Hornets Nest

The laughable Chairman's parting speech before he bolted stating that roses were growing the Spotland Stadium car park needs tweaking a bit really. Until leadership is put in place then things will continue to collapse. Doing nothing is not an option. I suspect the perilous state of the club is not yet fully known. Leaders that will fight not flight are required.

There is an excellent article on the web site by the CEO saying that re-connecting with the Town and the Fans is a priority. Start by putting the Rochdale Coat of Arms onto the shirt - an instant connection an association with the Town and its People. The cartoon badge could be kept for scarfs and other such products. 'CREDE SIGNO' - Believe in the sign

A first for the club at First Grade level I would have thought, probably linked to the lack of Duel Registration players from Warrington given that they are in the cup final. Scrap D/R and invest in a Reserve Grade with a mixture of the best young talent in the area and senior first team fringe players perhaps some returning from injury. I would think that the new coach will need time to evaluate and re-structure the club given the Horlicks that has been made of this season. It would appear the Chairman's parting speech was rather inaccurate.

"What is in Alan Kilshaws Mind" ? I would have thought given the performances the Board may also have a view on this matter. You highlight my point perfectly in terms of the rudderless ship. In terms of Governance my point relates the day to day business of the club. As this thread indicates the Chairman is about to use his parachute - so who is running the shop. As for creditors - there are some.

The major problem is that any potential investors are not being told anything it is all being kept a secret - I thought it was now a club of the people. If there is nothing to hide the Chairman should issue a detailed statement regarding the position of the club - financially. The position of the Club regarding Spotland The position of the Club regarding the Coaching Staff The position of the Club regarding Governance

Hopefully Hornets will do the same when they return to Spotland, I keep looking on the Web Site for a tribute.

Very sad to hear of the passing of Eric Fitzsimons – he had been ill for quite a while. He coached Hornets between 1986 – 1987 and was responsible for giving Neil Cowie a trial at Hornets and as we know that turned out to be a great success. It was a tough time in the mid 80’s for Hornets but Eric had good contacts in Australia and this always helped booster the squad – players like Gerry Byron and Craig Pucell (if my memory serves me). Whilst at Hornets Eric was always willing to pull on the shirt for the “A” Team when numbers were down. He scored a classy try in the corner v Oldham one Saturday afternoon at the Athletic Grounds and somehow in the excitement I ran on with the water instead of the sand (no kicking tee’s around in those days). Howls of laughter followed the loudest being from the Chairman Fred Wood and Eric himself. After the laughter had died down Eric slotted the goal from the touchline to bag the victory against the owd enemy – class. Eric was the first coach at Hornets to produce extensive statistics during the game for post-match analysis – he employed a colleague from within the education system at Oldham to do these for him and again as we all know these statistics are still heavily relied on today – he was way ahead of the game. Eric always had lifelong friend Iain McCorquodale by his side at most of the clubs he was at and this included Hornets, they worked as a team. Iain like Eric was very fond of Hornets and had a few spells assisting the club, there was always a healthy debate as to who was actually the best goal kicker – they were both prolific. Anyway that’s just my short tribute I’m sure Hornets fans will have other great memories. R.I.P Eric God Bless

Some eye watering figures are being banded around regarding the cash that is required to see out the season, let alone continue long term. However there does seem to be some positive dialogue taking place and the relations with other clubs seem to have improved almost immediately. Given that RL in Rochdale has a small but loyal fan base the divisions that were encouraged need repairing as a priority. Formal links with the Hopwood Hall Rugby League Academy also need developing as soon as possible - this should have been done 10 years ago. The Spotland Stadium situation is however is a bigger worry given that the crown jewels were handed over without so much as a whimper. The mess will certainly take some fixing both in terms of finance and the structure of the club.

He leaves in the same manner as he entered casting clouds over others which has always been his down fall and why the club lacks people to back them and also one of the reasons why full occupancy of Executive boxes has now gone to zero. He made a conscious choice to alienate people. He says in his statement that the former administration had debts of around 850k. Well I suppose “around” allows for the trebling of the actual figure but of course he knows this. It makes the tale sound better. Pro-rata in his 9 years at the helm he was well on target to blitz the former debt – he would have done that well within 15 years. Good luck to the regime I know that there are people that will be willing to assist with Sponsorship etc. The original Gang of Seven became 0 within a decade – what a testament to their predecessors that did 40 years plus. I wish the new board every success – not easy this running a rugby club lark. On another note surely Mayfield and Hornets should have avoided clashing with each other Tomorrow.

Sunday would be a great day to bring back the Kids for Free (with a full paying adult or season ticket holder). The team needs the backing and after recent weeks there needs to be something to entice the "stayaway". I've never actually understood the reason for charging kids at Hornets anyway. In doing so I suggest that the loss would be minimal but may encourage more adults and in turn a better atmosphere. Look at the pricing structure for kids in the EFL in particular, it is very rare that there is not an offer on to entice supporters to bring kids.

Is there not an onus on the Custodians of the club to make up any unexpected short fall from expected sponsorship. Surely the role of being a Director has responsibilities that may well at some stage have financial implications. What is expected from a Director at Hornets these days? And is new blood actively being recruited to boost what is obviously a struggling set up. As someone once told me when I said it all about the Players - "No Mark its all about Money" Tough old job that one. People who stuck at it and ploughed money in for over 30 years should have had a medal.

The use of D/R does not allow for a settled playing squad. Players get parachuted in, play and then leave straight after the match. Hornets then wait a few days to find out if / who Warrington will loan out the following week. Meanwhile fringe Hornets players wait for Warrington to basically decide if they will be involved or not. The farcical situation with Seta highlights this issue perfectly. One of the main components of the game is match fitness. The use of the loan market is a different scenario as it is for a fixed period of time making team selection and planning more effective. I guess with it being the Challenge Cup this weekend D/R will not be available so the real Rochdale H will be representing the club making a victory all the more sweeter.

The funeral arrangements are as follows Rochdale Crematorium 14.00hrs Tuesday 20th March 2018 Joan would then like to invite people back to Rochdale Cricket Club for some refreshments and a chat about Ken’s favourite subject – Hornets. I am sure many Hornets memories will be discussed – the Bill Holliday drop goal being one of them and I know that one of his favourite matches was the 1958 epic at the Boulevard. The journey was made by a specially chartered steam train packed with Hornets fans hired by the Supporters club of which Ken’s Dad Herbert was part of the Committee at the time. My Father used to tell the tale about Ken having to stand outside on the pre match pub crawl due to his age, being fed pop and crisps. Joan will be glad to see people there – after all he gave a lifetime to the cause.

Sadly another Hornets stalwart and former Director Kenneth Oldham passed away last night. Ken had a 60 year association with the club starting as a scoreboard operator at the Athletic Grounds before becoming the Secretary of the Supporters club and the Steward of the Nest Bar. One of Ken’s main annual duties was to run the famous Christmas Draw than could sometimes have more than 150 prizes to allocate. He was also involved in running many Wembley trips with Billy Sutcliffe in fact those trips started the Hornets tradition of running Wembley trips back in 1980. Ken then became Secretary of the club until he left in 2009. Ken is survived by his widow Joan who he met whilst carrying out his duties in the Nest Bar. RIP Ken Onward Hornets Onward

Agreed there is always the financial aspect of a players career development. But my main point was, is anyone actually running the rule over all of these promising young players. Other clubs obviously are. Everything does not have to be Warrington / East Lancashire Road centric.