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This is not news, anyone on here knows that IL's money has not been replaced and that we are on skid row until it is. I presume DL is covering the losses, big pockets has DL! It could be worse, we could re-locate up north has Celtic have had to do! In some ways the Celtic crisis is a good cover for us, the RFL can't afford two teams to go belly up at once, it is just a question of who is first at the moment as I can't see Celtic thriving in Wrexham.

And to be honest I'm getting towards the end of my tether, my pockets are only so deep.

Er, this isn't about money, but how he has to reduce his shareholding under RFL ownership regulations and would appear not to have done. Perhaps it should be Quins AND Wigan's future in doubt

Indeed - it appears to be IL's problem and his reluctance to flog the shares for a poor price.

IL owns 65 shares with a nominal value of £1 each. If there's no ready buyer at a higher price, then it would be a pure formality for DH to buy him out.

I can't see the Crusaders making it in Wrexham! add to that our problems, watch out for Leigh Fans in the weekly RL press demanding they are Widnes are put into Super League.

There are more than us and the Crusaders with problems!! Murdock will be laughing he has the game over a barrel now, why increase coverage fees when no one is really interested, IF viewing figures collapse and he ever chooses to drop us Pity Help The Game!

The Leigh fans who write into RL Express each week never fail to irritate me. The fact that they should be in Championship One next season, yet they believe they have a divine right to be in SL is, frankly, hilarious.

I seem to remember that when the Broncos went tits up four weeks into the season a few years back, David Hughes was banned from being a director of the club in future. It was part of the deal Richard Lewis managed to get through to allow the club to see out the season before the Quins rebranding despite the anger of the northern clubs. That seems to have been ignored by the RFL so maybe they'll let this slide as well?

Either way, I think those people talking about a Supporters Trust last year need to dust off their plans.

One teeny weeny little local difficulty faces anyone seeking to either buy the club outright or to buy out IL's 65% share: at 30/11/08 the club owed £2.5m to Lenaghan and £1.9m to Hughes.

That was 12m ago, so who knows what the situation is now?

Of course, it is possible that one or both of them have written some or all of those loans off - like the £0.84m that they wrote off in 2007.

But otherwise, anyone buying the shares takes on a technically insolvent (and how...!) business funded by subordinated loans from the current owners. Will those current owners be happy for that situation to continue under new ownership when they lack control?

And if the "new ownership" happens to be a current owner's son, then would the substance be that nothing has really changed?

It ain't working, guys.

Er...it is though. See my post above re the loans.

Oh, and I agree that this ownership issue should impact on Wigan just as much as on Harlequins. Maybe he will be told he has to divest himself of his Wigan holding >25%

Won't happen though, surely? The RFL must be pooing their pants right now over the financial state of Crusaders, Harelequins and quite possibly one or two other SL clubs, as well as any number of lower league clubs. No way will they be able to stand up to an owner who threatens to pull his funding and bring club down IMO.

David Hughes wrote off another £1.5m when the Broncos went under. Worth remembering those figures the next time the usual suspects start moaning about our board not spending enough money.

Indeed. Had Lenaghan and Hughes not pretty well totally bankrolled the club, to the tune of MILLIONS, then it would not be here now. In fact, it would not have been here years ago. Bet they get sod all thanks from most of the "fans", and they must be thoroughly disheartened to see such poor attendances (whatever the cause).

But dont most clubs have a "financial donor"- Wires were deep in it until Moran stepped in, it makes you wonder what the sugar daddy's at The Reds and Hudds pump in.

There is no question we are tightening our belts- you only have to look at our signings plus who we have released over the last couple of years.

Worrying times for Quins and RL as a whole

I should think David Hughes is beyond being disheartened by our gates but he's still here (thankfully as if he walks its pretty likely the end for us.) As for thanks, I think most people around Quins RL are well aware that without David, and for a period Ian, we would not have a fully professional RL team in London. There's a small minority who think the board don't invest enough, I doubt David loses too much sleep over that. His accountant may though given the sums we burn, I seem to remember David saying at least once that his accountant had advised him to cut back on the way he bankrolls us.

I'd love to see us turn it around for David's sake but back in the real world...........

I'd agree that many other clubs, all sports, have a sugar daddy however we are probably more vulnerable than most. There's not likely to be too many multi-millionaires who grew up watching Fulham/London/Quins and most sugar daddies are people who grew up watching the club - Simon Moran being one of them. If David walks the queue to replace him is rather short, as Ian appears to have discovered whilst trying to shift his shares.

As I have posted many times before. I cannot fathom how David Hughes is prepared to lose millions of pounds yet tolerates the status quo at the club. How McDermott and most of the players are even contracted to the club is beyond belief.

Wot about helping out D H with a supporters trust. anyone any idea how they work etc etc

If you can get enough like-minded folk together, then you need to talk to Laura from Supporters' Direct. She is the Rugby League Supporters' Trusts Development Officer (and a Hudds fan...) and her full-time job is to help supporters set up STs. I'm sure she would be delighted to come to a meeting (provided there was demonstrable serious intent) to explain how STs work and what is involved.

I have met her several times.

If anyone wants contact details - provided they are serious - PM me.

But David Hughes is a multi-millionaire, self-made, so he must know a thing or two about business. I can't fathom him either, but I'd trust his judgement more than I'd trust yours. That's unless you too are a multi-millionaire, in which case you ought to put up or shut up.

He might know a thing or two about business but it looks like he doesn't know anything about creating a viable Superleague club. Again, I put it back to you, if it was your money and you were losing milllions would you tolerate the status quo at the club in terms of marketing, coaching and players?

First question. Why the hell am I responding to you

Second question, Ever think there's only enough to keep us afloat rather than drive us forward?

I'd either, 1.. sack my Chief Executive, who's paid to run the business (but as I've done that and Paul Blanchard's just into year two that might be jumping the gun) or 2.. jack it in.

Luckily for us, David Hughes is not jacking it in. Goodness knows where we'd be if he did.

It just about sums up how total Parochial Rugby League is, Maurice Lindsay "talked" about expansion, but the majority of Northerners were never really committed to it. It is one of the reasons I stopped supporting St Helens my home town club and started with Fulham v Wigan at Craven Cottage and never had any regrets!

But I now worry about the game!

I'm me, far from a self-made millionaire, he's him. Obviously our minds work very differently, so what I'd do in the situation is irrelevant.

The other major difference is that he knows far far more about what's going on than I do, or than you do for that matter.

Have you approached him directly with your issues? If you did get a reply it would be of much greater value than you'll get from me or (with due respect to them all) any other poster on here. That's unless one of them is DH in disguise of course.

All the fans I've ever met are eternally grateful for what Lenaghan and particularly Hughes have done for us, in fact I've yet to come across one who isn't. Also I'm sure Hughes is unhappy with the attendances, but he's also smart enough to realise what the problems are.