear plan with definable year on year preset goals leading ultimately (within a 5-8 year time span) to Hull Fc sitting at the top table (and not just as an occasional guest for dinner). Oh, and it will take a lot of sheer hard work from all concerned.
One things for sure, because of numerous mistakes too many to mention over the last six or seven years, it will not be a simple and straightforward job and it will not be completed in a year or two. However, as with any major rebuilding job, the sooner we get started the sooner we will be finished. It's harsh and it's brutal, but deep down I think we all secretly realise we are rapidly approaching a point of no return. If the people at the very top of our club don't make some tough, decisive and probably controversial decisions then we seriously could be looking at years, maybe even decades, of mid table nonentity or even worse because at the moment watching Hull Fc play feels like death by a thousand cuts.
The time for decisive action is right now, here today, because as the original poster for this thread so succintly put it Enough is Enough.'"
A hard read but very glaringly true I'm afraid
