Harry Stottle

That reminds me of a mate at work, up until the late 70's when calculators took over we used Slide Rules to do a lot of claculas equations for our engineering systems, my mate could never get his head round it so he used it to stir his tea at brew times!

And we are fans of SL club, who just maybe relatively safe in this 'system', why should we bother?

Of course it is about the clubs, I was using the anology of employees being denied the opportunity to improve, just as I expect clubs below SL will find that opportunity to gain promotion ebbing away, they will simply not be able to compete financially on the gradings, I didn't think I would have to explain that to a businessman. You keep talking about Championship clubs improving crowds, outside investment, off field improvements etc etc but there is one word you use quite a lot which proceeds these desires, it is the word IF, you say if they can improve this that or the other everthing will be hunky dory, I don't think they can, they are and will remain immensely and totall financially disadvantaged against SL clubs in investing in improving on IMG's merit points, we are poles apart on our interpretation of this grading system this RP. Let's leave it at that.

I will leave it at that.

As I said I apologise if my interpretation of you was not as I imagined, I imagined you could be one of those benefitting from an accident of birth being in the right location of a top club with nothing to worry about as how the sport pans out for your club.

Honest question Chris, how much expierence do you have of the game as a whole? I profusely apologise if I am wrong, but I see your experience as going to Headingley and away games involving your club plus rep fixtures.

Why does my anology not work? You do read between the lines instead of the words spoken, I was talking about individuals having the scope to better themselves there is no investment required, just not closing the door of opportunity, which would be the case in RL if we went back to a Closed Shop, which in my opinion IMG's grading system will create just by another name, I also had my own company Chris, not very big just 50 employees, I even had a factory in your own 'fair' city, and I always saw the value in recognising talent and promoting from within, it worked.

I suspect in the not to distant future change your word certification for promotion and that is how I see our game going.

Enough said, that is how it will be for Championship clubs.

As I said in another post Toppy, should any incumbant SL club ever be in a position to be demoted, do you not consider they have a huge financial advantage over those below SL level, and it is money that is required to improve gradings, do you not agree?

That's fine, obviously no way will you take a financial punt on the company bettering itself, you are quite happy to mosey along at your own pace and not go any bigger I understand that. BUT that is your choice no one else is making your mind up for you are they, you still have the opportunity, if the Closed shop in whatever form it takes comes back into RL, that door which you as a company decide to not walk through becomes permanently closed to ambitious clubs. Yes I know all about bettering oneself under this IMG grading system, but be perfectly honest with the vast difference in Central Funding and other earnings potential it would take an Harl Kari moment for any incumbent SL club to get itself demoted.

Who gets the chance to play in it? Apart from the invitationals, it is made up of those who have been better than their contemporaries in an elimination process.

Whilst all the time moving further away from the 13th placed club, I honestly can't see how there will ever be any cross division movements by any clubs Championship/SL. Just awaiting for the mock gradings to include the not yet mentioned "Potential"

What do you do in your employment? Were you given the opportunity to better yourself with your efforts and the performance levels you obtained, or was your job a dead end street in which no matter how hard you tried and how successful you were against your contemporaries promotion was always denied you? I bet you wouldn't stay employed in such an environment, and I would guess not one other of the closed SL shop advocates would do either, but you all consider it OK to subject others to suffer from it.

So where do you expect Toulouse to be then?

I am not as confident as you are Tommy, let's wait and see.

Put all the clubs in the hat from the last 32 after the prelims.

Even if they put their own existence at risk in doing so? If so isn't that like Turkeys voting for Xmas?

Only if they had less 'B' points than the Championship clubs.

That is what I thought the answer would be, that is why there are such fine metrics to accrue points. But considering the answers on these pages the endless confusion is still very much evident, people are stating that 'B's irrespective of where they sit within the B grading will change League positions between SL and Championship.

But, if the team finishing in bottom position in SL is a high scoring Grade B and the club finishing top of the Championship is a low Grade B will they still swop positions, if the answer is yes what is the point of scoring metrics if all B's are considered equal?

Seems like a lot of turkeys voting for Xmas.

Yes Tommy inclusive of the 'If' word. My concerns which are poles apart - I think from yours - and why I am sceptical of these IMG concepts, is what it will be the consequences to the game as a whole, I think there may just as well be as many casualties as their are winners in this process, if not more.

What about my comparrison with the Leigh attendances of 2017 Tommy? But if fans and especially those not converted do not know about the IMG concepts and it passes them by irrespectively, what is the point if it all?

Well it could be the 2.18 votes the SL clubs recieve, but that could come back to bite them if the 2.18 votes for the 4 SL 'doubters' are counted for the 'neighs to the left', that will cancel out 8.5 Championship/L1 votes if they vote for it.