Isn’t it marvellous..

[fords]

To be linked to absolutely nobody.

Dare Wells state that we’re strong enough and don’t need to further recruit after Richardson is announced?

I find it excruciatingly disappointing and predictable how we have slipped 2017. Typical Castleford.

Why isn’t there anybody who dare put their neck on the line and take some tough or speculative decisions. There’s a rebuild that needs starting in earnest and it starts now.

Yes we need at least one more good one after Richardsons announced. The club are causing lots of irritation to many loyal fans lately.

Maybe they will realise when the lack of season ticket sales occur

[steadygetyerboots-on]

To be linked to absolutely nobody.

Dare Wells state that we’re strong enough and don’t need to further recruit after Richardson is announced?

I find it excruciatingly disappointing and predictable how we have slipped 2017. Typical Castleford.

Why isn’t there anybody who dare put their neck on the line and take some tough or speculative decisions. There’s a rebuild that needs starting in earnest and it starts now.

It’s the lack of planning that is frustrating, I think, and how much we lag behind other teams in this respect.
There was nothing we could do about the full back spot at the start of 2018. By the time Hardaker was banned, they were all tied up elsewhere. But we still haven’t got a proper full-back and we’ll be rolling into 2020 with a player who we signed as a last resort when Gale picked up his injury. Whilst Rankin has had a few good games, he’s not at a level to be an attacking threat against a top team.
Then there was the Webster issue. We knew he was going early in 2018, yet come 2019 we had nobody as a replacement. In the end, we ended up making a mid-season overseas buy and they very rarely come off straight away.
Apart from Watts, there is nobody in the current squad who has improved our first choice 17 in the last two seasons. As a result, we’ve declined dramatically as other clubs have improved. At the end of 2017, we finished 10 points above the club in second place. This year, we’ve finished 22 points behind the team in first place. We’ve gone from first (by a mile) to fourth to fifth (just), and the gap has got wider every time.
However, the club don’t see it unfortunately. They’d rather blame injuries or rot out the salary cap line (despite the fact the other clubs have exactly the same cap).
I still think our biggest problem is retention though, and the long contracts we give to players who have done little to deserve them. That ties our hands in terms of recruitment.

That’s pretty much how I see it Notts & is why I won’t be buying a season ticket for next season. Last year was the first in around 15-20 years where I haven’t had one. It’s never been about games I could attend as I’m in a fortunate position financially, but I couldn’t stomach the feeling of being mugged off by comments like “we’re happy with the squad” & “it’ll challenge for honours” when it was as clear as the nose on my face that we’d stood still, marvelling at the reflection of a good team (2017) yet again. I still attend games & pay on the door so the club haven’t lost revenue, but I was left feeling that the only way I could let them know how infuriated I was by their lack of planning &, in my opinion, poor recruitment & retention was to let the season ticket numbers fall. Can you guess how many calls I’ve had asking why I didn’t renew for last year or whether I’d be interested in taking one up again? I’ll give you a clue; it’s the same amount of calls I’ve had to let me know that my club lotto numbers, & thus, my subscriptions, have lapsed! It would appear that the club has enough money & isn’t interested in, what I consider to be, the most basic efforts in customer retention.

[tigerfeat]

Steve Gill used to ring you if you hadn't renewed your ticket I remember been on the phone to him twenty minutes once while he went over what I thought could be done better

[thedogvinnie]

The first batch of inflated Steve Gill contracts come to an end after next season, that'll free up the cap room to actually make meaningful improvements. Let's see what Wells does with an actual decent amount of cap space to use.

All well and good , but do we know if the money is to be used on playing staff or paying some of Jacks money back. We are Cas, we make do and mend it has always been so, How i wish we had the brass to do otherwise

[nottinghamtiger]

The first batch of inflated Steve Gill contracts come to an end after next season, that'll free up the cap room to actually make meaningful improvements. Let's see what Wells does with an actual decent amount of cap space to use.

All well and good , but do we know if the money is to be used on playing staff or paying some of Jacks money back. We are Cas, we make do and mend it has always been so, How i wish we had the brass to do otherwise

I think he’s had a decent bit of space. We’re going into 2020 without Gale’s salary so he’s now had the highest-earner off the books. Not to mention Hardaker’s salary (we hadn’t signed a replacement when Wells came in) when he first arrived and then Roberts’ salary. To say his hands have been tied completely I think is giving him too much benefit of the doubt.
Then there are the long contracts Wells has doled out to players who hadn’t done much to earn them (Holmes, Foster, Clare, Massey), the ridiculously long contract for Shenton and some long contracts for players unwanted by other clubs (Ellis).
Wells has tied his own hands in many respects.

[sparky49]

I think he’s had a decent bit of space. We’re going into 2020 without Gale’s salary so he’s now had the highest-earner off the books. Not to mention Hardaker’s salary (we hadn’t signed a replacement when Wells came in) when he first arrived and then Roberts’ salary. To say his hands have been tied completely I think is giving him too much benefit of the doubt.
Then there are the long contracts Wells has doled out to players who hadn’t done much to earn them (Holmes, Foster, Clare, Massey), the ridiculously long contract for Shenton and some long contracts for players unwanted by other clubs (Ellis).
Wells has tied his own hands in many respects.

I very much doubt that John Wells has doled the length and cost of contracts out. He is responsible for talking to players that Powell is interested in, he will not have hold of the purse strings surely this will be the directors.

[Mysterio]

It’s time for JON WELLS to explain how he thinks we move forward to challenge again and his opinion on the strength of the current playing group. He’d better choose his words carefully because if he says were in a position of strength I’m not renewing either.

If there’s not any comment at all, I know of 7 people in my family who won’t be renewing and that is NOT a laughing matter as far as I am concerned.

We need action for god sake.

I am SICK AND TIRED of people going on about lack of manouverability with the cap; I mean have you seen our squad compared to the top performing clubs! Our players don’t earn anywhere near what theirs do overall, so how can we be up to the cap. Where’s the proof.

[Mysterio]

And notts tiger, everything you have said is bang on...

[classycas57]

We are all fed up with the club,it's obvious

[KB80]

I don't mind the look of our squad for next year to be honest.

I think we have done s reasonable job of restructuring our backs from how we started last year.

FB Rankin > Matuiti (as a full back)
W Feki > Claire
C Blair > Minikin
C Shenton
W Eden
HB Trueman (a year older and experienced)
HB Richardson > Rankin (as a half back)

Back ups
Claire > Gill
Olpherts > Egodu
Matuiti > Foster (at centre)
Elllis
Turner

And made some upgrades to our forwards (although Moors and Millingtons age and injuries could mean we are weaker in the forwards despite the upgrades).

Griffin > Clarkson
Smith > Clarke
Hepi - Maher

I think Richardson could be exciting for us and expect him to find his 2018 form. Would prefer a new full back to be honest but cant see anyone available that woukd be an improvement on Rankin at present.

Wouldnt be surprised to see Matuiti start to shine at centre and take one of the starting spots. With consistent game time as a centre.

I would imagine next year would be a forwards restructure with Moors and Milli OOC.

Commercial side of the club is more worrying imo as I mentioned on the attendance post.

[Mysterio]

I don't mind the look of our squad for next year to be honest.

I think we have done s reasonable job of restructuring our backs from how we started last year.

FB Rankin > Matuiti (as a full back)
W Feki > Claire
C Blair > Minikin
C Shenton
W Eden
HB Trueman (a year older and experienced)
HB Richardson > Rankin (as a half back)

Back ups
Claire > Gill
Olpherts > Egodu
Matuiti > Foster (at centre)
Elllis
Turner

And made some upgrades to our forwards (although Moors and Millingtons age and injuries could mean we are weaker in the forwards despite the upgrades).

Griffin > Clarkson
Smith > Clarke
Hepi - Maher

I think Richardson could be exciting for us and expect him to find his 2018 form. Would prefer a new full back to be honest but cant see anyone available that woukd be an improvement on Rankin at present.

Wouldnt be surprised to see Matuiti start to shine at centre and take one of the starting spots. With consistent game time as a centre.

I would imagine next year would be a forwards restructure with Moors and Milli OOC.

Commercial side of the club is more worrying imo as I mentioned on the attendance post.

Decent efforts of spin pal but fooling nobody. Have you seen how other squads look and perform.

Would Wigan or any other top 4 take olpherts because he's not wanting a big wage like egodo for example

Who else would regard rankin as a good enough positive step going forward !

It bugs me how we claim to be up to the cap limit. Where is io Wigan having manfredi Davies Marshall and burgess as WING back ups says it all to me

[thedogvinnie]

We are all fed up with the club,it's obvious

Im not fed up with the club, believe me these are halcyon days compared to some of the [REMOVED] i have seen over the last 50 years

[fords]

I don't mind the look of our squad for next year to be honest.

I think we have done s reasonable job of restructuring our backs from how we started last year.

FB Rankin > Matuiti (as a full back)
W Feki > Claire
C Blair > Minikin
C Shenton
W Eden
HB Trueman (a year older and experienced)
HB Richardson > Rankin (as a half back)

Back ups
Claire > Gill
Olpherts > Egodu
Matuiti > Foster (at centre)
Elllis
Turner

And made some upgrades to our forwards (although Moors and Millingtons age and injuries could mean we are weaker in the forwards despite the upgrades).

Griffin > Clarkson
Smith > Clarke
Hepi - Maher

I think Richardson could be exciting for us and expect him to find his 2018 form. Would prefer a new full back to be honest but cant see anyone available that woukd be an improvement on Rankin at present.

Wouldnt be surprised to see Matuiti start to shine at centre and take one of the starting spots. With consistent game time as a centre.

I would imagine next year would be a forwards restructure with Moors and Milli OOC.

Commercial side of the club is more worrying imo as I mentioned on the attendance post.

Decent efforts of spin pal but fooling nobody. Have you seen how other squads look and perform.

Would Wigan or any other top 4 take olpherts because he's not wanting a big wage like egodo for example

Who else would regard rankin as a good enough positive step going forward !

It bugs me how we claim to be up to the cap limit. Where is io Wigan having manfredi Davies Marshall and burgess as WING back ups says it all to me

The club claim we spend the cap and we probably do just not very wisely. What do people want, the club to publish all players wages to prove we do indeed spend the full cap ?

Part of the problem is that we continually offer inflated contracts to those not really deserving it.

[HuddsTigers]

Would Wigan sign Olpherts? No, because they produce their own players and have 4 decent wingers. Clear difference between clubs is Wigan’s ability to produce and retain their own vs having to sign new players.

Would Wigan sign Willie Isa, Romain Navarrete? Yes, they have done in the past. Every team has squad players.

They signed Hastings because Williams has left (marquee for marquee?).

They have signed Jake Bibby to replace Sarginson. Mitch Clark is a replacement for the bloke they had last year that got a drugs ban. Only the George Burgess signing stands out and I think that’s more of a signing to try and reverse attendance falls/long term replacement for people like O’Loughlin.

[HuddsTigers]

And the trouble is people like Manfredi and Marshall are happy to play for less because it’s their own hometown club where they know they are going to be involved in finals. Two of those practically costs 1 Sosaia Feki, which is the problem when fans call for NRL signings.

[thedogvinnie]

And the trouble is people like Manfredi and Marshall are happy to play for less because it’s their own hometown club where they know they are going to be involved in finals. Two of those practically costs 1 Sosaia Feki, which is the problem when fans call for NRL signings.

Unless they are employing the "mrs Radlinski" accounting methods yet again, and why not, they never get punished for it do they

[KB80]

I don't mind the look of our squad for next year to be honest.

I think we have done s reasonable job of restructuring our backs from how we started last year.

FB Rankin > Matuiti (as a full back)
W Feki > Claire
C Blair > Minikin
C Shenton
W Eden
HB Trueman (a year older and experienced)
HB Richardson > Rankin (as a half back)

Back ups
Claire > Gill
Olpherts > Egodu
Matuiti > Foster (at centre)
Elllis
Turner

And made some upgrades to our forwards (although Moors and Millingtons age and injuries could mean we are weaker in the forwards despite the upgrades).

Griffin > Clarkson
Smith > Clarke
Hepi - Maher

I think Richardson could be exciting for us and expect him to find his 2018 form. Would prefer a new full back to be honest but cant see anyone available that woukd be an improvement on Rankin at present.

Wouldnt be surprised to see Matuiti start to shine at centre and take one of the starting spots. With consistent game time as a centre.

I would imagine next year would be a forwards restructure with Moors and Milli OOC.

Commercial side of the club is more worrying imo as I mentioned on the attendance post.

It bugs me how we claim to be up to the cap limit. Where is io Wigan having manfredi Davies Marshall and burgess as WING back ups says it all to me

Wigan also have Tony Clubb as a starting 17 man

[KB80]

I don't mind the look of our squad for next year to be honest.

I think we have done s reasonable job of restructuring our backs from how we started last year.

FB Rankin > Matuiti (as a full back)
W Feki > Claire
C Blair > Minikin
C Shenton
W Eden
HB Trueman (a year older and experienced)
HB Richardson > Rankin (as a half back)

Back ups
Claire > Gill
Olpherts > Egodu
Matuiti > Foster (at centre)
Elllis
Turner

And made some upgrades to our forwards (although Moors and Millingtons age and injuries could mean we are weaker in the forwards despite the upgrades).

Griffin > Clarkson
Smith > Clarke
Hepi - Maher

I think Richardson could be exciting for us and expect him to find his 2018 form. Would prefer a new full back to be honest but cant see anyone available that woukd be an improvement on Rankin at present.

Wouldnt be surprised to see Matuiti start to shine at centre and take one of the starting spots. With consistent game time as a centre.

I would imagine next year would be a forwards restructure with Moors and Milli OOC.

Commercial side of the club is more worrying imo as I mentioned on the attendance post.

Decent efforts of spin pal but fooling nobody. Have you seen how other squads look and perform.

We finished 4th/5th with a an injury plagued squad. So 3/4 performed better than us. 2/3 of which use marque allowance which we don't and 2 of which have access to a vast array of young home grown talent.

Have other teams improved their squads more than us for next year? Yeah I beleive they probably have. But they finances to do so and are using marque allowance to do so.

That doesn't change the fact our starting 17 for next season (assuming we don't have any major preseason injuries) looks better than last year's 17 at the start of the season.

For me we really could do:
Bringing in an improved Full back (getting shut of Ellis, using Rankin as back up half/full back) and;

Bringing in a big no nonsense Prop (if Moors isn't going to be back in the frame)

The prop is do-able I'd imagine but what full backs are likely to be available?

Before anyone says Evalds, he's contracted and would be valued higher then Gale was on the transfer market and seems perfectly happy were he is - he simply isn't available.

[Mysterio]

Can you believe or accept Wells claims we’re skint on the cap front?
I suppose it’s a more solid excuse than last years’ ‘we don’t need to strengthen’

As I said initially, make some tough calls Jon. Show you have the bottle and foresight for the job in hand. Make a bloody success of us. Earn your title (and money?)

[Bolton-tiger]

Sorry but i tink we still need to stengthen our squad,you look at salford amd wakey they are strengthening on a lower spend than what we are and they are getting good quality players for that to,salford are chasing kinehorse from kr and seb iki from hudds,both improvements.imagine him and pauli pauli starting front rowers for salford.even wakeys been linked with capewell from sharks for next year and just signed wood from salford to and yet we still hardly do nothing.lose 10 players and sign 6 isnt good for me especailly when we have extra from gales money and the extra from torrontos central funding to.that surley has to be 2 good players there