Unfortunately we're in a downward phase in terms of income and gates due to the lack of success at the club and a general decline of the sport. Crowds always have and always will dip when those who only attend in better times take their leave - the club have to some extent done better than expected on this front in the last 8 years bearing in mind the barren on field return and the general decline in attendances across the game over that period.

For me the main issue has been on going poor recruitment and a dearth of pure class players playing for the team for what seems like an age. People will pay to go and watch star players and as it's got harder to attract top overseas talent to our club we've finished up, with a few exceptions, with a mix of journeymen contractors and average at best local players, who as Wilf touched on in the diary will do the minimum to ensure their career is maintained. Of course there are exceptions - today's team has Ellis, Mini and Pryce in it who have all played at the top of the game and are top quality pros for whom the quality of their own performance alone is the biggest driving force when they play. Unfortunately we get them at the end of their careers. For every one of them there are, and have been, countless average players with neither the physical or mental ability to get anywhere near the top of the game - overseas and British alike. We've consistently failed to recruit real exciting quality in key playmaking positions - arguably we still haven't got that now.

When Pearson came in I hoped that his cash injection would turn recruitment on its head and provide us with a new lease of life. Alas the opposite happened - he mistakenly appointed someone who was happy to land the likes of Arundel, Miller and other definitions of averageness on big, long contracts, and so the investment was effectively totally wasted. There are signs that the playing roster is strengthening a little now but not really enough. As for the coaching side neither Gentle or Radford were/are good enough to coach a top SL side and I'd like to see a change now for no other reason that the constant debate that surrounds it would at least be halted for a period. Easthull FC is right in one way - these days the scrutiny on social media is such that when someone farts in life there's someone else ready to start a witch hunt and these days it's easy for a morass of negativity to overtake anything good that might be happening. It's not hard to be negative when we get the dross of Wakefield away etc. and I'm not criticising that point of view at all - the point is that it's much easier now for disenchantment to prevail than it used to be when it was confined to chatter in the pub. Our performances, signings, the outrageous events of "blokes not turning up" etc. just add fuel to the fire and Pearson shouldn't be surprised at the declining support base.

The Academy merger. Pearson stated on the radio the other day that the RFL only wanted 8 academies and that we had to get in with a merger otherwise 'Hudgell might have got the money himself'. Why weren't we pitching the case for our excellent academy to be the one that attracted the finance ? I think he knows he's made another mistake and I keep hearing him say that it's 5 years down the track and our current crop are ring fenced. Personally I can't think of a worse time to get into bed with KR than when there is already so much disenchantment around - money saving measure or not.

The whole game is stale. Sky's offering is boringly predictable but its money props the game up. For the most part the same predictable set plays are used by most teams it's just that some are considerably better at executing them with their stronger, faster and more skilful players than others. Where you used to be able to push a player back with several guys in big defence you now get penalised almost before you've started the push. Shoulder tackles are deemed high and players hoodwink refs by either holding players in or pretending to be held in. Virtually every decision is met by derision on the field with bigger name players allowed to question anything and everything. There's little wonder that interest in the game is declining at all levels.

If Pearson had the money then he should be getting a new coach and making sure that remaining signings for next year are top drawer. Whoever is at the helm needs better players. When I looked at the teams the other night and saw the physical difference in size and speed between Wigan and Hull I was reminded how far away we were from competing. We talk in this Hull bubble about this player and that player but at the end of the day we're nowhere near the top 4 both in results terms and in player calibre terms. How many players in the last 10 years have left Hull FC and gone on to win major honours regularly ? The answer is not many - the players that win honours tend to be top overseas stars or graduates of Wigan, Saints or Leeds. That says it all. Pearson seemed to try to address that with his initial academy investment but even that appears to have gone west. His initial investment in the club was agonisingly wasted and now, together with a general malaise across the game, that appears to be coming home to roost.

This is what concerns me most about Pearson. He seems completely out of step with lot of fan opinion.

Just a couple of things I wanted to pull out of a very good post.

Firstly, the 'merger' I reckon has had the biggest effect on the current attitude towards the club.

On the Wigan point, we never saw anyone saying this when we lost 13-12 at their place earlier in the year. Last Friday's result, to me, was more one of 'we've done what we set out to do in making the 8'.

it's worse than that, he discourages people telling him, some people you would think he has a debt of gratitude to!

Must admit, Pearson certainly doesn't like being told he may be wrong.

The burning question is "Can fans stomach another season with Radford at the helm?"

To me.. Fans have lost confidence in Radford... Personally I cant see Radford steering us any higher, I feel he's taken us as far as he can...

On your last point Ellis, Feka and Pryce played in that game. Two of our biggest forwards and a big back. I totally agree we were under strength the other night and that had a lot to do with the final result and indeed how we were steamrollered. Not a particularly good advertisement for the strength of our squad as a whole though.

For me, watching pro sport is an aspirational thing. I want to watch a game played in a way your average Joes on the local park can't, with skill and speed and a bit of natural ability I can marvel at. Brute force and grinding it out don't really interest me. As you say, personal preference.

If you write off last year as a clear out/transition year, then I think it's very hard to say we've seen a lot of improvement from the 2013 team to the 2015 one. And I'm personally less confident that we're making progress at the moment, I think we're stagnating with the odd breakout or gutsy performance.

The only season that happened was the 2010 one, and it probably accounts for the increase of 19 followed by a more noticeable drop off. Otherwise it would have probably been a smoother decline.

Don't get this. If we finished 6th (very doable) does Radford not deserve another year? I'm pretty sure he'll get one on the basis of making the 8 this year, but surely it's a year of improvement?

There certainly are. But it doesn't suggest that people were attending mainly because we were winning.

Sorry, didn't mean completely forget 2014. Just meant that it was obviously a strip back of the dead wood and complete rebuild starting this year. Improvements are being made IMO.

As well as Wigan being missing Crosby and Flower that night, 2 of their bigger players, and Sarginson instead of Bateman in the centres.

I don't think it's right to accept that we are now improving based upon it being better than a year that should be considered a write off. Setting the bar lower with a seriously poor year should not be able to be used as a new baseline to measure whether things are getting better when we're arguably not even yet back to the standard prior to that.

indeed.