Have any optimism on next year.......ANYBODY, this for me is the single most pessimistic I have been on a forthcoming season, I say this after seasons in all 3 divisions some on the back of CVA constraint recruitment, but even after the recruitment prior to a season after financial constraint I still believed that we would compete in the relevant league, this year however I cannot see past bottom 2 , it kills me a bit because I thought our recruitment was always relative to the income streams , I think pound for pound we should look better on the playing front than this, no disrespect to the current crop ,but seriously!. I have no doubt the nay sayers will shoot me down, I can hear you now “I bet your a right laugh at Christmas “ blah blah , but if your going to call me on my observations please counter it with a reasoned response as to why it’s all cool and the gang down Preston Road.

If we had finished better last year we would have got better players but with tony smith in charge we will do better then last year have faith I am not saying top 5 maybe 8th or 9th

I don’t think we will win the comp but I do think we will be mid table ( with the usual caviat of no bad injury’s to the squad) what does worry me is the the game as a whole. There are 12 teams with only enough players of the required quality for maybe 6 teams, yet we are trying to run reserve teams? The game has become so predictable & played to a formula that is becoming boring just 5 drives & a kick every team the same no variation. It is only us die hard keeping the game going as there is very little for the new fan to get excited about.

Thanks to you both for your measured response, good points, i only hope it is my pessimism that is clouding a better more competitive reality, all the best for new year dudes.

Things needed to change, and having Smith on board gives the ‘revolution’ a chance, imo.

It does seem that every four years or so we have a reboot focusing on long-term development and building strong foundations. Hopefully this one works out on the pitch.

I’m looking forward to it with a mix of hope and trepidation. If it goes badly, I’m not sure what the new, new direction would be.

I think we’ll get a feel early on. I don’t expect everything to click immediately, it’ll take a while for them to gel and find their feet - but if we’re not far off in the early weeks it could grow. If the lads we signed from the Championship struggle en masse at SL level... then we’ll be back in the cycle of difficult to recruit again for 2021, at best.

Have you red what Neil H has said for 2021

I have just now.

It gives me more optimism for the medium term, if we can compete for 7th to 9th next year despite running ‘well under the cap’. If not, it’ll be squeaky bum time again, although it sounds like they’ve thought about how to manage that better. I think we’re probably too good to be cut adrift early on, barring really bad luck with injuries.

Acknowledging the cap underspend will hopefully keep the fans onside more with the team when we have bad days or spells.

https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/h ... al-3656844 got to be good news for you and your club, you just need to stay in SL, which I believe you will.

https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/h ... al-3656844 got to be good news for you and your club, you just need to stay in SL, which I believe you will.

Rovers have a huge task in 2020 to avoid relegation IMO.

We know that teams like Hull, Huddersfield and Toronto are spending way over the cap and actually most of the league are too (not cheating but with the various dispensations). Rovers meanwhile in the words of Neil Hudgell 'are well under the cap'.

I'd say that most clubs have a wage bill of half a million more than Rovers. Wakefield are spending maximum cap so there's only Salford..possibly....at rock bottom spend like Rovers. And I just don't see Salford being in any trouble they have a better squad than us.

Rovers have signed 20 players but only 3 or 4 of those would have any chance of a regular starting spot elsewhere. The rest are either from the championship or players who have been on the fringe elsewhere.

We really need good luck with injuries but if we had a game tomorrow there'd be 7 unavailable so no improvement there yet. Hope I'm proved wrong but I just don't see anyone as weak as us.

I'm struggling to see why people think Toronto will be decent? I don't expect them to be poor but there are a number of reasons why I think they will be struggling

- Ageing team, wilkin, Thompson, chase Stanley, Andrew Dixon all getting on a bit.
- Have they added any real quality (other than SBW) I don't think so.
- Away form will be key, but no evidence to say they can compete week in week out away. Might pick up a few home wins however I think the glass ceiling of how difficult it is to travel to these places and win is broken now a few teams are comfortable in France for example
-Disparity in team dynamic? It's all well and good having SBW on £3mil per year, but what do others feel about that? It could prove a catalyst or it could prove to be problematic.
- Spine? O'Brien, mcrone, mellor, Cunningham/ackers? Can't say that frightens me to be fair.

Some good players there to be fair but I am not sure a 33 year old SBW is going to galvanise things on the pitch ( certainly will off it like)