Quote ="stripes"I referred solely to the building of the ground when it comes to broken promises, that was the whole point of this thread, without the ground there is none of the above. If we don't build it we have no chance or survival and that is the bottom line. How many more warnings do we want!?! This is leaving a bitter taste in my mouth but I will never support anyone other than the Cas team and just wish this frustration can be resolved so we can fully focus on the game again not off the field rubbish!
I am not saying we should buy extravagantly, but those we do buy should be of good quality and not filling gaps. Some of our signings in recent seasons have been terrible (Rangi Chase aside). I am not knocking the lads that came in and did their best but people like Fozzard (way past his best) and Parker (who couldn't get a game at Salford who were far worse than us last year) shows the ambition.
Our youth system is fantastic and I am very pleased to see so many top quality youngsters coming through our ranks but actually staying now rather than being sold needlessly. I never said I wanted a 'final this season', the youth system is taking care of the future and I don't expect us to dominate the League, but some small success would be nice.
It is somewhat churlish to presume I am informed 'by a mate over a pint' (give me a little more credit please!), I am fast remembering why I stopped posting on here so long ago...everyone here knows far better than I and won't have a word said against the club. You call it disloyal...I call it loyalty to the club, because to ignore what is happening is madness. We have been led on by the nose for years and are still, in truth, no closer to our future being secure in the top flight than we were in 2002. Just type in 'Castleford new stadium' into the Cas and Ponte archive and have a read...
Business plans are not what is needed now, we know we can do it, we have been told long enough. What we need now is shovels in the ground and the building to start, if we don't get in to Super League next time because of this, there is only one group to blame.'"
Appreciate your sentiments - many Cas fans, me included must be hugely frustrated by the continual failing to meet self imposed timescales made by the club vis a vis the stadium. But you seem to think this is a matter of choice on the part of the board or at least a lack of hard work - I would have to disagree.
The fact is Cas' have never had a sugar daddy that can cough up the funds to build a new stadium or a generous council that can provide/assist with the funding. As such the stumbling block to building the ground has always been the releasing of funds to do so. The sole source of which has always been the sale of the existing ground and this remains the case.
5 years or more ago, our ground would have been an attractive proposition (taking aside the issues at that time relating to it's proximity to Hicksons!) for sale but in the midst of a global recession that has been going on around 3 yrs and shows no sign of letting up, investors are much tougher to find. We currently have a potential investor in place but it takes a lot of careful and sensitive 'wooing' to turn that potential into an actual sale.
If the BoD and Richard Wright are guilty of anything it is being overly optimistic in their timescales for each stage of the planning process. Pretty much everytime RW has made an announcement about "we hope to do such and such by date X and then take the next step by date Y" I've thought the dates were wildly optimistic so haven't been surprised or disappointed when things have been delayed.
I'm well aware how weeks run into months and months into years but I don't think the failure to get building started is resulting from any lack of effort on the part of the BoD.
Evidently patience is wearing thin but I can only suggest you sit tight for a time longer as quite frankly unless an investor comes along with really silly money (talking £15m or so) to pump into the club the ground ain't gonna get built any quicker.
