It could be returned and used as it's original function.

In a nutshell, bang on. It will not ever change.

Remember the story. Our first real inkling was when it all came public. The lease was already in RFL hands at that point, and had been for a bit. Remember that there were more rumours of Odsal actually becoming RFL HQ before there were rumblings about the club going under. And then suddenly it basically did.

They were trying to help. That's the best I can say about it.

So, a new deal. Woohoo. There were RFL preferred bidders. Some had money. Something, right?

I was at Wembley in 1973 for Fev V Bradford and it happened a month before I was born. If whatever this new thing is happens back at Odsal and it's a Richard Lamb or someone of that level of wealth I at least know enough not to bother. Why go through it all again?

If there is money. Fine. Set arrogance to level six and make a note to review.

When are you going to point out the 2 nd tier Aussie clubs with 5,000+ season ticket holders that attend all their games ?

He means you're a knob

So as soon as BBs 2017 is up and running somebody needs to get Bradford council , RFL and whoever owns the club round a table and come up with a plan

That's my worry about this plan. Something has been cooking since at least the 23rd when the big announcement deferred. For this RFL announcement today to drop something has been in the works. I am genuinely concerned that the continued existence of the lease will be a stipulation. I understand people want their money's worth. Sadly, there ain't no money.

For me CH1 and Horsfall stadium is the only thing that makes sense. Insistence on Odsal and CH is a poisoned chalice.

A rock and a hard place comes to mind , and then as you say , something has to give , it brings back to the fore how stupid the original 500 K loan and subsequent lease compensation deal was

NIGEL ?

Do many Bradford fans actually hope the club starts again in Championship 1?

Not withstanding the absolute bliss from certain corners of the R.L. "fraternity" you would have to bare

But would the fact the R.F.L. got a bloody nose, give you a little satisfaction for all their interference during these dark days?

It would work for me.

It does seem to be the consensus on the Bradford board at the moment. Not sure it's about giving them a bloody nose tbh. For me it's naked self interest. There's the hard material facts of the finances already mentioned. But there's also narrative, and it's everything in sport. It does not get lower than this. We were not worth the asking price, and so now there is only "were". There is no "are" or "is".

So surely, given that, the only way must be up. Right?

No. -12 points. No TUPE because there is no sale. The squad will be what remains, and what remains will be the remnants of the (very good) U-19s team and whoever else does not have a mortgage or an offer. And Leon, I suspect. It's not unreasonable to begin choosing your games to try and win at this point, and just being grateful you have a team at all. You're already strategically trying to avoid relegation. Never say never. But plan for the bloody unlikely.

I'm at the point where if we know where we are then we know what direction to set off in. That's my motivation.

Maybe this is the smack in the face the game has been avoiding. The game in its current state is unsustainable.

Let's bring in a team to look at how the game can change for the better. Maybe look at accelerating Toronto's rise, see how we can reinvigorate London...... or equally sit still and lurch from problem to problem until the game folds

That is just a viscious & nasty comment to make about a fellow RL Club ....

How exactly would you feel if it were your club suffering ?

I agree, it's not the time to be saying stuff like this but to be fair Wakefield have been teetering on the edge for years but always manage to find someone to save them(until the next time).

Without wishing to speak for Vastman I don't think he's having a go at any club, just at an apologist who blames everyone and anyone for the failures of each successive incarnation of Bradford except the real culprits.....

Smokey

Who are the real culprits? We've heard so many theories. Whilst you're not speaking for others we might as well hear yours.

This could turn out to be a 3 way deal on the QT.

A buyer [i'allegedly'[/i wants the land for a Biomass Plant, but not a RL Club.

Another buyer [i'allegedly'[/i wants the RL Club, but only if liquidated & bought for peanuts. Possibly could entail not playing at Odsal.

The RFL [imay or may not[/i want rid of the lease & cash back in the coffers, especially as the lease is the cause, at least in part, of the conflict of interests the RFL have created with Bradford Bulls. The lease also appears to have been a major stumbling block in negotiations.

So there [i'possibly'[/i we could have the 3 parties who [i'may or may not'[/i have already thrashed this out behind the scenes, therefore * & if this is the case* liquidation could have been the best or only option.

Just a possible theory to muse over.

He is a fan of wakefield. His club have been suffering for decades. It wont be long until they are put out of their misery too. No fans, worst ground in SL and perennial challengers for the wooden spoon. You can understand why he is constantly moody

Regards

King James

I wouldn't have said it like that but I don't think he's having a go at the club. I'm sure he will clarify.

Personally, as a Wakefield supporter I feel for the Bradford fans.
I personally think the game would be better with a successful Bradford club, and by that I mean big attendances and no debts, not necessarily winning cups, though they tend to go hand in hand. I don't buy in to the conspiracy theory that the RFL or anyone else is out to get Bradford and I think until recently Wakefield and Bradford have had a pretty good relationship.

As for Wakefield we are suffering and have been for a while as is well documented. We are still at the low end of sustainability but what our current board have done is taken a poorly managed club with no beneficiary and made some hard decisions to make it sustainable. They had to let popular people go. They had to upset some fans with decisions on merchandise, and ticket prices, name of the club and even threaten to move away from the ground.
But at the end of the day, they put making the club sustainable over getting some success on the field. Now we are starting slowly to see some success on the field too.

We are hardly a club to use as a role model over the past 2 decades but right now, we are inching towards something better. I hope Bradford get someone in who can have the same philosophy. It will benefit the club, assuming there is a new club, in the long run.

Profligacy. It's always profligacy. Simple people need simple answers. Profligacy is a very simple answer that has the added bonus of justifying their schadenfreude and recasting the years of underinvestment and struggle at their club as a noble endeavour. If it's not profligacy then the real reasons might be deeper and more structural and they might require change that might not be solely in the interests of their fiefdom which is obviously unacceptable

The solution to profligacy is always 'cutting cloth accordingly' or 'take a step back and rebuild at a lower level' and when those vague soundbites inevitably fail to work you eventually 'start again from scratch'

In a little over 2 years the last owner managed to go from gaining the club essentially debt free to owing over £1 million! Fantastic business model there eh?

How about this quote from The RFL: [i"It (liquidation) is not an entirely surprising development given the scale of debt incurred by the previous management of the club and the debilitating level of financial commitment already entered into for 2017."[/i I think that might give you who a clue as to the real culprits.........

Indeed so. Everyone wants a morality tale in which they somehow knew all along.

Hence "IESTYN HARRIS!" all over FB at the moment.



Aye. Smart thing to do. Buy a shed load of it, cut it down and toss the scrap rather than just measure the bugger. It's what sound planning looks like.

Aye. Sounds like you've cracked it. Amazing insight with the "spent more than you have" analysis there. Thanks.

Odd that, as you say, it's never come up before and people are studiously avoiding blaming that situation or the people responsible for it.

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/38508204

www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-league/38508204

I suggest you try reading Smokey's posts........

I have. I find nothing wrong with them, at least within the normal constraints of having being written by Smokey.



I suggest you acquaint yourself with a world of complexity. It exists whether you can grasp multivariate causes or not.