Disappointed. Your recruitment has been poor and makes me wonder if you have close to the amount of income to spend near the salary cap. Your crowds have been poor and your ground is a dump. I was really hoping that the RFL would only put new teams in that were ready and had the infrastructure but clearly they haven't. That was after all the whole point of licensing wasn't it?

Having said all that I am a massive supporter of getting a SL club in Wales and you are it so good luck and I hope you can build a strong club quicker than the London attempts.

To be fair to Celtic, I imagine recruitment from Australia was always going to be a bit tough given they had no track record at all. Having said that, a lot of their signings smack of 'no money'. They need to start replacing some of the average players with much better ones in key posiitons. I'm not a huge fan of it, but a marquee player wouldn't go amiss either.

Awwwwww, poor Celtic. Still didn't stop them breaking the bank whilst in the 3rd division for Josh Hannay



I suppose signing as many Aussies as you want is always going to be 'tough'.

this thread was always going to get traditionalists upset, they wanted celtic to get hammered every game to prove their point, but it hasn't happened. If we want our great game to survive we need to expand and Celtic is a great opportunity with a fantastic fanbase that can be grown very quickly.

What do you base that on?

in 10 years time when france and wales are strong internationally people will all agree that les cats, toulose and celtic all should be in SL.

if the ESL can develop a credible international tournament then the game will make millions from it

if RL can make massive inroads against union in NZ it can do the same in wales.

competing with RU is easy when you have a product like RL.

Stability and Widnes are words that shouldn't be used in the same sentence.

How many times have they gone into administration now?

Since you posted that they have been in Adiministration twice and then said they were the richest club in the world three times.

Happened in 2007 when the club was under the control of Steven Vaughan. Vaughan - a dodgy boxing promoter who owns Chester City FC, who you may or may not know are absolutely doomed after going into administration and relegation from the football league.

The crisis of the 90s was a long time ago, as the club are under complete financial strength.

The club is absolutely solvent. This is not a Widnes fan claiming we should have been in ahead of Celtic or anyone else, I'm putting the record straight.


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On Topic

I'd give the Crusaders 4/10. Not bad off the field, hopefully they can attract continued support as they need to continue to build. Hopefully a new stadium for them will aid this, as Brewery Field isn't adequate.

I thought Celtic should be a bit more competitive on the field, to be honest.They've recruited poorly. They had since July to prepare for SL, and have got a -poor team. If they had been more competitive, attracting fans would have been easier.

Nonsence, we had a better first season with home-grown players. I wouldn't hold the second against the Crusaders as they don't have an LER to draw from.
I think they've done well enough, need to make a big step up next year and again the year after that.

not great so far, not a disaster...4/10

the team has got to be one of the worst to ever grace Super League - with no "marquee" names or anyone vageuly high profile. Whether it is to do with a lack of money, or the inability to attract players to a new club, I dont know - but they wont last long if they cannot get off the bottom of the league.

Off the field, crowds are not bad, but are only going to go down unless they can get some big names and high performers in.

They have done ok, did anyone expect them to win a match? No, therefore they are 4 points better off than anyone expected.

Crowds have been not good, but not far off some more established SL clubs either.

Playing wise, from the moment they kicked off they got better and better, and are still learning about life in SL. I was and still am dubious about the coaching ability but next season will be a better test of that.

Off field - I couldnt comment, but the small bits I have heard speak of an innovative club looking to push themselves forward at each turn, hell true or not being linked with Gavin Henson is a massive publicity coup.

Now is not the time to judge Celtic, or Salford, or any other club on the lower end of the liscence grading, but at the end of next season with just one more year to nail it.

ps.

Widnes and stable are not words to put together, it might be in the past now, but their track record speaks for itself.

And ultimately they had the same chances as everyone else in the application, and came up short, blaming it on a former chairman is pointless, all clubs woes are the faults of former chairmen.

I think the first season has been about trying to play in SL for the lowest possible price.
This has however shown in results, which have sadly met peoples poor expectations. They have not been helped by injuries.

Crowd wise i have been reasonably pleased.
The crowds have been ok despite being a very poor team.

Next season they need to at least get to the level Salford are at this year.

To do that they need 3 or 4 nrl standard players.

thats actually a really good post

In answer to the original question.

Success if only for winding up Widnes fans



Seriously they are still one short of the 3 wins I expected and I did think they would run teams a little closer in games, but then..........

Biggest disappointment has been the crowds but the general interest is higher and the profile higher so upwards and onwards.

It needs time and with the right direction they should succeed.

I've been looking at the crowds and have been a little disappointed but then in the cold light of day it is a bottom of the league club.

New fans of anything do not want to see their nearest team losing week in week out which is exactly what we have done for all but two times this season.

I am confident if we have a mid table kind of season we will get the fans in and keep them in. For this reason I hope we invest in a better squad for next season and progress upwards in the league.

on the basis that crucrucrusaders has managed as many posts as he had in such a short space of time...they have been a success

Not in my mind what a new SL franchise should be about, but a relatively succesful season i guess. Very quiet owner though, not exactly splashing the cash or talking up the club. Not sure if thats good or bad tbh. Would rather have Halifax

You're blowing chunks out of your brown star with that contradictory tripe you moron.

Only 2 disentors up to the point you posted , so not a real moan

They are in SL , most people want all clubs to be successful off the pitch no matter what competition they are in , the sooner they are the better

Then all clubs can resume playing on a level playing field instead of the governing body trying to ' balance ' things out by giving some clubs dispensations on recruitment

It is impossible to achieve

So up to now they are still in business and like all clubs they have much to improve on , as long as they continue to improve then they are a success

Celtic are doing pretty much as expected. It was always going to be a massive struggle for them and Salford to be competitive in their first year in SL. It would have been the same for Widnes.

The off the field area is the most disappointing, but these are three year licences and, therefore, can only be truly judged over that period.





Once.

In the 90's the club was reformed from a members club to a PLC, with a board of owner/directors and shares issued. It did not go bust. If going into administration once is such a crime, then most of SL the clubs are in trouble.

No they don't. Next season they need to keep their powder dry to make sure the performances and attendances are on the up in year 3, when the franchise bidding process begins again.

Good development work, better crowds than I was expecting, but still not sustainable revenues for the level they are at, very promising plans for a new ground, but not competitive yet. Not a rip-roaring success, but not a disaster, and really it is too soon to tell.

Expect next year to be worse, but year three to be the crunch. My bet is they make it. If Salford, Wakey and Cas don't get their grounds sorted, they should be worried... Fax, Widnes and (if they sort the on-field out under Millward) Leigh will be great candidates in 2011.

I reckon it's a good thing. We don't need a club built on money buying in top notch foreigners, we need development of Welsh talent with a smattering of NRL/SL stars to keep 'em tidy.
Next year the big thing will be to improve 2 players through signings and bring in 2-5 welsh lads in some capacity.

If CC survive the first 3 years, grow crowds and start to blood Welshmen they will be a success.

Success: but only by a slim margin.

The fact that they've turned over a couple of decent teams suggests there's more to come.

They have to recruit - but no silly contracts handed out to over-the-hill Union players looking for a quick buck such as Shane Williams. There are more than enough good Aussies without a contract. Some decent British lads, too.