Truth is I’m sure WP will turn it around and we will survive.

But we need to recruit better. There has to be better in the championship than some of our recent efforts.

It’s early days for WP but we need to concentrate on finding players with guts if we can’t compete for ability.

Our two best coaches in my time were Kear and Kelly and both had a knack for finding these mongrel players. Poching needs to find that, he can clearly spot class.

Truth is that Gaskell, Lineham and Hood were not his signings but whether he would have signed them who knows.

Nest season should we survive this on will be Willies real test.

The problem is Wakefield generally have a smaller pot of players to focus on than others, and not just because of finances.
Whilst ever we continue to flirt with survival it is hard to attract or engage with players early because of the uncertainty around our status as a SL club. Most of the top clubs have the luxury of doing their business early and get it wrapped up early long before realistically we can. What we are generally left with is the B or C list of players who have not been able to secure a deal which makes finding the gems all the more challenging.

We are starting a 100m race 5 seconds after most other clubs and will always continue to do so unless we break the cycle.

What makes it more worrying is we will potentially competing for said B-C players with championship clubs like Leigh and Fev. It’s just a shame we have never been able to build off the back of top 5 seasons.

One club the thing do seem to be doing right is focussing on youth. We should be bringing 1/2 players through every year to full time. It won’t pay off immediately but in 3-5 years we could have some talent on our hands.

I’m looking at Bowes, Eseh, Murphy, Shaw current crop. We need to invest and really develop them. Eseh if managed right has the size to go all the way.

what we really need is for mc to get his wallet out and sign some quality players recent signing are let’s face it cheapys

He's never going to do that, and I don't think he has the wealth even if he wanted to.

We've a £400k hole in funding this year because of the drop in sky money.

I reckon MC probably feels he's had his wallet out enough in the past!
I also reckon there isn't much in the club's wallet.

If there is any money I would much rather it be spent investing in the quality youth we have coming through and finding the next batch. We would get much more value in the medium to long term than paying a contract on a big name. Invest into the roots I say and look at the big picture in 3-5 years when hopefully we have retained and developed some real talent. A club like us can’t sustain paying big contracts out.

MC is going above and beyond the requirements of any sane man by keeping the club afloat during some really tough times. If we get the ground upgrade sorted then hopefully there will be increased cash available.

He has no more reason to open his own private wallet than you or I.

He works for free, that alone is enough. Why people feel they have the right to demand he gives even more is outrageous.

I think people need to accept that a number of reasonably well paid players are currently underperforming and it’s up to them to get their acts together.

Totally agree with this, I don’t know MC, I’m just fairly grateful that without him we would be no more. The bloke cuts the cloth accordingly and got us out of a big stinking dung heap which Glover left us in with his Razzmatazz BS. I don’t think we have recruited well this year, I didn’t make judgment in preseason as any player we sign deserves a clean slate and opportunity to showcase what they can do, but we’re pretty much 1/4 through the season and from what most have seen it’s simply not good enough. I just hope we can put these 2 abysmal defeats behind us and really compete with Hull Kr.

Ultimately it was Glovers responsibility I suppose but his mistake was giving Elston a free hand to run the club into the ground. While it’s easy to condemn Glover for the financial meltdown he did walk away from a few hundred thousand in Directors loans which he could have recalled if he had wished.

Wasn't his Mrs the highest paid at the club teaching the dance troop?

Yes, Sarah (Robinson) Elston
Wildcat Dolls

Agree not a lot W Poaching could do about this year's signings.Let's wait till next year to see what W Poaching does with the full amount of cash for players .Think he will be after younger player's

Would Like to think that poaching is still held in high regard in the RL world more so than mr Chester who was only ever British based , and may help him in player recruiting especially overseas where as I found with the H podcast with Arona who signed for us not knowing basically anything about us ( which may be a blessing) and he’s turned out to be a solid import for us . Poaching still has friends /family over seas and would like to think he can coax some quality to join us in the coming seasons , to enhance and nurture our rapidly growing homegrown talent .

It's not so much about the money available it's more to do with retention and recruitment.
I'm sure a few players are off contract and reasonable earners at that.
It will be interesting just who remains at the club and who moves on or even retire.

There in lies the problem, if we want to keep some of them the club will have to dig deep to keep them, which in turn will take a fair chunk out of the recruitment budget, difficult to balance

The bigger problem short term regarding signings later down the line is getting back to winning ways and performances. Without these the crowds will dwindle, the money available will be less and so will the quality we can not only buy but attract , no matter how nice our new stadium looks . Sorting this seasons players into a battle hardened fighting force with some resemblance of consistency is paramount to the club moving forwards on all fronts .No good having a 350 seater or whatever it is hospitality suite and no one in spending their money .Us die hard will always be here , but it’s the newbies and stay aways we desperately need to come ,and the only way is get a team fit for purpose ,not winning every game but being competitive and making the match day experience something you want to come back to and see again and again .

Our problem is we run a club & support this great club by the " Bottom Line ". Who we get has to fit the bottom line our owner says we have no sugar daddy, but we are in the black, this all equals constant survival, will we slip up one day, who knows, but, law of averages says we will one day, unless some one comes in with more money for more/better players.
It hurts to realalise all this but that's the facts, + we are a small city & therefore we operate on a smaller gate = receipts.
I will however, personally always support them. !

Classy Cas don’t have any problems filling their ground and they have a far smaller catchment area than us .Love them or loathe them they seem to have got the product right on the field and are selling a great match day experience that people are willing to pay £22 for without any problems . No disrespect to the town of Castleford or the people but it’s glory days went when the mines closed so IMO it most certainly won’t be the most affluent town around the RL circuit , yet it’s packet to the gunnels most games .

Thing about Cas is most of their support comes from outside the Castleford area. I have friends who live in York and Selby who watch them and I know a lot of people in the East /North East of Wakefield go down to Wheldon Road.

Winning the league, getting to SL and challenge cup finals in recent seasons gets crowds. If we were doing that we’d be getting a lot bigger attendances. We’re averaging 5k not won anything since 1968 play in a poor stadium and have a habit of putting in performances like last weeks. We do well to get what we get,many so called big clubs would struggle in them circumstances. Once new stand goes up and keep building the club/team crowds will increase.

Up the Trin

you need to check your history pal

So the solution s simple, build new stand and ground and people will flood in.
Get real