Well it's the morning after and after reflection and reading this thread I think it's time for a wake up call and reality check.
Firstly as regards yesterdays game I thought the team gave it their all in what proved to be a very tight game. Indeed in a previous thread I did say we would have to make those 4's into 6's as it would be very close. It turned out to be that way and we were on the wrong side of the scoreline again. Having kicked goals, I would not and do not, aportion the loss to Ste Tyrer as all kickers have times when things just don't go for them. He will work hard to improve , I am sure, as he strikes me as being that sort of bloke.
The reality was though that Dewsbury simply looked better coached within their pack when it came to offloading in the tackle. We simply don't get quick enough play the balls and never to look to test defences with close contact offloads. This negates Johnstone at times who, Like Thacks, has pace to burn if given the chance and opening in and around the oposition forwards.
Murrell is a class act but he is too slow for 6 and should be in a t 13 regardless of if KH is worried about him getting injured closer to the forwards- he has played SL for goodness sake and is a professional player.
Some class players in other sides we have signed, seem to have gone backwards I'm afraid and that has to lie with ALL the coaching staff who I just think are not good enough to take us to the next level , we all so desperately want us to be at.
The reality is we are at best a top 5 side and nowhere near the top 2 spots.
We also must not fall into the 'what if' trap re if we hadn't lost late on to Batley, if we hadn't drawn at Workington, if we hadn't lost at home to NWC, if Tyrer hadn't hit the posts twice at Dewsbury etc. The stark reality is we are not improving at the same rate as some of those teams around us.
Off the field the BOD seems to me to not want to see Fax in SL as we simply don't have the financial or indeed skill set at the club to back it up I'm afraid.
I listened to KH and Michael Steele at a meeting earlier in the season and it seemed to me they were already making excuses decrying the fact Leigh and Fev were probably breaching the salary cap etc.Whilst they agreed the new structure would open up a pathway to SL for any Championship club there was no loud message from them that it would be Fax.
That approach along with the lack of visibility and leadership from TA (albeit understandable if he is having personal issues) is not helping at all.
We clearly need some younger, more dynamic and 21st century thinking people to drive us onwards and upwards behind the scenes. The good old days have gone -we have to accept that- and we need to break this negative cycle we are rapidly following or we really will be in the #hit.
I have followed Fax to Huyton,Doncaster etc when we couldn't buy a win and been in that Cawoods crowd when we were the first professional team to lose to an amateur team in a cup competition-and we certainly don't want to be doing that again.
We have chance to turn things round but it's time for the BOD to try reconnect with it's fan base and also ,as custodians of our club, make those tough decisions to move us forward.
I will continue to support the team and the club but it's clear reading some other people's comments on here they won't and that is aconcern that needs to be addressed quickly.
PS Charlie not sure what happened re the Leigh supporter you mentioned but hope everything is OK.

It's about being realistic today, look at the facts.

We need to accept what Fax are today to keep looking back at what we did in the 80's or being a founder member of SL in 2003 won't help.

Fax are a completely different club in every respect on and off the field and is precisely the point I was making, because of our history we should be too good for the Championship, well clearly were not, fact.

I think the current BOD are doing all they can as it stands today, fact.

I do not think the current BOD (taking on board what GFB has said about money) have such a man, fact.

The more that stop going will contribute to the demise, fact.

For me to keep saying change is needed, knowing the above without a clue how it will be achieved is pointless, fact.

Personally I don't blindly accept anything, I have considered what were we are, where we are and why we are there.

I pay to watch my team knowing what to expect and I don't come away from the game beating myself up or blaming everyone else because we aren't playing like world beaters or another team from another era.

I accept there will be good days and bad days and if and when better times return I will be there, if they don't I will still be there because I enjoy watching rugby league and Fax are the only club I could ever support.

Well said.

Surely sport is about winning, nurturing talent, having dreams and doing your best to realise those dreams. It's not amateur where it's people just purely playing for the love of the game? These guys are paid sportsmen lets not forget. If we have no ambition we might as wellpack it in now. When the BOD took over at Fev they had little cash, a small fan base but bags of ambition and look where it got them. People want to invest in success but not in mediocrity and too many seem to be settling for that. If the club settle for mid table watch the crowds disappear. We all should want better irrespective of the current situation. Money helps yes I agree but things can be improved regardless of it. Communication being one. If you aren't open to constructive criticism you are setting yourself up for a BIG fall. Likewise pretending all is ok generally spells disaster.

Remember the club were financially on their backside under Faz. Yet they took the brave decision to part company and bring in Martin Hall who made a huge impact. In my opinion another brave decision needs making and bring in a coach with ambition who wants to make a name for themselves. Daryl Powell when he went to Fev was smirked at, nobody wanted to know him at thetime , Leeds had discarded him many years before. He saw Fev their ambition and saw it as his chance. Remember they were in the league below when he took over and look where he and they are now.......We need to do the same and build again not just Labour on pretending all is ok.

I hardly think considering what and where we are now is pretending everything is okay, in fact the exact opposite.

I am unaware of who knows what the answer is and is it's out of my control.

The only decision for me is what I choose to do to support my club with what is in my control and I have said what it is.

It's vital to have ambition but it has to be realistic and achievable, to have a club promising the world when they know very well it's not going to happen is hardly being ambitious, more like reckless.

As I said some would gamble on change some wouldn't.

On criticism, when we don't know all the facts which bits can be classed as constructive with a real agenda that will be sure to work and which bits are just general across the board statements based on guess work.

Keighley next week and it will be just as tough.

Only 2 weeks ago KH promised 2nd spot and a grand final appearance. I think we have the team to do it, I do not think we have the coaching staff to do it though. If the rumours are true it seems the BOD bought in to it though.

If the board had given KH a new three year contract don't you think they would have announced it?

I think we're stuck between a rock and a hard place. We, like all sports clubs, need investment but don't have the board to do it. Without that investment and improvements all over the club, it is hard to attract high level sponsorship. The board has done a great job until recently but seem to have taken their eye off the ball, particularly after the failure to buy the Shay. There are other, obvious reasons for this too.

I believe we have a great squad but they aren't performing on the field for some reason.

The answers are not obviously forthcoming apart from an oligarch buying us up lock stock and barrel which isn't going to happen. Maybe it is wise to sit back and see what happens to Leigh and Fev, but will we be left behind in the mean time!

No I think even they would pick a better time than the current one to announce it.

That's about the size of it Freddie, I don't know what else we can do and who knows where we will end up.

Nowt's been said and Fax players didn't complain but why did the ref blow for full time when Murrell kicked through at the end? The hooter went after the drop out but it is play on until the ball goes dead surely? Percy's Daleside Premium Gold 5.0% Mmm!

Actually they weren't. They'd won promotion (winning the play off final against Oldham) the previous season under the guidance of David Hobbs.

forward pass i think

Yes you are right...... I stand corrected pal. Although my sentiment still remains the same. He was something of a gamble as at the time nobody in RL was going anywhere near him and he had a point to prove..........Fev reaped that benefit and so did Powell.

Forward pass to Murrell?

aye

Mmm?

It's been done to death but it wisdom after the event again.

How many clubs have appointed people as coaches even proven ones and it's gone wrong.

Fev for one with Bastion so that's one that has and one that hasn't with the club quoted has an example of where it's worked!!!

Fax have appointed several where it hasn't worked.

Even to gamble you have to have the money to do it and Fax haven't got it.

Charlie please leave us alone I know you are trying to cheer us up but the fact is our club is in decline and we will NOT get that 2nd spot, no way.
Go and enjoy your own clubs terrific season which I think will be unbeaten all season in this league.

Like your optimism but its misguided I am afraid, blind loyalty does not work in the long term.
The results are part of the problem, the other part is the way we play its poor we don't have any clue its predictable and its this which is losing us games as teams are picking us off.
Surely the Board have not given Karl another 3 years, surely not??????

Suit yourself mate , im not trying to cheer you up , or Patronise you , its not my Style , im saying it as I see it , you still have a decent squad of players , including Peter Fox , and 2nd spot is achievable providing you start winning ,and remember Fev have to travel to the Shay yet .

2nd spot IS still achievable but we just can't see a sudden upswing of commitment on the horizon. However, the annoying thing to me is that we could have won every game we've played this season! We have been shown what the team is capable of but not for 80 minutes per game and that failure to maintain pressure is caused by a coaching team with the inability to motivate.

As a Keighley fan, I've been more than impressed with Paul Handforth since he came from Halifax to Keighley in the close season. We seem to be winning many of the types of game we would have lost last season, and to me, Handforth's organisation and playmaking seems to be central to it all. He seems to bring the best out of the players around him.

I may be way off the mark, but I've kept wondering whether the loss of Handforth may have impacted your form at all this season to date? What are your thoughts out of interest?

Looking forward to next Sunday by the way, hope you bring a good following as you usually do, it should be a good game.

And his half back partner from last season (Thacks) is going great for Dewsbury.
Read into this what you like..