That can only be, by dint of geography, Leeds, Hudds, Wakey and less likely, Cas.

If it was Leeds it would be a shock. And he says club*s* - is he implying that despite their gesture of this past weekend, Huddersfield are the club after our sponsors and fans?

Surely all clubs are chasing everybody elses fans and sponsors all the time?

Fairly certain I've seen SL club adverts in the likes of Leigh,Swinton,Fax,Batley,Dewsbury,Fev,Keighley, so whats the difference?

The difference is that while fans have a whinge about it happily, it is unusual to see a senior official from a club criticise the dealings of other clubs which do not directly affect his club. It's also pretty off-message from the previous RFL/SL line.

Well considering we would assume Saints arent chasing Bulls fans and sponsors, then other clubs gaining from a possible Bulls demise would adversly affect Saints

Might as well have put 'because Saints always beat Bulls in cup finals'...

I'm a Saints Fan and I've got to say that I hope you lot come through this in one piece. Me and my family enjoy our away trips to odsal. Its a great atmosphere at your ground and the fans are friendly. It would be a tradgedy if you go out of the competition when we have the likes of London/ Catalans and their 3 away fans who do nothing for the atmosphere. At least you bring some away support. And your not a bunch of animals like Hull/Hull KR. Who should be ushered into cages when they arrive just to be on the safe side. LOL

I have always rated McManus, big time. He is a shrewd operator, and he saved Saints and turned the club around, not least (as far as I can see) by bringing in capable people.

I was quite upset when I got the impression he was angling after our downfall. It seemed out of character.

Having read his wonderful, and so very powerful piece today, I don't know why I was worrying. The man is a hero. He deserves the freedom of the City.

Great piece from League Express and McManus and I wholeheartedly agree with him.

The only bit that lets the article down is his insistance of reducing SL to "less than 14 clubs". Bulls would have a lot more support to stay in SL from clubs like mine (Cas Tigers) , clubs that are at risk of getting the chop if this was cleared up.

Shock horror - some SL chairman want to see Bradford stay in SL!!!

ATEOTD it doesn't really matter what the opinions of the chairmen are - it's all going to come down to the viability of the business plans of the bidders being considered by the RFL. If there's a sustainable plan involving a reasonable CVA and without "silly" season ticket pricing then IMHO the Bulls will retain their licence.

On the other hand, if the "best" business plan involves liquidation of the current company and no tangible payments towards the creditors, then I wouldn't be surprised if the Bulls don't have a SL licence in 2013 & 2014.

The most important thing that needs to come out of this whole process is for Bradford's professional rugby league club to simply have a future, rather than a future that MUST be in SL. If the powers that be decide that the SL licence will be forfeited, there will still be the ability for the club to regain it at a future date. Surely this is far better than a "Super League or bust" mentality!

If Bulls lose the SL Licence, it's no way back and likely oblivion in my view. Always has been.

The only way back would be with an owner with some real Brass. But such a bidder will not want to see the club relegated in the first place. So it seems to me we will either keep the Licence or disappear.

The Hull KR chairman was on radio humberside this morning (about 7.30) and was talking about us at the end of his piece about KR, saying he "felt a change in the mood within SL clubs and chairmen towards Bradford being in SL for 2013" or words to that effect, I can't remember the exact phrase.

He said he expected us to be in SL in 2013, but that was just his feeling, he hadn't been told anything or spoken to anyone. Definetly seems to be a change in the wind.

that doesn't say a lot about the 10,000+ fans, if we can't play with the big boys then we wont support the club in a lower league and fight to get back in the big time. It all depends on whether Bradford get a serious backer who want's to put money into the club for the love of the game as RL certainly isn't a cash cow generating massive profits. A credible offer that sees the creditors get a reasonable return and the RFL will most likely keep the status quo the Bulls in super league.......

I agree that whoever ends up with the Bulls (or any other RL club for that matter) needs deep pockets, but there isn't a great prospect of any financial return for them in the long term. If the buyer has got the business acumen to have earned themselves sufficient wealth to fund the Bulls in the longer term, why would they "only" consider acquiring the Bulls on the basis that they are forking out up to £1.5m to deal with a mess that wasn't of their making and then have to immediately invest further to assemble a competitive squad for next year?

I'm not suggesting that none of the potential purchasers won't consider dealing with the "old" debts as part of their business plan, just that it isn't a foregone conclusion.

You surely can't be saying that you won't continue to support the Bulls if the new owners business plan doesn't include retaining the SL licence?

Who said that?


Really? Because, you reckon that such a person does exist, but has forgotten to step up? Do you know his name? Mr. Yeti, perhaps?

If by "dealing with" you mean "paying", that is dead right. Any offers will be exactly that, pence in the £ offers so far as creditors are concerned. Anyone who really believes that there is someone out there who will start by repaying the failed company's historic debt in full needs to stay off the sauce for a while.