Thought Carney and Wells spoke the most sense I have heard in a long while re our plight and the position taken by the RFL.

Why has the administrator not been forced to sell players? That seems crazy to me, every other club in administration are forced to do it to raise funds.

When and where did Hull KR call for your crucifixion?

That was my understanding of the position.

Agreed. They asked the very same questions that the fans on here have been asking. It's also heartening to hear two individuals with no connection to the club speak so passionately and emphasise the damage to the sport caused by the RFL's lack of transparency.
My previous suggestion (perhaps on another thread) that Wood or Solly should be invited to speak to the fans on Sunday is obviously a non starter-- Solly pulled out of an interview with the Paxman of League Mr Hemmings so he's hardly likely to face us.

I certainly hope Bradford find a way through this. If it's the same company, with new owners then I think the the SL franchise should be transferred. A Newco is a more difficult proposition, but should be judged on its merits.

The franchise system and, before that, Super League have eaten away at any sense of RL solidarity (and plenty of clubs can point to real or perceived injustices), but not to the point wanting clubs to die.

I haven't said the are dishonourable and yes of course running other developments alongside is a good way of raising the finance. But the fact is nobody knows what their plans are so its that which arouses suspicion. There seems to be a flat refusal from them to put any meat on the bones of their bid either in the bids or into the public domain and RFL's refusal to entertain their bids lends to the feeling of mistrust towards them. If all is above board then get the plans out in the open so people see whats on offer. If it is reasonable then the outside pressure on the RFL will intensify to the point when they will have to back down. But whilst it seems cloak & dagger tactics are being employed then it helps to justify the RFL's position. I get the the impression ABC have gone in saying we want the lease for odsal back but they won't put forward any business plans to show what they are going to do with it to raise the revenue. It could be build a massive curry house on the pitch and shift the Bulls to VP for all the RFL know. Highly unlikely yes, but theoretically possible! Until the consortium put it in writing what their plans are then the RFL is right to hold their position. Once they do things will move on apace one way or another, so I ask again if they want to buy the club so much whats stopping them?

Could it be a case that the administrator knows that he'll now get diddly squat for them - with the salary cap, any deals would be for next season and if the Bulls go under then the players become free agents and won't cost anything. The only savings would be on what's left of this year's salary bill, a subject dealt with earlier on here, if I remember correctly.

Heard there may be radical developments later today.

Because the administrator made clear that the main interested party ABC , had insisted that their plans were based on keeping the young talent and I infer that extended to those players who would be marketable.
Also would it not need a specific RFL dispensation/ruling as the transfer deadline has passed?
The players are in an invidious situation until the RFL makes a final decision. All those out of contract can make arrangements with other clubs for 2013-- some on this forum have suggested that there are players who have signed with other clubs for next year. Apparently there are others who may have refused to contemplate moving on.
Those that are contracted for next year cannot officially negotiate with other clubs although I suspect this is as closely monitored by the RFL as the policing of the salary cap.

I think officially he said that keeping the squad together would make the overall "package" more appealing to prospective buyers. So that's worked well.

And as the RFL guaranteed the players wages until the end of the season there doesn't seem much need to reduce players wage bill.

I suspect the next step after the BG comments that there are no interested parties without conditions, will be for the RFL to withhold August payments and thus forcing you down the liquidation route.

It will be a shame though. Although not the RFLs fault, or BG's for that matter, RL is weak enough with Bradford in SL.
Losing Bradford would be a disaster in my opinion. I'm not saying your club would die, as I am sure it would be immediately resurrected under a newco, and would apply to Championship 1/2 but regardless, the professional game would immediately lose face to the outside world (and of course all you fans).

Very dissapointing.

Pure speculation but is it possible Salford could vote to retain us?

Imagine the following :

Bulls relegated for entering admin sets a trend, odd number of clubs in SL(13) , certain clubs wanting to reduce number of teams to 12, Salford rumoured to be close to administration, enter admin and i wouldnt fancy their chances of surviving

Just a thought

if they want the lease so they can use it to develope the ground commercially and use the revenue gained to fund the Bulls at super league level then they have to put this in their proposed bid. If it also generates profit above this then they should make the RFL aware of this and use the projected profits to pay off creditors by including this in their bid. That way they continue as Bradford Bulls and as such retain their Super League licence up to 2014 same as all other SL clubs.

If on the other hand they are proposing to pay next to nothing for the club by buying as a newco free of all debts (including no doubt rent to the RFL) then run the Bulls as a new team and develope the ground and retain all profits for themselves then I can't see how the RFL can give the green light to retaining a SL licence to 2014.. They at least have to put something in to get something back in the long term.

depends if the other teams think a 12 team league with increased sky money for each team and 4 free dates for a mini cup tournament between themselves included in the season ticket price is viable

Another loser would be Wire - 4 championship points and about +80 points difference....

No, it's really not feasible.

I agree that we know almost nothing about these people - not even who they are - but they can't really do what you suggest without the consent of the owners (Bfd Met). Even if the RFL ever wanted, 'for the good of the game' to sell of the lease to developers they would also have make a case to the council. ABC, as owners of the rugby club, would also be liable to pay a large amount of money (certainly more than the figure that they are reported to be willing to pay for the club) to the council for breaching the agreement which stipulates they must play 90% of home games at Odsal until after the 2019 season.

Also depends whether Sky would maintain their current level of payment with such significant changes to the comp.

Also 40-50 players (2teams x 20man) squads would no longer be employed full-time.

Wilkin & League13 may want to discuss that.

Your final paragraph is exactly the message Carney and Wells conveyed last night.

And don't forget the loss of 2 academy's supposedly producing a greater player pool for England.

They'd just increase the areas of neighbouring academies so Bradford would be divided between Hudders and Leeds. I expect Hudders are particularly keen on this.

Given your belief that the above is neither viable or Davy/McManus have levels of influence, then I am delighted you are removed from the process.

I will make this even clearer, for the hard of reading, Huddersfield are the most vociferous of all member clubs at this present time as to not wanting Bradford Bulls to be granted Super League status beyond 2012. It's no more complex than that. Their levels of influence, remains to be determined, along with St Helens'. Theory dictates one vote. In practice, influence, another.

Given the RFL's inability to offer clarity on precisely what they do require, added white noise from key chairmen, adds little to our cause.

Brian Carney and Jon Wells surmised the situation perfectly on Boots N All last night and reiterated my caveat: no consortium will provide a business plan when the scenario and landscape isn't known.

Let's see what today brings. The show ain't over...

Looks to me like the RFL will see us through to the end of the year and then let the club fold.

At that point a Championchip side could be formed with less risk and cost for investors.

I doubt Superleague will prosper as a result. The RFL have set the template going forward there could be a league of 8 clubs in the next few years!!!

Unless a solution to this problem is found then we're staring liquidation in the face.

That means no SL club anymore and if we have anything at all it'll be in the championship at some level.

The assumption that we'll have a side to follow at that level is dangerous. We'd still need a backer and a decent deal from the RFL and Council to play at Odsal. That'd mean a lot more negotiations with both. That could also come to nothing.