Hodgson has good ideas and I appreciate the ethos he’s trying to set at the club but days like today just go to show he may be out of his depth doing it alone, put in a previous post he needs support in the form of a Head of Rugby.

From what I've heard changes are coming, likely Hodgson will still be here with complete new backroom staff and with nobody to hide behind on his last chance, from what I was told there's investment incoming whether or not its in return for shares in the club is unclear

Excellent post and nail on head honesty openness and accountability. We just want to understand what the club believe the issues are. The then marketing manager didn't like it but for 4 seasons the fans organisation almost demanded 2 fans forums a year and by and large got them, with 450 people able to quiz the owner coach and senior players and I think that the benefit was to both parties (both fans and club) because they could both see each others point of view. That then was reduced to one a year by the hierarchy and then the club decided that small regulate fans focus groups for invited season ticket holders were the best idea, but in the last two season (no doubt because of Covid) they have dissapeared as well and as you so rightly say that just leads to fans making it up following their own agendas or as is the case now offering some obtuse crumbs of hope.

The problem with just replacing Hodgson (if that's what will happen) is that it's simply a knee jerk response to losing a derby in humiliating fashion in an effort to persuade wavering fans to renew. This is not the right circumstance to make such a decision, whether it's the right one or not.

We need a full reset IMO. Acknowledgment that the momentum of success in 16/17 has been squandered, transparency on the financial status of the club and a non-bull articulation of plans on and off the pitch over the next couple of years including lease renewal. You have to face the truth to tackle the issues, or be clear how difficult it is to do so effectively, in order to carry the club's only asset (its fans) with you. Making this about replacing the coach alone and everything else is fine and we're aiming for top 4 in 2023 would be insulting.
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I don’t think it is a knee jerk reaction to one result.
It’s a culmination of heavy beatings at home from bang average teams on a regular basis.

There are no green shoots of recovery, no identity on how he wants the team to play. Just faint hope that a handful of new players (a couple in their early 20’s) will transform how we play.

The fans made their feelings known yesterday, and there’s no way back from that. Jam tomorrow and in any kind of weather has been exhausted.

Change has to come now, good or bad.

Replacing Hodgson would not be a knee jerk reaction though solely based on yesterday but based rather on the steady decay set in at the club over the last 2 seasons.
We could have won yesterday and my feelings towards the coach and club currently would not change.
I'm so disillusioned right now that losing to Rovers didn't in the slightest bother me, I'm just glad another disappointing season has ended.

You constantly make financial assumptions on the club and Pearson and whilst acknowledging COVID and team performance will have a bearing on pass sales, we have no idea on running costs, Pearson's wealth or that of anyone else involved.
Financially we are no better or worse off then many clubs but what we do is fail to invest wisely in the club's infrastructure ie backroom staff.
Salford, a fan owned club with less fans and resources are again spectacularly out performing us this season.

This is not all about finance but poor choices, misplaced loyalty, wrong appointments and a distinct lack of communication from the club.

I've heard the same

All yesterday did was reach the tipping point.

Changes are good, and very sorely needed.
The worry is that if Hodgson is still here it will be one almighty challenge to sell season passes, and by the time his last chance is up our season could be over by Easter and another year absolutely wasted. That would leave season passes even harder to sell the following year.
Changes to backroom staff, no matter how badly needed and important it is, unfortunately aren't the changes that excite fans and convince them to spend their money.

All I know is I wouldn't like to be Pearson right now. He has some of the biggest and toughest decisions of his career ahead of him.

I'd heard change was afoot before yesterday but if yesterday firms up plans or ideas and speeds up change then I'm glad it happened.

Excellent post



However, could you not join the VP’s society?

Not sure exactly what involvement they have but think they are open to receiving new members and get to question representatives of the club?

There are many problems associated with the club not just Hodgson but the one that can be addressed straightaway is replacing him with an experienced respected coach.

As you say he has been here 2 years and we are in a worse position than the final days of the Radford era. Even if they were a glimmer of hope I would willingly give him a chance to address it but there's no evidence that's going to happen. We are falling behind the likes of Salford, Cas, Huddersfield and Leeds.

I worry about next season. Relegation is a possibility. Rovers have got rid of the dead wood and have strengthened. Warrington cannot be as bad. Leigh are spending big and Wakey have beaten us twice this season.

I’ve heard a few people saying the same.
We could be in real trouble next year. We’ll be keeping an eye on Wakey’s recruitment as much as our own.

Salford have adopted a plan that suits their circumstances. That might not be best for Hull (or Rovers), whose circumstances are different. But imo both clubs need to reflect more on what will most likely work for them, rather than trying to off-the-peg the Wigan or Leeds or Saints model.

I'm not sure how you can say we have no idea on the wealth of our owner or our outgoings yet say we are at parity with most clubs.

The point I was making is that pretty recently AP was making supportive noises about Hodgson so to pull the trigger now looks like an emotional response to a result rather than delivering a measured and strategic succession plan. Your last point is supportive I think of what I've proposed, namely that we need some transparent comms recognising these shortcomings.

If Hodgson is going, we've got to have someone lined up?!

Only way I can see is that we had a DOR lined up with coaching experience who would be willing to coach.

Tony Smith?

It's that mad it might be true...

If it is Tony Smith he's got balls like king kong

Smith had his faults, but he makes players play above themselves.

If Pearson had made a better coaching appointment instead of Hodgson ,We probably wouldn't have needed a DOR .

Unfortunately his record of picking managers at City and FC is patchy, struck gold with Taylor and Brown at City and Radford but there's a long list of gambles and flops he has hired and there's definately a trend of hiring assistants rather than experienced managers.

Rightly or wrongly if Hodgson does go. The malaise and rot at the club remains. That needs removing. If we do get another coach IMO that's his first job or else we be sat here saying the same thing next year.

I don't think the Rovers factor matters, he was only there 3 seasons and 1 of those was behind closed doors. While their fans liked him it got messy behind the scenes at the end. It's not like he's red and white through and through.

Taking the FC job is a gamble, if you fail to get the sinking ship back afloat you would be labelled a failure, but the same could be said for other jobs Smith would be linked with such as returning to Warrington or Leeds (before their recent turnaround)

He was in a DOR role when he went to Wire too.

He's available if we want a change and a culture reset.

Would still be a brave move from him though

Bringing him in as DOR and keeping Hodgson is also an option, he of course coached Brett for a few years, whether they get on or not who knows!

Keep seeing on social media from different people that it’s Hodgson out, Smith in.

Either everyone is wrong, making it up or some news is leaking out somewhere.