Some players have signed for championship clubs already mostly because they want to play at the highest standard they can which I accept, I believe the management of the club may not wish to sign on some existing squad members, I base this opinion on the fact they have already agreed terms with some of the current squad, they may be waiting to see who else is available and risk losing some players who they don't consider automatic first choice going forward.

I really like the most of the squad who have turned out for us over the last few seasons and have helped provide some great days out, however if we are to progress as a club and have further success we need to move on and try and not be sentimental.

There are a couple of this seasons squad who will be offered far better contracts elsewhere and deserve to play at a higher level, and I wish every player who moves on to have a successful career.

Some very insightful and well observed scribing gone on here. I would like to say a big thank you to Tee Man for posting what I was wanting to say but Carcroft Infant and Middle in the early sixties was not perhaps the best place to study the written word, so sadly I'm not the best at it. The clue will be in the pre season friendlies, just like this year, but sadly some of us where very guily of it will be alright syndrome.

I have found myself going from ever the optimist and defender of the Club, to downright scepticism in the course of a few months. We all want the best for the club, well the fans do at least and the ones who have been around the block a few times have been amazed at this seasons rapid fall from grace and for some, the untold reasons why it happened.

I can only sum up this strange year by looking how I and Tatty Field and Leafys bookmaker have swopped places with the glass half full/empty postings. Light hearted lads before you come in and put me in my place.

It is time to put this e to bed for this season and to hope that next year brings back some of the pride we used to feel by supporting Doncaster Rugby league club. I would to especially thank Baz Brown for everything he does for the club and the fans. A true gent and loyalty in plenty.

We've certainly all been suffering together on here this year. Even if we have differences of opinions (and I like to hear diverse views) I always consider that we have the same thing at heart. We want the Dons to do well.

The lift in our mood after the Dewsbury win was plain to see. Let's hope this is the start of better things to come and a change round in our fortunes.

We need as many people posting on here as possible. I hope those who have stopped coming on here will rejoin us.

Many thanks Alan for your kind words

We've all been looking for a few more answers as to why the 2015 season has been so bad. The club haven't really wanted to tell us the details - preferring to look forward rather than look back.

In the Free Press article on Thursday 17th September, Carl revealed something that hadn't previously been disclosed:

“As was the case with Paul Cooke and Tony Miller before him, recruitment is all in the hands of head coach Gary Thornton."

This suggests PC had total control over the squad for 2015 and was happy with the side he'd put together. Was it PC's judgement that was wrong, as opposed to the club not making funds available?

Why don't they just explain that then if that's the case.
Not a difficult statement to make?

Double Movement raised an interesting issue on signing authority.

Although C Hall stated, [i“As was the case with Paul Cooke and Tony Miller before him, recruitment is all in the hands of head coach Gary Thornton”[/i. He also went on to say, [i“Gary, …, has full say on who he wants to bring to the club and my only role is to make it happen if I can and to decide whether the players fit into my budget”[/i. So it is being made clear that whilst Gary has a big say in what he wants, he has to work within the financial budget constraints. So, because of the money, C Hall has the final say. It is a bit like wanting a sirloin steak, but you can afford only a couple of sausages.

Looking at this article, the RFL have cut the money to Donny by £125,000. The owners are putting some money in, and C Hall is fundraising.

However, the point that Double Movement raises is an interesting one, for mid-season on the 17th July 2014, we were introduced to a new 20 year old ex rugby union Leicester Tigers player. The club write up sounded very good. The reality was different. P Dunn’s tackling was good, but his positional sense and lack of game awareness was there for all to see. Who selected P Dunn? Given his clear lack of knowledge of Rugby League, why was not given more training before being allowed to play at Championship level?

Just because he played Union, it is no guarantee that he could play League. It is a bit like expecting someone to play badminton just because they can play tennis - or expecting someone to play chess because they can play draughts.

Coming back now to P Cooke, like G Thornton, I cannot see him having total control. At the 2015 squad selection time, many fans seemed to be puzzled over the total lack of experienced new players. We do not know the budget constraints that were placed on P Cooke. Also, we may have expected an availability of good Hull FC players to fill any breach. These may be two of the management errors – too many inexperienced youth and a miscalculation on the availability of good dual reg players.

Looking back to the start of 2015, Stand-Offish said, [i“With all these youngsters we must have the most unpredictable team in the division. Forrest Gump mode ... The Dons are like a box of chocolates ... you never know what you're gonna get.”[/i

Also, Onedon wrote, [i“Hope we have enough experience to avoid the struggle of relegation.”[/i He also stated, [i“Looks like we will be relying heavily on D/R.”
[/i

Love it to bits that post. You would have to be completly wet behind the ears not to grasp the thought process behind it. The question once again is about trust, and for me it just enforces my lack of faith in the financial side of running the Dons hence the reluctance to go for a couple of season tickets or anything to do with the alleged squad builder fund.

The financial side of things will probably always mean that the club have the final say on who we can sign but I think the statement made by Carl lowers the possibility that there was some cunning master plan to tread water in 2015 with the club insisting that we went for youth.

We're never going to know how much the club's budget was, or which players they refused to sign (that PC wanted) because they were deemed to be too expensive, or be able to compare our budget to those of our rivals. All we have been told is that the 2015 budget was the biggest ever in the club's history ... which would make them very expensive sausages!

I felt the implications of what Carl said could (and should) have been made public before now. Even though it's not the definitive answer as to why this season went wrong, it does help us to understand the situation a little better. More clarity would also be helpful but I doubt it will be forthcoming.

My guess is that we were also relying heavily on Hull to plug any gaps we had, and that didn't happen. All the top clubs in the Championship kept away from DR. It creates a huge instability in knowing who is going to be available from week to week. I hope one of the lessons we have learned from this season is that we now recognise that we must take responsibility for ourselves. We cannot rely on Hull, or anyone else, to bail us out if times get tough.

We probably all feel a sense of relief that this season is drawing to a close. Let's hope we hear some more positive news of signings soon. I would expect more names to be revealed next week as many players will have played their last game for their current clubs this weekend.