Whilst I am still in hope of getting into the Middle Eights (especially with the financial benefits that will come with it) I really would like to know what are the plans for the Club going forward.

If we qualify realistically we will finish in the bottom two but will have some good days out. If we don't qualify we will finish in the top two of the has-beens.

So is this it for us now? Is our BOD saying we will have to put up with this again or is there more to hope for? We have achieved stability in performance...what are the clubs finances like? The last set of accounts were a mess and are way out of date. A lot of our shares are owned by people not active in the club Abbott, Posner, Sweeny, Pearson, so what's going on here. At one stage, the board used to get up and speak to us, didn't Posner and Steele do slideshows? I've said it before and will say it again the "owners" of a club like ours are only the custodians for the future and fans should not be fed rubbish.

I just want them to tell me the truth and not string me along with another small change in players and a "hope" for better. I appreciate that change takes money, but it also takes controlled ambition and serious intent.

It may be a bit early to ask this, and I hope this is not seen as a rant, but surely they know what their plans are for next few years or is it all being made up as we go along?

Not a rant i was thinking along these lines on way home yesterday.One Leigh poster said we were taking not going fulltime this year,at time i thought that was harsh,but in hindsight and watching yesterdays outclassing he was probably correct.The 800k funding for our top four is intended to provide 4 fulltime competitive teams that can match the s/l bottom 4.

We are building the infrastructure first and investing for the future stability of the club. Before we can realistically be a Super League team we need the infrastructure in place. You build a club from the bottom and we are making progress off the field. I agree that we do need to go fulltime but not at the expense of the financial stability of the club. We have gone down that route before trying to overspend on players and trying to win things. It ended in near bankruptcy.
Personally feel we are going down the right route of developing young players complimented with experienced players.
Leigh are in front of us already fulltime, better following due to winning matches, better quality signings due to having a benefactor.

This is what's being asked. Where or what has improved infrastructure wise then ?. We have a reserve team that hardly plays ( not the clubs fault). We loan players out en mass to get game time. We have a big screen which is pretty poorly used. We now have a radio commentary on away games. ( I appreciate I get to listed but it's always a last choice due to the quality of the commentary, I used radio Manchester yesterday, the guy doesn't tell you what going on ). We have faxtvpro which isn't pro. If there is loads going on, I would love to know about it. In my opinion we have stayed exactly where we were last year, on and off the pitch. On the pitch that's not a bad thing considering others have improved.

How did that work out for Sheffield?

Anyone know where to find about 25 full time players better than the best part time players in this league?

Whilst we are not hearing much I can see that we are running a reserve team which others are not, surely a sign we are building on solid foundations and not sand. As was said, the board are custodians of the club, well I'm not seeing any winding up orders(Fev/Bulls), there are young players coming through, sadly being poached by SL clubs, which to be fair is always going to happen unless we are up there at the top of SL.
From all this, whilst there are some frustrations, we should have already easily qualified for the Middle 8s, I do think we are moving in the right direction though maybe not as quickly as some would like. Also, full time- take a look at the Seagulls, it is not as easy as just doing it, a lot needs to be put in place first.

The club lives hand to mouth and we get by with a few people who are willing to put in hard work and their own time whilst also dipping in to their own pockets. To build the club in to one capable of challenging for SL is going to take a lot of time whilst that is the case. No team in this league will get promoted without someone willing to put millions of their own money in to the club whilst not getting a penny back IMO. Cant be that hard to find someone willing to do that can it?

Whilst yesterday was very frustrating and probably showed we are quite a bit off where we want the club to be, its still not the end of the world. The club is making progress and any progress when money must be so tight has to be applauded.

On the mention of reserve sides I thought up an idea that might just encourage more teams to run them although the big teams would never go for it. How about having a quota on the number of juniors that each team can sign up and those that do not run teams only have the minimum. This should stop the likes of Wigan, Leeds and Hudds hoovering up all the young players in the hope that they make it and actually give someone else a chance of finding some good players. The current system is e and the quicker it is changed the better because its a joke that a team like ours can break its back to put a team on the field and the SL teams are under no obligation to do the same thing.

Exactly Norman.

Going fulltime guarentees nothing i agree,but we won't get in super league as a part-time team that is guarenteed.

I still think we have improved off the field. Agree room for improvement. We are third in a tough competitive league. We come against the best side in comp. We had a bad day and they had a good day. We beat Bradford away at Odsal. Its not all doom and gloom is it

. Some of the signings could have been better is my only criticism. Overall happy with progress we are making. Still think we have a top coach in RM who will take us in right direction.

Just for clarity if the Club intend to stay Part time as the BOD decide we can't afford full time, or its to big a risk then that is a Stratergy which will keep us on the edge of middle eights each year. What I want is an open and honest explanation of the plans.

I would also like to know how solid the financial foundations are, by my calculation we are dependent upon past and present directors not calling in debt, but I can't be sure of that as no one tell us anything.

As a side point our last published accounts at 30-12-14 showed negative shareholder funds of £365k, with £20k in the bank. Has that improved at 30-12-15....to improve our foundations!!

only an assumption and we'll probably never know but this years funding of 800k compared to the usual 150k was massive and doesn't seem to have filtered into the team.I would suspect a lot of it was used to write off historic debt.

Wont tell us anything as the 800k funding didn't start until feb 16.

Ben Johnsone had a good solid game today in the circumstances, good speed, line breaker, build your team round the likes of him and you wont go far wrong imo

First try was worth the admission alone...nearly

Where can any championship club go? With the SL tail wagging the dog they will look after themselves for sure and systems will be put in place that look to offer promotion but scratch beneath the surface and they don't.

Most of the current problems hark back to licencing and the sham that that was - as our last application showed!

Licencing saw the SL clubs get nigh on ten years of funding at £1.8 Million a year whereas the championship clubs were left to rot with no plan or strategy for their development and £30K a year for ten years. Now these championship clubs are expected to step up and compete with around £18 million of funding on £300K over the ten years. Quite frankly if a SL club does get relegated it will deserve it but God help the championship club being promoted.

It's funny, but you didn't hear any Bulls, or other SL club fans, fighting the corner of the championship clubs when they got their free money during licencing. Now Bulls are with us plebs and Leeds and Huddesfield are having to lower themselves to our level it becomes a problem. The past ten years ensure Leeds and Huddersfield won't have anything to worry about.

We are where we are cos we ended up outside SL at the wrong time. And for mine, the BOD deserve some credit - we have the best part time side in the competition, a fine coach and opportunities for juniors and fringe players that even SL cubs don't offer. The club is growing in my opinion and feels like it is coming alive.

We are miles off super league, as are the rest of the championship, but how would any club fare if promoted? The systems and state of the game over the last ten years have pretty much dictated the future for championship clubs. Halifax are trying their best and making good progress but will they get any recognition and plaudits? Doubt it. Just patronising platitudes and our best young assets stripped

Absolutely spot on, as are the rest of the comments on this thread. I couldn't agree more.

Without wishing to simplify things, it could really be much as you say. Our 'best team in the comp.' struggled for much of this season's game at yours, and got an absolute tatering there in the 8's last season. Hopefully, your BOD is working to build solid foundations, so you can progress from there. We are fortunate enough to have a generous benefactor, who is a passionate Leigh fan, but if he wasn't there...................................?

Would be nice to know what's happened to Mr Abbott though......

As an aside. Imagine the commercial department trying to sell sponsorship deals:...

Sponsor "So, does the championship have a tv deal?"

Club "yes, with sky sports, one of europe's premium sports channels"

Sponsor "and how often are you on?"

Club "once guaranteed if the summer bash stays in the calendar"

Sponsor "and if the summer bash is no more?"

Club "we won't be on tv but we will have a tv deal on sky sports"

Sponsor "any other chances to be on to?"

Club "if we make the middle 8s but not if two super league teams are playing at the same time. Or if the bowls is on"

Sponsor "see ya"

Not easy eh? Big Nige continues to do a job on us!

As has been mentioned and as I have talked about with friends, I too think Marshall's signings this season have been average at best. However we are 3rd in the championship with 2 games to go and although we would have liked to be in that position for certain if we had been offered it before the season we would have taken it especially when some fans of other teams were tipping us to be a 1 season wonder and finish 7th or below. He is still pretty young in the head coach role and he is smart enough to learn from this season.

At some point we would have to go full time but as Bradford are finding out and Sheffield most certainly found out, there simply is not enough quality full time players out there to even think about competing for SL. I actually fear for us if we make the top 4 but can see why it is a must we do. For me though there will be some massive scores in the 8's this time as the gulf in class is even bigger than last year.

It would be nice to attract a potential sponsor that would ask some of those questions but lets be realistic.

Top post Freddie.

I can only assume the poster of this topic is perhaps not as old as some of us others, Whilst I do feel some frustration we are not what we could be, nor what we once were, I would like to defend the club 100%
I can now watch a team with exciting players playing an exciting brand of rugby, on the whole. I can also keep up to date with news on FB, I can watch highlights, sometimes even the full game, I can still read the Worrier if all else fails, I can. Listen on audioboom, I can turn up to fans evenings, I can still get involved with the trust if I have the inclination, I can talk crud with the rest of you on here, we have a meaningful comp that we have no divine right to be winning because of what we once were, we have excellent local sides to engage with, and a community that has a history of producing players and support with a fair wind.
I've seen some dark days, false dawns, hope smashed. These are good times, people have access to fax like never before.
We have a great coaching prospect, and a skipper in Muzza who gives the cause everything he has and leads by example. We have a more professional back room than I can remember in a long time, work continues in the community.
For me as a fan I see realists involved at the club, people who care, people who won't gamble with the existence of the club.
I said last year don't write this group of players off, on their day they could turn a SL side over, and crikey, if we get these last two games right, we could have the Rhinos down the Shay, how good would that be, my dream is not to see us in SL, it's to see the Shay full of people watching Fax and enjoying it.
As always, with a fair wind and plenty of effort and optimism, who knows. Sure it's probably going to take a SL club or two to falter for the trap door to be engaged, that's not impossible, I'd be sad to see us having daft money thrown at just getting into SL, a lot of bridges needing rebuilding over the last 10 years or so, Fax's card was well and truly marked by many people who'd had their fingers burnt.
The club is going forward at a pace I support, until we sign or find those rough diamonds who become world stars, or one of us wins the Lottery, we're doing absolutely the right things, take Sheffield, Bradford, Featherstone, I wouldn't swap with any of them, nor would I want to go through our final SL season again. I would say to people, don't accept free tickets, pay in, buy stuff from the club shop, bring a mate, speak well of the club, cheer the lads, enjoy it and if we have done all that, as I said, until we find those starlets, or can snap up the fieldens, burgess's, widdop as kids and keep em, that's as much as we can do, Questioning ambitions of people in the club isn't valid at this point, they're realistic, I applaud them.
As for Tony Abbott, he has a had a pretty busy year, not quite four weddings and a funeral, but I don't think he's had stacks of time and cash that could have been free'd up for Fax. He gave us something though, and if he is more prominent again in the future, time will tell.
Two big home games, it's all to play for, if we can have a good run in, then who knows what year 3 will bring for Richard Marshall and Fax. I'm glad we have what we have. I've seen a dam sight worse