grumpyoldram

I read this article with real interest. I’ve got to say those knee supports they are advertising look really good.

"However I'm not one for blaming the coach here, he can only work with what he has." At the risk of stating the obvious, Paul March was the one who signed most of what he has to work with. He signed the fringe players from the side that let us down so badly in the 23/24 season, amateurs used to playing in the second tier of the conference, a few journeymen, and the three players who are still the stand outs when they play - Fergie, sykes and Day. They appear to be ignored at the whim of the coach, regardless of their on field performances. Fact remains, it's a bad workman that blames his tools, particularly if he buys them from poundstretcher. I feel sorry for MS, who has given us twenty years of rugby that we might not have otherwise enjoyed, and I am still grateful to him for his continued generous financial input, but I do wish he was a decent judge of a coach.

This is the one I meant. Michael Hunte came to England from the Caribbean in 1957, aged 12. A natural at rugby at school and then for Lockwood ARLFC in Huddersfield, he went on to represent Yorkshire and England at open age in the amateur game. Hunte became Wakefield Trinity’s first black player in 1966, where he spent most of his professional career, although he was regularly hampered by knee problems. He returned to the amateur game with Eastmoor and had a short spell with Dewsbury in 1977.

I am probably wrong, but I was referring to ex Dewsbury kit man, and the former Wakefield flier who turned out for us in the mid seventies on his gammy leg a few times, and he was still quicker than the rest of the team. Wasn’t Billy eighties ?

I’d settle for a Billy Pickup.Or even a Michael Hunte (for the even older ones).

The point is that the residents bought a house next to a rugby ground, what did they expect. The tenants of the new development will be doing the same. The “local community” friendly council will almost certainly uphold the complaints, and restrict the clubs efforts to trade. If the occupants of the development had bought houses on a new build next door to Manchester airport, would they be pushing the council to restrict flights to 9 - 5 pm Monday to Friday because of the racket ? Actually they probably would.

Ditto. If the Rams off field business activities continue to be obstructed though, the end might be sooner than we’d hoped.

Was it Faal _ named after a curry. Good player but a bit shady if memory serves.

Thanks for taking the time and trouble to get these videos out to us Coolie. Rams fans have always had a fair bit of rough to balance out the smooth, but we have enjoyed watching some cracking players along the way - some of them I had forgotten all about, although I do tend to forget a lot these days. If I could get to see just one player from the past turning out for us in our current squad, it would it would be big Shayne Williams; Watching him thundering down the middle, scattering the opposition was an absolute joy. If only his passion for training had matched his thirst, he would have been a Superleague star, possibly even an international. Happy days. Maybe somebody with a better memory than mine could put out a squad of past players that would grace superleague.

Has that ever been the clubs intention. I get the impression that we are just treading water until the fate of the Championship is finally decided, and that Mark no longer sees the point in throwing money at what might be an unnecessary/pointless attempt at promotion. On hindsight we might have been better served by missing out in 2023. Looking at the squad, I think mid table will be a good result, and the best players will be the old stagers Sykes and Fergie p[us Day. If the club is allowed to use it's off-field investments to their full potential, a season of consolidation might not be a bad thing, but if not I fear for our club. I can't see MS throwing his own money at the club for too much longer, but desperately hope I'm wrong. I hope my observations are not taken as criticism, it is not intended to be, but taking the pessimistic view means I won't be disappointed if I'm right, and I'll be chuffed if I'm wrong.

Hope he gives it one more season, even if it's off the bench. Looking at the squad, he will still be the only player with genuine class.

Third tier conference amateurs at that. Add to that the squad fillers from last seasons shambles, a few average returnees and a couple of journeymen from the bottom tier, and we have a side unlikely to be promoted in 2025. Still, on the positive side we won’t be worried about relegation - we’ll leave that to you.

Sorry - couldn’t resist. On reflection, I suppose people who live in glass houses and all that …

Send in the clowns.