The IMG Gradings Thread - Post all your IMG Gradings related questions or comments here

[Derwent Parker]

25 minutes ago, Chrispmartha said:

Well no, technically Wakefield are the 12th best team if you are using on field metric. We don’t yet know what position London will be in the SuperLeague table

 

in proper sport, team 13 replaces team 12 - not in this obnoxious protectionism sport

[Hopie]

1 hour ago, Chrispmartha said:

A grade clubs giving  money to B clubs? And in turn that could turn an A club into a B?

You don’t incentivise clubs to becoming an A club by giving B clubs more cash

 

If they dropped from A to B they would get more money to help them get back up.

If A clubs don't fall back with reduced funding they will have proved themselves worthy of the A grade. 

Everybody wins, this is about getting an increased number of sustainable clubs right?

[Les Tonks Sidestep]

14 minutes ago, Chrispmartha said:

Wonder why that is then, whats changed ?

Someone's given them a barrowful of money because it meant they then could make a lorry full of money. If that hadn't happened nothing would have changed IMG or not 

Edited October 27, 2023 by Les Tonks Sidestep

[Chrispmartha]

Just now, Derwent Parker said:

in proper sport, team 13 replaces team 12 - not in this obnoxious protectionism sport

It replaces them but doesnt mean they are the 12th best team in SL.

Sounds like you don’t like RL?

[Chrispmartha]

1 minute ago, Hopie said:

If they dropped from A to B they would get more money to help them get back up.

If A clubs don't fall back with reduced funding they will have proved themselves worthy of the A grade. 

Everybody wins, this is about getting an increased number of sustainable clubs right?

No, not rewarding your top clubs is ridiculous, it’s moot anyway because the SL clubs quite rightly all get the same

[Rambo]

2 hours ago, Chrispmartha said:

 

Weve had minimum standards (in fact we still do) they didn’t work and you would have the same people that are moaning now moaning when teams got kicked out or didn’t get promoted because of minimum standards.

They would have if they had been enforced properly. Chucking out Trinity and Cas for not updating their grounds would have done the trick IMO.

Edited October 27, 2023 by Rambo
Spelling

[Chrispmartha]

4 minutes ago, Rambo said:

They would have if they had been enforced properly. Chucking out Trinity and Cas for not updating their grounds would have done the trick IMO.

So you don’t think on field is all that matters?

[Hopie]

8 minutes ago, Chrispmartha said:

No, not rewarding your top clubs is ridiculous, it’s moot anyway because the SL clubs quite rightly all get the same

Are the top clubs the one with the best grades or the ones at the top of the table?

Those who win trophies get prize money, they should find it easier to attract fans and sponsors, etc etc, they get rewarded lots. All I'm saying is they shouldn't get more central funding than a club that needs it more, it's for the good of the game as a whole.

[Chrispmartha]

1 minute ago, Hopie said:

Are the top clubs the one with the best grades or the ones at the top of the table?

Those who win trophies get prize money, they should find it easier to attract fans and sponsors, etc etc, they get rewarded lots. All I'm saying is they shouldn't get more central funding than a club that needs it more, it's for the good of the game as a whole.

The top clubs are the ones that sky pay to broadcast.

I doubt theres a sport in the world that gives the clubs in the lower leagues more than the ones in the top league.

it’s just tail wagging dog and theres a reason other sports don’t do it.

[Jill Halfpenny fan]

56 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

On some elements, why?

Interested, that's all.

[Rambo]

36 minutes ago, Chrispmartha said:

So you don’t think on field is all that matters?

On field is all that matters to me. I couldn’t care less what the stadium facilities are like at any given club.

The box ticking exercises in sport is just how things have gone.

Will the IMG tinkering really make me enjoy the game better than when I first started watching in the 1980’s?? I very much doubt it.

 

Edited October 27, 2023 by Rambo
Spelling

[Stuff Smith]

4 hours ago, The Blues Ox said:

I think there would have been more of an outcry if Fev had gone up this season and most people would accept them as been the dominant team in the Championship for well over a decade and a pretty forward thinking club yet if they had gone up they would still face the same consequences as London in getting relegated after the 2024 season which again just sounds like madness.

 

4 hours ago, Chrispmartha said:

Exactly, the only club from the Championship this year that had a chance staying up in 2025 was Toulouse.

To me, this is something significant that's getting glossed over.

Promotion this year wasn't just pointless (and there's a chance that'll be literal) for the eternal basket-case that is David Hughes' London Broncos. 

Edited October 27, 2023 by Stuff Smith
Change of tense!

[binosh]

3 hours ago, Chrispmartha said:

Again your looking short term, but if you do want to look at it short term we have a club in the elite league next year who are not run well enough to be there, that’s what its fixing

That particular club was up until recently being touted as a “must” include in the elite league in the name of expansion and TV income so which is it?

[Tommygilf]

2 minutes ago, binosh said:

That particular club was up until recently being touted as a “must” include in the elite league in the name of expansion and TV income so which is it?

No they weren't.

London is a strategic area for the sport.

London Broncos aren't necessarily the vehicle through which that strategy will be achieved.

[Chrispmartha]

3 minutes ago, binosh said:

That particular club was up until recently being touted as a “must” include in the elite league in the name of expansion and TV income so which is it?

By who? 

[binosh]

1 minute ago, Chrispmartha said:

By who? 

By many posters on here, also IMG named them earlier in the season as an important team in future plans. 
 

And don’t play dumb suddenly, M62 corridor and London expansion is mentioned on every other thread 

[binosh]

5 minutes ago, Tommygilf said:

No they weren't.

London is a strategic area for the sport.

London Broncos aren't necessarily the vehicle through which that strategy will be achieved.

Who is then London Skolars?

[gittinsfan]

I'm up to page 51 so far and not seen this mentioned.Are gradings taken into account when deciding promotion/relegation between the lower leagues.

And if not why not?

[Guest]

4 minutes ago, binosh said:

Who is then London Skolars?

Another imaginary club that under the new rules knows that if it can get £20m - £30m investment and get 7,500 crowds in league one and the champ it might get into SL if the goalposts aren't moved again.

Should be easy under the new rules now the "pathway" is defined.

Apparently.

[Guest]

1 minute ago, gittinsfan said:

I'm up to page 51 so far and not seen this mentioned.Are gradings taken into account when deciding promotion/relegation between the lower leagues.

And if not why not?

Because SL incumbents don't care - so they didn't bother with it.

It would interesting to know if and why a grade C club should be allowed in the champ at the expense of a grade B club.

Edited October 27, 2023 by Leonard

[binosh]

Just now, gittinsfan said:

I'm up to page 51 so far and not seen this mentioned.Are gradings taken into account when deciding promotion/relegation between the lower leagues.

And if not why not?

They haven’t decided the format yet and still not sure how many teams will make the start line 

[Tommygilf]

5 minutes ago, binosh said:

Who is then London Skolars?

Evidently not alone no. 

London Broncos aren't RL in London, just as Catalans aren't RL in France. The sport has to be bigger than that. 

[Tommygilf]

1 minute ago, gittinsfan said:

I'm up to page 51 so far and not seen this mentioned.Are gradings taken into account when deciding promotion/relegation between the lower leagues.

And if not why not?

No, on the basis that the difference between lower Bs and Cs is significantly smaller bridge to gap. 

The aim is to have a championship full of strong B Grade clubs however going forwards.

[Agbrigg]

1 hour ago, Chrispmartha said:

Wonder why that is then, whats changed ?

It's nothing to do with IMG, I can tell you that. If Wakefield Council had done their job correctly Wakey would have had a new ground years ago. Once the Council Leader Peter Box left, that was the change. They didn't get the stadium they were promised but at least some funds to make significant improvement to Belle Vue.

Also they now a have a very wealthy owner and further improvements will come as a result. 

[binosh]

1 minute ago, Tommygilf said:

Evidently not alone no. 

London Broncos aren't RL in London, just as Catalans aren't RL in France. The sport has to be bigger than that.

IMG are quoted in this article as saying no new club will be formed in London and mistake need to be learned from. It can only be Broncos or Skolars.

 

https://amp.theguardian.com/sport/2022/dec/15/london-img-transform-rugby-league