Re: Keep hally's hot air away from the Free Press today. : Fri Feb 16, 2018 1:25 pm  

The whole dual reg/loan system is a farce especially with Litten and Lane supposed to be with us on loan, but are currently unavailable for our season opener as they are with Hull FC in Aus....we've really come out of that deal well.

With regards to CH, I like the bloke he was a good player for us and yes maybe he did help steer the ship in the dark days, but he's not doing it for free being CEO is a job, he's being paid to succeed at it, he isn't succeeding, we've swapped coaches, swapped players all with the same result....Given a choice would CH have given up a portion of what I imagine is a decent salary so that the Dons could have signed Wellington Albert? I suspect not.

Re: Keep hally's hot air away from the Free Press today. : Fri Feb 16, 2018 4:11 pm  

SteveRoebuck wrote:

The whole dual reg/loan system is a farce especially with Litten and Lane supposed to be with us on loan, but are currently unavailable for our season opener as they are with Hull FC in Aus....we've really come out of that deal well.

With regards to CH, I like the bloke he was a good player for us and yes maybe he did help steer the ship in the dark days, but he's not doing it for free being CEO is a job, he's being paid to succeed at it, he isn't succeeding, we've swapped coaches, swapped players all with the same result....Given a choice would CH have given up a portion of what I imagine is a decent salary so that the Dons could have signed Wellington Albert? I suspect not.

I appreciate you guys are entitled to your opinions but asking whether Carl would have given up a portion of his salary so the Dons could have signed Wellington Albert is really taking things a step too far. Carl has put his hand in his own pocket to pay players' wages on many occasions when he was running the club. That's how dedicated he is. The issue with Wellington Albert wasn't a financial one, it was simply the fact that the guy was more attracted to playing Super League rugby than League One rugby.

As far as I'm concerned, the one mistake Carl made was appointing Gary Thornton. Don't forget, without Carl we wouldn't have got Paul Cooke though. As soon as it was obvious that Gary Thornton wasn't the right man for the job, Carl and the club acted quickly to replace him.

The club are making greater efforts to appeal to the wider community in Doncaster and are more than willing to listen to constructive suggestions on how we can all move forwards together. I would urge that we all try to work together to make the club we love a success.

Re: Keep hally's hot air away from the Free Press today. : Fri Feb 16, 2018 4:39 pm  

Double Movement wrote:

I appreciate you guys are entitled to your opinions but asking whether Carl would have given up a portion of his salary so the Dons could have signed Wellington Albert is really taking things a step too far. Carl has put his hand in his own pocket to pay players' wages on many occasions when he was running the club. That's how dedicated he is. The issue with Wellington Albert wasn't a financial one, it was simply the fact that the guy was more attracted to playing Super League rugby than League One rugby.

As far as I'm concerned, the one mistake Carl made was appointing Gary Thornton. Don't forget, without Carl we wouldn't have got Paul Cooke though. As soon as it was obvious that Gary Thornton wasn't the right man for the job, Carl and the club acted quickly to replace him.

The club are making greater efforts to appeal to the wider community in Doncaster and are more than willing to listen to constructive suggestions on how we can all move forwards together. I would urge that we all try to work together to make the club we love a success.

I totally agree 100%...........

Re: Keep hally's hot air away from the Free Press today. : Fri Feb 16, 2018 4:48 pm  

DM Your remark regards Carl paying the wages out of his own pocket is laughable, he was the owner of the club , do you think money is solely just given out from the RFL cash machine.

Clubs get a fair chunk from the boys at Red Hall but they have to generate their own income streams to be a viable concern.

Its the same in any business ,some months you make money, some you lose money its economics, and in business you need to balance the books and if that means sticking your hand in your pocket to keep the business afloat then that's what has to be done.

You make it sound as if he is beyond reproach , his business, his profit or loss depending on how he runs the company.
Don't go turning him into the messiah because he cough up a bit of cash to keep his own business going

Re: Keep hally's hot air away from the Free Press today. : Fri Feb 16, 2018 5:11 pm  

Keith Lard's Dog wrote:

DM Your remark regards Carl paying the wages out of his own pocket is laughable, he was the owner of the club , do you think money is solely just given out from the RFL cash machine.

Clubs get a fair chunk from the boys at Red Hall but they have to generate their own income streams to be a viable concern.

Its the same in any business ,some months you make money, some you lose money its economics, and in business you need to balance the books and if that means sticking your hand in your pocket to keep the business afloat then that's what has to be done.

You make it sound as if he is beyond reproach , his business, his profit or loss depending on how he runs the company.
Don't go turning him into the messiah because he cough up a bit of cash to keep his own business going

My comments were primarily made in the context of the request from Steve Roebuck suggesting Carl should have put his hand in his pocket to secure the Wellington Albert deal. The point regarding Carl having to put his hand in his own pocket was indicative of the lack of money we had in those days. I do suspect that had it not been for Carl the club might not be here today but that seems to be lost on most people.

Of course that doesn't mean we can't question what Carl and the club do. I question him on a regular basis. We don't always agree. We can have a grown up conversation about things and we don't fall out. If I make a suggestion and it's not accepted, I don't keep banging on about it. I move on. As far as I'm concerned, we're all in this together, and if we work together we can achieve much more than if we're constantly having a go all the time.

Re: Keep hally's hot air away from the Free Press today. : Fri Feb 16, 2018 5:29 pm  

I will counter that with the fact that without Geoff Roebuck there wouldnt have been a club for Carl to "save".

Fair point ob Carl dipping into his own pockets but just think who fills those pockets... Us and the rfl.

What irks me with the Wellington Albert situation is that one week we were in for two international forwards now the squad is fine and doesn't need additions..but it needed two forward but a few months ago

Re: Keep hally's hot air away from the Free Press today. : Fri Feb 16, 2018 5:32 pm  

I totally agree DM

I too like Carl but sometimes he engages his mouth before his brain ,which makes him look foolish.
ie Wellington and Stanford Albert and the five year plan nonsense.

I also agree that there may not be a club without him , but pardon the pun "the goal posts have been moved" and I just don't see the club progressing under his leadership.

We have the stadium , we may have a Super League back room but we don't have a Super League side on the field , and that's what counts.

If a town the size of Doncaster cant sell more than a few hundred season tickets ...........,at what is the bargain of the century, then there is something very wrong , I know the club are trying to engage with the community clubs , but this should have been done years ago.

The Doncaster public have always been a fickle bunch , but there needs to be more people coming through the gates to make the five year plan come to light, and if the product served up is good crowds should increase.

Hopefully RH can achieve that this season.

Re: Keep hally's hot air away from the Free Press today. : Fri Feb 16, 2018 6:37 pm  

Keith Lard's Dog wrote:

I totally agree DM

I too like Carl but sometimes he engages his mouth before his brain ,which makes him look foolish.
ie Wellington and Stanford Albert and the five year plan nonsense.

I also agree that there may not be a club without him , but pardon the pun "the goal posts have been moved" and I just don't see the club progressing under his leadership.

We have the stadium , we may have a Super League back room but we don't have a Super League side on the field , and that's what counts.

If a town the size of Doncaster cant sell more than a few hundred season tickets ...........,at what is the bargain of the century, then there is something very wrong , I know the club are trying to engage with the community clubs , but this should have been done years ago.

The Doncaster public have always been a fickle bunch , but there needs to be more people coming through the gates to make the five year plan come to light, and if the product served up is good crowds should increase.

Hopefully RH can achieve that this season.

I'm sure Carl does things with good intentions and it can backfire at times. With hindsight it might have been better not to mention the Albert brothers but he wanted to try to keep us informed. He never actually mentioned them publicly by name, it was a conclusion that was drawn through inference. I'd rather have a CEO who is prepared to communicate with us, rather than have someone who hides behind a desk all day and isn't approachable.

The goal posts have been moved - due to the stability that Club Doncaster brings. Club Doncaster needs to be given some credit for that. Of course we would all like the owners to pump more of their money into the club but we have to respect that they have the right to manage the club as they see fit. They're not in the business to fail on the pitch but they're not in the business to see the club go bust either.

I too am concerned that a town the size of Doncaster can't sell more season tickets at a discount price. It sadly leads me to the conclusion that maybe the people of Doncaster don't want a rugby team in their town. Maybe it's a chicken and egg situation and the fans will come when we start winning, although the crowds didn't noticeably increase when we won this league several seasons back. Apart from the odd few who stay away out of principle now, I don't think the current ownership is causing any significant drops in attendance levels. We're starting from a low base and it's not easy to get the numbers up quickly.

I agree we should have been doing more work in the local communities in the past but at least we're moving forwards on that one now. The kids of today are the fans of tomorrow.

Re: Keep hally's hot air away from the Free Press today. : Fri Feb 16, 2018 6:49 pm  

SteveRoebuck wrote:

I will counter that with the fact that without Geoff Roebuck there wouldnt have been a club for Carl to "save".

Fair point ob Carl dipping into his own pockets but just think who fills those pockets... Us and the rfl.

What irks me with the Wellington Albert situation is that one week we were in for two international forwards now the squad is fine and doesn't need additions..but it needed two forward but a few months ago

I don't think it's a counter argument with regards to the excellent work your dad did for the Dons, Steve. It goes to show how much worse off we all would be if it wasn't for the dedication of the people who either work hard for the club now or who have worked hard for the club in the past. I fully respect what your dad did and I'm very grateful to him too.

The decision not to sign any replacements for the Albert brothers is the decision of Richard Horne, not Carl. The money is still there to be spent if he needs it. I suspect Mr Moimoi isn't eligible to sign for any professional club at the moment but who would Richard be able to spend the money on now? There isn't exactly a queue of good quality players looking for clubs. At least the cash is there if Richard needs to spend it.

Re: Keep hally's hot air away from the Free Press today. : Fri Feb 16, 2018 8:28 pm  

I am of the mind that we STILL need those forwards.
Other sides have some gritty forwards ... notably the Cumbrians, Keighley etc.
What apart from a few exceptions do we now have?
Christ we have a weaker pack than last year and we only struggled to 6th THEN!
Most if that under Horne, who I personally do NOT rate.

Hall has chosen badly the last few times. I would blame him for that ... too easily sweet-talked.

Mark my words.

It is the detail that matters.
I couldn't give a toss that someone has an aim or vision for this or that.
My question would be "Just how in detail will you achieve this aim ... down to the nuts and bolts?''

So for Carl it would be .. "Just how in detail will you fulfil the five year plan?"
For Horne it would be .. "Just how in detail will you get us promoted?"