Having met Mark Dunning via work for BullBuilder a few years back I found him to be a decent guy who obviously knows his stuff. He's done pretty well since he took over and I wish him all the luck in the world for the future. Obviously competing with the likes of Leigh and Fev is out of the question but aspiring and looking like we can be the best of the rest is what we need to do now.
The way this appointment was dragged out for 10 weeks has been a big mistake. The sense of anticlimax is palpable. The club needs a big reset on and off the field to address the decline we've seen over the past season and a half and this appointment now looks like "more of the same" which may be unfair to Dunning but it's how it's going to be perceived by the majority of supporters.
Brian Noble coming back on board temporarily in some sort of vague consultancy doesn't really enthuse me either. He's been out of the game at the sharp end for years and I can't see him having any influence over first team selection or tactics. So what does he bring? He was never a great advocate of the academy and Jamie Peacock said he found Noble was more comfortable dealing with seasoned pros than he was with young players (and that was 16 - 17 years ago!). Dunning is an inexperienced head coach so is Noble there to provide a sounding board? Given Noble's lack of up to date experience is that wise? It feels like the Noble news is a sop to supporters.
So what next? We need a strong end to the season to try to tempt some supporters back. Then some decent recruitment in the close season, get rid of the wasters and fatties and be ready for 2023 with a much fitter and motivated side that's going to be in with a shot of 3rd or 4th place in the championship.
Anything less and we're on borrowed time again.
