Neil Kelly Departs Cornwall. What next for the Choughs?

[Northern Eel]

 

Hopefully it is as simple as him not wanting to be away from his family any longer and nothing more deep rooted. Are there any obvious candidates for the job moving forward?

 

Edited October 24, 2022 by Northern Eel

[Mumby Magic]

Don't think it's a biggy. Like you say coukd be family etc. He's set them up and they should progress.

[Northern Eel]

 

[Jughead]

Good appointment. Knows the area and the players there. Think they still need a core of northern players but that could stop with Kelly not there. 

[OriginalMrC]

Seems like a rolling back of ambition to be honest. They spent a lot of money last year and seem to be saying they will be going local on recruitment which will mean struggling to compete again. 

[OriginalMrC]

16 minutes ago, ShropshireBull said:

Which is the worry, you get 1000 fans when you were crud but if you keep getting battered then that dwindles . Clearly a market but I hope it isnt yet another example of not having the money to do it properly. 

How much do people think is needed to spend for a competitive League 1 team? 

Depends what you define as competitive. I'd say Skolars and Hurricanes are reasonably competitive on small budgets (less than 70k). Teams at the top are spending probably 3 times that or more. 

[Northern Eel]

6 minutes ago, OriginalMrC said:

Depends what you define as competitive. I'd say Skolars and Hurricanes are reasonably competitive on small budgets (less than 70k). Teams at the top are spending probably 3 times that or more. 

The geographical challenges are big for Cornwall. That said, it is responsible not to go chasing success with money and concentrating as much on building the club in the locality. A house built on sand does not survive in rugby league, especially when it is 350 miles away from many other clubs.

[OriginalMrC]

20 minutes ago, Northern Eel said:

The geographical challenges are big for Cornwall. That said, it is responsible not to go chasing success with money and concentrating as much on building the club in the locality. A house built on sand does not survive in rugby league, especially when it is 350 miles away from many other clubs.

Absolutely agree, they'll need to do something to be competitive though and not rely on local players. 

[OriginalMrC]

9 minutes ago, ShropshireBull said:

An actual outside chance of making the playoffs. So being able to beat Oldham effectively. 

I don't know the budgets of each club some of the likes of Oldham, Doncaster, Hunslet have been competitive on relatively modest budgets. The problem a team from Cornwall has though is they need to spend more to be competitive as they can't rely on local players. 

[DEANO]

Well we’ll we’ll. who’d have thought that you need northern players

[lucky 7]

2 hours ago, OriginalMrC said:

Seems like a rolling back of ambition to be honest. They spent a lot of money last year and seem to be saying they will be going local on recruitment which will mean struggling to compete again. 

I would suggest that there are some union players in the area that could become half decent Rugby League players at League 1 level, and progress from there.

[DEANO]

There may well be but history suggests otherwise as in Coventry west wales and skolars. Not to mention other failed experiment’s like Oxford and Gloucester. Have to say fabulous gates all the same

[Jughead]

Eric Perez seems to be less in the limelight or speaking of big plans how he did at Toronto. Is he still involved at Cornwall?

[gingerjon]

As I said when all the announcements were put in place for last season - the success will be in starting the next as recognisably the same club in the same or better shape.

Let's see how that goes.

It's normally the biggest of red flags when an expansion club without a real structure in place yet announces that it's going to prioritise locals.

[Wolford6]

Cornwall are always a strong team in the RU County Championship. They've reached 12 finals in the last 33 years and have taken thousands to Twickenham.

There's no League soccer team there. They can gather support if they are anywhere mid-table. They'll never reach Superleague but could be a good addition to the Championship.

[northamptoncougar]

For them to be competing for 4th / 5th I’d argue they’d need to spend 180k, normally that’d be around 140k but they’ll have to pay more for the same player to travel etc.

To be promoted you’re looking at around 220k I reckon.

[ChristianB]

15 hours ago, ShropshireBull said:

The first season was absolutely a success to get crowds virtually matching the union championship team.

but success now has to mean actually being in the hunt to win games versus northern clubs. It’s not as if the fan base isn’t there if they give it a go. 

Yep, it just says on the cheap. Saying local players is great but is there a plan to get a few colleges and playing each other. 

It would be a shame if crowds die off because they aren’t going to do it properly.

I can give you a cast-iron, copper-bottomed, ocean-going guarantee that things are being done properly.

There's so much quiet work being done, and all will be good. Plus, we actually have a darn preseason this time!