Well if they've finished more than 8 points ahead they are stronger on the field.
They might be much weaker off the field and that weakness may eventually lead to a weaker on-field in future seasons. But if we want clubs to be judged on off-field rather than on-field matters then we shouldn't have P&R as that can only judge on-field strength and only in one season.

As I said, the downside of P&R.

This particular post sounds like smokeyta which is sad but heyho.

As has been said, they're not stronger on the field than other club in the league.
And they are most clearly no stronger than most clubs off the field

If they are prepared to gamble to live beyone their means for success then going into admin is part of that risk, it just seems that the risk is not sufficient to deter the practice.

Yes it was a similar model and the fact it was allowed to happen is a shambles. how on earth it was allowed to take place in a town of 3k where the nearest scottish town of any size was 8k (Annan) how on earth did they ever hope to maintain a crowd.

My family is from Eastriggs halfway between Gretna and Annan and most of them Support Gretna, they knew it was doomed to fail they even said as much. They just wanted to enjoy success while they had it and didn't care about the future.......

I'm in favour for very harsh punishments for a club going into administration. If a club is in major financial problems due to mis-management then it is their own fault. As a sport we need to take measures to do whatever we can to prevent it.

I would also like to see a central fund to assist clubs (in the short term) if it is beyond their control and preventing them from entering admin, for example if a sponsor goes bust.

Agreed.

Whatever the punishment for going into admin, it will never and can never be a deterrent to going into admin.

That has been my entire argument against the deduction in points, not to protect Bradford but the fact that the punishment we have is in no way a deterrent. The punishment achieves nothing.

You could have punishment that deducts Bradford's all their points for the next million years, you could send them to the Pennine league, it wouldn't matter, none of that is a deterrent to admin because the people who put them into admin are no longer there. They don't lose more because of it, they aren't punished by it.

The points deduction has zero influence on any party involved in the administration, it's doesn't punish the wrongdoers, and it doesn't help the creditors. It is utterly pointless and no help in us trying to achieve what we want to achieve.

People seem to think if we didn't have a pints deduction we would just have a queue of people waiting in line to throw money away buying an RL club. Investing it, running up huge debts, then throwing it all away by taking a club into admin. To me that's just a ridiculous supposition.

You are right, but wasting your time, as there isn't anybody on the thread capable of making the distinction required, it is all just knee jerk nonsense.

Also the rules aren't about administration specifically, they are about insolvency events.

So in 2015 if a club went into administration and was deducted 6 points. It would start the season on -6 and (in theory) could lose every game in the first phase. That -6 would get scrubbed to zero in the 3x8 sections and then they could just win a few games to get back up to SL for 2016.

That's the word on the street folks!

indeed, and if you were such a club would you bother trying to Qualify for a top 8 position with the reward being a competition nigh on impossible for you to win? Or would you throw the first part of the season and concentrate on making sure your senior players were ready for the 7 game season at the end?