I doubt there is a coach in the top three divisions of R/L who could have done a worse job than Tony Smith since he arrived.Smith has done nothing apart from make us the most undisciplined team in S/L
He has pulled the wool over the eyes of Pearson.
Is it difficult to get a team superbly fit NO
Is it difficult to work and work on defence and create a team thats difficult to beat NO
Is it difficult to elimate/vastly reduce on field indiscipline and unforced errors NO other teams do it
A disciplinarian coach like McDermott has its merits especially in our situation but i dont think these players are are bad as they are making themselves out to be on the field.They are showing a lazy cant be bothered attitude and thats down to the coach.
Its all about Smiths lack of abilty or desire to instill respect for the club,discipline and work ethic desire into the players.
This squad would never be a top four side but could be far better with a coach who is not full of himself from his past achievements and who has failed miserably in the job he was hired to do.
This country seems to reward failure.
I think we can all understand the embarrassment Pearson must be feeling with yet another failed appointment but Smith has to go.
If you cant afford to pay him off Adam then create a situation where he has to resign.
leave Grix till the end of the season with the mandate to get the team ultra fit,work and work on defence which will add confidence to the team then create an attacking structure.
Thats for this season
What comes next Adam is up to you

Agree with every word, another thing to add is who would want to come to the SL coach graveyard that is Hull fc?

Agree with 99.9% of this apart from Grix…have seen nothing from him and as part of the coaching team he is responsible as well.Not doing anything more than Ellis imo.

As touched on in another thread…

It sounds as if the current coaching methods at this club is a shambles.

I suppose it may be his style, but it appears that Tony is incredibly laid back in his approach to training, to the extent where we go into games without even having a game plan (kicking early in sets, targeting a teams weaknesses,etc). Told on good authority that a player who I won’t name had gone a couple weeks without even having a conversation with Tony, how are players supposed to improve and “right their wrongs” as we have been told they are trying to when the coach doesn’t even go out their way to speak to a regular first team player?

I didn’t get the impression that the player’s particularly get on well with the coaching staff either, with one of the coaches been branded ‘a weirdo’.

I was delighted we got him at the time, but it just feels like Tony is too passive, Rovers players are genuinely scared on Willie Peters, they rarely go out on the lash because of how strict they know he can be, call it tough but that’s how it should be and I can’t help but think we would be at least making a better fist of it if we had a coach with that type of mindset.

Remember Peter sharp dropping Raynor for being late for training and he’d been in charge about a month and the “story” about Danny Brough.

To be fair anybody would be scared to go out on the lash with Willie Peters.

Is Tony Smith our Boy George

He’s trying to focus on

Culture Club !!!

The guy has had the worst injury list and worst suspension list than any other coach for the opening of the season. And he didn't have the strongest of squads to start with.

while i understand the disappoitntment and embarassment of our start to the season, I'm happy to let him be the one to turn it around. i dont see what changing coach will achieve at this point, I think the guy is doing it tough at the moment and I want to see how he rises to the challenge over the coming months.

Lee Radford had banners made for his sacking before he went on to create the greatest days in Hull FC days as fans..

Manchester United fans wanted Sir Alex out in the late 80s. And he went on to outdo Sir Matt Busby.

sometimes you have to experience the lowest points to realise the oppertunties that are availlable.

Just like any team, if we had our best players on the field consistantly, then we'd compete consistsntly

Wow been waiting for a club rallying call but never thought AP would do it on this forum

If this season so far was a game of poker, then Smith has beenn dealt a hand of 7 2 every week. And I hate to feel sorry for ourselves, and make excuses. But the facts are that every single game so far this season we've been dealt a hand of 7 2. We were into the loan market after week 3 of the season.

Hull probably have been unlucky with injuries and suspensions so far, but then is it luck or does it come down to training? Or a lack of it?
FC don't look fit, and when your not fit the fatigue soon kicks in, then the penalties and indiscipline follow, as do the injuries.
Jake Clifford just told you all about how easy pre season was under Toys out,
You need someone that's gonna crack the whip and get the players working hard and fully fit, oh and culture is great but attitude is better
Dont tell TS that though or he'll banish you to train the academy (Danny McGuire) or he'll just sack you off (Gareth Ellis) and surround himself with YES men.

Pre seasons obviously finished now so he has no real chance of getting your lads much fitter either, just ticking over what there already doing.

LOL, yeah my post did turn into a bit of a rallying call but I can't help the way I feel. We need to come together as a club and as supporters we canonly do the part we are responsible for.... support to the vest of our abilities. With respect, do you have an alternative approach?

I’ve been labelled by some on here as a”happy clapper” and a club apologist. I renew my pass with direct debit, I recently renewed my Hull Live subscription at the full price even though as a pass holder you can get for half, plus all games are on tv. I do sit at the MKM in stunned silence, politely shaking my head, unfortunately your call for fans to be more animated isn’t going to happen with the dross being served up now and for the last 7 years. I don’t think there is an alternate approach. AP and TS are extracting the maximum amount of urine possible and it’s going to bleed the passion from a fan base that can only take so much this season because the club’s attitude has been the same for a considerable amount of time. I’ll renew my passes because that’s what I do but far too many will not , that’s a fact and a fair chunk will not be induced to return. The silence from the club is deafening, and many “loyal supporters” feel disenfranchised, it’s the club that needs to come up with a different approach, not me. Your post was a rallying call falling on deaf ears, even though I had my hearing aids in.

https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/r ... n=sharebar The weekly "we need to learn" article, bit of a dig at supporters turning on the team too "the loyal supporters will stick with us"...give us something to make us stick with you Tony, 100% effort from all players and we will, half ar$ed tackling, defensive gaps wider than a Chinese motorway and our only attacking being kick to a winger that isn't chasing for a ball, then no a lot of us won't stick with you

https://www.hulldailymail.co.uk/sport/r ... n=sharebar The weekly "we need to learn" article, bit of a dig at supporters turning on the team too "the loyal supporters will stick with us"...give us something to make us stick with you Tony, 100% effort from all players and we will, half ar$ed tackling, defensive gaps wider than a Chinese motorway and our only attacking being kick to a winger that isn't chasing for a ball, then no a lot of us won't stick with you

He really doesn't sound confident at all reading that:

"That's sometimes where you see spirit, determination and people dig in. Sometimes being written off can be a good thing." Sometimes?! If he can't get the players up for a derby and the players can't get get themselves up for a derby then it's already lost.

"We'll see what we can do about it, but when you get it right and you turn things around, it's quite sweet. We've got a bit of work to do before we get to that stage." It's not about seeing what you can do, it's about doing it. That's your job Tony. And talking about needing to do a bit of work to get to the stage certainly doesn't sound like you think we'll be at that stage by Friday.

"We’ve got to keep putting them out there and asking them to perform really well. We’ll get through this when we get some more troops back and we can relive people of some pressure." Again it sounds like he's writing things off and hoping that returning players will be the one's to turn it around

I get that to an extent but using your card playing analogy could it be that Smith is now a busted flush? Lets be honest his track record has been good but on the flip side of that Huddersfield, Leeds and Warrington were all wealthy clubs. His time at Rovers for me is a bit of a mixed bag.

Its not just a case of Smith having players that are injured or suspended (though most of the suspensions have been our own doing) so much more the lack of any organisation, leadership, structure, game plans, discipline and the list goes on and on.
Its not as though Smith has only just taken over or is inexperienced, he has now been at the club and overseen 2 pre seasons and to be brutally frank and honest we look a damn sight worse than ever in the effort areas, basic skill set, discipline and again the list goes on and those are things that aren't affected by talent etc.
Yes we know we have a side that isn't blessed with world class signings but that does not excuse the poor lack of line speed in defence or attack which is almost bordering on lazy, the fact we start games so poorly as we don't look prepared, the poor discipline that we have just not cleaned up in the slightest and are still pretty much the dumbest team I have seen in B & W. We have had some poor team over the years and dare I say poorer than this current lot but at least other teams what they lacked in talent they made up for in heart, committment and effort, which is something that frankly can not be said for the 2024 squad.

I have yet to see anything that has been improved out on the field since Smith arrival and for an experienced Coach we should have seen something at least but we haven't. What exactly does Gene bring to the table other than a henchmen for Smith? I've heard a few times that he is not well liked within the playing squad and has little in way of skills for coaching.

This just isn't something that is new, its been happening for years even prior to the Cup wins as the teams we had in 2016/2017 were the major factor in those wins due to the leadership within the playing squad as opposed to the coaching team, all the cup wins did was paper over the cracks.

Then if things above aren't bad enough we have a club Owner/Chairman and a CEO who have gone totally mute, with the only communication coming out the club to the fans is about shirts and merchandise. The club have created a total disconnect with its fan base I honestly do not see the club coming back from this for a long long time unless some major changes take place within the club from top to bottom.

You obviously, like I and a lot of others support the club to the hilt financially and are entitled to your opinion. I take a different stance; I've paid my money and want to enjoy the games regardless of result / team performance. I always remember the great team of the 80's referring to the Boulevard being worth a 5 point start. I just think that two wrongs don't make a right and whilst I don't agree with much coming out of the club at the moment we'd be far better off being loud and proud at home games (we always seem to manage it away) and at least giving the team a boost and bit of confidence by backing them despite their shortcomings. I hate to say it but to be fair Drovers we're gash for years but their supporters always showed a pride in their badge.

Some good posts on here by fans on both scale of opinion.Il put this one out there….i have never wanted to see fc lose at all but would people take another loss and battering by Rovers and possibly the week later v Hudds to finally get shut of Smith,Gene and Grix.

I feel very much the same. I don't want to see the club lose and you have to accept that you lose from time to time. You win some, you lose some. That's the very nature of sport. So that's not a problem for me. The problem is the way we are losing (and winning in the London case). It's the manner of the performances and the way the club has seemingly given up and that this has been a steady decline since 2018. There's a defeatist nature to the club at the moment and that's just not acceptable to me. Yes, maybe we don't have the greatest facilities or squad at the moment but that doesn't mean that they shouldn't still be putting their maximum effort in, doing the basics right. Someone said on another topic that the club had apparently already written this season off before it even began. That kind of attitude is shocking if true and a real spit in the face to fans. Maybe it's them being realist in the sense that we weren't going to win the cup or make the playoffs but it doesn't mean that they shouldn't be at least trying.

I'm very firmly in the Smith out camp and I resent his comments about true supporters.

I've stuck with him for two years now and seen nothing, at all, to suggest he has taken the smallest of steps forward. I think we have regressed, significantly.

I support the club. I have no more latitude left for Smith and his team as he has done nothing to earn that.

I accept the team we have can't challenge (though he has assembled a poor one) but the absolute lack of motivation, direction, effort, structure, game plan, tactics and techniques are all on him.

And he has failed and currently has the team worse then he found it.

Leigh were newly promoted last year and they rolled up to the KC with 20% of their salary cap on the sidelines. They still managed to put a half tonne on us.

Our squad is poor, but it's not 50 points per game poor.

For me its not about winning and losing as daft as that may sound, the issue for me is the continuation of the embarrassing and pitiful performances which have just gone on for far too many years.

I can accept any defeat but if we are to be honest we aren't just being beaten, we just aren't turning up, mentally or physically or with any apparent idea, structure or leadership.

I don't want and never will want my club to lose or hope for it to lose, but in our current start I just do not see anything other heavy defeats for the foreseeable and even games against Cas and London I fear more defeats and poor performances based on what I have seen last season and so far this season.

No. I never want the team I support to lose. Whatever the circumstances.

Me neither…just thought I’d put it out there to gauge fans opinions.

If Smith had any integrity he would have resigned after the Leigh game.
I keep saying what has he done to enhance the team on the field since he has been here?
Simple answer is nothing
Still believe If you has put any coach in charge from the lower divisions they could not have done a worse job than Smith

Isn't Tony plan obvious?

Step 1: Have a clear out of your top earners
Step 2: sign some duds on the cheap
Step 3: success