I also liked him as a player, apart from being made of biscuit during his time with us.

He has nailed his colours firmly to the stinking R&W mast in recent years and I don't want him anywhere near Hull FC !

The fact that Webster has chosen to go to Wakefield and continue his coaching apprenticeship with Agar, is good enough reason to me for him not staying here.

He took a coaching job at Hull KR, what's the big deal?

I'm prepared to give him a chance back at Hull.

I'm more bothered about the sudden influx of howes' clinets than chester being appointed

you better get used to the idea

That does seem to be cause for concern. I'd like to think that we're seeking out the very best person available for every position we need to fill. It would be a massive coincidence (too massive?) if all of the best people available just happened to have the same agent. Wouldn't it?

Especially when they include an unqualified conditioner with no experience, his wife as physio and the assistant coach from one of the few teams who actually appeared to be worse than us for most of last season

It's bothering me. Has Bomber been given too much control? Is AP scrutinising each of these appointments or is he allowing Bomber/Howes to suit themselves?

First rumblings of not being completely happy with the new regime are emerging perhaps?

I kind of already am !



I thought he was a great player at Hull (when he wasn't injured of course) but since he went over there, he just became another washed-up ex-FC player who sold out to our little neighbours for a few quid.

That said, he didn't just "do his job" over there, he really seemed to have a genuine dislike for our club (and our fans on at least one occasion).

So I for one will not be welcoming him back! Don't suppose he'll lose any sleep over that though! LOL

It's the conditioner appointment that worries me most. It's such an important area that we simply can't afford to get it wrong. The asst coach will largely do what they're told by Gentle anyway, so that's not as big a concern. But conditioning is a different matter, and I don't think it's an area we should be gambling on someone who isn't proven at the top level. The new guy might turn out to be brilliant, of course, but it's a bloody risky strategy, if you ask me.

I'm beginning to wonder if the Howes connection is something that FC are encouraging,

maybe Howes is our preferred Agent?

maybe Howes is part of how AP funded the purchase!

(he was working with him and Barmby when they first bid a few years ago, and he was also involved in the MKM bid as far as I know)

and where is the evidence the conditioner is unqualified? (not directed at you OmneFC)

On linkedin the new conditioner looked like he had plenty of relevant experience and qualifications to me,

Maybe we need some current thinking and up to date practices in that area of the club - something we have been lacking?

I agree, and I'm certainly not going to sit on the sidelines bagging the buy before we've even seen any evidence of his ability.

Amazing how some people think Gentle is the messiah and yet the new conditioner isn't good enough because he hasn't got SL experience.

talk about double standards

Gentle has worked with success (albeit as an assistant) in a much higher level of the game than SL.

Devlin has worked without success in lower levels of our game and in the other code.

How is it double standards to expect more from Gentle than Devlin in their respective roles?

Neither am I. In fact, I have already stated that he 'might be brilliant'. But we have no way of knowing that because he has yet to prove it at the top level. We've gone down the road of appointing an unproven person to a key role in the not too distant past, and look how that worked out. I'm talking about your beloved 'Fubar', by the way.



People think Gentle is the Messiah? Wow. I hadn't noticed. Perhaps you can quote some posts where he has been hailed as such? Gentle might not have SL experience, but he does have NRL and international experience, albeit as an assistant. That's more than our new conditioner has, by some distance.

So, who should we have brought in as conditioner, who is available to start within weeks (if not days)?

and as for the Gentle bit, you know full well there have been plenty getting a bit over-excited by his appointment.

How do you know he has had no success in the lower levels?

Sorry if I'm mistaken, what has he achieved?

what can a conditioner achieve?

So we should make appointments based on who can start quickest, should we? The fact is, there are numerous conditioners out there who do have extensive experience, any of whom could become available at the right price. Bringing in someone who hasn't worked at the top level is a risk. He might be great, he might be rubbish. We'll only know when he's worked with the squad for a while.



I do? You'll have no problem quoting 'plenty' of posts then, will you?

How would you deem a conditioner to be successful though? Is it turning fat lads into lean muscly and fit individuals? Improving a group of players core strength or sprint speed? If this is the case then i guess we will never know

Fair point, I'm only going from his CV though and it looks to me like he's not pulled up any trees so far in his career. TBF even if he'd been hugely successful at Donny, success at that level means nothing in relation to SL.

These things, coupled with the Howes link and the fact they've employed his wife aswell, makes it a massively underwhelming appointment for me.

I dont see how employing his wife is an issue - is she is a good physio then that is important. Was you as uneasy when McRae's wife Tina used to run the shop back in the day?

I would say that success at a lower level where players are only available a couple of times a week would deem him to be a success if he has improved their fitness, as a lot of that would mean players taking responsibility for sticking to their schedules. In a full time environment this should make his job easier.

Bit silly that, it's hardly as important who is running the club shop as it is who the physio is. As I've said elsewhere, my issue with employing his wife is that I find it pretty difficult to believe that the very best available candidates for the conditioner and physio jobs just happen to be married to each other.



That's one way of looking at it. I would argue though that being successful at a low part-time level requires a completely different set of abilities to being successful at SL level. Swinton won NL1 this year, would you say that means their head coach would do a good job in SL?