Now that the new coaching team has been unveiled and the Coach that got us to Wembley and a 6th place finish has been sacked with 2 years of his contract left to run what is considered an acceptable return for next season? If Gentle was the thing holding us back would it be fair to expect a much better season and what would be considered a much better season?

Anything less than top 4 in the next two years should see Radford sacked if Pearson is to be fair to Gentle.

To finally install consistency into our performances ie take the same intensity that we have playing the top teams and put it into games against the so called less fashionable teams .
Hopefully see even more home grown players make it to the top level while wearing the famous black and white irregular hoops (a great no 7 from hull would be a dream)

Until we finish our recruitment it's difficult to call, off the current squad, and with the players who are leaving, it's hard to see progressing much next season so I would be happy to finish top eight. However if we sign a couple of top players anything is possible, we know a lot of the youngsters have got talent, only time will tell if the likes of Green and Bowden can step it up a level.
IMO we need another big dirty prop, another quality centre as injuries to Crookes or Arundel leave you with Yeaman, who has not been the best year. Also I would like to see a quality loose forward come in, one who can organise and run the team...not wishing for much lol

Win 2 or 3 games out of the first several and he's bound to get a contract extension.

Eh?

Currently I would say a top 8 finish and a comfortable one at that, a good CC run and and better playoff run but above all a much better desire week in week out from the 17 that take to the field each game. Along with a level of consistency in better performances.

Also I would add a major improvement in our attacking plays, speed of PTB and more competency on the basics.

If we are to be more consistent, a top 8 finish is not good enough. We'd need to be looking top 5, as a minimum.

A bit of realism for a start. Then a bit of pride and consistancy coupled with better composure during games. Maybe a few additional tactics other than 5 drives and a kick. Or Two drives and a knock on. The type of stuff we saw occassionally this year. We must be aimimg for between 4th and 6th at the very least.

We have to accept I think that the squad we currently have is what he will have to work with. There is little or nothing left out there to pick up. Even the odd "project" from the South Sea Islands will I am sure have already been identified and targeted by clubs all looking to pick up similar scarps.

My hope is that one or two of the lesser names of our squad take the bull by the horns and develop into the potential they have shown. Pitts, Watts, Green in the forwards and the backs which on the face of it when all fit is a decent back line start to really kick on. The potential is there but..........

Thats why I say currently, if Radford gets a better perfomance and more consistent one then we should move forward however looking at Salford & Cas the chasing back is getting closer so until the recruitment is finished its difficult to say, although a comfortable top 8 finish with a better and more consistent all round performance for a 1st season under Radford would be acceptable.

To make an improvement up the table currently for next season I think we need 2 or 3 quality additions and a much more effective attack, the latter I think is possible next season but the former is I think going to prove difficult in this off season.

We were one game off finishing 5th this season. That is a 'comfortable top 8 finish'. If we are to be more consistent next season, then by definition, we would need to finish at least 5th. It would be highly inequitable to begin judging Radford's performance by a different set of standards to Gentle's.

Conversely we were also only one game away from an 8th place finish and in context it was hardly comfortable more kind of scraping in.

Like I say Salford have heavily invested in recruitment and Cas look to have recruited well so to make the 8 will be harder to reach next season.

We shouldn't be worrying about Salford and Cas, we should be concentrating on Leeds and Saints. Top 8 will no longer be considered a success, remember? Are we seriously going to abandon that principle just because Radford was born in a HU postcode?

Cripes, there's something I hadn't thought about until now. I've been saying for the past few years that our PTB speed is by far our biggest problem & that if somebody could fix that it would improve us possibly as much as everything else combined. Radford was p*ss poor at this as a player, so it'll be interesting to see if he can coach others to do something he himself couldn't.

Who said we will be? I am just pointing out that 2 of the teams that finished below us have recruited well naturally it makes the competition for a top place more difficult for all clubs.

I am also not saying abandon any principles but you stated 'we were one game from 5th a comfortable finish' when in reality it was a again another scrape into the top 8 and had a result gone the other way we could have easily been in 8th.

You also have to take into account that the squad at present looks a little weaker for next season than this but as long as the desire is there week in week out and the performances improve, are more consistent each week and can complete the basic skills then the rest should take care of itselfeven with a slightly weaker squad.