Quote: MonkeyLover "I would also suggest it’s similar to commenting on the business plan of an owner and his business that you’ve never had access to or calling someone you’ve never met ‘egotistical’.'"
I have seen far more of the Business of London Broncos/Harlequins RL than I probably should have. I have seen the profit and loss sheets for the time 2009-2012 and it makes for horrific reading.
It includes an outgoing of £225,000 in rent to the then Landlord and a shortfall in income of between £1,875,000 and £2,123,000 in each of those 4 years. It also shows ticketing revenue needed to be £5.04 per person through the gate in 2009 to cover the cost of rent based on an actual attendance figure at the stoop of 44,670.....
When Hughes took full control of the club we had 51,000 people at games, by the time we were relegated he and his "business plan" had reduced this to fewer than 17,000, so guess what, his business plan is flawed.
As for his personality. He was REPEATEDLY advised by multiple parties that he needed to address the issue of attendances and he ignored it. Rightly or wrongly, he believed at the time that the RFL needed to contribute as he was bankrolling the THEIR expansion team in the capital. It was a game of Chicken that he lost and as a fan who paid to go to games, spent and still spends money in the shop I am a customer and therefore entitled to my opinion. Hughes is a salesman and as someone who also has plied that trade, I think it's fair to call him out for his refusal to accept that his appointing Powell and then employing MacKay as well as his decision to pull the plug after the massacre at Leigh and let's not forget the multiple warnings about attendances being ignored all combined to deliver us to where we are now....and that is his ego that has driven these decisions.....he was told Powell wasn't the right man, he didn't formally interview MacKay and then changed our name back to the broncos based on RL meaning rugby Lessons on the shirts and then moved us to a car park of a ground......this all points to him being an ego driven individual unable to accept that he has made an error.
I have no doubt that Hughes is lovely fella, but in terms of the London Broncos, he is a car-crash and that's how I have called him out....not on a personal level but on a professional one.
I am actually in awe of your ire towards me and my opinion. This is an internet forum and a place where different opinions are voiced. The fact that a decade ago we averaged 3,901 and played in a State of the Art Rugby ground in the highest competition in the country is simply mirrored now by the fact that we play at a Wedding Venue with 1 grand stand and fencing around the pitch, in the 2nd tier watched by 900 souls would point to my opinion carrying some weight.....because if you had to put your finger on the one thing that has brought us to where are now, it would have to be David Hughes.
Buddy. I really haven't insulted anyone on a personal level, unlike yourself. The need to name call my wife is a very strange tactic......were you trying to goad me into a response and attract the ire of the Moderators? If so, you failed, because as everyone knows, the need to name call and insult generally means that you've already lost the debate. Kia Oro bro......chill out!!