My gut feeling on this is that it is too soon for Radford to be a head coach. I would have much rather seen him get a few more years under his belt as an assistant.

I hope he proves me wrong. The fixture list hasn't been kind to him with us having so many home games so early on. He'll need the team to gel pretty quickly otherwise it could be tough. And that won't be easy as it looks like he still has to address the issue of getting the team to perform week in week out which has plagued our previous coaches for years.

He's had a full pre-season to address that but on the basis of Bradford and Featherstone there is a long way to go.

You are right about the fixture list though. We need a good start. As they have apparently all been training the house down, lets hope we get one.

By the time June comes around you need to have at least 10 maybe 12 points in the bag otherwise I would be surprised if AP doesn't wield the axe even after his comments earlier this week.

Radders will get a fair crack of the whip from me.
We were utter garbage in more than a few games last season so just hoping we can reach a more consistent all round plateau.
Is the current squad instilling me with confidence that this is possible?
Negative!

I am willing to give Radford at least half a season to see how he progresses. However, something that doesn't really add up is this image that is portrayed of him being such a tough disciplinarian compared with him as FC captain. Many on here will remember lambasting the guy for being a poor captain, many of the similar qualities he now seems to have suddenly developed to improve discipline within the club. I am yet to be convinced.

For me he saw we had a problem with Watts & Green out injured (or not performing in pre season) and he went out and addressed that with teh signing of Carvell.

That for me is a good start, we would have just moaned about injuries in the past, Carvell is the Grunt prop we all wanted.

This is something else I've never understood.

When is a captain a good captain? Is it based on results, or is it simply based on "opinions"?

Some posters said Radford was a bad captain, and now many on here believe it must be true, and so now it means he cannot possibly be a good coach.

I've only been watching Hull for 55 years, and believe it or not, I can't remember getting home after a match and thinking "I thought the team captain was terrible today."

I've been a fan a shorter time, and I have often got home and thought the captain was inept, Radford never seemed to be rallying the troops, he was always stood with his hands on his hips puffing like Ivor the Engine.

I don't like the guy, but I will give him my support for the first 8 games and see where we are after that, his recruitment has been, in my mind, questionable, to say the least. But we shall see, I hope I am on here again in early June apologising for doubting him.

I wouldn't say he was a bad captain but nor was he an outstandingly good one. His captaincy skills have got nothing to do with his coaching ability anyway.

I think leadership abilities and the ability to get your players fired up are pretty important to both roles.

You beat me to it, how many times had he stood behind the try line whilst the opposition took a conversion, saying sweet f.a.?

Plenty looking for excuses for our new head coach to fail before a ball has been kicked in anger under his tenureship.
Come on chaps, let's rally round.

I do agree that those are important attributes for both roles but it is also important to remember that it's two different roles. Radford might find he can better express himself as Head Coach than when he was Captain.

Agreed. Let's at least give him the opportunity before the bullets start flying. If he fails then criticism is justified, until then he's entitled to our support.

I hope he does, nothing would please me more than for him to prove me and all the other doubters wrong.

I will wait and watch what is produced on the pitch over the coming season before I could say if Radders is up to the job. I hope he will and I am quietly confident that he will become a successful head coach at Hull. I have a theory which I hope becomes reality.

Radders is British, was a former work-horseman like forward respected by most, retired and became an assistant coach then after a short time became a head coach.
Brian McDermott, Paul Anderson and Shaun Wane are all of the above and have gone onto become very good head coaches. I remain confident that Radders will become McDermott, Anderson and Wane like. Come on Radders get the job done son.

You may be right and I hope you are but its surely far too early to describe him as "the perfect coach".

I like your optimism and I would hope for similar results to those guys but still can't help but think it is perhaps to soon for Radders. Anderson spent about six years as assistant at Huddersfield and Wane has been a coach at Wigan at some level or other for almost a decade before he reached the top job. McDermott is the closest case to Radders situation as he took over at the Broncos/Harlequins after only a couple of years of coaching and assisting.

Despite my doubts he gets my support as all coaches do and I am hoping for the best. But years of being an FC fan has taught me to expect the worst

.

Easy to judge him now, wait until the end of the season. If you look at our squad on paper and compare it to the rest of the teams in the league, I'd say we're about 8th best. If he hits 8th or manages to finish higher - he'll have coached the side well as far as I'm concerned.

If you want to judge him on recruitment, then that is tricky. Not sure how much involvement the majority of coaches in SL have on recruitment, but I'd suspect Radford had nothing to do with any of the non locals signings so far, possibly Carvell aside.

As for berating him for being a quiet captain, Ellis is by his own admission, even quieter! Also, I don't think any successful coach in Super League was particularly vocal on the pitch. Nat Brown, Anderson and Wane didn't seem vocal, although I have no idea about Tony Smith.

I'm struggling with why his nationality matters??

Some people seem to dislike players or coaches who aren't British or indeed who are British but not "lerkle".

If we finish 8th I wouldnt say he'd coached well.Peter Gentle managed a top six finish in his first season and lets not forget the club is in a more stable position now than it was in 2012.
.

Because it shows that you don't need to import an Aussie coach to get success at a club. Ask Wigan and Mr Wane.

I made the point of Radders being British in the hope that he can emulate the other three Brit coaches that I mentioned in my post.

Anyway, never mind British because Radders is a Hull lad and will get my full support for the coming season.

In an ideal world Hull Fc would post a full team from 1 to 17 of lerkle lads led by a lerkle coach. I'm still greatful though for seeing Kemble, O'Hara, Sterling and Smith to name a few of outstanding imports that have worn the famous shirt.

The insular attitudes of some Hull people go a long way toward explaining the cities problems.