I think you've hit the nail on the head there and it's probably the reason why buyers with deeper pockets than Khan and Green haven't come forward to buy the club in the past (Mandy K not withstanding but who knows how serious that bid was beyond the grandstanding). Even during the Super League years Odsal was a millstone and the club was losing money.

I reckon a lot of pain would have been saved if a bold decision had been taken during those years when there was talk of the Odsal Superbowl, an outlandish scheme if ever there was. The club and the council should have pushed for a smaller scheme instead of wasting time, energy and money on the "Wembley of the North"; something more reflective of a rugby league club trying to live within its means.

Bradford Bulls. The rugby league equivalent of Gazza.

Offered help from everyone but incapable of wanting to sort itself out whatsoever.

We have fallen off the wagon again.

It was the academy that convinced me Green was serious.

so daft as to be beyond comprehension, imo. As far as the council was concerned though, they never were going to put any money into it - the land itself was to be their contribution, whilst the build and running of the stadium was always intended to be a private matter and the costs for the relevant companies to find. Mr Byers ended all that anyway.

Going back in time, wasn't Green's involvement dictated by the fact he had been persuaded to give the club a loan by Whitcut(?? think that was his name), which would have been swallowed up by a liquidation or other buyer coming forward. Him buying the club was his best chance, as he saw it, of getting his cash back.

I have no doubt his financial exposure has been increased from his 2 years owning this great club, and I genuinely feel sorry for the guy for that. He does deserve great credit for the junior set up, we have the most promising crop of youngsters since the Burgess boys, Whitehead, Ferres (Brett, not Steve!!) et al, but as people have commented, the cost structure/overheads needed to keep this club operating at a sustainable level seem to be a bridge too far.

I think the thing that Green has misjudged is the passions and emotions involved in running a company such as the Bulls or any other sports club. There are 100's of opinions out there, and these days lots of ways of expressing them which can quickly turn issues into feeding frenzies. Coming from primairily a B2B business background, must have been a big shock.

Final point, lots of people talking about starting again away from Odsal. I've been going to that stadium for nearly 50 years, but if it meant we could have a secure competitive future, then bring it on, BUT 2 things:-

1. How would our landlord (the RFL) feel about any application for a new team playing somewhere else, thus leaving them with a reduction in revenue caused by receiving no rent for Odsal, can't imagine that would go down well.
2. There has been comments regarding using the ground for other things, notably landfill, but I thought there was a covenant on the land that it needed to be used for sport/recreational use, how would that be changed??

In common with others, apathy rules with me as well, whatever happens, let it be quick, so we can make whatever adjustments to our lives and move on

There have been so many missed opportunities, bad decisions and bad luck.

We had the chance to move in at Park Avenue which would’ve got us a ground almost exactly like Headingley with county cricket on one side and RL and football on the other. Jack Bates turned down the opportunity. I think that was a bad decision. Odsal had already had many false dawns in terms of regeneration at that point. To stay put has effectively handicapped the club ever since.

The failure of the 2002 development of Odsal due to the intervention of the bloody government and supermarkets protecting their interests was the final nail in the coffin for Odsal. It also signalled the end of the Council propping up the ground and the club. After 2003 we had to shoulder the upkeep and that has bled the club white since. Perhaps we should’ve stayed at VP? I know many fans didn’t like it (myself included) but maybe if the club had explained why Odsal was no longer suitable we could’ve got used to the idea. I campaigned to get back to Odsal. I don’t mind admitting I was wrong. Had we stayed I think we’d have been better off than we are now.

Add to that the decision to sign Iestyn Harris which led to us alienating Jamie Peacock and incurring a massive legal bill, appointing Steve McNamara too early and on too long a contract and you have the perfect ingredients for meltdown on the pitch too. The brief rebirth under Omar Khan was doomed from the start due to the huge financial handicap put on him and his own inability to run a business. Same applies to Green.

If anyone takes on the club they ought to know by now it will cost them a fortune to run while it remains at Odsal in its undeveloped state. The chances of Odsal getting developed are slim to nought. The Council isn’t going to do any deal that looks like it’s helping a professional sports club in the current climate unless someone else pays for it which is unlikely. Can you really see the RFL buying the Council out and redeveloping it as a RFL asset? The rest of the game would go crazy as the Bulls would be seen as beneficiaries.

Even if that did happen it would take years and we haven’t got that long. We need a white knight with deep pockets and we need him/her now!

Totally agree, I think he's had the best interests of the club at heart, if only to try and protect his cash, but was out of his depth in running a b2c business and didn't have deep enough pockets to plough cash in a la Mr. Beaumont to try and get to a 'promised land' where he might have been able to sell the club and recover his 'investment'

My thoughts exactly. If we lose most of the professionals who couldn't even get us in the top 4 in a mainly part time league, meh. There's a handful i'd be very disappointed in losing. O'brien, Chisholm, Moss, Clare, Ryan and Sidlow.

We have some of the most exciting juniors in the game (although according to the media only Saints and Leeds develop juniors. Remind me who they have developed in the last 5 years?)

If we lost the juniors that would be a step too far for me. I couldn't bare to see it when we've spent time and money and effort developing our own, and other clubs reaping the benefit of our hard work because of mismanagement. Again



Only hope is that Greens statement last week was very strong and he really went on the attack. He's not one to throw rash statements about like certain other chairman. If he really didn't have the money, then i don''t see why he would have released last weeks statement.

I think when we were getting regular crowds of 15,000+, Odsal was my preferred option, but I remember some memorable matches at VP and thought the atmosphere was amongst the best I'd ever seen. I remember the first game in the snow v Saints, the Wigan game where Deacon won it with the last kick, the 2nd game v Saints in 2001, great memories.

I remember carrying my niece on my shoulders, ignoring her warnings and cracking her head on something steel.

She's still banging on about it now.

Agree with all that.

However the off-field management last year was good enough to get us promoted. Throw in the continued bad luck of Gareth O'brien having probably his best ever game in a Wire shirt so that he and Wire then did a U-turn. Our best player cracking himself against the posts to put himself out for the season in the middle 8s. Throw in the injuries to our 7 & 1. Again if Mullaney, Siejka had been fit all season, it might have been a different story. Our coaches incompetent use of the playing budget and squad. To him finally panicking in the MPG, playing a centre as an interchange hooker, and getting about 10 mins from each interchange.

The decision by the RFL/SL clubs to take away half the SKY money from us and take advantage of a newcomer was sickening. To see them plate it up for themselves? I would have been less aggrieved if that money had have gone on keeping development officers. Not chairman's back pockets.

Has the solicitors letter arrived yet?

Come on, be fair. Some of them used it on the most egregious case of salary cap cheating in the history of said cap.

Club shop closed between 1-2. Having a meeting maybe?

Hope things become clear one way or another today.

Wasn't thinking same.

Or they've only got one member of staff who's willing to still turn up when they're not being paid, and that person needs a dinner break.

Well right about now they're either having a sarni or being told we're going into admin.

Really makes you think doesn't it. I've thought long and hard about it, and the only conclusion I can come up with is that it's Ham and Mustard on Tiger Bread.

I hope it's bought in the ground and you're not supporting businesses elsewhere....

Think they'll stay very hungry if they're depending on buying a sarnie in the ground today....

The worrying thing for the Bulls (if they do go into Admin) is that the feeling of much of the contributors on these pages is ..... meh.

There's only so many times someone can slap you in the face before eventually your cheek goes numb.

And there's the problem . There will be no enthusiasm again for £100 donations as they did the first time. The league give us about £60k a month from funding but our monthly bill is over £200k. if we can't afford July then it is a very long time till March when the games start again - 8 months or about £1.5m to find as we will only get about £25k per month after finishing 5th. These figures are estimates but it does show that we need a lot of cash and no games of any financial quality before next summer.

Apparently there is a meeting today at 1pm for all staff.