anyway, I guess we'll see about Radford in a few games time.

(I'll leave the residents of Royston Vasey to play their banjo's)

Funny you mention Royston Vasey because The League Of Gentlemen was partly written by and starred a Hull born actor.

Back on topic and an article in the Mail: www.hulldailymail.co.uk/Hull-FC- ... story.html Got to say it sounds very similar to what we've heard before regarding the training. The big question for me is why do the players seem to train well but then not perform on the pitch? Let's hope Radders has the answer... and can put it into practice!

Back on topic and an article in the Mail: www.hulldailymail.co.uk/Hull-FC- ... story.html Got to say it sounds very similar to what we've heard before regarding the training. The big question for me is why do the players seem to train well but then not perform on the pitch? Let's hope Radders has the answer... and can put it into practice!

I have to agree with Rock God (I think it was him) a while back, and say that I don't understand why some seem to have lower aims for Radford to perform acceptably than would likely have been the targets for Gentle. I reckon most would have expected Gentle to improve on 6th, yet Radford seems to be being let off with 'if we make the 8 he'll have done well'. This exact thinking was what Pearson told us was to be a thing of the past.

Despite the number of player changes, I really don't see that much difference in quality to last year's squad, nor have many other sides from below us improved much on paper (only Salford, IMO).

O'Meley, Lynch, Johnson - Paea, Carvell, Paleaaesina
Tickle & Galea (who were both pretty poor last year) - Tuson & Thompson
Holdsworth - Rankin
Briscoe - Talanoa

Biggs is a potential bonus.

The only one of those that is likely to be a real downgrade is Talanoa for Briscoe, and just really don't see a winger (no matter how good) being the key to our decline.

Our aim should be to maintain top 6. Below 7th and we've gone backwards.

Got to say that I agree with this a lot. We seem to have done a good job replacing most of the outgoing players with players that should be just as good or (hopefully) better.

What an extraordinary statement. What is this phenomenon, which cities are affected by it and exactly how is the effect caused by the insular attitudes of Hull people?

It was Rock God X. He also said he would wash his hands if Radders was appointed and duly hasn't been seen since. (Shame, I miss our knicker discussions. Come back Rock God X, need your critique of the game tonight and my new longjohns.)

I agree completely that Radford must be measured against the same yardstick as Gentle. Gentle managed 6th and would have been expected to improve on that with the same squad plus any off-season changes he made so I expect Radders to do the same with the off-season recruits and exits [ihe[/i has elected. 6th or higher for me.

I liked Gentle but the club was embarrassed twice last season in a very big way and since Pearson seemed already to doubt some of the application and attitude behind the scenes it was inevitable that he would choose to remove him. The squad is fractionally better in my opinion than last year so below 6th would be a disappointment. I think Pearson will give Radford more than one season unless we're staring relegation in the face mid August, and rightly so if Pearson himself believes that things behind the scenes are travelling in the right direction and not the wrong one.

Does anyone think that some of the lower expectations people seem to have may be down to the club being less vocal this season about our ambitions?

Not at all, probably down to recruitment not been great and the appointment of an inexperienced coach. This probably explains season ticket sales also.

True, it was. And I stand by it. Finishing in 8th place should be considered a failure for a club of our size. If you're going to sack a coach, the guy who replaces him should be expected to do at least as well as his predecessor, or what's the point? We had a couple of highly embarassing scorelines/performances under Gentle, but he did manage 6th place and a cup final in his final season. Not sure he was the man to take us to glory, but I'd be a little more confident about the coming season if he was still in charge than I am now.



I don't think I said that, did I? I remember saying this"I've had a couple of days to think about the whole Radford/Last/Cooke idea now, and I still can't see any merit in it whatsoever. Like anything, there's a chance it might work, but it looks like a massive gamble with incredibly long odds. I don't like it. Not one bit."[/i

Which is about where I'm at now.



That was more to do with the childish/petty nature of this board in the off season than anything else, though I can't say I feel particularly excited about anything RL related at the moment.



Don't think there'll be much to critique tonight - I predict that the wind and rain will turn the game into an error-fest, with the winner being decided by who drops the ball the least. Long johns will be a must though. It'll be nippy by 20.00.



Yep.

Possibly. And if so its no bad thing IMO.

Longjohns it is, then.

I agree. Let the team do the talking on the pitch.