The problem MM is if you buy a Marillion track that's out of sinc. Do you A-say never mind, spend money, buy another hopeing that that will be ok? After the second one's the same as the first,or B-not going to get stung again for that crap. I know what a lot of fans would do and looking at the crowd, are doing. I like a lot of fans can stand the team to lose, but it's the way we're loseing that worries me.

and, of course cassandra, MM has already said he is one who doesn't go week in week out, and thereby lies one if the problems. The club has to bring back fans who don't go week in week out, but when the team plays like this its never going to happen.

This is primarily one of the reasons why I didn't purchase a season ticket because I knew that I couldn't commit to attending, also the tv company re-arranges playing times/dates otherwise I'd have bitten the bullet and got one.
People really do have other things to do especially on bank holly weekends, but I drove past Odsal at 1pm yesterday on the way back from the airport and there were loads of fans of both teams milling around even so early, OK the U/20's were playing a curtain raiser, now they're not exactly in a rich vein of form at the moment but drew in 14K !!! I understand there were a lot of walkers before even halt time but 14K is some crowd whether we like it or not.

Haven't 11k bought season tickets at something like £65.00 for the saeson. Thats equal to the cost of 4 visits to the South Stand

I guess people pay their money and feel they are entitled to an opinion. Most people will judge a coach on results and development of players and on both fronts are we seeing improvements?

Another thing the speccies can do is try and influence the sacking of the coach. TA went from been clapped when he walked accross the pitch to been booed in a very short space of time, eventually the board had no choice because results were so dire. The same thing happened to Faz and you can see the same thing happening with MC. It all usually follows the same route, bad results, supporters unrest, coach attacks players publically, players no longer perform for the coach, board backs coach, more bad results, supporters total revolt and thats usually that.

I would love to see what sort of team MC could put us together if he had a SL budget but its a fine line i guess. On one hand we can look optimistically that we will get in to SL and hold off any rash decisions. On the other hand realistically we wont be going in to SL and if the board dosnt act then we may find ourselves playing in Champ 1 next season and all the hard work of getting the crowds up over the last 2 seasons will be wasted when we are playing in front of 1K people.

MM it's not so much how many penalties we concede it's where and when in a game we concede. Look at the Batley game a silly penalty in our own 30 near the posts, That's indiscipline when we should have closed the game down. Something we've consistently by the way seemed unable to do under Calland. We always have a 10-15 min silly spell to let teams back into a game. Let's be honest pens are at the discretion of each official under there personal interpretation as you know better than anybody!! Yesteday both sides persistently were offside and held down yet the penalty count was fairly minimal.

Refs don't watch the defensive line anymore, just take note of a referee's eyeline the next few games you watch. They're instructed to speed the game up, that means MOOOOOOOOOOOOVE, clear the ruck !!!!

Does Mat actually pick the players or is Martin Hall still doing it? We seem to play better when MH is in the stand.

I dont expect you to agree with me Col and I respect your view point. But for me, the Club has reached its limit with Calland in Charge. Thats not knocking what Matt or anybody has achieved and its been great to see us reaching Finals and winning. But sadly, there time comes for a change in Personel, ideas and system. That time is now for me regarding Fax and a few people involved at the club. Thats nothing against these people but people simply go stale, or get in a comfort zone or simply have mental blocks which do nothing for them and the team. Thats what has happened to not just Matt Calland but a few of the players. Others simply are past it and dont have the influence on games or get away with certain things as in the past.
Its not nice saying people should be sacked. But if they are causing a club to suffer or go even backwards, then for me then the people/fans who actually pay their wages in many cases, are free to suggest they leave in some way. A Sports Club is not like a normal business. Its a cut throat business and also very public. Why should you, me or anybody pay 18 Pounds or whatever and get to see a team that frankly are often clueless and get often outenthused? Most people dont expect us to win trophies or even reach finals each year. What we do expect us that a team gives 100 % and that the Coach doesnt go hiding and not turn up at events he MUST attend. People respect that being a Coach is not as easy as we all think. But we also expect that the Coach turns up and talks to Sponsors and people after the game, Win, lose or hammering! If Matt cant face people during tough times then maybe he should stay to coaching amateur at Mayfield and not take a High Profile Job with a lot of pressure.
If people think Matt should stay then thats fine and I respect their opinion. But please dont go criticizing many of us on here who do not feel the club can go further. We are all very passionate about our club and spend a lot of money. You may not like what we say, but please atleast try and understand why we are saying the things we do. Its all down to opinion at the end of the day. Nobody has the exact answer and knows exactly what to do.

Unfortunately MM you are never able to be objective in these arguments because you know those involved personally and chose to defend them on a personal level rather than accepting that those on the outside may have an opinion. If you really don't think there is a problem with the coaching at the club then you are far less knowledgable about the game than I gave you credit for.

Still don't see where you are seeing abuse in any of these posts other than the fact that you don't like or appreciate anyone elses view other than your own.

Over 80% think MC should go. You appear to believe that they are all wrong and you are right/

I agree with much of this post , I have nothing against Matt Calland and if the board decide to keep him then I will back them they are the ones puting the time and effort and money in. However they do risk loseing everything we have tried to build up over these last few years then they can do so. I personally will still be there as it is my club , I was a sponsor during the dark days of TA and Faz and kept puting my money in because even when it was dire every week a true fan wears the shirt for life a player only borrows the shirt. I havn`t a clue how you fix this but I do know people will stop watching as like I said in a previous post the players may think they are athletes but at the end of the day they are entertainers and that includes Matt Calland. The unfortunate thing is he never comes in and speaks to the sponsors when he wins either nor did Martin Hall. They are unique as far as I know in any of the leagues . Some may say it`s not important but it is as I think it`s disrespectful because most of the players don`t come in either. It`s about giving people exclustivity and in that sponsors lounge they are paying £50 a pop nearly
If you went to a rock concert and half the group only played half the songs and had no organised repetoire would you still carry on paying to see them all the time if it didn`t improve I doubt it it wouldn`t matter how big a fan you were. The thing that worries me is the damage to the club if they don`t turn it round , so somethings going to have to happen.

It doesn't seem to matter what happens, we go through this every year, i get the feeling this man can do no wrong in Mr Steeles eyes, whether its on field or off field matters.
Its a fair point though above, i have attended the corporate hospitality in the Harveys suite and saw very few players pop in and certainly no sight of the coaching staff I remember, although I had consumed half a dozen guiness and bottle of wine.
I remember what Millward did when he first joined Leigh, he went through the club like a dose of salts, made the players look fans in the eye and answer for there failings, stopped them disappearing off to a private bar, and amongst other things it brought the club together and they went on to get out of this league.
Im not for one minute suggesting we copy this, but i do feel there is a gap between the fans and certain elements of the club. The scary thing is we'll improve against the Bulls and our form will pick up and everything will again be brushed under the carpet. I am struggling to find any positives from this year, a year when we should have kicked on in every department, POOR, all round. I think the back 3 of White, Worrincy and Greenwood can all hold their heads high though, for many reasons i wont go into either.

When we give a good account of ourselves against Bradford and Fev (NRC semi) and make the play offs please bump this thread back up!!!

A few posters will be regretting their words AGAIN!

Teams have bad runs of form, it happens.... MC has seen all this before and no doubt will turn things around again, who else is better placed to do this?

This is a FANS forum so surely people can write what they like as long as it is not slanderous or insulting, peoples views should be known, good or bad.
He is the coach and like football managers is the one that takes the credit when its due and flak when not, if he does not like it he knows where to go, tough!
Like players we will still be here when he has gone, he will not lose sleep when he gets his new job I bet, will be very interesting to see how he goes, if we are right not very well. That will be interesting.

The thing is SOMETHING needs to change and quick!

you keep believing that and be careful your head doesn't actually get stuck in the sand.

OMG!! I do admire your loyalty I really do. I have never been a fan of Calland where as you obviously are, so we are at completely opposite ends of the spectrum. However MC has never taken us to the depths we are in. Yes he has endured losing streaks but he had a very different group of players at his disposal. This year the team look disjointed, unfit, uninterested and sadly outthought and outenthused. I don't mind losing for me it is how we lose and this season we are throwing thd towel in far too easily. There appears to be a lack of pride and certainly passion. Can you honestly say in the last 2 seasons we have performed as badly as we have in Tolouse, Sheffield, Widnes this season. As for me 2 of those were embarrassingly bad and from a team/club defending their Championship crown! If you really think this slump is temporary I'd like you to explain why and how you get to this conclusion? We can't defend and never have been able to under Calland, if he can't coach it into them in over 3 seasons I don't see an over night fix.

Don't bank on it Jon, we used to get packed houses at Thrum Hall but we don't anymore. I've said it before & I'll stand by it, the paying sporting public of Calderdale don't want a SL team, it's becoming very obvious. I mean, how many fans actually went to each of our GF's ? Four thousand maximum ? Can we run a SL licence on that figure, I think we all know the answer.
Calderdale/Halifax people no longer turn out to support in large enough numbers.

When I said we I meant the loyal 1600.
I don't know about SL, thing is the whole game is weak as crowds as we all know are inflated thses days with cheap season ticket offers, tons of freebies and counting anybody even if they don't attend but have been given a ticket, yer some clubs do get good crowds but I ask would they be as big if they had to pay the full price like back in the 80's and only counted those who went through the turnstiles?
Halifax would support a well run and a competitive who give it their all club in any league, what they have become disllusioned about with Fax is the false dawns and that lack of consistency on and off the field as when a certain pub landlord tells you he has tried to sponsor a matchball and had no reply it makes me wonder how can we treat sponsors or potential ones like that?
Halifax RLFC needs to be a club that people CAN TRUST in all its dealings, we do a lot right and have some great people who do stuff for nowt but there is just that something lacking, sorry.

on this point I do agree with you which is sort of depressing really as there seems to be little point to the game or the club anymore.

Chris - what do you honestly expect from this squad in 2011?

given the following; lost arguably 3 best players (Royston,Branners,Dom), all playing squad forced to take pay cut (including MC).
These actions no doubt forced upon the squad due to disastrous off season events in 2010... (sponsor,weather,CC,NRC, Stan)

The squad has been weakened (inevitably) and we will achieve top 6 at best, a couple of wins and a return to form could deliver this.

Some people are writing that "we should have kicked on from the GF".. can someone explain how when the best players have left (with good reason)??

What has MC go to do? win another GF? get real....

We will finish between 6th and 8th and that's mission accomplished, rebuild can continue in 2012.

Christ, its more depressing than Eastenders on here



have faith in the marketing machine

You are missing the point 87. The wage bill was reduced to meet the cap. We are still the second best supported team in the league with the second highest turnover. Leigh and Fev have no more money to spend on players. Sheffield, Hunslet and Batley most certainly don't. Our £300K is getting us relegated or 6th place at best. Leigh's £300K is making them title contenders. What's the difference?

Millward maybe?

We have gone from 2010 champions to 6-8th place for the following reasons;

1. poor weather early 2010 restrcited revenues
2. major sponsor going bankrupt (link telecom)
3. Challege cup
4. Early NRC exit
5. settlement of SG
6. repatriation of mediocre Fax born players to boost licence application

The bank overdraft will have financed us through this so NOW is the time to re-adjust the finances to get us back on track.

MC will deliver what he can with the squad but I think he may be slightly miffed to see the back bone of his GF winning team wave good bye in off season, but thats the way it has to be.

A pack reshuffle and the return of Ratu and Black will see us right for 2011.

Actually 87 you are wrong! The club I'm pretty sure doesn't operate an overdraft facility and actually made a small operating profit last year. Which is fantastic considering many RL clubs struggle to make a small loss. This for me is where the upset starts for me as we really had/have a chance to kick on after the GF win. Sadly crowds are dwindling as people vote with their feet due to the poor fare being currently served. This will sadly have a knock on effect for The Trust aswell as people are fickle and maybe won't dig deeper or attend events due to the on field issues. Sad but very true.

Finally to tackle your point on where should we be in the league........well that's easy! Certainly not bottom 2 or in a relegation dog fight. This squad is strong enough for a top 4 finish easily, don't you think? 80% of the starting 13 are potentially members of the GF winning squad. I just don't buy that in this league there are probably 6/7 coaches who would love to get their hands on our squad or even have the same player budget to spend.
We are in a tight spot right now and my personal belief is we need new eyes, ears and ideas to get us out of it as the resources at our current coaches disposal don't get used effectively or properly and that's a problem.

Also 87 with at worst 75% of the GF winning squad on the books still, what makes us suddenly accept finishing just inside the top 8? That's not acceptable at all surely? Why should we kick on? Well we are champions and we should be looking to cement ourselves as a top 3 side without doubt and serving up a great game day experience. The lack of pride and defence are worrying too do you not think? We won the championship in 1985 with a squad of mis fits and hasbeens but with a togetherness that was hard to crack. It's amazing what pride, belief and team spirit can achieve at anything and these are all aspects our current team lack in massive proportions and these are things a good coach gives you. Not only do you need the tactics but you need to be able to man manage people. Chris Anderson was the God of this but sadly is something i hear MC isnt particularly great at. The whole place seems down and as Champions we should be enjoying this year.