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Re: Open letter to the club and AP : Thu Jul 02, 2015 11:05 pm

Chris28 wrote:

Dear Hull FC

It's difficult writing this, but I, like a lot of people now, am at the end of my tether. Our club's 150th year is yet another of dismal failure. Failure to challenge for a trophy, failure to challenge for a place in the top end of the league, with the real possibility of relegation thrown in, failure to engage with the fans and failure to enthuse 10000 people to renew their financial support of the club for 2016.

We've seen the promise of Adam's takeover of the club, and the bullish talk that followed, of league positions not being good enough, the desire to win trophies and wanting to set us back on the road to success, has been gradually whittled away until we're left with nothing but the occasional victory in a league game to celebrate. Last night's surrender against the bottom club who hadn't won for 4 months, just about put the tin lid on it.

People are fed up of paying money to watch the standard of rugby that is being delivered. Out of a crowd of just over 3500 at Wakefield, at least 1200 left utterly deflated after another defeat not even snatched from the jaws of victory, but a rollover, where a player deemed not good enough for our team ripped us to pieces and another one surplus to requirements scored. Fans had travelled, not just from Hull, to support the team and paid their hard earned money to do so, yet they get rewarded with that. Enough is enough. Paying good money to watch good rugby is fine. Losing to a better side when we've also played well but just fallen short is less fine, but still acceptable. What is NOT acceptable is capitulating and throwing away a good lead in the manner we did last night, as has happened too many times, not just this season.

Hull FC is too important to too many people for this to continue, but you seem to have your heads buried in the sand, as the failings are either not seen or are brushed under the carpet and not acted on. For my part, I feel that I have every right to criticise what is happening, in the same way that we all celebrate together when times are good. I ran to the front of the stand at St Helens to high five the players after that performance, so I believe that sharing negative views now is just as acceptable. You have to take the rough with the smooth (as the fans do) and listen to your customers. No successful business ignores its customers, so here goes.

1. Adam said "Scraping into the top eight will not be a barometer of success" after he took over and in 2012 we finished 6th, with a repeat in 2013. The coach was then sacked and Lee Radford took over. In 2014, we finished 11th and if things go our way, we might "scrape into the top eight" this year. So the last two years, by Adam's reckoning have NOT been a success. What is going to happen then? On the evidence, nothing. The coach has been continually backed and not even the dreaded vote of confidence has had it's effect. I make no comment here about Lee's coaching ability, but the double standards shown in relation to words and actions is clear.

2. On the field we seem to have the weight of the world on our shoulders and the fear of failure leads to errors. This leads to frustration in the crowd and the vicious circle goes on to eventual and certain defeat. We seemed to get away from the "concede a try, heads go down" mentality in recent years but it is creeping back in, with added "knock on, heads go down" this year. This IS a coaching issue and hasn't been addressed. If it has, it isn't apparent. If it hasn't, why not? When Leeds took on a sports psychologist a few years ago, the hilarity was barely concealed, but they seem to have done ok from it. If we have one it's not obvious (if we do who is it??) and if we don't have one, why not? Fans see the players heads go down yet you, who need to see it, either can't, won't or just don't want to do anything. Having the right mental approach is key to most if not all sports, so why are we lagging behind?

3. I admit I'm not a rugby league "expert". I've never played it. I've never coached it. I'm just a fan. And I'm also aware of the line about "listen to the fans and you'll end up sitting with them". But even I can see that, as a few examples, kick offs to the exact same spot every time don't work, rushing to form a scrum to stop the clock with 2 minutes to go when we're 8-10 points behind is utterly pointless, and not backing the man with runners, when players like Watts and Paea are making yards for fun (early on last night), is a waste of their energies. Our play is slow, we don't move up quickly in defence (and haven't for years) and we don't struggle to get up after a tackle. It really isn't rocket science. I hate to refer to Leeds again, but where is our "Sinfield", the rugby brain that reads the game and can see and try different plays to surprise the opposition? Where is the energy? Where are the brains?

4. I have no wish to count up how much I've spent following the club over the years and I've done it willingly in any case, but I've had a pass for 16 years now, have been to Perpignan etc a fair few times, travel to most away games and spend money on merchandise. I'm fortunate that I can do that without having to prioritise too much but, without wanting to be patronising, I know others are not in that position and yet they still do it. The club is in our blood. We bust a gut to get to games, we spend spare money on extras to support our club, we continually attend as we want to be there when it does go right. We care, frankly, far too much and we do it because, as all fans do, we want success. And often it gets thrown back in our face. In 2007, I drove up from London in the early hours to get to the KC derby game, and if I'd put the same effort as the team did that day I wouldn't have got to the first services. Fans make the effort and travel in numbers, but we rarely get a reward. And it happens still, with increasing regularity, and nothing I see is changing that.

So over to you. I don't have the answers and even if I did, you appear so closed off to fan engagement now, possibly for fear of criticism, I'd probably be wasting my time passing it on. I'm sure this post is a waste as nothing will improve, because you know best and everything is rosy. We moan and boo because we buy into wanting success but it isn't happening and we're fed up. We want success. You should want it. And while we have no control over getting it, you do.

People have already started voting with their feet, and I expect fewer than 9000 at Sunday's game. Even if the counting method includes passholders who aren't there and we do announce more than 9000, there will be swathes of empty seats. Next season, who knows what the passholder figures will drop to. Will sponsors continue to stump up money to a shrinking club (which may not even be in Super League)? Can you afford to allow this to continue?

Adam needs to act now. Our 150th year is becoming so farcical I expect Brian Rix to be our next big signing. I repeat, enough is enough.

I'm not walking away (like all fans, I can't and that's why you can get away with it) but I'm certainly considering putting my shoes on. Can you do something to persuade me not to?

A very frustrated fan

very good post describes our frustrations to a t