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)

You on a crusade or something?!

Nah, just very happy with AP

I honestly have no idea how much cash AP has in the bank, nor how much of that he's willing to spend on us. Depending on just how bad the situation was then the bill required to not only get us up to speed but also challenging might be larger than you'd think once you roll in facilities upgrades etc.

Either way AP doesn't strike me as someone willing to just treat a sport club as an ego boosting hobby and throw cash at it forever. He takes this seriously and will want to get the club on a sound financial footing and as independent of his personal financial input as possible. Which I reckon is a good thing. If all goes to plan we could end up with the best of both worlds.


I remain to be convinced about how much cash the old BOD were making out of the club, simply because the abbreviated accounts don't show anything. I realise that there are ways to funnel money out of companies on the QT but without more evidence I'm reluctant to jump to conclusions.

What [iis[/i abundantly clear is that they weren't putting much (if any) cash [iin[/i. Which has a similar end result.

His enthusiasm, arrogance and business acumen is no doubt good for Hull FC and RL. Reminds me of a young Maurice Lindsay in the way he goes about his business.

He's playing a very risky game by publically slating Seymour, he's either trying to force him out or already has done-but have a bit of class when doing so. He 'll give Hull FC a bad rep for how they treat players by letting his enthusiasm do the talking.

He brings more posiives, can only be good for RL to have a strong Hull side.

Maybe they've already had the discussion with seymour and he's agreed to a move

True Jake,but I have to agree with Nick,it can`t be a morale booster having your boss slating you in public.

That's the conclusion I've drawn from it. Pearson wouldn't make such a big thing about signing two half backs if he wasn't certain he had the space in the squad.
The interesting thing for me is if Seymour goes home, or is he part of any swap deal?.