On the one hand I'm all in favour of squadbuilder and respect those involved with it. On the other I'm wary of investing anything as the current owner has got a track record of letting us down in many different ways. I'll need some convincing we're on the right track as a club before I get involved. I realise that holds us back but I have serious reservations about Wood and the way the club is run off the field. I'm sure I'm not alone.

On the player comings and goings I think Gill in for Brown is good business. I'd forgotten about Kear and I expect he'll play fullback if Pickersgill goes. That leaves us no worse off IMO. We clearly do need to keep Lilley as he's improving and Brough won't go on forever. Ideally we'd also sign Keyes but I doubt we can afford three frontline halfbacks at once. Fax have wanted Keyes for sometime so it wouldn't surprise me if he went there. He's a great attacking halfback.

Longer term we need to be thinking about replacements for the likes of Brough, Murphy, Flanagan and Crossley as they won't go on forever.

Crossley will...

Bit of a punt in the dark, that statement. Seeing as the main income for clubs are central funding (yet to be decided) , ST sales (Bradford sell more), corporate (don't know) and sponsorship (also don't know, but value tends to increase, the more sets of eyeballs you have at your ground). The main expenditure is the ground, which is the great imponderable as no-one actually has leaked any details of our current 18month lease yet, which is unexpected.

I think Bradford's income will be more than Fax or York, I just don't know the expenditure. Also need to remember there's an academy as well to be paid for.

Our accounts are available online so it will be interesting to see how Bradford's fair. As before though after viewing our accounts I see no surprise at all that we are outbidding Bradford for players.

Based on what? If you're just going off the level of debt then you might want to think again. Those creditors mean nothing if they're shareholder loans unlikely to be called in.

Ours are too. +ve side of the column, we’re up about £185k. -ve side of the column, we’ve reduced short term debt by £50k. Long term debt (usually directors loans) stays the same.

It's pure guesswork as to whether our buying power is less than Fax. As people say, the annual accounts don't particularly lead you to that conclusion. As much as we like Keyes, we need to sort out some sort of support for Brough and Lilley, whether that's through the youth or a utility back that can properly run in the middle. Keyes is just too good for that supporting role and if he's been offered the spot every week on similar money at Fax well that's probably the right thing for the lad.

Since when have Halifax outbid Bulls for a player.
We haven't offered Joe Keyes a deal so nothing to get outbid on.

Fax outbidding us for players does seem to happen a lot...

Has anyone else actually said we were in for Keyes? Even then, if we retained Lilley, and possibly Brough, then it's likely that Fax will outbid us as he'll be their main half back so will spend larger chunk of their budget on him.

I think you're getting carried away with his accounts and Fax outbidding us for players Greg. Your taking on your forum how down to the bare bones you are this year and aren't bringing anyone in? Seems strange considering how healthy your accounts were 12 months a go...

Keyes might not even want to come back. Our history of administrations still hangs over the club and will for some time. I wouldn't begrudge anyone thinking twice about taking up a job with an employer with such a shaky track record.

1st of all nothing is even confirmed.

2nd no one on either this forum or the panthers one really knows the true finances of either club or what has been put on the table for Keyes

We're interested in Sheffield winger/fullback Ryan Miller apparently.

I agree with the consensus that having all 3 of Brough, Lilley & Keyes would be an expensive luxury. That doesn't mean we didn't offer Keyes a contract, possibly we were thinking Brough/Keyes was slightly better than Brough/Lilley?

Perhaps - I agree we're unlikely to be able to afford all three. Brough is staying for next year so if it were a choice between Keyes and Lilley it's a difficult one. Both have attributes the other doesn't. Keyes for instance is more of an attacking threat and more creative and he can direct the team as a single halfback. Lilley is stronger, more durable, better defensively and more versatile but struggles a bit to direct the team on his own.

I would be happy with Lilley or Keyes, but I wouldn't be surprised to see neither in Bulls colours. Sounds like we are going to see a big turnover of players, I'd rather we have a bit of stability in key positions.