Whenever the club's representatives are confronted they divert to the off-field success. They're either not too bothered we don't compete for silverware or simply in denial of how far off we are. I'd rather they acknowledge that it just isn't good enough instead of pretending everything's rosy.

To say they don't care entirely is probably going a bit far, but I genuinely don't think on-field performance is the priority at Hull FC.

If you think that the board are not aware that fans will eventually get peed off and stop turning up then I think you underestimate them. And I'd also be surprised if they didn't appreciate the link between success and things like lucrative sponsorship deals etc. When you add in things like the recent spending on youth development and the commitment to training facilities what it looks like to me is a BOD with an eye on the long term.

Which may be the problem.

Fans want success NOW. I think the BOD are working on a longer time scale.

We are a business so all thing have to be taken into consideration. I think they are all aware that we need to be competitive and we have been this season.

Well this is about Agar isn't it? 2006 was P Sharp. Look at our finishes for the last 10 years, maybe 2nd was a season were we over achieved?

yeh but when you look at the club and its off the field credentials the club should have improved and progressed from 2006 but we dint. no club has the god given right to finish in the 8 but why on earth are we the 7th best side in the comp when just a few years ago we were in the top 2 i wont accept that

The big problem is that 2005 was the perfect platform to go on to more success. Instead we've gone backwards.

We need a balance of both long and short term. There's no use spending a fortune on youth development if you have a poor first team who nobody is interested in signing for, the talent will just go elsewhere. Then all that money will end up being an expensive exercise in trying to polish turds.

I disagree on the latter point. We've been better, but we still haven't really looked competitive with the big boys consistently. We still lost pretty much every big game we played this season.

Your ability to worship mediocrity and celebrate averageness is truly inspiring. I'm guessing you lost quite a bit on those Woolworths shares you bought.

Saints and Rovers are big matches and we won all of them barring tonight.

didnt win when it counted tho did we.

thats the key, not just against the bigger teams, but against teams we would like to beat. Our season has been full of inconsistancy. Anyone who is shocked or annoyed we got beat tonight need slapping around the chops. i said either lose or win by 6.

You obviously not watched us too much.

We've been dire and uninspiring most of the season.
You only have to look at the points for and against to see what kind of season we've had.

So those four point never counted?

Leeds have finished in the top 4 (after the regular rounds) each year since 2000 I believe.

St Helens have finished in the top 6 every year since 1973.

As you rightly point out, no club has a god given right to be in the play-offs. But quite frankly, given the current set-up of SL, we should view top 6 as a minimum requirement for a club of our size. Personally I believe we should be top 4. A club of our size, with the right personnel in place, could be the dominant force in British RL. The current playing squad (with a few exceptions) and the current coaching regime are not the correct personnel for that to happen.

If we are not competing at the summit of the game (and we aren't) then I think the supporters of this great club have every right to question the reasons why we aren't. And we have a right to ask what needs to be done to rectify the situation in which we continue to fall short of this club's true potential.

Either way, it surely must be obvious to all that the off field resources of our club (one of the three 'A' grade licences awarded in 200icon_cool.gif are not being translated into an equivalent level of success on the pitch. One of the areas in which we are substandard is the head coach. He simply isn't an 'A' grade coach and if we have any aspirations in capturing silverware in the next few years, then there will have to be a change in that department in order for those aspirations to be realised into fact (See Wigan & Warrington for further details).

[iTrying [/i but not succeeding.