It's obvious to all and sundry exactly what you are, and that's an ex-wakey fan who jumped on the Rhino's bandwagon.
It's clear from your barely disguised loathing of all things Cas and their plans for the future to all on here that you jumped ship for a bit of glory hunting. What's the matter? Wakey not good enough to fit in with your high flying lifestyle (Lufthansa cost me three hours of my life, but it felt like six....

), you admit to being raised and educated in the Wakefield area, and continue to live in the area as well.So come on, be honest.
I suppose with your track record you will be disappearing soon, only to turn up in a new guise as Vulpine Armadillo or something similar.
For what it's worth I hope the RFL see this statement by Wakey for what it is, and that's just smoke and mirrors. My grannie used to say " Iv'e heard ducks fart before " when she didn't believe something, and this definitely sounds like a duck fart if ever I heard one.

Once again you show you know sweet fa about the club.

Who said anything about the £500k making Belle Vue a 21st century stadium - its about ticking boxes and the club have admitted that.

You say its not ok for Wakefield to scrape around round the bottom of Super League -- hence my referral to Salford - they have.

The community programme has been commended by the RFL - you want evidence - go do your own homework.There are even Leeds fans on here that admit to their own community programme "mirroring" Wakefields.

Our youth development is doing just fine,the academy won the league two years ago - the problem we have is hanging on to them.Dropping down a division will not stop that happening.

Widnes have proved nothing - they were already in the championship when they started their overhaul and i dont remember Steve OConnor saying"no leave us in the championship for 6 years whilst we rebuild"They wanted out straight away!But im sure you would have told Steve OConnor what was best for him as well.
Not looking to make friends or gain your sympathy,i didnt even think you were having a dig.
I just thought you were a clueless oath passing of your opinion,an opinion that has little or no factual base.
I dont mind you stating your opinion,feel free to carry on passing on your opinion of a club and its infrastructures(that you know nothing about) - - its just that its a $hite opinion.
You arrogant t/wat

Its not, and never has been about ticking boxes. If Glover has said it is, he either int competent or is spinning like a waltzer.

To pretend Wakefield is or could be seen as strong in anyway is a complete nonsense, they struggle in every area. Their youth development isnt strong, Leeds, Wigan, St Helens, Hull's youth development is strong. Wakefields might not be the worst but it isnt 'strong'.

The fact Wakefield havent made themselves indispensable to SL is Wakefields responsibility, the fact that even at best they are looking to scrape in to SL is Wakefields problem. There is nothing, in their history of SL, that Wakefield have done that proves they are on the track to making themselves indispensable to SL and that is down to Wakefield.

I get the cynisism and critique... I live in Sydney and got up early to follow the meeting on line... when I heard the news I theought..."oh F*** not again " I was, as a 40 year trinity fans fed up with the crap.... everything I had heard before!!! time and time again.

then I started to see the context and thought... this is a reputable business man who's reputation in West Yorkshire is central to his business being succesful...

the progression in the club since Glover took over has been nothing short of phenomonal... the club are doing this which no other club is (e.g. television advertising)... he is covering every base, every option and every eventuality... he will do whatever is required and he says he has the money to back it up and can prove it!... including the ability to spend the full cap next year... without risk to the viability of the business.

then I thought 'what if Andrew Glover can actually back up his plans?' and finally I thought... damn with everything at stake he wouldn't even submit to the process if he couldn't... he has too much to lose.

in a nut shell.

things were not all wrong before the takeover.

the community program is and was outstanding. if anyone wants proof look under community on the website, or try googling wildcat dolls, wildcat kittens, wakefield wildcats netball team or the wakefield wheeled cats for example.

the academy set up is very strong, this is pretty much summed up by the fact that they won the grand final a couple of seasons ago and look like being amongst the top teams again this season, and have a good record of progression into the first team.

the clubs sponsorship is good. the shirt represents one of the top 25% in the league for shirt sponsorship.

corporate facilities are also very good. whatever the block of flats look like from the outside, they are in actual fact very nice inside and offer excellent facilities.

then there are the areas that were not good prior to the takeover.

finance and general proffesionalism of the owner. epitomised by the very dodgy sale of belle vue, which in turn led to the tax man coming to look for the proceeds (which could not be found). in short a cowboy who needed removing.

belle vue itself. everyone knows that BV is not a long term solution, but also getting something like a stadium built is not easy and takes a lot of time and money.
the club has done EVERYTHING that it can to deliver a new stadium. the plans are now in the hands of the secretary of state. there is NOTHING MORE that anyone except him can do. had he not called it in then building would have started by now.

in the meantime andrew glover is prepared to fork out to upgrade BV to the tune of £500k. and good of him imo.

personally dont really care what division we are in from next season. the club is now genuinely moving forward, which is more than can be said for the rest of the sport.

Agreed with the last section.

Who said the youth development was strong?
I dont believe it is - i think its fine,ok,not bad and dont doubt it could be improved.

Once again Turfedout you show a remarkably naive and blinkered view of your own club.
The Community work done by Wakefield is merely adequate for the only sports club in the city, not excellent or amazing or world class, adequate. It along with other areas can benefit from extra investment.

I never said it wasn't ok for Wakefield to do anything whatsoever. I said Wakefield will want to make the best of the situation and come out of this as a force in RL and not merely scraping along the bottom. Since we were talking about Wakefield, I don't see how Salford was ever brought into the debate. You thought I was having a go at Wakefield and so responded in a defensive manner by basically bleating "but, but, but what about Salford!"

Again the academy is adequate, not good or excellent and as you admit has issues, so why were you so averse to my suggestion that more money should be spent on it?

That's because Steve O'Connor had already had a couple of years in the Championship to do some of the things that needed doing and even then it was deemed not to be enough. So they've spent another 3 years fixing up the remaining issues and now present a far stronger case for SL than they did 3 years ago and will be a stronger force because of those extra years in the Championship where the first team took a back seat to off-field issues and youth development. If they had been in SL from the date they went into administration they would not have got those issues sorted as quickly and would be a weaker club right now.

Yes you did think I was having a dig or you wouldn't have responded in such a defensive way and responding in the usual manner of a blinkered fan by desperately claiming that anyone who says there are things wrong with their beloved club is "clueless" or "knows nothing".

Yes I will keep posting my opinion, since that is what everyone on here does since none of us are actually members of the Wakefield board and even then people's opinions can differ, it's called life.

Well let's examine your claim that I'm arrogant shall we.
My argument was that areas such as community, youth development, marketing, additional revenue etc can & should be prioritised over the first team because they can benefit from extra investment, and that a spell in the Championship would enable the club to do this better than in SL and forge a stronger club in the future.

Your immediate response was to label me as "knowing nothing" whilst saying these areas were fine. You continually accuse me of "knowing more than...", in which case I assume you've never criticised any part of your club, the team, the coach, the players or any part of anyone else's club or any part of the sport or indeed anything in which you are not a confirmed and qualified expert. You then later admit that these areas can benefit from extra investment whilst calling me a "clueless oath" by which I assume you actually meant "clueless oaf".

Which one of us is arrogant again?

I am not getting into the rest of this... not my place but...

I think you are way out of order here mate. Wakefield's community programme is arguably the best in the whole of RL and more than matches the big boys at Hull, Leeds and Wigan. It is no secret that Leeds Rhinos Community Programme is based on the model that Wakefield started. If you don't believe me e-mail the Sleeve and ask him? I am sure he will say he something along the lines of 'borrowed Wakefield's ideas with pride'.

It is also worth mentioning that unlike the big clubs, who have more money to spare, Davide and the team have had to go looking for external funding opportunities and because the programme is so good, have been very successful in doing so.

You can kick them as much as you want in other areas, probably with some justification, but this is not something anyone from any club can criticise Wakefield on!

Another stalker!

Are you SmokeyTA in disguise or married to ceebeebeeceejames, or whatever her next name will be when she has to take a forced rest again) (Sorry Smokey!

)

If you would like answers to all your questions, you will find them on this forum. They are not a secret, but quite frankly, anyone with only 66 posts to their name who has never 'communicated with me before' can go and find-out.

Finally, what track record. This is my only ever identity on RL fans and I haven't been anywhere!

We can at least agree on one thing though... totally with you in respect of Susanna Reid!

Salford should go too. Damn you both to hell!!!!

I know that elements of Wakefield's approach has been used by other clubs including Leeds, ive spoken with Hetherington a few times and he still refers to the good parts of it that Leeds took on board. He also wishes to do far more at Leeds but the stadium has taken a lot of money that would have been put to that.
I hold a dim view of the amount and quality of community work that rugby league clubs carry out including the "top" clubs which is why I described Wakefield's as adequate. But you yourself admit it has been underfunded by the club. I also know of the excellent work done by Davide in difficult circumstances, I've been in contact with him myself over some aspects of their community work and I know he works his balls off. If the community work is funded properly it could be an awful lot better.

I also want to make this clear, I am not here to "kick" Wakefield, and I don't believe I've done that. My point all along has been that the first team needs to take a back seat to the rest of the club because of the previous ownership where the first team has been funded to the detriment of other areas in the club and it needs a few years restructuring to redress that balance somewhat.

Neither do I think Wakefield are alone in this but they are the club where it has been "most evident" and the thread was about Wakefield not any other club.

As I've said Wakefield can (and I hope they do) become a force and properly compete in SL in the future if this "transition" is handled well instead of merely existing in SL, which is what they've been doing in recent times.

What utter bollox

Come off it Starbug. Wouldn't you breathe easier with £££squillions at your disposal?

HTH

Once again wrong.

Steve OConnor took over in Nov 2007 - they applied for super league in March 2008 -- i make that four months.The decision was announced in July 08 -- i make that 9 months.

May i remind you of your comment earlier:

"in 3 months everything has gone from awful to wonderful"

Yet now you describe the community work and academy as adequate.
So you agree it wasnt awful after all.

Wow,knock yourself out,you picked up on a spelling mistake!!!!!!!!!

Someone is going to be kicked out and the obvious favourites seem to be Wakey, if they don't go then its going to be us, Cas or Salford. Barring a total collapse in Wales, they are safe and Quins will be safe no matter what happens. Salford have clearly made strives to get a stadium built and we have done a lot to ours and should have the new stand started when the July deadline arrives. Cas would need to have at least shown 100% proof of funding for a new ground to have 'assurances' accepted, so barring some underhand dealings at RFLHQ (which would not suprise me), if wakey manage to swing survival, I would guess Cas would be for the drop.

There could be another twist as its not beyond possibilities that Fax could get a spot with TWO current clubs being binned.

I think Cas should be given the boot because they clearly don't have a spare £12,000,000 to pull out of their towards a new stadium.

When confirmed we can all point and s at Cas knowing we're safe for another 3 years in the knowledge our clubs don't even own so much as a lighbulb at the facilities we call our home grounds.

Let's here it for the generous support of local authorities, benefactors, football and rugby union clubs who allow SL clubs to exist

Maybe if Wakey had kept there previous promises they wouldn't be bricking it now. But that's been said.

Over a decade in SL and still a shambles. Time to go Wakey.

What do you mean? Wakefield is awash with SL quality stadia. The one at Thornes Park, the one attached to the YCC Ground at Durkar. The newest one at Newmarket.

Transpose Wakey with SLE/RFL and that would be the truth as well

Why do some people find pleasure out of sicking the boot in? As supporters we know we are at risk this time due to the lack of a shiny new stadium in Wakefield but Cas are in the same boat too as well as others. Wakefield seem to be fair game to some when plenty of other clubs have had their fair share of money worries/ lack of new stadia/ rubbish playing standards/ low attendance as well. I just dont get why people take pleasure out of Wakefield possibly getting chucked out, but will defend other weaker francises to the hilt.

You will have to help me here.

Which SL clubs:

- have had 2 CVAs
- faced more than 2 widing up orders with HMRC
- constantly had around 9/10 'oveseas players' for a decade
- 'promised' moves to 2 new stadia but have so far delivered nothing
- had a chairman go into an IVA in the last licence period
- have an appaling ground that is an insult to supporters


I could add more.

Wakefield have a dreadful record and much of ithas occured during the last license period.

as it stands you are favourites to go down - surely no surprise. the good news is that if Glover sticks wil it you will have a decent crack at getting back in 2015 - probaby along with Fax, Leigh and a French bid.

What iam saying is lots of other teams have had the same problems as Wakefield have had, but it is ok to be antagonistic and stick the boot in to us. Other teams dont get the same level of rubbish thrown at them with very similar problems a us. I agree that Hudds have got their poop sorted now, but please show more humility as over the last 30 years your club has had highs and lows just like Wakefield. It might be you again one day. By the way post 06 Kear changed the Wakey squad round and we had loads of British lads in our ranks including many who now reside at Huddersfield. He also gave lads a chance who were in the lower leagues who went on to be successful. Blaymire, Golden, Moore, Grix, Fox et al were all in NL1 until JK gave them a go. I remember certain Hudds supporters at the time saying very few of those names would kick on. Look at them now.

Quote ="Richard1"What iam saying is lots of other teams have had the same problems as Wakefield have had, but it is ok to be antagonistic and stick the boot in to us. [And I am saying wakey have had many more than other SL clubs. It is a dreadful record. Trying to claim others are in the same boat is simply a denial of the facts Other teams dont get the same level of rubbish thrown at them with very similar problems a us. ecause other teams have not so consistently been so badly managed in so many ways I agree that Hudds have got their poop sorted now, but please show more humility as over the last 30 years your club has had highs and lows just like Wakefield. It might be you again one day. By the way post 06 Kear changed the Wakey squad round and we had loads of British lads in our ranks including many who now reside at Huddersfield. [If you are saying this change by Kear meant fewer non UK fed trained players since 06 then once again you are in la la land. Only last year you had 10 /17 non Uk trained players vs the Giants: www.slstats.org/2010/3/6/Wakefie ... iants.html Ten after a decade in SL FFS He also gave lads a chance who were in the lower leagues who went on to be successful. Blaymire, Golden, Moore, Grix, Fox et al were all in NL1 until JK gave them a go. I remember certain Hudds supporters at the time saying very few of those names would kick on. Look at them now. [Blaymire, Golden, Moore have kicked on to what exactly? Grix has certainly made big improvements over the last couple of years '" It is not the mainstream supporters faut nor Mr Glover. However the club has been an utter shambles for far to long.

Quote ="Richard1"What iam saying is lots of other teams have had the same problems as Wakefield have had, but it is ok to be antagonistic and stick the boot in to us. [And I am saying wakey have had many more than other SL clubs. It is a dreadful record. Trying to claim others are in the same boat is simply a denial of the facts Other teams dont get the same level of rubbish thrown at them with very similar problems a us. ecause other teams have not so consistently been so badly managed in so many ways I agree that Hudds have got their poop sorted now, but please show more humility as over the last 30 years your club has had highs and lows just like Wakefield. It might be you again one day. By the way post 06 Kear changed the Wakey squad round and we had loads of British lads in our ranks including many who now reside at Huddersfield. [If you are saying this change by Kear meant fewer non UK fed trained players since 06 then once again you are in la la land. Only last year you had 10 /17 non Uk trained players vs the Giants: www.slstats.org/2010/3/6/Wakefie ... iants.html Ten after a decade in SL FFS He also gave lads a chance who were in the lower leagues who went on to be successful. Blaymire, Golden, Moore, Grix, Fox et al were all in NL1 until JK gave them a go. I remember certain Hudds supporters at the time saying very few of those names would kick on. Look at them now. [Blaymire, Golden, Moore have kicked on to what exactly? Grix has certainly made big improvements over the last couple of years '" It is not the mainstream supporters faut nor Mr Glover. However the club has been an utter shambles for far to long.

as is the majority of RL and your point is?

Some "senior" clubs have been on the edge in fact I think only a couple of clubs in the RFL , as it stands, have never been over the edge but have teetered on the edge and only had a last minute lifeline.

The games governance has always been by the clubs, not an independant organisation.

It tells you a lot about the game in this country and why it is where it is.