So if this is correct does it confirm my suspicions that we haven't lost the amount the club said originally when France went bust ie the whole lot, that it was a smoke screen to help explain the debts we had run up?

With Elston in charge at the time, it actually would not suprise me if he hadn't been chasing monies owed as he wouldnt want to upset the applecart, so IMO either could be true

I can't argue with you on this posting, apart from Davide Longo. Davi was head hunted to my knowledge by at least two other clubs last year, or the year before i.e. CEO at Featherstone Rovers which he turned down, and General Manager at Castleford Tigers, which he also turned down. Davide again its subjective, but IMHO is by far the most hard working, and honest person at Wakefield in the power positions. Dav has been there years, never left, and was the main figure in Wakefield Community Trust, as well as again IMHO being one of the few people who could have restored some confidence in the club from other agencies, and businesses. The history of Wakefield is a simple one, don't do any business with them they don't pay !

The club is a complete disgrace in relation to paying for services or products, and has been for many years, not just under this Clown like regime ! its been a problem going back to 1979.

This club sold 200 David Topliss shirts a few years ago, made 12K profit, of which £2K was to go to the RL Benevolent Fund, and £5.4K to the manufacturer the 2K to the RLBF never got paid, the later took three payments over 18 months with County Court dates only prompting payment. That is what local business and sponsors are faced with, hence the lack of trust or confidence in the club. Davide however has constantly worked to bring transparency to Wakefield, again IMHO an exercise in futility.

I'll second that.

Whenever I've had dealings with Davide he's been upfront & brutally honest.

I also have to come in to bat for Martin Hopkins; I've had a fair bit to do with Martin since he came into post and I have to say that he's always struck me as honest, hard-working and incredibly passionate about the club.

Empty vessels make the most noise; you don't hear much from Martin, but he's a grafter.

Been demoted to coo

@tanyaarnold: James Elston moves aside as chief exec to chief operating officer

And what exactly does a coo do?

Doesn't sound like a demotion far enough, sounds too similar to his last role. His position should be restructured out of the new hierarchy and made redundant. I'm sure, with his undoubted skill and talent, he won't be out of work for long.

Sounds like a job for a pigeon

Change is a process, not an event...

Sounds like match day operations such as making sure the bar has enough crisps and ice and that the music is on que for Daddycool's appearance

I wouldn't trust him to operate a fairground ride.

apparently the club needs his 'rugby knowledge' the whole brain cell

to be fair he may know how to catch. An invaluble skill our players need to learn!

Totally agree - since he came to the club he's done a cracking job ( which is why Fozzards appointment is all the more baffling ).

Could not agree more.

Correct me if I'm wrong - the only information I have has been gleaned from here - but James Elston has a 5% shareholding in the club, and is also a member of the Wakefield Community Trust, or whatever it's called, that is handling the proposed Newmarket stadium. I have no idea what a 5% share of the club cost/is worth, but I can't see him being bought out in the near future. The demotion to COO won't necessarily see a decrease in salary either, unless he accepts it, so it's pretty much "as you were" in terms of costs to him. He may not know how to run a rugby league club effectively, but he certainly knows how to look after himself.

5% = minus £60,000

Wow. He must be on a decent wad to be able to stump that much up out of his own pocket as a salaried employee in a venture that is never likely to see any sort of return.

Or where the shares gifted?

What rugby knowledge is that then.

Having recently read John Kear's autobiography, he mentioned that maybe rather than a coaching role, he said he may be more suited nowadays to more of an advisory role within a club or the RFL, and as we all know, his history of getting the best out of players of a lower standard is second to none.

Am I putting 2 and 2 together, or could a role like this within the club be beneficial to us, especially as we will need to strengthen at some point, but without much financial resource.

Dont know what sort of terms Kear left on but if they were good I would not be surprised at all to see him back with you again next season if Agar goes to france as predicted. Hes the man you want when its backs to the wall.

He got a pretty emotional send-off after the Bradford game. Most fans were grateful for what he did. Some were frustrated by the limitations of his methods, perhaps rightly so, but you can never ignore the background against which a coach has to operate. If you could create some kind of Kear/Agar hybrid, I think you'd be pretty close to as good as you could get, coaching-wise.

dont think Agar is going anywhere...why would he want to leave Fev / Wakey ?

Wasn't suggesting he was. Just playing Dr Frankenstein games with rugby league coaches.