Re: Reserves : Thu Jul 18, 2019 11:32 am  

Bullseye wrote:

If I was a Fev fan I wouldn't be too bothered given how they've gone in the league. What would bother me was what would happen if they looked like they were going to be promoted. If they went up they'd have to recruit almost an entirely new squad and start an academy from scratch. In their situation Inwonder if they've settled for top 5 but don't want promotion because of the upheaval it would cause.

Definitely mate, more work than on the face of it. Wonder how it will apply to Toronto should they go up

Re: Reserves : Thu Jul 18, 2019 1:02 pm  

thepimp007 wrote:

Without thinking i'm trolling as its not meant like that, as a Fev fan where do you sit on loans/DR you have obviously utiised it well, would you have concerns going forward if there was a lack of availability?

My cousin (who I recently found out was) is at Fev in the reserves, could you see more reserve players of yours pushing for first team if your options are limited?

My views are well documented across a number of forums. For me it's simple get rid of DR and let's just have the loan system. DR was brought in to save SL clubs money by not having reserve teams, but is a false economy for the game. with it we have had a shrinking player pool, which eventfully means that there will be a reduced quality in the player pool available. less quality equals less interest equals less revenues for the sport including TV.

Personally I would like to see all clubs in the top two tiers have to run reserve sides and to remove DR.

Hope your cousin is as good as Render who has come through this year and the likes of Bussy & Copper who have come through in previous years. Render only joined this year due to the reserves starting back up and got his first team opportunity due to an injury during warm up to a game and now he has made 14 first team appearances. So I think the opportunities are there if you have the ability and are willing to apply yourself.

Re: Reserves : Thu Jul 18, 2019 1:18 pm  

Bullseye wrote:

If I was a Fev fan I wouldn't be too bothered given how they've gone in the league. What would bother me was what would happen if they looked like they were going to be promoted. If they went up they'd have to recruit almost an entirely new squad and start an academy from scratch. In their situation Inwonder if they've settled for top 5 but don't want promotion because of the upheaval it would cause.

Personally I can't answer for all Fev fans, however I know a significant number and virtually to a man (or women) they would get rid of DR in a heartbeat.

As for promotion like every other supporter (well I assume every other supporter) I want to see my club taking part in the highest level we can achieve if that means promotion this year bring it on (I don't see it happening BTW). Who would have thought that before the season started that London with very few extra bodies would have managed 7 wins this year?

So if we were to get promoted and have to change a significant amount of the squad I'm sure most Fev fans would embrace it rather than be worried by it. I suspect the same would be be true for Bulls fans if it is was Bradford that won promotion.

[Bullseye]

Re: Reserves : Thu Jul 18, 2019 2:42 pm  

I'm sure fans would be up for promotion but is the club able to deal with it? I'm not sure ours is and we haven't anywhere near the reliance on loans and DR as you do.

Re: Reserves : Thu Jul 18, 2019 4:09 pm  

thepimp007 wrote:

Definitely mate, more work than on the face of it. Wonder how it will apply to Toronto should they go up

I expect to see a lot of raiding of academies

Re: Reserves : Thu Jul 18, 2019 5:29 pm  

If Bradford were to go down the dual reg route in a similar fashion to Fev I personally would struggle to get behind the club. Just my personal preference but I wouldn't want to follow a side that continually had players from another club in and out constantly. I'm fully in favour of loans, particularly if it's with a view to make it a permanent deal.

I'd rather support a mid table side of Bradford lads or players who genuinely wanted to play for the club.

[Bulliac]

Re: Reserves : Fri Jul 19, 2019 9:54 am  

Bullseye wrote:

I'm sure fans would be up for promotion but is the club able to deal with it? I'm not sure ours is and we haven't anywhere near the reliance on loans and DR as you do.

I'm pretty sure we're not.

I think we all realise that our squad isn't strong enough, neither to achieve promotion nor to go on afterwards. Fair enough, the money from 'central office' will pay for the basic bits of running a promoted club but I think we'd need a bit more funding than that to just survive, let alone prosper (ie, not get relegated) in SL. The fact we're losing the people who made our academy so strong over recent years tells its own story, I'm afraid.

[Bullseye]

Re: Reserves : Fri Jul 19, 2019 10:31 am  

Agreed Bulliac. I fear the aspiration to improve isn’t at its strongest in some club employees, both players and backroom staff. I’ve always been unconvinced that Chalmers has a sufficient grip on his own managers or whether he lets them just get on with it. The way RHP keeps turning up makes me wonder if the re-hiring of people who were part of failed setups in the past is going to get us anywhere.

I’m always struck with how well York seem organised off the field and wonder what lessons we could learn from them.

Re: Reserves : Fri Jul 19, 2019 10:44 am  

I think when people talk about clubs being "ready" for SL they miss out on the one obvious factor that has the most influence on them being "ready" - the massive windfall of Sky money they get.

I suspect it has been a massive source of frustration for Mark Campbell over the years having to watch clubs like Fev's neighbours Wakefield and one or two others in SL, as I'm sure he must feel that the only major difference between them and Fev is possession of a SL place and that priceless bundle of Sky money each year. Fev play in a stadium which they own, have some revenue streams as a result, have an off-field structure that is probably already better than that of some existing SL clubs, and have actually played host to Wakefield as a training venue for many years, but it's harder for a club that doesn't have a sugar-daddy type backing to make that onfield step these days to get into SL.

This isn't a dig at Wakefield btw, they have done especially well in recent years to consolidate their SL position, but if the positions had been reversed a few years ago I think Wakefield would have found it even harder to get out of the Championship under the current funding conditions. But far from not wanting SL, I suspect that it's that goal that has been driving Mark Campbell to invest so much over the years.

Re: Reserves : Fri Jul 19, 2019 11:50 am  

The Phantom Horseman wrote:

I think when people talk about clubs being "ready" for SL they miss out on the one obvious factor that has the most influence on them being "ready" - the massive windfall of Sky money they get.

I suspect it has been a massive source of frustration for Mark Campbell over the years having to watch clubs like Fev's neighbours Wakefield and one or two others in SL, as I'm sure he must feel that the only major difference between them and Fev is possession of a SL place and that priceless bundle of Sky money each year. Fev play in a stadium which they own, have some revenue streams as a result, have an off-field structure that is probably already better than that of some existing SL clubs, and have actually played host to Wakefield as a training venue for many years, but it's harder for a club that doesn't have a sugar-daddy type backing to make that onfield step these days to get into SL.

This isn't a dig at Wakefield btw, they have done especially well in recent years to consolidate their SL position, but if the positions had been reversed a few years ago I think Wakefield would have found it even harder to get out of the Championship under the current funding conditions. But far from not wanting SL, I suspect that it's that goal that has been driving Mark Campbell to invest so much over the years.

It's probably something you don't want to hear but the best thing that could ever happen for you, Cas and Wakey would be a merger. You're all too close together geographically and there just isn't the fanbase to support all three of you at a level high enough so that you wouldn't be relying heavily on the central funding.
Right now Featherstone could replace Wakefield in SL and I think the outcome would be the same. Sure you might make a go of it with some shrewd signings and smart ownership but you'd always hover around the same level of support that you have now because there just isn't enough people for all three clubs to prosper.
Super League clubs need constant five figure crowds to ever manage to build and become a top side and realistically I can't see any of you managing that because of the geography of the situation.