Not liking is not the same as not respecting. I doubt many players 'liked' Alex Ferguson.

I think if you looked at the Broncos Head Coach, regardless of who it is, you'd tend to see him supported by a relatively small backroom staff of people.

In general over the past decade the sports science mob have been pretty much all home grown without any Rugby League background outside our club and have at best a bit of amateur level playing experience in Rugby League.

The assistants have been in the main players who have had very limited top-flight experience and unlikely to lead to ones people would be aspiring too; when this was also the case with the Head Coach then we have tended to not really have the level of leadership required to command respect and discipline; especially when they were daft enough to try and share power with a leadership group.

By comparison if you look at Wigan they have a twenty strong mob of Doctors, Professors and a host of other roles from Psychologists to Nutritionalists with the highly respected Mark Bitcon seeming to run the show. If Wane was to go, the new guy walking into the role gets the likes of Paul Deacon, Iestyn Harris, Kris Radlinski and Steve Hampson as well as all the theorists and practitioners.

I'm really pleased to see that we have employed the very highly regarded Joe Grima who is in my opinion the first Assistant we've had since the days of King Billy Peden who would be externally known and who would excite players by the thought that he can help them develop their career.

I certainly do not think everything is going great with the club at all times and hopefully not just fobbed off with a few weasel words and nor do I see myself as the voice of the club or any other nonsense. I would however say I am well placed to ask a few questions because the guys involved know I genuinely care about the club rather than asking a question just to name them on the internet or throw in a quote etc.

I think all supporters would feel it very relevant to know that David Hughes lost enthusiasm with the imports who badly let him down - most noteably v Wigan and Warrington - and paid them off but is now genuine about rebuilding the club. I thought he was just marking time on the cheap but that isn't the case he assures me and I feel his enthusiasm is beginning to get back to its old levels, after all there was a time he was barely seen towards the end of last season and not his usual chirpy self. He wants to win though that is for sure and he is not despondent. I don't think TK is a definite long-term option just yet but I feel his interest is growing and if more people come back then that will all help.

Cheers
Rammo

I'd give some credence to the views of Mark Bryant.

The rest don't deserve their opinions to be taken into account.

He's not the only one.

Watching a team actually putting effort in works wonders.

Having seen us play Bradford and Catalans i think you are in with a shout of staying up.
We were awful against the Bulls and still could have won and Catalans were the most gutless 17 RL players i have ever seen grace a pitch.
OK maybe with some harsh words the Catalans will change around, they have the "pedigree" and home advantage over some of the smaller clubs.
Will the Bulls pick up many more points? i dont know.
Will the Bulls make it through the season?
Who else is in the mix, i guess us! do i think we will be safe? Never.
We have some very good creative players In Sammut, Godinet and Mcshane, perhaps more than in previous years and we have Siejks fresh over from Oz so maybe he will be a plus too?
The forwards are missing a little from last season, Amor and Poore were big lumps to lose.
I have us down for 13 possible wins, out of those we've played two and won one and lost one, Saturday will be the third then tough games against Saints, Hull KR and leeds before the visit to BV or our nearest and dearest neighbours Castleford (incedently the fourth of my targeted games).
If by then we are on 6 points i would be fairly happy, depending on how yourselves, Bradford and the Dragons have gone on.
Us being perenial favourites for the chop is nothing new and call me old fashioned but i think P and R is the right approach to tak,e by the RFL, even if...i won't say it!! But you know what i mean.
At least this season it comes down to 17 v 17 on grass (with some bent refereeing thrown in no doubt) rather than geography, stadia and licensing.
lets hope all conserned make their respective supporters proud and make it to the finishing post without the vets screen being pulled accross.

I think that this game has come a little too soon for us. We are getting 100% from the players and every game helps us gell but injuries are killing us ATM. If we have a 'get out of jail card' this is the time to play it.

Doesn't anyone else think Hull KR are contenders to go down? They've got a thin squad and, as each week goes by, it looks like Dobson is a bigger and bigger miss for them. Their fans don't seem to have much patience with Sandercock either.

At the start of the season I had Us, Bradford and Wakey to be the three main contenders with Widnes and Castleford as on the fringes of trouble. I still say the bottom 3 will be as I suspected, but HKR have certainly made a worrying start this year. I still think they will pick up 12 points from the bottom 3 though.....and Castleford and Widnes are only a couple of wins each from safety.

Having read this Mark i genuinely think that [uif we escape relegation [/uwe will be OK. After this seasons relegation the ones who go down will be so disadvantaged they will have little chance of getting promoted under the new system so we must avoid the drop. If DH is going to continue to back us i think the club will get stronger after this season. We have signed what seems like some quality players this season and ones who will give 100% but we don't have enough yet. The club has clearly learned a lesson in terms of recruitment which means they will make sure we get quality players who will put a shift in next season. Some of our youngsters are punching above their weight and will be better players next season. If we get a couple of good props soon we may turn the corner but the odds are against us anyway but i for one am pleased that DH is behind us once again and we will come out stronger next season if we can avoid the drop.

First up, David Hughes as a "fan" is as entitled to get as despondent with the dross served up over the last couple of years, but as an "owner" who put his name (and money) behind the application for 3 more years of licencing, he really had an obligation to back the club for the duration of the licence that he and the club were awarded. His wobble has cost this club its place in the SL, no matter how plucky or gutsy the team performances are, they aren't good enough to win the 8 or 9 games needed.
As for doing things on the cheap? In 2012 our first team costs were close to £2,675,000 with another £500,000+ spent on coaching staff. Given Hughes ploughed £2,200,000 of that years £4,400,000 turn over into the business, nobody could ever accuse the man of being cheap. I don't think anyone ever has.
What I have often accused him of is something that he is reported to have admitted to Ian Lenegan to being....which is not very good at running a business. His generosity is pointless unless he gets the correct people in place to deliver it and his track record in all of his key appointments since 2007/2008 has been atrocious. Therefore, whilst it is fantastic for both Mr Hughes himself and the club that he has "regained his enthusiasm", whilst he still employs those who are in part responsible for the decline that led to his despondency, I fail to see it being anything other than "lip service".
His published defence of MacKay in the Programme for the Salford game shows his continued reluctance to admit he is wrong and that he made a mistake employing MacKay. He pointedly said it wasn't the CEO's fault that we nearly went under, but made no mention of the astronomical financial losses and the awful drift of the core support of the club.

In short, I suspect that there are a great many "supporters/fans" of the club who have simply had enough of the total disregard for their opinion or their custom for that matter. The closing of the terraces for the next few weeks at the Hive simply reinforces the opinion that the club really don't care about the fans.

It is all very well for DH to have his mojo back but his poor decisions and procrastination have left us in very poor position indeed. The club had two fundamental problems to solve: under performance of the playing squad and poor attendance. Analysis of historical data would tell you there is a correlation between these items.

Was a change in venue the answer to the issue of attendances ? Again, an analysis of historical data would have suggested otherwise. While the Hive offers a potential solution to DH's lack of interest in marketing by letting someone else benefit from the results, a similar deal could potentially have been found without a move. This is a move, by the way, that seemingly consumed the limited capability of the CEO for an entire season and meant no efforts were made to attract a crowd during that time.

Worse though, DH crippled preparation for this season when relegation would be reintroduced. While I can absolutely understand DH's frustration with the previous squad it was a situation of under achievement rather than a simple lack of quality. So we have a situation where the same coach is left to cobble together a squad at the last minute. A problem entirely of our own making leaving us with the likely outcome of Championship RL or bust.

And let us not forget this is the final year of a licence period which DH stood in front of us and told us he was committed to and submitted an application on the basis of criteria which would now not be met.

We should be thankful that we are not being docked points.

No doubt if Bradford go down and we don't, the topic of "points being docked" will become a hot one on the VT.

Avoided administration so nothing to be docked points for.

Some despised him. They had that much respect for him that they were prepared to not play for New Zealand again so they didn't have to work with him. Do you get that. Rather than "doubting" many players liked.... Your opinion is exactly that. An opinion.





Oh OK then I won't listen to anyone that worked with him or played under him anymore, but will listen to one person you suggest. Sorted.

read the entire regulations regarding the area of administration, CVA etc.....it was only the fact that we "supposedly" paid everyone off (Hughes found his spine and his chequebook) that we weren't open to "sanction".

Now, not one to start unsubstantiated rumours (unless it's on the Bradford Board), but we are on extra cash this year from the RFL......for Marketing (BRIBE)........it would be possible to put 2 and 2 together and come up with 6......this is RL after all.

Oi.....get your own soap box!

He's back coaching in Rugby League now (care of rammo on twitter).....at Medway Dragons. Chances are, his new charges might overtake his old ones on the way down/up.

In two threads you say Bribe. Seriously mate?

Listen to them all you want but I doubt I'm the only one to think most of them were over here on a paid holiday.

I don't dispute that there would be people on here, of the same opinion. Doesn't detract the conversations I've had with the people who were coached by him or worked with him. Ultimately, the results will obviously indicate the extent of his work at the club and how he'll be judged/remembered. I myself was surprised by the positivity when I would hear about him because I judged the results whilst continually playing devil's advocate as I see fans' forums at my club, where people make comments or judgements that are so so off the mark.

This will obviously go round and round, so I'll keep schtum now

GO ON......shake the moderators tree again



The Landlord of the London Broncos, who receives rent from the club for access to office space, as well as 100% of the ticket and other match-day revenue in return for us having his ground for the day [size=200IS IN RECEIPT OF FUNDS DIRECTLY FROM THE RFL TO PROMOTE AND MARKET THE GAMES FROM WHICH HE RECEIVES 100% OF THE REVENUE[/size.

If Bribe isn't the right word, I am happy to use "incentive"

Nothing to do with Mods. So you're yet wrong again. You post away what you like.

Just be careful you don't put yourself up for libel or the like mate that's all. You get things in your mind and don't let them go.

To have a successful libel action at Law, you need to prove, amongst other things, that your reputation has been damaged.
Therefore you need to have a good reputation to lose. QED?

As far as I can tell money has been spent on marketing, with full page spreads in local papers and leaflets for both Barnet and Broncos. That Broncos are at the hive has had good press and local tv coverage but crowds are poor. GF is right to ask how this money was/ will be spent but without having any idea of how much money was provided to the hive or evidence that the hive have not spent the money on its intended purpose then I find it hard to claim its a bribe. Was it an enticement to ensure the deal happened? Of cause it was, who benefits if the money spent pays off? Everyone involved, but most especially the fans and the reputation of RL in london. No one benefits from it's failure to attract fans. GF is only turning his guns on this money as the argument that loads of people would pay to go and see Broncos at the Hive has fallen flat and no longer supports his theory that TK has been given a license to print money. That the Hive is closing sections of the stadia to cut costs is a clear indication to me that the Broncos at the Hive is not a money spinner.

So what do you do? Spend a fortune on marketing and get next to nothing back or wait until you have some results on the pitch and a sellable product. Lets be honest about this, most Bronco fans think their team are a dead duck so why should non fans be interested and going to see a team get battered is not a good advert to get them coming back. Giving away free
tickets has a limited benefit and generally devalues the product.

Bottom line is the move to the Hive has not proved as attractive to fans as those brokering the deal had hoped and building a new support base will not happen overnight. Whether the numbers eventually prove enough to make broncos viable is doubtful, I doubt anyone will be spending big on marketing as you are all shouting for as recent history has shown diminishing returns.
I'm sure there are those saying we should've stayed at the Stoop but the deal on the table was Hive or nothing. I get the impression that a fair number would've preferred the later.

If TK has spent the money provided on promoting Broncos we can't complain if he doesn't spend a penny more. He's a businessman, we get that. Most of us aren't local and haven't seen any evidence of marketing.

Re free tickets. I'd usually agree but if the marketing budget is already spent then it's the only option. We clearly have three shocking gates looming. Get free tickets out for them. None for the next game along and see if there is a gain. If not there's no point repeating it and the number crunchers can start working out whether we are viable in the Championship or whether Bradford is our last ever game.