Re: Gareth Ellis signs!! : Wed Mar 21, 2012 8:25 pm  

Good signing that. Gave tremendous service to Leeds and I can only wish him the best. Would have been nice to see him back at Leeds but it wasn't to be. He'll go well for you - he doesn't really do business any other way.

It'll take more than Gareth Ellis to get you back where you need to be, but there seems to be a fair bit going on at the KC, and this signing is a statement of intent. Good luck to you, the competition can use as many teams capable of challenging for titles as it can get, so good luck on getting up there. So far so good I'd say.

Re: Gareth Ellis signs!! : Wed Mar 21, 2012 8:29 pm  

Re: Gareth Ellis signs!! : Wed Mar 21, 2012 8:29 pm  

cod'ead wrote:

I read an interview with Paolo di Cannio and he was asked about his own interview with the owner of Swindon Town. di Cannio asked him what the club's aspirations were and was told that: given the demographics (pop. 210,000), the most realistic expectation was a "good Championship side". di Cannio thought this the answer that would be expected from a realist as opposed to a fantacist and was the main reason for him taking the job. Now the City of Hull has only 50,000 greater population than Swindon, yet the current and previous owners have attempted to fool some of the population into thinking that Hull City could be a viable and sustainable Premier League side.

Stoke has only about 30,000 greater population than Swindon and are in their 4th year in the top flight with a go in Europe to boot. They're not even the only team in their city, either. I'm not convinced Hull City will establish themselves as a Premier League side (and as a further point, what counts as 'established'? If we're talking permanent fixtures in the division there are probably less than 10 teams in the country of whom you can confidently say that, with the bulk of those coming from only 3 cities), but I think it's silly to suggest that they couldn't, given some of the teams that have had decent runs of top-flight football.

Re: Gareth Ellis signs!! : Wed Mar 21, 2012 8:29 pm  

cod'ead wrote:

I read an interview with Paolo di Cannio and he was asked about his own interview with the owner of Swindon Town. di Cannio asked him what the club's aspirations were and was told that: given the demographics (pop. 210,000), the most realistic expectation was a "good Championship side". di Cannio thought this the answer that would be expected from a realist as opposed to a fantacist and was the main reason for him taking the job. Now the City of Hull has only 50,000 greater population than Swindon, yet the current and previous owners have attempted to fool some of the population into thinking that Hull City could be a viable and sustainable Premier League side.

That said, when I'm in Hull nowadays, the proportion of Hull City shirts to Man Utd shirts I see has changed a lot, compared to what it was 5 years or so ago (all anecdotal of course). Population size on its own isn't necessarily the best measure. It's real numbers through the turnstiles that count.

But I always think of Hull as a Rugby League town, and I'd like it to stay that way.

Re: Gareth Ellis signs!! : Wed Mar 21, 2012 8:30 pm  

carl_spackler wrote:

They're not even the only team in their city, either.

They could be soon!

Re: Gareth Ellis signs!! : Wed Mar 21, 2012 8:35 pm  

Absolutely thrilled with this signing. I was all set to complain about how we always miss out on the very top players, but this lays down a marker of our intentions.
Very happy

Re: Gareth Ellis signs!! : Wed Mar 21, 2012 8:39 pm  

Don't know if this has already been posted but it claims that every SL club except Salford were interested in signing him http://www.sportinglife.com/rugbyleague/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=rleague/12/03/21/RUGBYL_Hull.html&BID=480

Don't know if this has already been posted but it claims that every SL club except Salford were interested in signing him http://www.sportinglife.com/rugbyleague/news/story_get.cgi?STORY_NAME=rleague/12/03/21/RUGBYL_Hull.html&BID=480

Re: Gareth Ellis signs!! : Wed Mar 21, 2012 8:40 pm  

El Diablo wrote:

They could be soon!

Quite possibly, but I was just meaning that Stoke City don't have all of that population to themselves. As you say, it isn't just about population, otherwise Leeds would not be in the Championship, Villa would not be in the bottom 6, and Wigan would probably be in League One.

Re: Gareth Ellis signs!! : Wed Mar 21, 2012 8:40 pm  

Marfa Manu wrote:

I see your muscular training arms and raise you a naked cyclist.

Re: Gareth Ellis signs!! : Wed Mar 21, 2012 8:48 pm  

El Diablo wrote:

Good signing that. Gave tremendous service to Leeds and I can only wish him the best. Would have been nice to see him back at Leeds but it wasn't to be. He'll go well for you - he doesn't really do business any other way.

It'll take more than Gareth Ellis to get you back where you need to be, but there seems to be a fair bit going on at the KC, and this signing is a statement of intent. Good luck to you, the competition can use as many teams capable of challenging for titles as it can get, so good luck on getting up there. So far so good I'd say.

Well done for a reasoned response to our signing. It makes such a pleasant change from the patronising and condescending crap posted by some other members of the Leeds clan.