The rumours were already gathering pace at the weekend that Batemans agent had said that a deal had been agreed with Warrington. With needless statements like that it could be that he is preparing the fans for the news. Mind you that isn't the only rumour going round to be fair and most of them will probably be a load of rubbish. They certainly don't help though.

It not rumour that wire want Bateman, they do. But why we should even entertain it and encourage the talk in public is beyond me.

The club may well have to deal with the prospect of selling assets privately I'm sure, but no preparing of the ground will help the fans reaction, so if I was a chairman on his way out wthin days/weeks if I couldn't give out only constructive vibes I'd keep my bloody mouth shut when a sun journo rings up.

It dosn't say when Hood made these comments

No it doesn't, and to be fair the headline is quite a spin for the angle they want from the probably honest quote which does say we are resisting offers.

Exactly. Didn't he make a similar (or even identical) statement to this effect several weeks ago? The only 'news' here appears to be the rumour of Huddersfield showing an interest. Looks like a non-story to me.

That's what I mean. Just as it is still a rumour. The line of 'considerable interest' has been around for months

From his twitter account just now -

"Paper talk nowa days, lol love to no who's writes these things"

Yes it's no secret that Warrington want John Bateman and it's also no secret that Bateman's agents are the Clarke brothers.

Hence Phil using Sky Sports to inflate the contract value - although John's performances have seemingly done that without the need for Phil to compare John to a young Andy Farrell.

The problem with selling yet another crown in our jewels is obvious - it disengages the clubs core support.

Although I'd ask everyone to think about this:

"If selling John Bateman to Warrington for the rumoured £250,000+ secured the long term future of the club while categorically meaning the club also avoided administration, could you live with such a decision to sell John Bateman?"

Heartbreakingly I could live with such a decision.

I will be gutted if we let this guy go its mad we should be making room for our young guns these are the future of the club and the ones that will take us back to our glory days. This lad could easily be the next Andy farrell if we give him time and dont rush him. The bradford board want if they let him go to another club. the last thing we want to be is second fiddle or a feeder club to the money clubs. If we turn into that we will never rise to the top again. Wigan are a club who were at the bottom when Noble joined but with the increase in home grown talent and keeping there young talent they rose to the top again, Bradford need to do the same.

Bateman's Twitter puts it all to rest.

The only 'vultures' that are circling are the press. But, like Bullseye mentions, Hood's communication skills are appalling, if indeed the comments have been made recently.

It would have to be explained in those terms, which unfortunately would lead to a situation where the club have something to say and we'd have something new from those shysters to not believe.

Sounds quite simple to me? Hood is telegraphing that for the club to survive without the required level of outside investment, Bateman will have to be sold. He's basically challenging Caisley to come up with the necessary investment so that sale can be avoided?

Incidentally, if you were Bateman's agent (Phil Clarke's brother), you would be grossly negligent IMO if you did not advise your client to hold off signing any contract with ANYBODY right now. His value - for an extended Bulls contract or to Davy or Moran and their bottomless pockets and boundless munificence, will likely only keep on increasing. The longer you leave it, the more he is likely to be able to command, whoever he plays for. And you would DEFINITELY not want him to be coerced into being part of a forced sale?

Any bid from Warrington I would imagine is for next year onwards or at least a loan back agreement. This year, I believe we are at full cap already but could be wrong. Huddersfield too if you believe the Lunt scenario was to make cap space available.