He's done it before. If SL clubs won't touch him based on his previous then what choice does he have?

I'm with Ste on this one. For next year, I anticipate...

1) Winning the overwhelming majority of our games and finishing top (the players and coach we have signed should be enough to have some reasonable expectation of this)...

..meaning..

2) much bigger crowds as people like watching a winning team...

...meaning..

3) much better atmos at LSV, which is 'autocatalystic' (great word - happening at all makes it happen more)

...meaning..

4) the players and the club and the crowds will all be on a high...

...meaning...

5) it's not entirely daft to suggest we've as much chance of winning the NRC from NC2 as we have from NC1 (remember when we made the JP Cup semi from Div 2? or how Donny made the final 2 years back? and the gap between NC1 and NC2 is FAR smaller than the gap between SL and other divisions)

OK maybe this sounds wildly optimistic... but my bet is we're comfortably back in NC1 by 2011, and that we'll have generally much bigger crowds by the end of next year than we've had for this (barring Widnes, who we might well meet in the NRC, and Fax)... and that's we'll have a decent run in the cup next season, too....

...ultimatlely, it doesn't affect our chances of a SL app, except insomuch as we miss out on a couple of chances to tick a 'performance' box.

Didn't want to go down... don't think it's a sensible decision of the RFL to relegate a third-bottom team as opposed to denying promotion to the second-top team below given the Tolouse position... but all things considered, I reckon this could work out in our favour over the medium term.

6) plus we'll have three local clubs coming to Leyth, plus Blackpool

Well we'll see.

If someone in the club had brains, or opted to ask someone who had, they could use the situation to their advantage.

History would suggest that we're better at making sow's ears from silk purses than 't other rode round.

As to your auto-catalysis (hyphen definitely req'd) theory - I reckon that's wildly optimistic. IMHO I don't think much positive will ever happen at this club whilst a certain family has such influence. To make up another word, knowing your pre-declared circumspicion I wouldn't expect u to comment.

Is it also not a bit harsh to deny promotion to someone who has earned it? Once special rules are made to exclude one team then someone undeserving will always cop it instead.

look what happend to man utd when they got relegated from what was
then div1, look where they are now ???
look what happend to man city when they got relegated from div2, look
where they are now ???
most of our players with contracts for next year are all the younger ones

Ask him that when we have knocked a few of the Championship clubs out of the Challenge Cup and won the NRC.

Jesus, the relegation seems to have elevated peoples spirits higher than they've been for ages.

Now I'm a famously miserable bar steward who seems to keep having his expectations met.

Maybe Millward will make the difference and get a direct route through to AT.

Hope u r all right and I wrong.

And yes, the NRC will be interesting.

Autocatalysis is a chemistry term and no hyphen is required. It means a process that has the ingredients necessary to speed itself up once the reaction has started.

I stnad crrected.