I fully expect the new potential owners are wanting some sort of supporter led vehicle to raise funds. I don't see why anyone would hold a fans forum BEFORE they've actually taken over.

On the face of it, there's not a lot to disagree with in the T&A piece.

In particular



It looks inevitable that we will going fully part-time, which means that the full time players will be leaving. I take that from his indications about 'living within our means', not from inside knowledge.

So long as we don't get a point deduction (and ti doesn't sound like we are going into Admin) and so long as we keep John Kear, then I see no reason why we shouldn't be in a position to pull together a squad that survives next season in the Championship. I don't think Whitehaven or Oldham will be pulling up any trees next season, so avoiding the drop should be feasible.

Noted that the report said nothing about Odsal, beyond the hint that the 'new shop' might actually be the old shop. So who knows...

The same thought has crossed my mind. I can fully see a plea of "If you want a club, we need you to pay for it" with bells, whistles and glitter on.

Maybe I'm just being cynical after we've heard so many previous owners say similar and try to squeeze as much out of every fan as possible, but I don't see what other plan they may have.

Sufficed to say as much as I've said I'll give a new owner a chance, if that's how it starts I'll be out again before I'm back.

I have a feeling it will be something like majority of part time clubs do, raise funds for signings etc has worked particular well for Halifax and Fev amongst others.

As a club we seem to be in dire straits. This guy has come in, seemingly the only option, he has a reputation of getting clubs in similar positions back to life but hasn’t by his own admission, apparently got the financial clout to write a cheque to get rid of the debts. Whilst its tough on the fans, they need us now more than ever so if a scheme akin to what other clubs run, very successfully, is a big support to the owner is this unreasonable? IMO we have only two other options, liquidation or admin

I'm sure it's a reasonable suggestion for some fans, but it's not for me personally. A large part of my getting disillusioned with the club was the constant begging to the fans for money. Whether it through poor quality merchandise at high prices, or through high ticket prices. I personally got to a point where I was tired of the talk of "You have to pay for it" as we'd heard nothing else but that from Hood, Khan and Green for the previous few years (and this time I do include Khan deliberately). I'm not saying they're wrong to go down that route, but I was tired of shelling out so much money all the time and it still ending up tits up. So I said enough was enough and I walked away. I've not been back in just short of 2 years.
Whilst I'm willing to give any new owner a chance as I did the others, there are certain things that will pretty much have me sack it straight away. One of those is the same old "We need you to pay for it" no matter how it's dressed up. Personally I'd rather they say they have ideas and plans to make fans want to come back, to make them want to buy merchandise. Not just a fancy way of getting the begging bowl out again.

Whilst I understand your point We need a quick fix now whilst we allow CB to get a handle on things, he can’t do both. I cling to the hope that eventually we get an owner who can add up and in the meantime I might be needed to help in a small sort of way

The problem is, they've all said that. They've all said "you give us loads of money for the first couple of years, then we'll be high flying in Super League and be able to give you season tickets for a tenner". Well maybe not quite that extreme, but the point remains.
Even after all the crap, I think plenty of people will pay it and will be happy to help. I won't be one of them.

It's probably best I don't mention who, but those people know who they are and as now being reported elsewhere, the scale of the debt originally disclosed on the Pulse and Full Eighty Minutes last week after I spoke with three of the largest creditors.

The supporters deserve to know the scale of debt and situation because this is very much backs to the wall, roll up your sleeves stuff to ensure the club survives the next 12 months.

There's an interview with Kear on this week's League Express in which he says:

"There has been numerous meetings between the coaches and players and the proposed takeover group, and what we've heard has been very positive.
"That's not to say we're now going to come out and say we're going to win the championship.
"But it will be a positive thing if we have a sustainable club.
" we've had good communication with the prospective takeover group and there has been some in-depth discussions, and some reality, which is what we need.
"I'm a big believer that you can deal with facts, but it's very difficult to deal with rumours and speculation.
"We feel very positive that they have a handle on things that will allow the club to move forwards next season."

Interesting words and hopefully he's on board for next season if all this mess gets sorted first.

What CB actually said was:
[i
“I’m not so sure we’ll be able to get it over the line this week but maybe the middle of next week[/i.”

So if he takes over then it looks 50/50 whether it will be done by the conclusion of the fans forum.

And yes 'we' are back.

A couple of days off will have been good for all of us.

How many F$^*g times have we heard all this before. live within our means! we will have a sustainable club! i will put a bet on that we will lose most of our players and end up in the bottom 4 next season getting ed of with the same old song. other teams and do it so why do we always seem to get the jar heads appointed by the RFL.

That's ok if we are paying similar prices at the gate. Supporters have been paying hefty admission in the hope that it was keeping the club afloat. To find out that we've run up big debts and the chairman has gone missing is a kick in the teeth, so I don't expect many will be willingly digger deeper again. Might just be me who feels that way...

I don't see what how the rumoured debts can be cleared in 1-2 years.. how do we go from racking up huge debts to turning a profit and paying them all off in 2 years.. all sounds a bit fanciful to me.

I suppose the only difference with CB and all the previous owners is that CB has an actual history of acting on his words and sorting out RL clubs in dire straights. None of the others had ever been in charge of running an RL club fully. I could be wrong but weren't Wakey in £2million+ debt when him Michael Carter took over. They had some tough years, and needed a bit of luck too, but look at them now and are debt free I believe. There will be a tough couple of years ahead but all I want is complete honesty. I'd rather have a club than no club at all,even if my loyalty is being tested right now.

I think next year will be about paying creditors (quite rightly) and trying to survive in the championship.

In many ways you are better off with CB than someone with an open cheque book.

CB will cut costs, you’ll see and feel those cuts quite starkly but if you keep with it and work together you will come out the other side clean.

That’s better than having another money man throw cash at a proven failure in terms of a sport-business. When said money man decides to leave its Russian roulette time again.

CB will clean you of debt, stem the financial haemorrhaging, install a working business plan and lay the foundations from which you can move forward.

If the business can afford it you’ll build a squad capable of reaching SL again but the fans need to have faith and keep supporting the club or the money will never be there.

Hard times ahead but you should welcome them as the herald of a new beginning and an end to the nightmare decade you’ve gone through.

I assume Wakey had the benefit of quite a bit more central funding income though?

I'm not saying it's impossible to turn a profit at Championship level, but I'm struggling to see how we make enough profit to be debt free in 2 years if the figures I've seen mentioned are correct. Unless of course some sort of deal is struck to bring that figure down? I'm no financial whiz however so perhaps there is way? Either way, looks like it could be a painful few years once again! That dual reg arrangement needs to be a good one!!

I think after all that has happened in the last 7 years or so.. (I've genuinely lost track) it will be a tougher sell that you might imagine. The trust level is at absolute rock bottom with me, so you'll have to excuse me if I'm not jumping for joy at his arrival. Every owner we've had was going to run it like a business but it's always ended up going tits up. I think if the dialogue starts along the lines of supporters having to dig deep and pay inflated prices I'm probably losing interest. I don't think the supporter base could of done much more to try and help in terms of financial backing to the club.

The only hope I have is that the 500k savings from not being at Odsal are accurate

I will absolutely and definitely not trust ANYONE who comes in. I've been mis-sold sunny uplands too many times now. Even when you finally think we've got an owner who want's gradual and sustainable growth, it transpires they've cocked that up completely and we are back to square one.

What Chis Brererton inherits is a hugely jaded and cynical fanbase, not to mention the people who have had to make the painful decision to do something else with their Sundays. It can't be underestimated how much damage to any NEW owner, the actions of the last 4 have wrought.

So what’s the solution then given there doesn’t appear to be a cash rich backer?

while I can understand many of you that have frustrations to the extreme if none of you show any sign of wanting a club then the alternative would be not to invest and the club will fold,
you either have to get on board (again I know) and wipe the slate clean, if you have no faith in the new consortium then it won't happen
words that stuck in my mind was
Chris once told me there's many that have a lot to say about how to run a club but are unwilling to do so.
its easy to criticise from the outside when you haven't put anything in.

now its not up to me to rally your troops up but you lot are doing well in doing the opposite

the club runs its self do you not know what living within your means mean

Just what I am thinking. He does have history of this type of problem and other people in the game speak well of him. If it is about £500k then I am quite confident he can pull back a couple of £k each year till we are even again. Can't we save that each year just by not being at Odsal or is that too simplistic.
I hope he dose take over and it will also be interesting to find out who the other consortium members are as he will be running the club but the others are there for a reason. Do we know who the others are?

Wakefield owe WMDC over £3m, hardly debt free.