headtackle

Salford have got themselves into their own mess over a period of time. They cannot really blame the IMG rankings for their demise and financial losses. They were 4th last year so simply living within their means should have kept them mid table and away from any worry about relegation Looking at IMG there was lots of debate over London's ranking and treatment last year and their role in the game still is. However Wakefield how had a better IMG score have come up and are doing well in mid table. In terms of IMG I think the fault is with the RFL and their lack of any strategic vision. This is obviously not new - the Eddie Stobart deal springs to mind but it needs sorting quickly. There have been loads of rumours about restructuring, 10 teams, 14 teams and NRL takeovers. The clubs like any business need to be able to plan properly for this. At the moment nobody seems to have any idea what is going on

IMG were always on to a loser As outsiders and certainly not being from Yorkshire there was no way any recommendations would ever be accepted by the clubs You could employ the best advisors in the game but you will never get turkeys to vote for Christmas

I was at the 82:0 game and agree it was a shambles. Good for our points difference though Googled the Saints game. Milward did it first in 2002, Saints got fined £25,000 which was then dropped following a legal challenge Not sure of the outcome of the 2004 repeat but Saints had 5 making debuts and made 11 changes from the team that had played Wigan a few days earlier. This was the reason squads are now announced in advance of games so fans can make a choice Looks like any points deduction is going to be academic this year so not sure really see the point and no point kicking them when they are down and/or carrying it into 2026

What precedents have been set for fielding a weakened team Off the top of my head can only think of Saints against Bradford under Milward just before the Challenge Cup. The game where Bradford got George Formby instead of George Foreman. Can't remember what if any penalty Saints got following that. Can only remember two players trying to cash in and being banned for betting irregularities

Buying off an administrator as a newco would be the best option as you could cherry pick a bit and leave many of the debts behind with the current company Not sure what the RL/SL policy is towards insolvency these days - would it mean the ejection from SL and/or starting again in League 1 ? Another option would be to go into Administration and then exit administration via a company voluntary arrangement (CVA). This allows a lot of the debt to be left behind with the existing company surviving and returning to solvency over a period of time in its restructured form. The deferral by HMRC until September is perhaps a little ominous. SL fixtures will end then which will reduce income streams to a minimum so if the debt has not be reduced/cleared and a firm plan in place HMRC will presumably not want things dragging out over the off season

I am not convinced that this is the best signing for Saints OK he has said he won't play against the Raiders but if he still had the desire to test himself to the max why would he drop down a level to Superleague. When a loyal servant departs on good terms the fans don't have a problem with it - they know the players are pros and need to earn money while they can Saints have a reasonable track record with older props but our NRL signings in recent times have been questionable. We have plenty of older players as it is so not sure adding another is the best strategy to follow

HMRC will not let the amount owed get any bigger so each months paye/nic will need paying on time On that basis another 3 months won't make much difference. Just wonder what Salford claim is likely to happen in the next 3 months to improve the situation and allow the debt to be reduced/cleared. Can't see what the upsides are: - Trading profits (no chance) - Transfer fees (no chance) - Sell surplus assets (none) - Issue more shares (no one would buy them) - Creditors write off debts owed and/or convert debt to equity (shares) - New owner injects cash. Possible but if a loan company might pay off HMRC but still flirting with insolvency - Stay in Superleague and maybe something like an NRL takeover leads to increased TV revenue in the medium term. Wonder if all hopes are on the last option. If TV money was to go up substantially, relegation was not a risk due to franchising SRD could manage costs and try to run at a profit using the surplus to reduce debt. All seems to have quiet on those discussions though. Can't see it going beyond September though as after the final league game there will be minimal income for 3-4 months making teh cash position work

Unless they find another Koukash who wrote his loans off I believe, they are stuffed At they moment they are borrowing from Peter to pay Paul and that cannot continue forever I can't see beyond some sort of insolvency which means they will lose SL status. It might be worth pressing the insolvency button sooner rather than later so can prepare to start again and rebuild in League 1 I dont like seeing what has happened to Salford as I do have a spot for them but the current situation seems to be death by a thousand cuts or whatever the phrase is

Whitby is going to be a big miss Think back to how bade we were before he came on the scene Think we may struggle tonight

Taking a loan simply replaces one creditor with another - doesnt improve the position Creditors need to paid off from either trading profits (no sign of them), the sale of assets (none of them and no one paying transfer fees) or the injection of new share capital (new shares not just a change in shareholders) Any other improvement would come if creditors wrote off their debt or agreed to some sort of debt for shares swap

When is the winding up petition due to be heard ? Must be soon Wonder how much longer HMRC will let things continue - they will want to see some sort of progress and repayments

Administration is a holding mechanism to allow an Administrator to take stock and salvage what he/she can Often a brand new company will buy the old company business, assets. The payment money then goes to cover the administrators costs and any left is distributed to different classes of creditor. Most debts stay with the old company however contracts of employment transfer over (TUPE regulations) and often any debts owed to other clubs, the RFL or SL will need to be settled to enable the new company to trade Administration is only temporary and can be exited by way of a voluntary arrangement. The company/new investors reach an agreement with creditors to accept a lower return on their debt. The Administrator then steps out of the way and the existing company continues to exist. This is what Hull KR, Keighley and Workington did back at the start of SL

Some of the budget airlines would !

Heard one article talking about 2 London clubs in any proposed new structure Now 1 has struggled but if 2 ever got off the ground with NRL backing you have more local interest, competition and a local derby Believe London have a big announcement at the Australian Commission next week so they are not giving up The NFL has shown the way forward. People will come to an event if marketed properly. I would love to see an NRL game or 2 played in London or even the Midlands to push the game.

Agreed - think Cornwall has been done on a budget which is why they haven't shot up the tables. Don't know much about them but if they are happy building slowly and steadily good luck to them. As I said earlier with cash I think it would be easy to buy success in League 1. The Championship would be a different matter

Year 1 - would not take a great deal of investment to get promotion and agree if got stuck in there would not be good Once in the Championship much harder but Toronto showed how to do it As a punt, a year or two in the lower leagues finding your feet then hopefully make it to the SL funding - might be worth a go Depending who it was a club with decent facilities, branding and catchment area would be ok on the IMG scale At worst as I said originally a good opportunity to blood fringe players, share costs across two clubs and generate year round revenue.

Would be interesting if one of the big Southern RU clubs submitted an application Bath, Gloucester, Bristol, Exeter ? OK they would be starting at the bottom but from their point of view a handy outlet to blood or try out fringe Union players. If they were successful and made it to the Championship or SL full year revenue and shared costs.

Agree, the game v France last year illustrated the lack of appetite for a game v them. The options I can see for a game would be - England v France and or Wales - 5 Nations but England Lions, France, Wales, Scotland & Ireland - Lancashire v Yorkshire origin game - England v All Stars - North v South The more I type the less appeal any of these games have. I would watch them on TV and go if it was handy but not get overly excited One other option could be to use what they used to do in Union and have England trial games - a mid season 1 off game although ideally building to a 3 match series Probables v Possibles (or some other catchy names). England coach gets first pick for squad of probables. After that a guest coach selects from what is left to come up with the Possibles. With end of year test places available it should guarantee some fierce competition and should be far more intensive than any of the above. Probables wouldnt be able to cry off or ease up and the Possibles would have nothing to lose. Could generate a lot of interest, argument and discussion before during and in the lead up to year end games.

Other than LMS (now retired) I honestly do not know how many players we have in the game who are from outside of the M62 corridor To get it started you may have to stretch things a bit but we have already done that with some of our international teams. Where we draw the line North/South might have to be flexible as well However as we know we need to promote the game to a wider audience. A game like this would be marketable and would catch the attention of the media. Interestingly my youtube feed has just thrown up the Cross Code challenge games Wigan/Bath. I am not saying that we go back down that route but I do remember at the time the interest generated and some of the media excitement when they speculated whether a Southern team could beat Wigan. If we are having regional teams/rep fixtures I honestly believe that only this would work. Games like Lancashire/Yorkshire/Cumbria/Other Nationalities have lost their spark and the War of the Roses doesn't really work for any sport now

A rep game would be good to try and bridge the gap between club and international rugby and give us a landmark fixtures I don't think that Lancashire v Yorkshire would have the same pull as years gone by The one that would catch media attention would be North v South. If we looked around SL and stretched the grandparent rule like Jack Charlton did all those years ago there must be quite a few players from outside the heartlands. The media would love it especially the thought of the South getting one over on the North.

Well done Wire - you deserved that today Saints have a lot of questions to answer as looking very ordinary at the moment, nothing much in attack and a few players starting to look a bit past it.

Once we go to what will effectively be an IMG closed shop we have "franchises" by default In that case seeing we have a lot of clubs in very close proximity to each other would we ever see the situation they have in America where a franchise can move town/city Not been seen yet in this country other than MK Dons in football - tough but eventually worked out. Will we see someone buying the license for say Hull, Cas, Wakefield (if they come back) and upping sticks As a lot of our club's finances are tight wouldn't cost that much so wonder if that forms any of IMG thinking.

Went to the Stoop one early evening back in the day Has changed a lot since then I think. I seem to remember a lot of temporary stands and a big jazz marquee for pre match. After that Richmond down the road is not the worst place in London to spend an evening I think London is important to the game as a team in the Capital helps the game escape the M62 tag. Don't want to ignite that debate but if they are in they need a competitive team and to be playing in a decent stadium (long term). If it is affordable somewhere like the stoop is ideal. Well connected, easy to get to and plenty of parking etc etc. Would like to see them back there.

Ok I see where you are coming from now. Other than the sponsor being Bet Fred I dont particularly think that Superleague has a "gambling image". It is not as if there are betting terminals inside grounds like there are at football and/or when games are on TV, shirts are not plastered with the internet gambling companies logos and we do not get regular doses of Ray Winston telling us to bet now on the second half etc. Can see why some would be put off by Bet Fred but personally I have more of an issue with Totally Wicked and vaping than gambling - each to their own I suppose and as a sport we have not reached a position where we can pick and choose our sponsors - hopefully IMG can sort that ! Re Drinking I take 2 young lads and do my best to avoid drunken idiots. I usually drive to games so do not drink at matches but as said above I would prefer to sit in an alcohol free zone where possible. You can see at a Grand Final what alcohol can do to some of the fans particularly when your team starts losing. The most annoying person is the one that spends more time getting up to go to the bar or toilet than sit in their seat watching the game. Saying that again beggars can't be choosers and beer sales on matchdays must bring in a lot of revenue for clubs.

Not sure why you have referred to racism in cricket as don't see that as relevant. Racism unfortunately exists in a lot of sports and areas of society and as you say not just in Yorkshire. Frim what I see in our local leagues there is not a racism problem but am not daft and know there are issues in some leagues If you read my post I am not saying that clubs should not target the muslim market at all. I am simply saying that in some areas there are not that many muslims so there is likely to be very little upside . I am also saying that in places like Bradford and Huddersfield, there are a lot more muslims so it may be well worth having a go at that market as there could be a big upside. At the end of the day from a business point of view you want a return on your investment Re the current demographic, I am not sure what that is these days - imagine IMG have all that data. I watch Saints and we seem to have a healthy mix of all age groups - attendances are fairly steady so my assumption is that as older generations pass on they are being replaced by the young uns. Not sure what it is like at some of the smaller clubs and perhaps the die hards are starting to die out.