Hello, I have been reading this forum for a few years now mainly to catch up on the latest gossip and rumours at the club and this is the first time I have felt moved to post a reply on any subject. This is a very sore subject for me since I was stood behind Steadman when two dozen fans decided to take action and basicly picket the dressing room door to demand a change at the club and steady had the guts to come out and address them and let them know that he would be doing all he could to fix things at the club for which he was applauded by many of the protesters. The next day he was sacked. Now Steady's playing days were a few years before my time as a supporter but everything that I have heard and read tells me how much of a how much of a legend he was and how much the fans loved him and yet a few years into his senior coaching career he was gone. The devastation on the mans face in subsequent interviews ( despite our humiliation under his leadership) damn near broke my heart not just because of how it had ended for him but for what had come before and all the love and admiration that he had from the fans and board was gone after an awful start to the season.This is not the same situation. Terry Matterson came to our club at extremely short notice with a squad of players that were not his own and after a shaky start got us playing as a team and with the signing of Danny Brough we took the fight to the last day, did not finnish bottom and and finnished with a record amount of points for a relegated team. You would have to be he worlds biggest cynic to take the view that Terry and the club were not at least a little unlucky that year.
On to NL1 and one of the best examples of a season long stratagy of peaking towards the back end of the year I have seen from any team. We were close to perfect in our approach and with the emergence of Westerman,Owen and the like we had high hopes for our imediate future. Nobody likes "gap years" in sport and the cas fans did well to stick by the club through mostly bad times.
A year later we go from bottom to seventh and could have easily have gone alot higher had we had similar home form to our away form who knows? This year an uninspiring start has been compounded by odd comments from RW telling us not to expect to much and PAINFUL silence and disturbing reports about "phased development" of our dream stadia have got the fans nervous and frustrated. I am extremly disapointed at our current form and communication from the bod but the idea of a protest right after what could potentially be a "difficult" day for us could almost certainly make things worse (yes things could be a lot worse, I know because I have seen worse) We took a gamble on a small squad and it has come back to bite us with injury after injury to some of our most effective players and all the while the likes of Hull and Warrington have made supreme signings and strides this year. Does this mean we throw our hands up and give in? NO but we do have to temper our expectations just a little whilst screaming for better ON THE TERRACES. For what its worth I think the second biggest problem this year behind our squad size is the nerves of the team. they looked nervous at the Childprats place and we never saw them threaten the Wakefield line in the second half. We need confidence and more leadership on the park but if the fans want the big win then we have to play our part and build them up and hold off the protest for a while PLEASE and give the injured players a chance to make a comeback and make a difference.
Right now thats off my chest I am on my way out the door to cheer my team on and hopefully a good game is in store but I just hope it is not soured by any more "incidents" that the RFL can use against us. Dont bottle it Cas fans!! Good luck.
UP THE TIGERS!!P.S. Sorry to prattle on.
