Pearsons comments and ambition, and the reaction of most here reminds me of something.

People on here once proclaimed the signings of Hutch Maiva, Dykes, Thorman, Domic, Webster, Tansey. Calderwood, Cusack, Sing, Godwin and the like Basically all cheap tat.

There used to be a few posters on here who always knew Kath and Rule were bleading the club dry.
These posters said the board should invest and spend on the team, yet all the keyboard warriors shot them down in flames and said "transfer fees are dead" there wont be any more (after we paid 2 fees for Tansey, that worked out eh) the board dont need to invest, we produce a Tom Briscoe evey 6 years why worry. Dont need to pay a fee, wait till one legged Sean Long is out of contract and give him a big fat one.

Now AP comes along with a proper wallet you all agree we've had years of mediocrity, yet were happy to settle for it at the time.

How times change

Long live AP! keep it up, lets have more of these press conferences, get us in the headlines, get our name out and about. Its an infinate amount more than what the shower did before.

You talk mediocrity, what on earth do you make of Watts, McGoldrick and Pitts? All very very average signings, AP promised big things, hopefully for you guys it will be of standard miles higher than his last three signings.

I don't recall one single poster 'proclaiming' the signing of Hutch Maiva. Even Sharp referred to him as a 'project'. Thorman's signing was largely treated with ambivalence. Likewise Domic. And Webster. And Calderwood. And Cusack.

There's exaggerating to make a point, and then there's losing all touch with reality.

Watts will pave the way for Taylor, McGoldrick is till end of season, then he'll be in charge of pre match entertainment form his shed. As for Pitts, he'll be way down the order when the 10 new ones come in. He'll be a Dowes.

Still doing cartwheels about Hall?

Or are to too distracted by Gleeson?

Depends. Signings need to be judged in the context of the squad IMO, can't have a team of superstars after all.
When we've finished our recruitment we'll have a better idea of whether they're good signings or not.

Having said that, I agree about McGoldrick. Average is being kind tbh. However if it's only for this season I'll not lose too much sleep.

I missed this gem. No wonder you're so angry all the time - you live in an alternate reality. None of these things actually happened.

Wrong.

Many saw Webster as a saviour, as our number 7 for years to come, so much so they were not put out that one game cost us £30k+.

Yet all it was was a points scoring excercise by spin master Rule

Er the fees thing did

Many of the clique said fees are dead, and when it was suggested we should buy the best they were shot down in flames.

FFS people still ask do fees count on the cap!!!!

Not how I recall it at all. Then again I haven't been nursing a grudge for several years hoping for a chance to refer back to it. For a start, Webster's age clearly mediated against him being our 7 'for years to come'. Most saw him as a stop-gap who would eventual transfer into the coaching team. And that was largely out of desperation.

Two or three people said that fees were rare or dead. There was no general agreement with that view.

What got shot down in flames were the regular suggestions that we 'bust the bank' for one player or another. Usually because they were talking about salary rather than fees.


I know. It's one of those zombie questions that just won't die no matter how many times it gets answered. Not sure how that's relevant to your main point though.

You called Kath running club as being done professionally rather than a hobby. Think that lot look good compared to AP?

I think that Watts is a good signing. He is young and has a lot of potential. His past couple of seasons may have not been as good as his first but I think that he is able to keep improving and be a quality player. Young, English, lot of potential.

McGoldrick is just a stop-gap for this season. I would be very disappointed if he was to stay past the end of the season, unless it's as a general utility cover on a low salary, and even then I wouldn't be that pleased.

Pitts is alright but not brilliant. I wouldn't want him as part of the ideal starting 17 for next season. I think he's a fairly solid backrower, and young enough to still improve, but not first choice at the moment. I also think that Gentle is wrong in saying that he is a Prop because he has shown nothing to indicate this in his performances.

Out of the 3, only Watts should be in our ideal 17 for next season.

They were running it professionally. They turned a sports club into a business that actually generated a profit, which is a pretty rare thing in any sport. Turns out they did that largely by cutting costs way beyond what was required by efficiency. Clearly not a business model that can survive long term.

What AP seems to be attempting is a combination of a professional business operation combined with elements of the old hobbyist approach. It's great in the short term, but at some point his money will run short and he'll need to be generating enough income for the club to largely fund itself for the day-to-day stuff with injections of cash only for occasional big signings/fees. I'm certain he's aware of that and is planning for it - mainly by banking on producing a successful team which will bring in large crowds. I reckon if anyone can do it then AP can.

Agree on this bit, as for AP spending ability, he made £10mill when he sold City, had cash prior to that too. We dont really need £10mill spending on us do we?

As for your first paragragh, dont let the profit blind you, that board were taking vast amounts of cash from the club, yes all done on the cheap on the rugby side. It's a shame that only Rule got punished (yes i know for something else, but it feels nice he got in deep cack for running us so badly)