Re: Latest state of play posts only : Wed Aug 01, 2012 7:06 am  

Bets'y Bulls wrote:

Can i put forward a question to the folks from other clubs suggesting we simply sell players to fund the August wage bill?

Pure speculation but lets say Hull FC offer £10k for Whitehead, Wire offer £15k for Bateman, Wigan offer £10k for Kearney and Leeds £5k for l'Estrange. On the basis Wakey appeared to get £5k per player when they were in a similar sitution to us but much earlier in the season compared to where we are now, these figures dont appear unreasonable. Also include the fact the most squads of teams above wont have much money under cap left (probably!), s/l deadline for signings seems to have passed and in a few weeks they can probably get most of above for nowt they dont need to be raiding benefactors piggy banks to make massive bids

If this did happen our reported £160k monthly wage bill would drop by say £20k (?) as I think Whitehead & Bateman are still on their original contracts so not massive salaries this would give us £40k liquid cash to cover wage bill now in region of £140k. Any suggestions from all the fans saying just sell players to cover wage bill, please address directly to Mr Administrator, c/o Odsal Stadium, Bradford as I am sure he would benefit from your expertise

I think Bateman was a valuable asset for a period of about 3 weeks. That period near the start of the season when he came back from injury and proved he was more than just a promising youngster, up until the Bulls financial problems becoming known.

As I understand it the clubs that have been most widely linked with our better players have been Warrington (Bateman) and Leeds (Whitehead & Koppy). By coincidence these are the clubs that very generously donated the ticket proceeds. I find it difficult to believe that Gary Hetherington seriously tried to buy our players, was rebuffed by the Administrator, and responded to that by giving us £50k.

I also believe that, if other SL clubs had been trying to sign our players and were being turned down by Gilfoyle, we would have heard of it.

Re: Latest state of play posts only : Wed Aug 01, 2012 7:21 am  

Is Caisley part of, or associated with ABC?

The conduct of the RFL places them well and truly in the Hood camp. Is this the problem? The RFL have got themselves stuck in the middle of an internecine feud?

Re: Latest state of play posts only : Wed Aug 01, 2012 7:33 am  

Full Coulby statement

COULBY APPEALS TO RFL FOR DECISION

The acting Chairman of Bradford Bulls, Stephen Coulby, is appealing to the Rugby Football League to make a decision now as to whether or not the club has any chance of playing in Super League during 2013.

Coulby, who was asked to return to the Board in May following the resignations of Peter Hood and Andrew Bennett prior to an EGM called by a majority of the club’s owners, feels strongly that only by such a decision being made now will any prospective purchase of the club proceed, given the apparent deadlock in negotiations.

Coulby said today:

“The ABC consortium, comprising a group of Bradford businessmen, have been trying for over three weeks now to satisfy the supposed demands of the RFL without knowing exactly what those demands are and the second syndicate, which has now put a bid in place, is faced with the same problem. These people are new to the sport and without any doubt are totally blameless for the present state of the business. They wish to invest substantial monies into the club at a time when the sport is struggling to attract new investors but, instead of being welcomed, they find it totally impossible to establish what exactly they would be purchasing.

They read about comparisons with the purchases of Wakefield Trinity and Widnes by new owners in the recent past, when in reality Wakefield obtained a new three year Super League licence immediately following their administration and Widnes were a Championship club when bought out of administration by Steve O’Connor in 2007. Their intention has never been to “hold a gun” to the head of the RFL, but merely to put a sustainable business plan in place which, in their opinion, would require Super League membership through to the end of the present franchise period, at which time the licence would be reassessed .

If the club is to be placed in the Championship their interest will cease, which is their prerogative, and for the club to survive, fresh investors would need to emerge with a totally different business strategy; people who would have the confidence to keep the club at Odsal, with all the accompanying costs that would entail, or one would imagine with a possible agenda to move the club elsewhere.”

“The RFL are now aware of the full facts which resulted in the club entering into administration, including a number of matters which have only recently come to light. For whatever reason these were not looked into when the RFL entered into discussions with the club in June 2011 to purchase the lease of the stadium, and when awarding a “B” licence to the club one month later when it granted franchises for a further three year period. Having now received that information and having consulted over three weeks ago with the other Super League clubs, surely some decision should now be forthcoming, whatever that decision might be.

If the club is at best to be a Championship club for a period of at least two years please let any prospective purchasers know this, so that they can decide whether to proceed with their interest and plan accordingly. If this is to be the stated policy of the RFL moving forward it will of course not only be Bradford Bulls who will be seriously affected but also any other club which might find themselves in a similar position in the future.”

“The continuing uncertainty is impacting not only on potential investors but in particular on the lives and families of the staff and players at the club, who again are in no way responsible for the financial crisis and whose efforts at this time cannot be praised too highly. Many of those who lost their jobs have continued to show their unstinting loyalty by working without pay, hoping against hope that the future of the club, whatever that might be, will soon be resolved one way or the other. They most certainly do not deserve to be embroiled in the lingering death of the club, which the ongoing uncertainty is only assisting and accelerating at an alarming rate.”

Re: Latest state of play posts only : Wed Aug 01, 2012 7:34 am  

M@islebugs wrote:

Is Caisley part of, or associated with ABC?

The conduct of the RFL places them well and truly in the Hood camp. Is this the problem? The RFL have got themselves stuck in the middle of an internecine feud?

I'm sorry what???

Please justify that statement.

Re: Latest state of play posts only : Wed Aug 01, 2012 7:43 am  

I firmly believe that the RFL have taken a decision to NOT announce a decision about our SL status so that we can limp on and complete the season and then demote us. They know full well that if they confirmed the demotion issue now, all bids will be withdrawn and we would go into liquidation, causing all sorts of problems for the RFL during the business end of the season.

Re: Latest state of play posts only : Wed Aug 01, 2012 7:48 am  

Northern Lad wrote:

I'm sorry what???

Please justify that statement.

It's been discussed at length over the previous pages. The RFL's relationship with the previous board is nothing short of extraordinary.

Re: Latest state of play posts only : Wed Aug 01, 2012 7:51 am  

Cookie wrote:

I firmly believe that the RFL have taken a decision to NOT announce a decision about our SL status so that we can limp on and complete the season and then demote us. They know full well that if they confirmed the demotion issue now, all bids will be withdrawn and we would go into liquidation, causing all sorts of problems for the RFL during the business end of the season.

Their public pronouncements would seem to indicate that, the hope is that privately they are playing a smarter game to protect their 'investment' in the lease by talking to the consortium in saying what would be acceptabl and what wouldn't. Does anyone think that if Richard Lewis was still there, who in general did a good job at Red Hall, we would see a different stance? Never been impressed by Nigel Wood - especially as he was the Chief Exec. at Halifax when they had similar problems!

Re: Latest state of play posts only : Wed Aug 01, 2012 8:04 am  

deadlock The ABC source, said the consortium had offered the governing body £1.5 million for the lease to the ground, which it claims is “open market value” and more than the RFL paid for it earlier this year. “We’re not asking for anything unreasonable. We want to buy the lease because we won’t want to make any investment in the ground if we don’t own it,” he said. “We gave the RFL until 5pm on Monday to get back to us, but we have not heard anything. It’s very frustrating.” Taking these and coulbys comments at face value today am I right in thinking that these dreaded all evil "conditions" that the rfl won't even contemplate (although they have already considered them...) are actualy these; 1) Pay the RFL £1.5m, which includes a tidy profit, for the lease. 2) An agreement that we retain (not get a new one) our licence for this franchise period and be reassed along with everyone else at the next round. If so I really can't see the problem...which I suspect is the real problem, what are we not being told? What decisions have already been made?

deadlock The ABC source, said the consortium had offered the governing body £1.5 million for the lease to the ground, which it claims is “open market value” and more than the RFL paid for it earlier this year. “We’re not asking for anything unreasonable. We want to buy the lease because we won’t want to make any investment in the ground if we don’t own it,” he said. “We gave the RFL until 5pm on Monday to get back to us, but we have not heard anything. It’s very frustrating.” Taking these and coulbys comments at face value today am I right in thinking that these dreaded all evil "conditions" that the rfl won't even contemplate (although they have already considered them...) are actualy these; 1) Pay the RFL £1.5m, which includes a tidy profit, for the lease. 2) An agreement that we retain (not get a new one) our licence for this franchise period and be reassed along with everyone else at the next round. If so I really can't see the problem...which I suspect is the real problem, what are we not being told? What decisions have already been made?

Re: Latest state of play posts only : Wed Aug 01, 2012 8:08 am  

It is very difficult to find anything in Coulby's statement with which you can disagree. What he's asking for is clarity from Red Hall on what is required.
I agree with those who doubt Nigel Wood's effectiveness. To be offered a potential profit on the ground seems like a decent business deal to me , unless the payment terms were too long.
But after watching Superleague Backchat and seeing at first hand the sheer ignorance of some of the media( that sneering Rod Studd was the worst) I doubt there is enough sympathy in the game to save us. For example they were rabbitting on about how right the RL is to keep Odsal yet none of them realised it will probably be unused ,with severe restrictions on change of use and if there is a reformed club, no significant rent available from a club with few resources.
They hadn't a clue regarding the consequences of liquidation.
And these so called experts assumed we would be playing in the Championship when it's clear to me if we are not in SL we should be in C1 with Gateshead, Skolars etc. It was summed up when the hallowed Stevo said "I don't know much about this " --hear hear

[Bullseye]

Re: Latest state of play posts only : Wed Aug 01, 2012 8:12 am  

Maybe ABC isn't offering what they say they are publically? Or there are strings attached we don't know about? It appears that Coulby is trying to get fans on board to back the ABC bid, which, if all above board, looks fair enough. I'm not keen on negotiating via the media though, you don't get all the facts.

The RFL will have their reasons I'm sure. Trouble is I doubt we'll get to hear them. I have my theories...