Board - Fans Forum : Sat Oct 22, 2022 9:24 am  

I can't make the Forum night, and I suspect I would not be welcomed given my view on the competence of at least two of the new Board to run a Rugby team. They probably feel the same about me!! But I wish them all the success and luck for the future to ensure the Club moves forward successfully.

It is clear the forum will talk a lot of generalities, they always do, but I think there are two key questions (and one sub question!) that will determine the success of this new Group of owners and by definition the future of the club:-

- Given the fact the team last season was not good enough to gain promotion, how much additional budget with the Director of Football have to recruit appropriate players, all talk at present s about like-for-like recruitment? Does any of the Board have the required contacts to help ensure recruitment as Ian is no longer in the position?

- Once the "Category A" requirements are announced will the Board commit to publish a gap analysis and a detailed explanation/timeframe/costing of how they will achieve this level? My assumption if the will not is that they don't intend to do it despite what they say now.

Can I add, whilst I also had my differences with the parting Board, it cannot be argued that they managed to get the Club through some very difficult years, build a solid Championship side, and stabilise its position. A lot of this is down to the financial investment of personal funds of Laurence and the hard work of the others....although I suspect it will have been like heading cats.

I will watch the film of the meeting with interest.

Re: Board - Fans Forum : Sat Oct 22, 2022 3:57 pm  

I will be going to the forum and i am looking forward to hearing the new owners plans for the club. The best way to judge if this takeover as been a success or not is by there actions so we will have to see what they come up with and if they can then deliver it.

Re: Board - Fans Forum : Tue Oct 25, 2022 8:22 pm  

Anyone got anything to report for those of us unable to attend..?

Does it look promising?

Re: Board - Fans Forum : Wed Oct 26, 2022 10:23 am  

Short version is that the board said we are currently in X position and the aim was to get to Y position. We got a list of where we are at this moment on a lot of different things like community work, crowds, etc and where we would like to be on each of these. There were multiple catogaries and I didn't take notes so this is off the top of my head but a lot of this was just common sense we need to be better sort of stuff. Now I don't want to put a dampner on things but we didn't really get much in the way of how we are going to achieve those goals. Just for example anyone can tell us that we need to be getting better crowds but coming up with a plan to actually do that is something different altogether.

Another point was that they are still looking for people to fill various roles and Im almost certain, although my memory is not what it used to be, that one of them was a finacial role and again just my opinion but I would imagine everything like that would have been in place before the takeover.

We heard a little bit about budgets but it were just the normal things of how we spend less than a lot of clubs but there was no talk of numbers although we heard from the new football director that we would be spending more this season than last season but nothing to say where the finances were coming from to enable us to do that and the amount of players leaving and comments from Simon Grix on the night suggests to me we will be running a skinnier squad that last year and they are still on the lookout to fill key positions(with signings rumoured I imagine we are having trouble filling the centre spots and re looking for late movement maybe from Leigh or other SL clubs).

On that note I know Dbvda mentioned about Ian Croad no longer been involved with recruitment and its a huge worry that we now have someone in that position with no experience and comments last night did not fill me with confidence and that along with budgets seemingly not finalised worries me a little when it comes to recruitment although with Karl Harrison back involved(I think this is a good move) and him having experience as a players agent Im hoping that lack of experience can be helped by having Karl involved.

Overall Im indifferent on one hand I think the old board had done a great job of steadying the ship and getting us competitive but we need fresh blood to take us to the next level, are the new board those people? I don't know, again we have people who care about the club in charge and Im a long way off saying its going to be a disaster but I also have my doubts that they can elevate us to the next level. Noises are good but we have heard empty promises before so lets see where we are in a couple of seasons.

Unfortunatley I left before they mentioned about buying the Shay, Im sure there will be a recap of that on the Town forum.

Re: Board - Fans Forum : Wed Oct 26, 2022 10:44 am  

Season ticket information is now out. These are being kept at the same as last year's prices and there is the usual early bird offer so it would obviously help the club if those renewing, or new, purchased as soon as possible. I'm getting ours today.

Re: Board - Fans Forum : Wed Oct 26, 2022 11:33 am  

Hudd-Shay wrote:

Season ticket information is now out. These are being kept at the same as last year's prices and there is the usual early bird offer so it would obviously help the club if those renewing, or new, purchased as soon as possible. I'm getting ours today.

Good afternoon Pete , Ihope both Di and yourself are well, it’s nice to Fax doing something hopefully more positive , and good to see you are getting season tickets .
It seems we will be playing a few games now on Friday, and Thursdays , so I’m hoping to come to the Shay a couple of times next season , I’ve a friend of one of your New Board ,band speak to him on a regular basis , he is in a positive mood for your future .
As for your playing squad , I think you could keep Lammy warm , as we have a big squad next season some of which may be available on loan , depending on your needs .
Anyway hopefully we will see each other next season , my own health has improved a lot recently and I’m in a much better frame of mind .Take care mate .

Re: Board - Fans Forum : Wed Oct 26, 2022 12:13 pm  

The Charlie Caroli wrote:

Good afternoon Pete , Ihope both Di and yourself are well, it’s nice to Fax doing something hopefully more positive , and good to see you are getting season tickets .
It seems we will be playing a few games now on Friday, and Thursdays , so I’m hoping to come to the Shay a couple of times next season , I’ve a friend of one of your New Board ,band speak to him on a regular basis , he is in a positive mood for your future .
As for your playing squad , I think you could keep Lammy warm , as we have a big squad next season some of which may be available on loan , depending on your needs .
Anyway hopefully we will see each other next season , my own health has improved a lot recently and I’m in a much better frame of mind .Take care mate .

Good to hear from you Ian. Glad to see you're back on't horse and hope to meet sometime next season. As for Fax, we've done o.k. the last two seasons and I hope we can go one better this year. We shall see. Up The Fax!

Re: Board - Fans Forum : Wed Oct 26, 2022 2:51 pm  

My positive from the meeting was that it's a new group of people with renewed energy rather than the same old . When you get to the point of....well we have tried everything and it hasnt worked ...you know it's time to go which is pretty much where the old board were certainly after the york result which was the final nail in all their financial planning for 23. Muzza as assistant coach had to be put on ice and everything screeched to a halt. Having a new football director is not a negative if the person develops the role . Finances can be picked up by richard Durgin so I dont necessarily see negatives but then I have to overlay the realism that rugby league is becoming more and more a minority sport where people just cant be bothered to watch it . The world cup hasnt lit my candle yet but never say never if england progress. Top Mark's for the new boards courage, delivery will be hard work

Re: Board - Fans Forum : Wed Oct 26, 2022 2:54 pm  

Greg as done a good summary of last nights events. I do feel pretty positive about the future of the club after listening to what they had to say that's not to say that there is not a lot for the new board to get there teeth into on and off the pitch. As for the bigger spend on the squad for next season they did say that would be coming from there own personal investment in the club and simon would also be supported in bringing in any backroom staff he felt that he needed. The club will be going for promotion next season yes this will be challenging but they will do everything they can to achieve this. Also again this will take a big effort to achieve they will be aiming for the club to be a categorie A club when the img changes come in this is a big ask but at least they are showing some ambition for the future of the club. The squad builder is being relaunched they gave some figures that other championships clubs make and they want to do better on that and make people more aware of it. They will also be using there own staff from there businesses to help the club. Someone made a good point about the club not making any money from hospitality at home games. The tender for selling food and drink at the ground as already been taken for next season but what is to stop the club in the future for making a bid for some of these tenders themselves. All in all they have a very ambitious plans for the club on and off the pitch they will be investing some of there own cash to get the ball rolling but in the long run they need to generate more income into the club to make these plans sustainable.

Re: Board - Fans Forum : Wed Oct 26, 2022 5:27 pm  

Hudd-Shay wrote:

Season ticket information is now out. These are being kept at the same as last year's prices and there is the usual early bird offer so it would obviously help the club if those renewing, or new, purchased as soon as possible. I'm getting ours today.

Pleased that S/T prices are staying the same and i will be renewing before the deadline even though i dont know how many matches (if any) i will be able to see.
Less than impressed that Postage has gone from £1 to £4.95 !1 I know every penny counts but crikey