Quote: SmokeyTA "i cant be bothered repeating it again, go re-read what i put'"
Ditto.
Quote: SmokeyTA "we can compete with them, we do compete with them, i dont know why you are pretending we dont,'"
In much the same way that a kid with a slingshot can compete with a tank.
If it comes down to money, we can't compete with them. Which shows you that money isn't everything, because we're still here.
Quote: SmokeyTA "yes, the one where even if they dont make it higher than 3rd division, they will still be paid the same if not more than if they choose SL and become the best player in the world'"
Exactly - they can, by their own targets, fail [iand still make as much money as a SL player[/i. If they succeed, well - we all know what the potential is.
Hence, the salary cap in the SL is pretty irrelevent, because those kids are not aiming for division 3 football or bit parts at a RU club, which would place them in the SL wage brackets. they're aiming for the top, and we can't compete with them at that level.
Quote: SmokeyTA "the salary cap does none of these things, it caps salaries, thats why its a salary cap, its called that because that is solely what it does'"
Again, you're focussing on the [iwhat[/i deliberately ignoring the [iwhy[/i.
This is like arguing that surgery is bad because you're cutting someone open, and ignoring [iwhy[/i you're cutting someone open - "surgery is just cutting someone up, that's solely what it is".
Quote: SmokeyTA "there is no financial prudence in a salary cap, being financially prudent would be to spend what you can sustainably afford regardless of any arbitrary amount set by somebody else'"
Alas, history has shown us that financial prudence cannot be relied upon from sports clubs. Each failure damages the sport as a whole.
Quote: SmokeyTA "we can, and we do, if we didnt compete we wouldnt exist'"
That makes no sense. In those terms I can compete with DHL by lugging around boxes on my own street. I'm not sure any sensible observer would class me as competition to DHL, and nor do I think any sensible observer would claim we can currently offer anything compete with top level football or RU.
Quote: SmokeyTA "it isnt controversial, simply wrong,
RU has had a massive increase in players and support since it went pro, absolutely huge'"
How nice. Shame for your point that I was discussing the [iamateur[/i days, isn't it?
Quote: SmokeyTA "scotland have always been poor, they were however better, when their best players were earning more money playing in the english league, '"
And earning less than Scottish players can do now. So why have they not produced more players of similar quality?
Quote: SmokeyTA "why did you need to edit that quote? is it because it showed the ridiculously contradictory nature of your argument'"
What quote have I edited, exactly? You're banging on about the salary cap putting players off, as they're paid less than some notional amount they "deserve", which is directly contradicted by what I pointed out.
Quote: SmokeyTA "no, we didnt, but shock bloody horror, when he was offered more money he changed sports, crikey moses, what a surprise'"
You tried to claim that the salary cap would prevent us signing players like Gibbs.
I pointed out that he went back RU when it went pro, despite us not having a salary cap at that time. Which supports my argument that it's not the salary cap that stops us competing for such players. It's that we don't have the money or high end competitions that RU and football do.
I find it amazing that you think a RU club would try to sign a young player without waving the World Cup, 6 Nations and Heineken Cup under their noses.
Quote: SmokeyTA "and if we were to offer more money than RU, maybe the Offiah Davies and Gibbs of today would play RL rather than RU,'"
We can't offer more money for players of the calibre of Davies and Gibbs. If they're on the market, certain RU clubs will have more money to throw around. In the past, we had the advantage of signing on fees and above board pay over RU. No longer.
Offiah was an unknown at a minor RU club when he was signed, we could just as easily do the same in his case in the age of the salary cap.