As a Thunder fan I obviously have a biased view on this also. We are hearing nothing from Thunder (not that we are surprised at that) and glean most of our info from the other boards.
There has been much said about Thunder cheating etc and who should have been relegated and who shouldn't but that is by the by now. It is obvious that we relied too heavily on one person for funding and have paid the ultimate price.
If Thunder are to drop to the Championship 1 then I think the obvious way to do that is to deduct the 9 points this year which would leave us second bottom, then it would not matter where Toulouse finished and your good selves would be saved and could spend your millions freely (
)
As for Thunder,,,, I have a very pessimistic view. I have watched them since 1999 and lived through the dark days and the slightly lighter days! A drop to Champ 1 and playing with local players and amateurs will, as far as I am concerned, result in heavy defeats and dwindling crowds and the slow death of my team (I realise that many around the RL world won't shed a tear over that). My view is that it may be better to die with some dignity now and concentrate on the amateur game in the NE and, if possible, build from there.
But we shall see
Rule changes and switcheroos 
