Budgiezilla wrote:

I know I'm fuelling your fire, but this is the crux of it. That was Beaumont's response after some Leigh supporters posted on social media, accusing him of 'sticking 2 fingers up' at the Leigh fans in the north stand, because some of them booed the team off at half time. So it looks like the allegations were true.

"I shall not be in here to read the responses to this but I am going to defend my players coach and staff. To suggest they do not care and have no effort is an absolute disgrace. The people who boo please do not come if you have a season ticket and want a refund let me know by contacting the ticket office with your details and I will personally come and swap it with you for cash. You are not a supporter of our club. People need support when they are at their lowest ebb not when they are succeeding. To those who say we should buy players please tell me which supermarket I may go and buy them from and I will pop in and pick them up. You don’t see the hard work and individual detail put in by everyone. We will succeed because we stick together and keep being the best version of what we can be as that is ultimately all we can do. I know that will be enough and the real supporters of our club will do the same and those that aren’t we care not for".

I kinda agree with him - but the leaving,by mutual consent,of a # Super League Ready head coach,recently,makes the statement slightly disingenuous.

[quote="barham red"]Add those in as well, the only possible reason I can think anyone would have gone for this was either a [b]misplaced hope of being competitive or a belief promotion / relegation would be scrapped. The sensible move was to hold back, fund this year's squad and push for promotion. Leigh along with the others had virtually no chance of competing this year with the hand they've been dealt. This year could push leigh back 3 years in reality....

It's not just Leigh though. Several clubs apparently had a misplaced hope of being competitive..........

Do we think York, London or Bradford could have been more competitive than Leigh?? But as it stands they could all have been open to even bigger hammerings than Leigh are getting right now. Perhaps Superleague don't care as long as someone fills the gap. IIRC back around 2014 London came bottom of SL and shipped in over 1200 points across regular batterings. They didn't beat anyone other than a Leeds reserve side.

So you offer a possible reason that maybe P & R is going to be off the agenda? I suppose that fits with the possibility that Superleague will change things 2022 when the new SKY deal comes in. Some time ago I recall Lenegan & co talking about not having P & R every year, but every other year to give clubs a chance to build in Superleague, rather than the poisoned chalice of straight back down.

But nothings been said on that. The only other thought I have is the future of Salford, with their risk that they will have no ground next year? It's not a nice thought but if Salford fail does Beaumont move in on their players? Intriguing.....

Budgiezilla wrote:

" People need support when they are at their lowest ebb not when they are succeeding. To those who say we should buy players please tell me which supermarket I may go and buy them from and I will pop in and pick them up. You don’t see the hard work and individual detail put in by everyone. We will succeed because we stick together and keep being the best version of what we can be as that is ultimately all we can do. I know that will be enough and the real supporters of our club will do the same".

The reply to fans Beaumont makes about him not being able to buy players who are not there is in a way fair enough.........

But if he is open to such questioning then the real question that should be asked of him is why, when there were no players to buy, and when it was inevitable that Leigh would struggle badly, did so many clubs grab at this chance Not just Leigh, some of whom would probably be getting even bigger hammerings than Leigh are getting now.

Half a dozen clubs clamoured for a season of slaughter in Superleague..........

Why??

Donnyman wrote:

The reply to fans Beaumont makes about him not being able to buy players who are not there is in a way fair enough.........

But if he is open to such questioning then the real question that should be asked of him is why, when there were no players to buy, and when it was inevitable that Leigh would struggle badly, did so many clubs grab at this chance Not just Leigh, some of whom would probably be getting even bigger hammerings than Leigh are getting now.

Half a dozen clubs clamoured for a season of slaughter in Superleague..........

Why??

To show willingness. While many people thought this 'promotion' was a poisoned chalice,(with SL looking for a patsy club to relegate to protect the vested interests of the established SL teams, in reasons financial and time-based), if the clubs HADN'T gone for it then they would have been accused of not aiming for the top.

I think Leigh or Toulouse were the best-placed clubs to take this SL place; but nevertheless, they would both have been on a hiding to nothing. The timing and stipulations of the promotion made that clear.

I could see it knackering Bradford finally if we had got the nod, something which so many wise sages on here foresaw. I'm glad these soothsayers were wrong.

But I hope it doesn't knacker Leigh. We need more vibrant teams, more competition, not less. Rigging the promotion to protect the status-quo does the sport no good at all.

Yes.

[atomic]

wire-quin wrote:

Accepting they were thrown in last minute on half budget with no SL players available to buy, are they the worst ever SL team?

Sanctimonious defray.. You carry that title.

Donnyman makes a fair point about Salford and it seems to be slipping under the radar with most posters who seem obsessed with Leighs demise.

SL in general is not in a healthy state, and for those who think it is is in cookoo land. RL in general is in dire straights and this year is more of a gap year. Whether they decide to promote and relegate this year is still up for debate hence the stupid systems they currently have in place. Even the Championship sides don't play each other home and away.

Keep plugging away Leigh. We have seen some terrible SL sides, and some have actually escaped relegation. Halifax were shocking, Bradford were Shocking, London were Shocking and Leigh were shocking in 2005 but so what ? Huddersfield ? How many sabbaticals did they have ?

Lets get some sustainability around the sport and start thinking grass roots up. The Amateur and Academy sides should be duly funded and that is the only way to substantiate the SL. After all, it is only ever a 4/5 horse race. Its boring and the sport needs a complete overhaul !

Once Leigh get their first win this season (and i really do hope they do win one this season), I will have a drink on them. Them guys put their bodies on the lines week in week out to maintain SL to be a 12 team competition. Fair play to them !

Fr13daY wrote:

To show willingness. While many people thought this 'promotion' was a poisoned chalice,(with SL looking for a patsy club to relegate to protect the vested interests of the established SL teams, in reasons financial and time-based), if the clubs HADN'T gone for it then they would have been accused of not aiming for the top.

I think Leigh or Toulouse were the best-placed clubs to take this SL place; but nevertheless, they would both have been on a hiding to nothing. I could see it knackering Bradford.

But I hope it doesn't knacker Leigh. We need more vibrant teams, more competition, not less. Rigging the promotion to protect the status-quo does the sport no good at all.

Thanks for the reply. I can't buy "show willingness". But it's a very strong point that if Bradford had taken that place, how would they have financially managed given their finances are on a tightrope and a season of Slaughter would not have brought the fans back in enough numbers. Applying for Superleague when nowhere near ready and a willingness to be hammered every week leaves a massive question mark over what is going on? Leigh were not even offered the full money, too easily dismissed as "greed", it made massive sense for Leigh to try to win the Championship, yet Beaumont apparently decided to guarantee himself relegation instead.

You say we need "More vibrant teams" in the competition, but according to Lenegan this last two years we need LESS teams and that has been the case before the pandemic struck. memories are long when people's club make wembley, or score a shock win over a big club, but very short when it comes to the off-pitch side of the game. For two years Lenegan has been pushing for a 10 club Superleague. He pushed that to an actual vote amongst the clubs. What that would give SL clubs is a bigger share of a much smaller pot when times are hard. I know people will scoff but I remember several overhauls of league structures over many years and a drop to a 10 club superleague is a reality.

Salford's ground issue may be only part of the story as they face a very big cut in income next season they can't replace. As for the other 11 clubs who else is at risk from a major cut to funding following two seasons when income has been slaughtered?? Just because nobody is publicly crying the poor tale doesn't mean that a couple of chairmen may well not be able to make ends meet 2022.

But Derek Beaumont certainly appears to have the money and the will to take Leigh forward. I can easily see the financial crunch having to be faced in the autumn and the Superleague cutting to 10. Simply because Lenegan has tried for this a couple of times already only this time he and the big club owners have the power to make the desision.

Snowy wrote:

Donnyman makes a fair point about Salford and it seems to be slipping under the radar with most posters who seem obsessed with Leighs demise.

SL in general is not in a healthy state, and for those who think it is is in cookoo land. RL in general is in dire straights and this year is more of a gap year. Whether they decide to [b]promote and relegate this year is still up for debate hence the stupid systems they currently have in place. Even the Championship sides don't play each other home and away.

Lets get some sustainability around the sport..............

There's a gross assumption P & R will happen and in Cuckoo land there are those who don't think there's a financial disaster still to come as not only has income been destroyed for two years but the SKY deal has been slashed for next year. A ticking timebomb awaits.

Forget the Superleague league table it means absolutely nothing. In 2012 there were 14 clubs in it. Did it stay at 14? had it been 14 in the many decades before that? Superleague was once 16 clubs when Gateshead London and Sheffield were all in there. Did fans then scoff at the idea it may have dropped to 12??

Sale seem to have made their move when Salford are at their most vulnerable. But talking of "moves" Castleford's coach is now taking Simon Moran's gold along with his best two players. Is Ian Fulton keen to bankroll Castleford to greater levels than his father Jack? Is Lee Radford their saviour or just a failed coach that will come cheaply? I am looking at a pre-Darryl Powell table from not so long ago when Cas were bottom of the table and down to 5,000 gates. In contrast Michael Carter seems to be investing in the future.....

I can't see any sustainability at Salford, and none at Castleford but I can see leigh taking a year of beatings before sustaining their place in Superleague for one thing is for certain, the real league table is that which records the clubs in order of rich owners, and Derek Beaumont is half way up that......