I think we have been guilty of overrating a lot of our youngsters in the last few years. We seem to want to talk them up to being better than they really are. When you get someone like Tomkins or Eastmond who have real pace, talent and a cocky confidence to go with it that is OK, but just because a young player does well in the local junior leagues doesn't mean they are world beaters. Having the right professional environment and coach will help to finish these top youngsters into being top pros, but at the end of the day if a young player hasn't got the raw talent, the size and/or speed, and the will to convert himself into the finished product he wont make it. Many of our so called young prospects have been built up as having more talent than they really have. That has been their biggest downfall.

nothing will change whilst the likes of me and you carry on paying good money to support the club

on the other hand if large amounts of people stop going revenue falls so then we cannot pay for good players/coach

we are in deep pooh no matter what we do

the board will not walk away from the cash cow which is FC fans so we can look forwards to this every year

Its not surprising with the crap thats on the pitch.

The last really top class coach we had was Smith. For those of you who argue that its not a coach who knocks on, misses tackles etc etc look back at what we had with Smith. We had a squad made up of also rans and never will bees. He managed through management and commitment to turn the club around and make ordinary players into international players and poor players perform above themselves. He gave the club direction and created a real buzz that produced the goods.

Ok some of you argue that he bankrupted the club. I don't buy into that. What I did see ( I was very close to the club at the time) was a playing rosta which all worked to the required standards set by the coach. Youngsters could step upto the plate and fit into a system that was working throughout the club.

Paul Eastwood was never a international standard player and never wood have been if it wasn't for the belief installed in him by Smith. Harrison and Jackson, Dannatt the list is endless.

Our youngsters of the 21st century probably under the correct guidance could be the same. But when we look at the coaching staff I do not see one person who a 15 year old would look to and respect. Yes there has to be a certain amount of personal desire, but who is working with these players on a one on one basis. Putting them right, encouraging them when things don't go the right way. Bulling them up when its required and equally giving them a dose of reality. Even the timing of a players appearence in the first team can make or break them. Who out of the 14000 Hull fans who regularly watch would have thrown Reece into the team this year? I suspect only Agar. How much damage has been done to Reece's confidence by that one match? I hope none but that is the gamble that is being played out week by week and season by season by our coaching set up at the moment.

We need a top class man with fantastic man management skills and a proven track record to come in and shake the whole system up. We are currently sleep walking towards a day when Andy Last will be first team coach and his mentors will have been Agar ,Crooks, Sharp and Kear. Yet when you look back at Smith he started at Hull and went onto massive things and has a whole host of players and coaches who have looked to him for inspiration.

We were a small player in 1989 to 1993 ish and we attracted Smith. We are now a big player ( I am speaking in terms of stadium, crowds, turn over and even final appearences ) so must be able to attact the next Smith or even better the current Smith whoever he may be. Even if he comes in above Agar to give him guidance like Wire have done with Smith and Lowes. It could easily be a case of paying of Last, Crooks, Harman and recruiting big with Long, Whiting, Horne, Fitzgibbon and Radders taking charge of the academy etc.

The more I think about it the more I think we've gone beyond a quick fix solution.
At present we're an average (at best) team and we have a poor record in SL over recent years, in short we are no longer an attractive prospect to upcoming stars or excellent players unless we grossly overpay them. Realistically IMO we can now only attract average players and Aussies in the twilight of their careers hence in order to improve we need to be able to assemble a squad of average SL players that can essentially over perform for a year or two. However to do this we need a coaching setup that is capable of taking a squad of players and make them greater than the sum of their parts and also progress whatever talent we have in the reserves.
Therefore my less than startling conclusion is that it will take us a good few years to be challenging again and this recovery can only begin with a complete shakeup of the coaching staff.

Well said!!

If you read Lee Jackson's book, its plain to see, who is the best coach he played for.

Standee will have a fit!

Hull imo is a huge club which still could be bigger . If we had what Saints have had in the boardroom , We would be pulling in a regular attendance of 17k+.

We are not beyond a quick fix, not yet.

But what we do need is a tough authoritarian coach who the players respect.

Agar doesn't fit that bill and never did. Nice guys come second.

Unfortunately the club has a board which is not interested in results on the field, but in gathering more money to put into their coffers and until something changes they will sit there and do nothing. They must know that Richard Agar is a poor option as a Super League coach because his CV says so. He has done nothing to warrent what has been bandied about of him being a bright young British coach. I assume this must have come from the James Rule spin machine, and he must have had some people in the game believing it. Regrettably for Mr Rule this does not hold water any more, and as for awarding him a new contact that went out to the media on April 1st you couldn't make it up. It has made the club look a laughing stock and it hurts. I do not know where the supporters go from here, pray that the board are taken over by someone that cares about the club is what we need, but who I have no Idea. Protest against Richard Agar at matches, yes, as he clearly is not a Super League coach, In my opinion the whole coaching set up needs to be addressed and new blood brought in, but as I stated earlier I do not believe the board are interested, the only way to make them notice is to cut the supply from there cash cow.

The list of cock ups from the club is endless, if you have a starting point on the first game @ KC where we didnt see it fit to request a big fixture, the RFL would have given us who we wanted. We ended up with Broncos.

We had one, but Jimmy boy sacked him and gave his job to some no mark.

With the backing of a fair number of posters on here, it ought to be pointed out.

It's nice to see their a consistent bunch!

Familiarity breeds contempt and we have some maybe that feel safe in their pidgeon holes at the club however it is my knowledge that as the club did with Paul and co there is another cull to come this off season and there are a couple of very interesting names in the frame, and one from Union that is VERY interesting indeed!!
the squad will have a few new faces again next year and so on as is the way to slowly build a squad for the future..
Cmon did anyone really expect a award winning performance this year!!
This is Rugby League not Hollywood but so far we are a better team, like it or not the stats prove it!