So another season shambles to a merciful end. As has been said on social media, without Clifford (and Swift) we'd be right in the relegation dogfight.

With gates miraculously holding up and a massive imbalance in both quality and quantity of players going out vs coming in we need some sort of communication from the club. If we're skint and will need to rely on the academy for a few years then it is what it is but let's be transparent please. We're miles off being a play-off side realistically so let's have the club hierarchy stating and facing the truth.

A return to the fans forums would be a good start.

Its all depressingly familiar, the season starts with some optimism, we pull off a few results and we start to think about 6th then the team gives up with a month or two go. The club badly needs a new script writer.

And crowds are holding up for now (nowhere near actually 11k in the ground tho, many passholders not there today) but there will come a point where a few drift away. Being honest id rather have gone somewhere else today and enjoyed the weather than sit through a pedestrian game.

Still have faith in Smith and appreciate it will take time, but the club needs to make a strong start to 2024 or questions will start to be asked.

What do they acheive though?

A couple of awkward questions batted away by Clark/Pearson, then boring questions to an overseas player about whats the difference between playing in Aus and over here and then a chorus of Old Faithful.

Agree, and a lot of clubs use these sessions to discuss the stadium, like the fans will ask for different food options etc but we of course dont control the stadium.

I do think Pearson needs to give some updates though, even if it is just a 'give us some time' he's been quiet this season

i think his team has made him speechless

....and hosted by that doyen of sports broadcasting Gwilym Lloyd.

No chairman of any club will ever really tell the fans the truth, they'll always spout positive messages and spin excitment because they need to sell as many passes as possible dont they???
How many fickle fans wouldnt renew if the chairman came out and said that the clubs skint and well have to do things on the cheap for the foreseable???

I was really hoping the end to the season would be different, but unfortunately injuries and leaving players not putting the effort in have seen us go down the same path.

Don't see us much better next season unless Smith pulls off some miracles domestically. We look to be running a smaller squad and only seem stronger at prop.

Think next year is all about cutting the wage bill by all means necessary, and hope income exceeds wages to try to cut the crippling debt.

Tony’s going nowhere and will have to manage the budget team the best he can.

Long term, the sky money is down, the covid loans need repaying, and the clock is ticking on the stadium lease deal.

Even if a new stadium deal is reached, it will align with the true loss of running the stadium, so will be a big increase at best, and without the mystery 1500 tickets bought by the SMC per match which artificially inflates your attendances. Maybe only 2 stands will be opened per match is a real possibility. There is no way Hull City will continue to generously subside your tenancy.

In turn, I can’t see any upturn in player quality for some significant time, unless Adam moves on and new investment is found, which won’t happen without a new stadium lease in place.

It’s a doom and gloom scenario, but prove me wrong !

That's true. But I do think some sort of comms with at least a modicum of realism would be a fair expectation for passholders to have.

As Bombers Double Chin alludes to, it feels like the club's primary function now is just to survive financially with any on-field aspirations coming a poor second. The obvious outlier in this is the academy and reserves where we do seem to be performing well. So how does it all fit together? Some insight would be good IMO.

Survival has to be the only objective for the next few seasons, until a new lease is secured. That’s it in a nutshell

It has to be carefully calibrated because players and agents will hear messages intended for fans.

I’m sure Scott Taylor would have sought to join Hull FC anyway, but that Rovers were very open about entering a period of ‘building for the future’ while Hull FC were spending money to establish themselves in the upper echelons of SL doubtless made his decision easier. Just as Satae may have gone to the south of France, Swift a bit closer to home and Clifford at lot closer to home anyway… but together it makes you think they maybe felt the next couple of years [icould[/i be a bit rocky. Pearson won’t want to reinforce that impression.

As for the comms themselves - if the situation is difficult, a win against Cas might to the spoon full of sugar to help the medicine go down. Or if there’s a rabbit waiting to be pulled out of the hat, it’ll seem all the bigger and the relief will be all the greater if expectations are low.

What Hull have done with the reserves this year is interesting. I’m aware that if I find something interesting I tend to bore folk though.

I hardly ever post now giving my apathy for the club and the game in general but after attending yesterday thanks to a pass holder friend being unable to make it I can see the more things change, the more they stay the same.
FWIW I agree 100% with your post. As Wilf says, with no relegation I think the pragmatic AP will tighten belts to the maximum and look to reduce debt.
He needs to be honest about it though. The fans can all see it happening and don't appreciate his method of mushroom management.

I think the plan is improve the academy and then you in theory have several cheap 1st team players (and a chance in a few years we could sell them on)

But young players are unpredicable theres been many wonderkids who dont make it past being anything other than SL squad players, Tommy Lee for example was once on a 'best young players in the world' list but ended up having a solid but not spectactular career.

I also agree with no relegation the plan will be to save a few quid and if we finish a place or 2 or 3 lower then it doesnt really matter. Our ground and crowds will keep us in SL even if we are dire on the field. Also the game wants clubs to think longer term and develop youth and not just throw cash at panic buy Aussies. Cas for example arent any better for the transfers theye done over the last month, its wasted money.