I've just been to Asda and bought a box of matches

Because he's bolted from the Trust and established a new one. That tells me that he's spotted a finishing line that wasn't there before. For whatever reason, he thinks he can best deliver it on his own. It might be hot air, or he's spotted a financial opportunity, but something has clearly changed.

The club has given him a month. I'm of the same view. If it's all hot air, that's when the scapegoating begins. If it isn't, it's simply a case of assessing the costs involved.

It's like when the buyer of your house drops the price by 10K on the day of exchange when they know you're committed to buying elsewhere. It's a disgrace, but sometimes if it's the only way to sell your house you've got to suck it up and get on with it, as the alternative is not moving.

Correct; and as if we have a choice anyway. Which they know

Suddenly big talk about a health club on the site, would RW have his fingers in that pie?

Critical thing will be the presentation of the terms of the stadium lease - if they try to manipulate it so the club are not the beneficiaries of match day revenues from catering, parking etc then they will I'm sure be told to poke it. The current trust has set out exactly what is acceptable, this must not be deviated from or will only end in trouble.

"It's like when the buyer of your house drops the price by 10K on the day of exchange when they know you're committed to buying elsewhere. It's a disgrace, but sometimes if it's the only way to sell your house you've got to suck it up and get on with it, as the alternative is not moving."
I see the analogy but what happens if losing that 10k means you can't actually afford the new house without going in to hock and setting yourself up for financial ruin in the future? That's what worries me. There's no point us having a nice new stadium if the income streams are depleted so much or the rent is so high that we can't thrive as a club. And your comment that RW may be acting the way he has because he may have spotted a financial opportunity!!!! If that opportunity is to feather his own nest at the expense of the club and community, I say stuff him, move to Dewsbury and let's take it from there. Having said that, you're right, let's wait and see what materialises and then get the torches lit!

'This must not be deviated from to any degree where it makes the growth of the club not viable"

If ego has dictated one move, let's not have ego dictate another. Take a cold and clinical assessment of what's tabled and move from there. The morality or frustration of what's involved shouldn't matter. It's about adding up the numbers, nothing more. The club will move on, ownerships will change.

That's what I mean about looking at the figures, not the morality. If someone feathers a nest, does it matter if we get to feather ours too?

I agree Slugger. I see what you are saying now.
We should try for the best deal we can for Wakefield Trinity but not at all costs. There has to be middle ground and unfortunately we may have to compromise on some things.
If the proposal is not feasible then we should say so and walk away.........but not altogether, we have to remember we want a stadium and if we have to give up some revenues to get it, no matter how unfair we should consider it on purely the numbers.
I'm sure MC is quite capable of that. What worries me is that they are blocking him.....for exactly that reason.
It all needs to be above board to be able to consider a compromise.

Not in my book. As i've said previously we have to come to a deal that suits BOTH parties as quite simply without that the stadium won't get built, end of. And ultimately it will be us who are the big losers out of the situation if that's the case. We can't take any deal thats offered but in the same way neither can we expect everything in our favour, it's just isn't going to happen.

I think we're saying the same thing actually. As much as it may be tailored towards some benefit towards others that wasn't otherwise anticipated, it's got to be of benefit to the club. Don't walk into the deal because there's nothing else. That's merely postponing the inevitable. Equally, don't walk away from the deal purely because it wasn't quite what was envisaged.

One question: is it of benefit to the club. The only question.

I'm not meaning to come across as a RW apologist. I've met the guy just once. I say I met him. I think he looked through me. I'm just aware that mistrust and high emotion has come into the equation. That should be taken out of it. All I want is a club in Wakefield that will one day, in some near future, be successful.

I've been trying to follow the discussion with regards to the new stadium/Belle Vue, but I've stumbled on it a little late it seems. I saw some stuff on Twitter this week, but struggling to understand the full situation and all the parties involved. Could somebody summarise please?

Agree entirely. The question now are MC/CB open to negotiation or is it the original deal or nothing in their view?

But if the stadium is priced so that the Club cannot sustain itself and compete with the other SL clubs then what's the point building it. If there is no Wakefield Trinity there is no need for a stadium.

We have a Trust set up by the Council to facilitate the stadium ask yourself why he cannot work with that Trust and has to set up his own Trust that will exclude the owners of the Club but he wants the Club to be anchor tenant. Doesn't add up does it.

It'll add up. It'll just be different numbers in the sum.

I agree that there's no point in agreeing to anything that will prevent the club from growing and competing. I just hope that people don't entrench their positions when a cold, clinical view of whatever is tabled would still allow growth and for the club to compete. If it means that the club can't grow as quickly as hoped then that is a matter for someone's conscience and legacy, and certainly the legacy will be irrevocably tainted, but if it's better than what we have surely we'd be foolish not to say yes, if it ended up being the only gig in town.

I know that you know much more than me about what's going on, and your pessimism doesn't give me much hope. If it doesn't work out, there'll be little difficulty in working out the villains of the piece.

You've got 2 guys running the club who could earn 75k each at any other club. 150k
We are probably understaffed to run a proper club by about 5 people @ 20k each. 100k
We will be at least 300k behind other clubs spending next year. 300k

Revenue needed 550k per annum.

This is why we require revenues to fill this gap.

If we are only able to achieve 100k extra revenues through the new stadium deal, are you saying that we should take that regardless?

Not in the slightest. As I've said, if the figures from any "new deal" don't allow the club to grow, there's no point. It merely postpones the inevitable. What I'm driving at generally is, using your figures, that if the original proposals would have generated 750K per annum but a new deal only brings in 650K, I hope that the frustration at 100K being diverted away from where it should be going doesn't scupper a deal that would still be broadly beneficial.

Like I said earlier, there is only question: does it benefit the club? If it doesn't fill the gap because the way the deal changes, there is no point.

From a personal point of view, I'd love to stay at Belle Vue, but the only thing I want is to see Wakefield Trinity be successful. It's a club I've followed since I was five and I'm in my fifties now. I could sense the frustration in the club's statement and I believe every word.

What sort of stuff do you include in the extra revenues? Would it be just things like extra hospitality, catering etc. or does it include an assumption of some kind of crowd increase? If it came down to a situation where you could either increase revenues by about 400k, take it or leave it, would you be willing to take that even though it's far from ideal?

That's crux of it for me.
If the Directors of the club are excluded there is something wrong and it needs looking at.
If they are simply changing their role but equally involved and included then ok that might work.
It's not like anyone wants to be friends with SRW or York court. They just have to work professionally and get the stadium sorted.

What's the council leader doing to help the deal get sorted. Is he just letting Rodders and Mackie just waffle along and finally delay and delay so it never gets built. Which is just what Mackie wants.

Not really sure he can do anything. It said in the statement released that the Council preferred the existing trust to be the one involved but if the developer doesn't want to work with them then what can they do?

wash their dirty linen in public, but they're not going to want everyone to see what an utter shambolic collection of dingbats they actually are

they're going to have to be forced

If the council had have framed itself years back we wouldn't be in this sorry mess . No wonder he's taking legal advice to see if his backside is covered. Dependant on his advice he may get further involved to save his sorry Rse.

The comments from SRW leave a bad taste.
It seems bizarre that, regardless of any "personality issues" that there may be between members of the previous trust, WMDC, SRW and Yorkcourt, if the desire was there to make the stadium happen, they ought to be able to make it happen.
Of course, it's great when all parties within a negotiation get along and collectively make things happen but, the recent developments just seem like yet another excuse.
The deal has to be right for those involved and with all respect to the "new" trust, how can they possibly agree something, when it is critical that it suits MC and CB, after all, it's their club.
If their is a stadium deal "on the table" then, it just seems like hollow excuses that this cant be sorted with the original Trust members and after such a long time since PP was granted, they ought to be getting on with it, unless of course, there is no intention from Yorkcourt to deliver what they promised.
Meanwhile, Newcold is expanding and there doesn't seem to be any delays with that part of the project.

I've posted elsewhere, the deal that Salford originally agreed for their new stadium nearly broke them!

Keep up the good work Daddycool.