Without clarification from the club, it would appear they must have funds available to strengthen the squad but chose not to use them this season. Maybe the targets we were after were asking for too much and the club felt better opportunities would arise at a later date. Maybe surviving was the aim this season, with a push to recruit for next season? I don't know. I'm just
speculating.
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By the start of next season, PC would have a better idea as to how the signed youngsters would have developed thereby not needing to spend cash if our lads had developed into the players we had hoped and they could slot into the team.
We did over-achieve last season with some great team spirit. We won some matches that could have gone either way, and the Hull lads did help us out in these wins. The rest of the clubs in the league have spent cash and the standard is quite a lot higher than it was last season. Consequently, our decision not to invest now looks less of a good idea because we may not have a squad that is able to compete at this higher level, with relegation being a
threat.
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It'll be interesting to read John Scarrow's page in the next programme. Maybe he could give us some insights into how he feels we can deal with the situation we find ourselves in and explain whether they had a Plan B when formulating the current strategy, should we have a bad start to the season? Getting relegated would be terrible and we must avoid it, even if it does mean investing money now, instead of next
year.
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I want to remain positive, and I will stand by the club no matter what happens, but I did feel the Hunslet game could be a defining moment. To stay in this league, I had in mind that we would need to beat them in two of the three fixtures we play against them. Will we win the other two games?
I now view it as critical that we win our home games against Batley, Dewsbury, London, Hunslet, Workington and Whitehaven, otherwise it is very unlikely that we will accrue enough points to stay up. I'm sure we'll all feel better after our first league win. Let's hope it happens on 29th March against Batley.