No. Not close

Some of your fans are unbelievable you've made the super 8s play in front of 10,000 every other week made some good signings for next season to be honest a lot of clubs fans would snap your hand off to be in the position your in all I can think is the OP hasn't supported the club very long

plenty of worse times in my memory.

Early 70's when we struggled to get 1000 fans in

1986 to 88 when all the good times stopped

1994 to 1999 - a slow decline ending in the Lloyd and Walsh years

Makes this season feel half decent !

This is spot on. This moment in our history is nowhere near as bad as some of the times in the past.

Lots worse times but the point about the general doom and gloom around the place is spot on. As another poster has said the signings we have for next year are pretty good IMO yet some still go on about how underwhelmed there are . opinions differ I suppose

It only seems bad due to the drama queen nature of fans these days.
this tread currently has asany posts as the announcement of a new signing. A player of an age that seldom come to these shores these days and with genuine pedigree
we are in the top 8 despite massive underachievement this yr and not having to mix it with lower leagues for our survival.
Our young kids are starting to blossum plus our next level down at 19 are among the best in the country
we are currently recruiting better than any team. Currently but taylor and pritchard alone are better than many teams will do.
In short. This thread is laughable when compared to the properly bad times!!

Of course they were worse times, much worse, remember 96 and the RL's merger plans and 99 when we were all glued to the radio wondering if we had a Club to support at all!

For me, I just think at present the usual Jonah's aside who are never happy, a lot of fans feel a bit disenfranchised and 'out of the loop' having been built up to get let down so many times, it's all gets just a bit tedious in the end. Many fans seem to think they know what the solution is but don't see their beliefs being addressed any time soon so there is a deal of frustration about which somehow the Club has to rid itself of before September and season tickets going on sale.

Last year they were really panicking at the end of November and extending deadlines etc and with only 5000 or so committed it was only a last minute appeal by Adam about the 150th year that got the last couple of thousand that were wobbling back on board, that is going to be an even bigger challenge this year, unless that feeling of despair and resignation can somehow be addressed. The stark reality is of course that if we don't rally round and don't get those subscribers back then the downsizing of the organisation will have to continue. Worse times....there's been plenty!!

I agree there have been far worse times, but it is certainly one of the most frustrating. Pretty much all the ingredients are there to be at least a top6 side, but we continue to plod about in the mid to low table. I've never felt so apathetic about the club, back in the late 90s we were poor, penniless in a crumbling ground with small crowds and going out of business was likely. But there was an 'all in it together' attitude amongst the fans, now there's a mixture of apathy and people drifting away from the club, anger aimed at the club, and then a 'hardcore' fans of the club getting angry at those who are getting apathetic and defending the club. All in all its not a happy fan Base.

On your point about youth, it would be a very promising time for the club if it wasn't for the outrageious decision to merge with Rovers. While the current youth players are 'ringfenced' for a few years, I still feel this decision has been taken a good year or even 2 years too early. If this current crop of under 19s don't make it in to first team players then Pearson may have a point, but we've not given them a chance yet before he's ripping the system up. He's ruining the only good bit of work he's done for the club IMO.

Don't know about anyone else but I'm actually looking forward to the next 7 games. I think the wigan game was a blow out as a result of beating rovers and finishing in the 8. We have nothing to lose and no pressure on the players so I'm hoping we start to play some better rugby and maybe see a couple more youngsters get a chance

In terms of on field performances, not remotely close, in terms of sustainability/club remaining a going concern, nope we are in a relatively strong position still.

However the feeling amongst the fans is one of being unsettled and yet again dissapointment
The club appears on some fronts to be in turmoil/transition & of course fans are going to be upset because we have expectations. Not that we are expecting to beat all before us but that we can improve to a level that says we are at least competitive near the top end of the table, in that we haven't being for some time and that with the current owner having said X & Y with regard to where he wanted us & yet we haven't improved at all (albeit improved from last season) relative to other SL clubs.

That fear from last year were we had a lucky escape with reagrd to relegation and this year in our 150th anniversary we've had more than our fair share of damp squibs plus off field goings on, things the owner and coach have said toward the fans all add up to the general feeling of unease and for some fans they've had enough of false dawns and false promises, it's not surprising a thread like this is being discussed as it's hard as fans to take being in the wilderness for yet another season.