Radford was such a short sighted appointment in the first place, and like most things in rugby league looked to have just followed the latest 'fad' or 'trend'.

A few years previous the trend was to appoint Aussie no 2s, Wigan had great success with McGuire, Potter and others in this mould were successful so we followed suit and appointed Gentle who fit a similar criteria. Following the NRL over technical and over coaching model was seen as the way forward. By the time Gentle's two years were up a new trend was set, no nonsense British coaches were all the rage, forwards who never took a backwards step, hardworking and wouldnt be afraid to use the 'hair dryer'. Leeds had success with McDermott, and Wigan had done the double with Wane and Anderson in the same mould took and unlikely Huddersfield to the league leaders shield, a cynic could say that AP just used this formula in appointing Radford, and all of these magical attributes that only AP see's are just his way of justifying his terribly thought out decision.

I must admit I'm excited about the direction of next seasons recruitment though, Pritchard is a real handful and most importantly for an import of his age is still performing to a decent level, and the other three are talented younger players with ability and something to prove.

That I'm afraid though is overshadowed by Pearsons ridiculous stance on Radford, the coaches philosophy on style of play and young players, and the sour taste left by the decision to sell our future short for a drop in running costs and a grant from the RFL, without even being able to really sell the idea himself other then saying "it's for the best". I'm afraid I won't be a 'customer' next year.

Winning will obviously increase gates but the coup for Pearson would be to appoint a first class coach.That would have a bigger impact on fans buying a season pass than signing The likes of Pritchard.It would also show fans he has admitted his mistake appointing Radford.
Apart from Pearson there are very few people who have any faith left in Radford as a coach.

No. Saints have no bank debt, and was majorly financed (currently £15m) by a friend of Eamon McManus who also happens to be a Saints fan. The club can pay this back at any rate, and any debt remaining at the end of the 2018 will be liquidated into shares (or postponed) and the club will again be completely debt free. It will all come down to whether McManus wants to retire, and if he does the baton will be passed into a fan whose already proven his commitment financially (or at least that's my current understanding)

Interesting. If that's the case, how come saints were so skint during the build process?

Mcmanus still poured a lot of his own funds into the project, as well as modernising the training and youth facilities as an aside, and paying off directors loans we had outstanding from the early days of SL at the same time - i think McManus + sale of kr made up the remaining £10m for the stadium. I also think an element of idealism (a saints team in a saints stadium) meant we could have invested more in the playing side but chose not to - but that's more personal conjecture than what the accounts say.

I'll have a closer look on the saints accounts when they're published like I always do, but I'm 95% that's what was gleaned from last years accounts, and presume the accounts this year say the same...

Whatever, you're in a much better financial position than us