I will thank you to credit me with a bit more intelligence and free will than that.

Even if I was Caisley's biggest supporter, it would still be very plain to me regarding the timing.

If I thought Caisley was thinking pimarily of what was in the best interests of the club (he never gave a stuff for the fans) then I would be far less hostile.

But we saw where his Ahab-like obsession with getting one over on Hetherington got us? And it looks to me he is trying to do the same on Hood. Looks like revenge to me.

And it is HE that is seeking to use the fans, IMO.

I don't see how he's using the fans any more than Peter Hood. There are many elements to saving this club but getting rid of this board is number 1 on the list. I'd prefer a third party but according to you, there isn't one and until thursday the only other option was administration.

If the three choices (and I don't know this) Hood, Caisley or liquidation, I'd choose Chris Caisley everyday of the week.

Your assesment of Caisley is wholly unbalanced.

In Chris' admittedly chequered record there are great successes. The reason the club had the residual loyalty and support to make this pledge successful is in large part because of what Chris Caisley did in the 1990s when he effectively turned a dour club into the powerhouse of British rugby league. It is our 'Revie' era and the fanbase (try as Hood might to erode it) exists because of it.

In the aftermath of the great Wigan side of the 80s and 90s the club went bust and lost Central Park. Nevertheless, those sides are still celebrated both by the club and its supporters. Starngley, we're not allowed that pleasure without being lectured that our success was built on unsustainable debt, as if this was a unique fraud committed by an evil meglamaniac.

You know as well as I do that the club and its press office have mounted an effective campaign to blacken Caisley's record and his name. This is not first and foremost a defence of Caisley. It is more a condemnation of those who have used his failings to explain and excuse their own. If he is arrogant, then Hood and his board are submissive, if Caisley is dishonest then they are doubly so.

Maislebugs. Could not agree more!!!!!

If we do survive we face a painful couple of years. A new investor might plug some of the £500k hole, but there's still the problem of our ongoing losses, reportedly £100k per month. And there's the need to wean fans off the cheap season tickets. The current model just isnt viable.

There's not going to be any weaning. It's just going to be back to "normal" pricing structures for Season tickets come Sept. They may try and pitch just below "average" pricing of the other clubs but that will be the only concession on pricing structure.

As a one-off, the first pledge was great marketing and really picked up off-field enthusiasm. It wasn't matched on-field. That kinda screwed us. It forced a second pledge was wasn't really (with hindsight) viable.

There may be many elements. How can anyone (in camp Caisley, camp Hood or on the fence) think that the most important is not getting the cash in? Regardless of who the board is, we need the cash to survive in the short term. Arguably, we may need a change on the board to survive in the long term, but without the cash we may not have a long term to argue over.

If you think Caisley is the best option, its likely he'll 'save' us from administration, and expect all to be forgiven over the Harris saga. He may come out and admit he made mistakes , but he won't take long till he's back to his usual arrogant self. Don't think Hood or Caisley are great options at chairman anymore, and regardless of lies they have BOTH told, I know which one I believe has the clubs best interests at heart rather than a vendetta/agenda/revenge whatever you want to call it.

If we raise the 500k and still have this board in place, then we have achieved nothing apart from putting back the date of administration as well as making sure no future pledge would have a chance of success due to supporter cynicism.

Secondly, this board, supported by a whispering campaign from within the club has dripped with an anti- Caisley agenda since he stood down.

Peter Hood may have the best intertests of the club at heart but he has no idea what those best interests are or how to achieve them.

But he's not stupid/arrogant/stubborn enough to sign a player contracted to another club which is the main factor in the mess we are in atm. It's taken a while, which is why the blame is being put on Hood and co, but it has as much to do with Caisley.

He knew we was letting Hood go up creek without a paddle, but due to the hard work of the current board it's taken longer to get to this and they've got the support of most of the RL community, something we wouldn't have if CC was in charge.

No it's not the main factor. It's important and shouldn't overlooked but it's not the main factor. An equally important factor is that we became a terrible team that people didn't want to support and businesses didn't want to sponsor meaning our income plummeted. We employed a poor coach for over 4 years and signed poor players.

I thought the general consensus was that CC was forced out (which supports the vendetta theory).

I think this idea that the cynical Caisley stepped aside and allowed the decent Mr Hood to take the fall doesn't bear a deal of analysis. Hood put himself forward as chairman, he wasn't duped into it. I don't doubt the current board work hard and that they had issues to overcome but the fact that 8 years after signing Iestyn Harris and 6 years after employing Steve McNamara we're on the brink of liquidation suggests they haven't done very well.

With Caisley, there are at least some positives to balance out the negatives.

Perhaps if you been on the Forums a lot longer and gleaned more relevant facts instead of fiction you might have a different perspective than your bitter cynical attitude towards the present board!

If the only financial factor effecting the bulls was the Harris deal, then selling burgess and fielden, as well as releasing peacock, Paul, pryce, Johnson hape, vainikolo would have cancelled the out surely.

I've defended Caisley on here, and shown my despair at the hood administration. The fact is because they don't and won't get on, we will never be able to be sure about any of the facts that are coming from either of them.

Ok here's a different take perhaps. Caisley is to blame, but not because of the Harris episode. I think that moving back into odsal, and renegotiating the lease in 2003 was the catalyst for our demise. Under the old deal, we were given a stadium complete with maintenance safety certs etc... But CCs ego meant that he wanted control, and that's what's cost us, long term.. The money we got from the council paid for the coral stand, instead of ensuring we had the money to keep the ground in a decent state of repair.

I know for a fact the coral stand couldve been built for a lot less, but his power trip meant he went for the more grand scheme. .


This is where he messed up most, not just in the Harris deal. But having said all this, look at the positives. All 4 sl titles, all 3 wccs, 2 CC wins that none of us would swap.

Neither hood nor caisley are wanted, but where's the queue to take the job on!?

Never trust a man with a moustache.

is the new announcement due in the morning and if so does anybody know what time? might be on another thread but cant find anything.

I don't remember seeing anything about an anouncement, just the pledge deadline being extended.