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Oh well, we'll just have to move on, again. These things happen in life, we only have ourselves to blame.
The PR is not good for the club, regardless of whether people are doing their best behind the scenes or not.
We're not ready for Super League, this is pretty clear, but then again i dont think a lot of the SL Clubs are doing anything other than treading water, so we haven't really pushed on as we could have.
I cant help but feel that Widnes taking a step back have really stolen a march on the competition, I applaud them for this, our decision to go down the route we have and subsequent problems that have developed, unfortunately lay at our door and our door alone. Focusing on younger players and being realistic about our ambitions are long over due, signing people at the end of their careers was a bad move, but its done now. The best thing we can do now is win this dam comp and start to rebuild the infrastructure and squad from a firm base with youth, sustainability and greatly improved PR the focus for our growth. We need to become a friendly, family and community club asap..
Theres plenty of talent in this town, thats the only fact we need to remember going forward.

If Widnes get a franchise next time around in my opinion it will be as big a disgrace as Celtic last time. Out of all the Championship clubs there is only one category where they are the clear leaders; attendances and even then they operate at less than 40% capacity of the ground.

Their finances are one of the worst in the league, their turnover massive but their profit small. They have gone bust in the last three years and the only reason they exist is due to a money man.
They are sandwiched in-between two of the top teams in SL at the moment.
Their only achievement was the NL Cup Final and they were carried by the loan players they had.
Their supposed strong youth system is producing players that are getting beat almost every week in the Championship. Second rate Saints and Wigan players are keeping the majority of them out of the squad. If they did get into SL I am sure they would buy a team but how would that be any different to Celtic or Catalans?

I know we also suffer from all these issues but nobody is calling us dead certs for a franchise!

Couldn't agree more with every single bloody point you've made... Sometimes reading the crap spouted on this site by some of our own so-called "Supporters" could drive me nuts.

Back your team fellas. Don't say your backing the team and do your best to find fault with every single thing you can.

Oh and Sack Matt Calland



Wouldn't be a thread unless someone came up with it...

Your a waste of oxygen.

A poor way to treat Stanley, I hope he wins the case

Depends on what the facts are, unless you know more which I doubt

Please, if i may take that post apart and show you up for the idiot you are clearly trying to be.

Where do we start, hmmm.

Lets compare the two set ups shall we.

Stadiums. The shay: Nice new stand, One crappy stand, 2 average end stands.
The Stobart Stadium: All seater Stadium, used for internationals, Semi finals, And will be hosting SL next season.
Wow, you got us there.

Crowds: do i need bother, we are having a terrible season yet our crowds have not yet plummeted to the depths you are peaking at. Well done.

Finances, Fax: Reputed to be struggling and scraping by on poor crowds, No cup runs and just basic income. Nooooooo

Widnes: Multi millionaire owner, Best crowds in the division with probably the biggest shirt sponsor in the division. 2 Final appearances and decent showings in the C Cup. Running a successful merchandise shop in the town . Approaching if not exceeding £1M turnover.

Damn got us again.

Youth. Fax: gotta admit when Stanley made his breakthrough for you i thought Wow, he's a big kid he will make an impact when he's not much older. Unlucky for you he found out you didn't run a proper academy set up and had no one his age to play with at the club. Its only right he leaves for pastures new.

Widnes: I admit we are struggling here, Only running teams in every age group and ranking above most SL clubs at all levels including being the current leaders of the 18's league i can see how we fail to impress you.

On the pitch, Fax: Wow, your great. All that silverware you have won over the last 3 years is enough to make anyone jealous. I mean there was the thingy win, oh and that famous night somewhere... And not forgetting the magic day at the nines!. Wow how can we compare.

Widnes: I have to admit here we are not worthy, only 2 cup finals appearances with one victory to our name. We should be ashamed, of the 3 finals we could have appeared in ( not including the CC final ) we have only managed to get to two of them. We are junk.

Then lets look at the general way our clubs are run. Widnes are a benchmark club that works exceptionally hard in the community. We run academies at all levels and all our players are taught about what to expect from life outside of Rugby league. We have a steady board and backroom staff with a chief exec and a rich chairman who loves us. We play by the rules and have not been expelled from any competitions this year, yes sir, not kicked out at all.

Fax: Lets see, we have players launching claims against the club, competition expulsions, no youth set up and a real lack of success on the park. Honestly?

I mean it can get tiresome defending Widnes on here for, in essence, doing everything the RFL expects clubs to do. We are bound to be running a small profit margin if any in this division, we're running how many full teams compared to everyone else in this division? if Fax were running so many academy teams it would destroy you with your current crowds. Im sure people post this crap without engaging their brains.

Name me one other club that has a national TV program Run by them for them? We have Boot's N Widnes every Wednesday on sky sport's.

So lets try this from another point, someone care to point me to a Current Championship club that can compete with what Widnes offer and are doing right now? Anyone?

Any of the six teams above them in the table? Admiittedly, it is a minor area of the sport - League Tables. Ah, remember those?

Thats the key issue at Widnes... There crap. Really really crap..

Buggering up the bonus point penalty could come back and bite you right in the ass and if you miss the playoffs altogether do you really think the RFL will give you another shot at Superleague?

I would gladly return to the days of P&R. The league was far more exciting and the sport was richer for it. But you can only aim for the targets the RFL set out for you, and all this Widnes bashing for doing just that is Daft.

If Widnes And Warrington were competing head to head on current standards i wouldnt sit here claiming we were stronger as a club. thats just daft, but so is the post i quoted.

I supported P&R when we went up, I supported it when we came down. And i hope for its return.

Fair enough. But do you not think you are giving the RFL all the ammunition they require to shoot down your application finishing so low? If you miss the playoffs I fear you have no chance at all...

We are not finishing all that low, We have had a bad season. Yet we have still reached a cup final and we are not out of the playoff race yet, were missing a scrum half and 2 and then we should be competing for honours.

Leigh are competing for SL ( if they get to the playoff final ) and yet last year they finished third bottom. The RFL are more interested in strong clubs and not strong teams, We can get a new squad in one season, any club that went up would have to.

But i say again i wish for a return to P&R. But as a club we have to aim for the targets set to us by the RFL, just like fax do.

Please read my actual post and dont just respond on emotion. I never said Halifax were in a better place. I was simply calling into question why people seem to think that Widnes have a god given right to get a franchise in the next RFL merry-go-round.

We dont have a god given right, We have a right as the strongest club outside of SL given the things the RFL are looking for. Nobody has a god given right.

You said it would be a Disgrace should Widnes get a franchise, and claimed that we are not ahead of other championship clubs in any area other than Crowds. Which is dead wrong, Widnes should get a Franchise seeing as they are the strongest, Best supported, Most financially sound club playing in some of the best facilities while running a Full and very successful youth set up. Why would it be a Disgrace for us to get a franchise and how on earth would it compare to the Joke that was the south Wales crusaders?

Widnes Didnt make the rules, If we did im sure we would be trying to win the playoffs to gain promotion into SL. Thats what i would want.

Tony,

Looking at the run ins I actually quite fancy Batley and Toulouse to push on and maybe pass you..

Toulouse have a nasty run-in of Barrow, Widnes, Leigh, Fax. There game with you is HUGE and I wouldn't bet against them turning you over again....

You have Toulouse, Sheff, Barrow, Keighley. You'll stuff Keighley but the other 3 are definitely loseable for the current Widnes form...

Batley have Keighley, Fev, Us, Haven. You'd fancy Batley to win at least 2 of those...

The bonus point given up tonight could end up being a terrible terrible decision by someone... Why wasn't the two-pointer called for??

It just shows what a farce franchising is. I don't feel any malice towards Widnes if given a nod but what a complete farce if they are. A team that has only won a minor trophy in the past 2 years and will probably finish outside the play offs this year given the nod.

The fact that they can't even compete in this league is proof they would have to buy 15-20 players for SL which is not viable.. But who are we to argue..

Looking at the run in i dont fancy our chances either, For me the club should look to blood some of out 18's now and get them some first team experience. Craven had another very good game at fullback for instance and if Tom Kelly can cut out the daft penalties he is a keeper.

Cassidy Called for the two pointer but Smith ignored him and went for the 4, a bloody stupid error from a very experienced player. Its something of the story of our season.

But we can beat anyone on our day, as can most teams in this division. So i wont give up yet.

The RFL are not looking for another team in the north of England mate, as much as I would like to believe it.

I do believe it would be a disgrace, but not on Widnes's part. As you say, you have done a lot right off the field. In my opinion, it would be a disgrace if a team that has not won the league or even finished in the top three for the last two years be given a franchise. The RFL would be committing the disgraceful act, not Widnes. Halifax are not going to get a franchise, we all know that. However Widnes, IMO, on the pitch are in a much worse position than last time around and I think we both agree that its all that should matter.

BTW, if you want to talk about successful youth teams who beat Widnes two years in a row in the U-21s final?

If Craven was the tiny little lad who looked about 12 I completely agree with you. I thought he was outstanding tonight. Am I right in thinking it was him that took big Frank down in front of the posts? If so he kept you in it at times tonight.

Bad bad mistake by a normally quality player then especially if Cassidy called for the two... Could literally make or break the season at the end its going to be that tight..

No.

But lets get realistic.

Franchising has led to reduced crowds for practically all clubs. Not just for clubs who have franchises but even for Widnes.

Weekend before last Mr Lewis was crowing about record NON RELAGATION crowds for that particular weekend. Infact the highest crowds since Superleague was introduced. For the same fixtures before franchising those same fixtures where 20% down.

Last weekend we had lowest NON RELAGATION crowds EVER. Mr Lewis never mentioned that. Never mind them being the lowest Superleague crowds since it was introduced.

How does British Lawn Tennis manage without him ?

This is the guy who introduced Magic Weekend ignoring the ruinous costs and its' failure.

He is paid £209 000 a year.

Not realy. Dont forget its hard to make your bigger clubs successful since the cap was reduced, thats why this season has been so close. So with Widnes Running Multiple Full squads they are having to make their now smaller salary cap stretch further than a team Like Batley does since Batley only run a 1st team.

And i say again, any club going up into SL would need 15-20 players, so none of us are viable if thats the yard stick.

I agree, I posted the Widnes attendances from our promotion season on the TIW forums a few weeks back, our crowds have plummeted. Our home game against Leigh pulled in over 6.5K if i remember rightly, No promotions, just fans paying to watch exciting Rugby. There were nearly 5K on for the return match at Leigh. And we only had one crowd of less than 3K that season.

The current state of this league is a joke on anything other than the pitch.

Maverick: Yes craven was the lad playing fullback, Can kick, has good support play, hes fast and has a safe pair of hands. If he fills out a bit he will be a quality player for years to come. And smith made a Howler of a decision tonight. Could cost us dearly.

I want the Ch and Ch1 re- merging. These two small y leagues are killing our clubs. When we had one large division we had larger crowds, More local rivalries and more games. Everything we need outside of SL.

You are right Mr Clever Clogs, but it does make the result tonight that bit sweeter, yet another double over the darlings of Sky. Nice.
Enjoy SL when you go there, without your money man you are just like the rest of us matey really. Struggling on.

If Widnes Go to SL i will spend any spare weekends Following Oldham in the championship ( thats who won the process of elimination, Leigh went first :p )

Tonight was a good result for you, and you deserved the win. No arguments from me. Im not boasting, i just dont understand where this Hate of Widnes comes from. We didnt make the rules, but we have to try abide by them and hit the targets the RFL set out for us. However wrong they may be.