Very good meeting tonight and the future looks good.Several signings already made and names released at the meeting,yes they are young players who have been at Super League clubs but they are better than those signed by Cooke at the start of this season.Seen videos of three of them and they all look good especially the winger Foggin- Johnston who looks a real gem and will quickly become a fans favourite. Scrum half signed and again a youngster but he is highly rated and the Dons have beaten several Championship clubs for his signature.His name and those of others in the bag cannot be named for contractual reasons.Some overseas players also possibly lined up.So as yet no big names signed or if they have details cannot be released again for contractual reasons.Let's draw a line under this season and look to the next because from what I have seen and heard tonight , the future is beginning to look very promising.

Can someone who attended the meeting please verify that Liam Welham has indeed signed for next season, as on facebook he seemed to question it, if obviously it was Liam, but I have no reason to doubt it. Important signing for me.

Yes he has signed.

Thanks, good to hear. Not Sure what that on facebook was about then.

It says in the Free Press that Thornton HOPES that the Dons hold on to Wilkinson.
Hopes?

If they can't retain a talent like Wilko, then how do they attract anyone has good or better?

I have been to these kind of meetings and it is easy to get enthused and excited, not least in part because you WANT to to be excited.
Sorry to be a caution again, but I have seen these YouTube type clips in the past showing someone as a worldbeater and it's just selective best bits.
The reality is different.

The facts ARE thus far we have signed nobody new of note. We are signing potential again and HOPING we can knock them into a team.
Sound familiar?

The side will win at least half of its games, of that I have little doubt.
But for a side to win Championship 1, they have to be as good as Dewsbury (say) are NOW! ... IMHO.
And our team is nowhere near without two great half backs, three if you include Wilko and plan that he will be crocked a lot.
Kids won't do it, I am convinced.
Three years down the line maybe, but that runs counter to the stated aim of immediate promotion.
With Toulouse there etc, it won't be easy.

We need more than we are getting from the Dons.
I can't think of the Dons anymore without thinking about the Rovers and the pursestrings.
Still,I am a few weeks ahead of being able to make some sort of informed prediction, but I am NOT impressed thus far!
Sorry ...

I concur with my learned friend. Who is going to get these kids around the park?. We started off like this last season with kids and nobody to look after them. Are we in fact penny pinching?

Rovers have made a change due to a fall in attendance, among other stuff no doubt. I wish the Dons would do the same.

I does seem that some people have been easily placated by the signings but I agree with Moonlight and S-O (a very rare event...maybe we should inform Look North). We have signed players based on Youtube clips if you look at the other SMTMUK videos you will see the now infamous highlight reel of Brooke Broughton and we know how that turned out.

Youth is important in a side yes but so is experience and guile someone on the pitch for these kids to learn from, if you look at the majority of our successful sides over the years they have had this blend.

The first year we had Cooke was outstanding players learning and growing in confidence from his ability, while his legs might not be what they once were his mind more than made up for it.

Thats the type of player we need to be targeting now someone who has done it and has a wealth of experience to share, maybe that older player looking to take a step down from the rigors and pace of Super League but still has maybe one or two seasons class to offer us.

I think a significant signing of someone of Mr Cooke's ilk would go a long way to help ease the fans worries that the same mistakes are not being made again.

So far, unless ive missed them, we have signed 2 youngsters and Mark Castle, I'm sure there will be more signings, without knowing who not sure we can jump to conclusions that next year will be the same as this.

I was unable to attend the meeting last night (ill) but a friend who did go informed me that we had signed a young half back who was being chased by several championship clubs and who is stand out player with his present club no name given , will have to wait and see

As I have indicated earlier,yes we have and the Dons have done well to get him. Sorry to have a go but all these moans about not signing anyone of any significance are not justified at this stage. As I also have stated, signings have been made but their names cannot be released yet for fear of prejudicing their situation at their current clubs. I too was at the meeting and the videos of the two lads from Warrington and a loose forward from Leeds made good viewing. Negative comments have also been made about videos seen before of players but correct me if I am wrong, didn't Mitch Clark turn out to be as good if not better than what we saw in his video. Wilko has been mentioned too but you have to realise other clubs are talking to our players with offers and some of them don't want to drop down to Championship 1. I have been very critical of the Dons this season and particularly Club Doncaster but from what I have seen and heard I am very positive and shall be buying a season ticket on Sunday. More signings will be released when it is appropriate so come on everybody give the Management a chance.

There are some new signings but some players are playing in the play offs and dont want the info released yet. I heard a few other names last night and was quite impressed. We will not sign the type of player most fans want due to most won't want to drop down to the CH1.
Lets give the team a chance for next year and if the sh*te hits the fan then you can tell me you told me so.

They didn't answer one of the most important questions.

The club had its biggest ever playing budget what went wrong?

The club has chosen not to answer this question, or a similar one that I asked. It may be their prerogative not to answer the question but I fear it will prove to be a mistake. It will be a mistake because many people will not buy season tickets or support the club into next season.

It won't affect my decision. I will be getting my ticket for next year on Sunday but I fear many others won't. I'm sure a full and proper explanation would have helped some people to be prepared to give the club another chance. A missed opportunity by the club, I fear.

As stated previously several times, money for signings was made available for Cooke at the start of the season and he chose not to make use of it,signing the likes of Kittrick and co. instead. There's your answer.

So just to clarify,money was made available but was not used on player recruitment. Is that what you are saying Tatty Feeld? What happened to the money then, did it go back into the pot or was it used for something else?

If what you say is correct and money was available to sign new players at the start of the season but not used,after losing the first six games of the season and then on March 22nd losing by 40pts to 12pts in the Challenge Cup fourth round to Championship One team N.Wales Crusaders why didn't they use the money to strengthen the side as it was plainly obvious that some new players were required the writing was on the wall why didn't the clubs management react to the clubs disastrous start to the season?

Paul Cooke had sole responsibility for the signing of players and Carl Hall would sanction the signing. As far as I am aware,because the money wasn't used, the players were given a bonus for such a successful season last year.

As I have said to Moonlight Paul Cooke thought we didn't need new players and the youngsters would come good.As the season went on and went pear shaped Carl Hall got more involved and tried to make signings himself including Sammutt. Jordan Abdull was also lined up to come on season long loan but because of injuries at Hull the deal fell through.

Didn't they spend the money on upping the existing squad's wages?
That was a waste if they did.

There can't have been any appreciable amount left otherwise only lunatics would not have reacted and bought some quality.

As a measure of how much money was available, I was told from the horse's mouth after we were thrashed by Hunslet at home in the friendlies, that WE could have had Andy Kain, but that he wanted £40,000 and that was too much.
So at that stage we can't have had any money and/or any sense.

But where has the vast pot of win bonuses gone?
Don't tell me players are not entitled to win bonus at the Dons.
If the crowds were appreciably lower then I could see win bonus savings making up shortfalls in gate revenue.
But ironically in such a shoite season, crowds were good.

So something stinks!

And another thing.
I don't react well to calls that we have got to "all stick together at this difficult time"

This is not some kind of national disaster/crisis where of course that rallying call applies ... and people would rally together for the cause

This is a club that has demonstrated levels of incompetence that would result in sackings and resignations in other forms of business ... and after serving up that shoite for an entire season declares gliibly ..."time to move on and draw a line under it."

Professional sport, a business, has to produce or else people go elsewhere ... simples.

The Dons HAVE to produce first and people will come to watch. That's the way round it works.
It doesn't work that people first pay all their money UP FRONT, then sit down to watch the UNKNOWN!

We did that last season, and I am damned if I am going to be so stupid again.

I will wait and see ... thank you very much

Bang on those two previous post from SO. The club has a lot of ground to make up with the Dons fans who like myself are not going to be easily brought back by words and sound bites that have not put one single point on the scoreboard this year.

I was perhaps wrong about the Club Doncaster tie in with the finances I am struggling to get my head around the fact that a bloke with Gavin Baldwins financial acumen has allowed money to be spent in this way. Really really puzzled.

Type in to Google 07132145 then click on the link to filing history pdf download.

You will be able to view the abbreviated unaudited accounts the club filed at Companies House 31/07/15

Like others who write views on this site, I too have a circular jumble of emotions about our calamitous situation. It ranges from disbelief to sadness to despair to anger and to happiness about former days. I think of what we had and what might have been.

Management do not wish to discuss this issue. They want the matter closed. The past has gone so forget it. They want to focus on the future. The big difference is that management have the inside information to know what happened and this makes it easy for them to bring closure to a dreadful season. The fans do not have this information and so can only speculate. Why do they speculate? Surely it is to understand the situation so that they can bring closure.

So whilst I can appreciate the business need to move on, at the same time the fans should be given some understanding of what went so wrong. Then, we too can bring closure to what we had.

I find it difficult to just walk on blindly towards a future without looking back at the past and asking a simple question, “What happened?”

Very good points made there by Tee Man. The club will not take as many people with them going forwards without offering some further words of explanation. The future may be all that matters but the past cannot be ignored.

See my post on Club Doncaster.