It did sound like a dig with the "small village team" comment!
I never understood when you signed Arundel, he was awful for us too.
Although I don't see him every week, I'm not sure Westerman has got back to the level he was at Cas. He might look like he has improved to you, but that's due to the massive amount he went backwards in his first couple of years at Hull.
I just hope Sneyd doesn't go the same way.

Sorry I see your point. I did not mean any offence to Cas. But when you compare like for like. Incomes, crowds etc we should be doing better than Cas. Thats on paper and potential. Sadly for us the reality is that we are a poor second best.
We have always done well out of Castleford in my time of supporting Hull. Knocker Norton being the prime example.
I look forward to cheering you on, on Saturday from my seat in the stand and hope the FC rejects bring home the cup for you.

Spot on.

I was told that this year was an improvement on last as the players had some kind of working week structure and knew where they stood day to day. Well thats working well.

I recently attended a RU coaching course which was taken by a regional coach. He emphasised the basics over and over again. Okay I coach youngsters, but he stressed that even the national squads do basic drills to keep the basic skills up to scratch.
Its a different code I know, but the principle remains the same. I couldn't imagine any of the basics of the game being practiced by our squads. (I stand corrected if they do).
PTB is a massive issue for us and while he is part of "Club Hull" I would be looking to replace Houghton for a start as his distribution is far too slow. He will be feeding Sneyd and Pryce next year and that will dampen their effectiveness immediately.
But I guess from November until February they will have plenty of time to get that right.

Totally Agree, I just don't get why every FC owner wastes money on buying over the hill players but then refuse to pay good money to bring a top coach in what is probably more important then that big signing. Why we have to always go for the unproven assistant coach is beyond me this job is to big for someone learning there trade.

Houghton for a long time now has lost the basic passing skill required of a top class hooker, he does`nt drill the ball away from acting half with the speed to create space for his runners and the loft in his passing gives opponents the time to shut down any space that runs had made.
Sneyd is`nt the answer to our halfback problem either. He will not set alight the game as some anticipate.
Lets hope Cunningham can pressurize Houghton into realizing his own inadequencies.
I for one have had enough of this season, I no longer have the desire to go although I do but it is now with trepidation.
Thankfully we avoided the drop but next season it is a certainty we will be embroiled in a lower league playoff scrap.

Another worry has to be players like Crooks, Bowden, Cunningham and Thompson not playing for about a month now, this can't be good for them or their confidence. With three games left and nothing to play for I'd hope that these players will get some game time.

On another note, I hope the RL look into the under 19s and Dual Reg, as it isn't working for young fringe players at the moment.

If Sneyd had played yesterday we would have had the game won in 20 mins, really lacked someone with composure and a kicking game to take advantage of the wind.

Even with him signing and the other two, I don't think we will make the required progress with our current coaching set up.

I think its looking increasingly likely that neither Crooks nor Thompson will be here next season.

Its not looking good for Cunningham either if he wasn't included yesterday when Heremaia was injured.

Bowden is better than Green IMO and should be playing instead of him.

,
Is that so I thought he got young player of the year and was nominated for rookie of the year. And an Knights call up

Looks that way about Crooks, such a shame as he is the most naturally gifted back we have, with a good coach and support of players he would be a great centre, I think if he goes, it will be a decision we come to regret.

I think Cunningham still has a future at Hull, think Radford is holding him back (wrongly IMO), but will play off the bench next season.

Not too bothered about Thomspon, started teh season great, but his form tailed off and the last few games he played, he was disappointing, his defence needs some serious work to play in the forwards, I'd look to play him in the backrow from now on.

Green and Bowden are about the same level IMO, some games they are excellent, others poor, both need to be more consistent, will be a good fight between them for the 4th prop next season.

Think we need to realise with Ben Crooks that sometimes it's just not the clubs fault that things haven't worked out and the finger of blame needs to be pointed at the player. Easy to blame the club and coach, especially this year.

Not quite sure I understand your point. At Cas Westerman won SL Young Player of the Year and was called into the full England squad (only to get injured before the international games). Since moving to Hull he has not regained his spot in the England squad until this year and has not performed as well as he did at Cas (from what I have seen).

Why? What has Ben Crooks done wrong? Missed some tackles yes but what about the inept displays of Whiting at centre.he has also missed tackles and has been run around easily by anyone with a bit of pace yet Radford continues to play him.That said he will be dropped for the next match.
You cant blame Crooks at all for being disillusioned the way Radford has treated him.Even when Yeaman was injured recently and an ideal time to give Crooks a run Radford overlooked him and played an under19 rookie.
We have an incompetent coach and it will be travesty if he or any other flair player is hounded out of the club by Radford because they are not a tackle machine.

You're going only on what you've seen on match day, there's 6 other days in the week that require a certain level of effort and commitment to being a professional RL player. It's not even a secret, there's plenty on here that know what's going on with Ben, some issues are beyond even Ben's control, but most of them are his fault.