I am quite optimistic about the change of ownership. From what I have seen of Adam Pearson he seems to be an honest, straight-talking individual with a fair degree of business sense. On the few occasions I have spoken to him he seems to be quite a nice guy to boot. A clear, unambiguous statement of ambition is very welcome. I hope that Mr Pearson will refuse the accept the mediocrity we've been made to suffer for too long now, and will take whatever measures are necessary to elevate us to our rightful position (given our fanbase, stadium etc) as one of the top sides in the game.
I'm really not worried about a merger. If Pearson says it's not on the cards, I believe him. Even if we did end up 'merging' with Rovers, they have far more to fear from it than we do. Any 'merger' would be a takeover in all but name. Our club would swallow theirs and they'd cease to exist in anything like their current form. The 'new' club would continue to play at the KC, would likely be called 'Hull RL' or something similar, and would eventually just become known as 'Hull' in the press/media and all informal references. Think Huddersfield/Sheffield and I reckon the outcome would be very similar.
As regards the outgoing ownership, there's no doubting they did some good work to establish a stable financial base for the club to progress. The only problem is that progress never materialised. I also think in recent years that they have been helped immeasurably by the loyalty of the fans. Generally speaking, successful clubs make far more money than unsuccessful ones. It is largely by virtue of the fact that our loyal supporters have continued to buy tickets, passes and merchandise in record numbers throughout a period of sustained underachievement that the club has continued to turn a profit. That the erstwhile owners were unwilling/unable to realise our on-field potential has already begun to tell this season and I reckon the change has come at the right time to start addressing those issues and prevent gates/sales falling even further.
All in all, I'm happy, and on face value it seems to be a positive move. My optimism is tempered with the degree of caution that I would reserve for any unknown quantity, and it remains to be seen whether any of the conspiracy theories will have any credibility. In my experience of such theories, they usually do not.
