Re: Fev Rovers looking promising : Fri Aug 30, 2013 11:39 am  

SmokeyTA wrote:

i would argue that having no plan......

blah blah


It's true, this SmokeyTA does sound like a Soviet government 5 year plan technocrat ...

Anyway, back to rugby league and the Championship. This weekend's final round of league matches should be really exciting. League Leaders Shield still to be decided (Featherstone hopefully will do it) and any one of four clubs could still go down along with York. Imagine how even more exciting it will be from 2015 when the new structure comes in and when there will be promotion as well as relegation issues at stake.

Back to this weekend and it seems SmokeyTA would have preferred somebody (who??) to 'plan' that Hunslet stays in the Championship so that "Leeds' reserves" do not end up in the third tier. Sorry. That's not how it works - even for Caddick/Hetherington. I must admit, I'll have a wry smile on Sunday afternoon if Hunslet is the club to be relegated.

Roll-on 2015 when this dual registration nonsense comes to an end.

Re: Fev Rovers looking promising : Fri Aug 30, 2013 11:42 am  

SmokeyTA wrote:

Super League is a fully pro sport. As much as some don't like it, it is a business.

Would you invest your money in a business which said 'we have no idea what were going to in the future, we have no plan or strategy, couldn't tell you where we want to be or how we are going to get there, but f@ck it, anything could happen so let's just wing it'?

But at some point you have to ask "where are the investors?". And if, for example, a team from a town the size of Featherstone did find their own Dr Clothcap, would they be a better bet than a city club struggling to obtain investment?

[Mild Rover]

Re: Fev Rovers looking promising : Fri Aug 30, 2013 11:45 am  

SmokeyTA wrote:

i would argue that having no plan is just the same as having a very very poor one.

And letting these clubs go to the wall to be replaced by better clubs is dependent on us having those better clubs in reserve. We dont

'No plan' is really just shorthand for envisioning their role differently - as a bureaucracy providing a basic framework in which clubs operate, rather than as leaders with a very specific destination in mind.

That is a plan.

I'm sure we'd both agree that it'd be desirable for the sport to be wealthier, the international game more competitive and higher profile and so on.
If they said, 'we've got a vision as to how we can do that and, crucially, we're going to stick with it and deliver, that'd be fine. But they always lack either the political capital or will to properly enforce the salary cap or implement franchising or force through mergers or whatever is panacea du jour. Which isn't necessarily their fault - if the clubs and fans won't follow, what can they do?
Take on a more limited and realistic remit would be a obvious approach, aiming for natural, organic growth (or, if not growth, adaptation).

Re: Fev Rovers looking promising : Fri Aug 30, 2013 11:58 am  

I think we all agree we need to freshen up SL a bit, a new club, with some fresh ideas and a bit of optimism can only be a good thing.

Crowds are only 1 piece of the puzzle. Wakey and KR struggle financially on 8k crowds with their own stadium. Cas and Widnes seem to do ok with smaller crowds.

Fev deserve a chance.

Re: Fev Rovers looking promising : Fri Aug 30, 2013 12:18 pm  

Mikey T wrote:

Three years from now Rovers will be kicking the Loiners' butts.

That's some mighty fine signature material there my friend!

[Bullseye]

Re: Fev Rovers looking promising : Fri Aug 30, 2013 12:19 pm  

bramleyrhino wrote:

That's some mighty fine signature material there my friend!

Re: Fev Rovers looking promising : Fri Aug 30, 2013 12:25 pm  

SmokeyTA wrote:

.

As for who is to say fev won't be where Leeds are, me. I'm saying it because the don't have the facilities, they have shown they have the money, a plan, or the ability to get there. If they show those things then I'm more than in favour of giving them a chance. In fact I'd give them a better chance with more time and stability to do so. Leaving it in the lap of the gods, with no strategy or long term plan is an idiotic way of running the game.

If you want to ask who is to say Fev won't thrive in SL, I can ask who is to say their presence doesn't damage SL who is to say their promotion won't stop some other club thriving in SL?

The romanticism of the underdog is not a replacement for long term strategy and planning.

What a load of ignorant twaddle smokeyTA, Have you seen the stadium upgrades that are happening and have been happening for the last four or five years. Fev have backers and serious money is being put in and generated from some high profile sponsors and investors (Probiz, Fosters, Linpac, D.S.Smith) to name but a few. Fev are on the brink of winning the league shield for the FOURTH year on the trot so the ability to get there on a playing front is ticked as well, there are several players signing for Rovers on a full time basis for next season, turning down SL clubs to stay at the club. Please tell me if any player with SL ambitions would do this if Fev were not in that position you question.

My conclusion is that you felt with the inception of SL the "little" clubs would just curl up and die, and the fact that Fev are banging very loudly on the door makes you very uncomfortable Smokey. Get used to it, Fev have "earned" that right and should be given the opportunity.

Re: Fev Rovers looking promising : Fri Aug 30, 2013 12:42 pm  

People mention the p&r coming back in 2015.
Next season there is 1 or 2 to be relegated from SL and maybe as many as 5 to be relegated fron the Championship as it becomes SL2 in 2015.

Re: Fev Rovers looking promising : Fri Aug 30, 2013 2:17 pm  

DemonUK wrote:

People mention the p&r coming back in 2015.
Next season there is 1 or 2 to be relegated from SL and maybe as many as 5 to be relegated fron the Championship as it becomes SL2 in 2015.

That's right.
SL 2 in 2015 will, as it stands, be made up of:
-the 2 relegated SL clubs,
-Toulouse and
-the top 9 of the 2014 Championship.
so, the bottom 5 of the 2014 Championship to be relegated to the 'third division'.

Re: Fev Rovers looking promising : Fri Aug 30, 2013 2:27 pm  

I'll ask again, does anybody have a cow?