Micky, he's run the club single handedly since Lenegan's departure, who else does the buck stop with?
It made be an old argument but it still applies!
To his credit he's kept us full time when he could have walked away, but if DH isn't responsible for our predicament then who is?

You don't get the argument do you, agreed he has single handedly run the club and it's because of him it's where we are.
But without him we would not be where we are because we most likely would have been consiged to the history books same as streatham Kent Invicta huyton Blackpool psg
Which would you prefer

Whilst I agree with the sentiments, we cannot expect anyone to pour more money into the club despite past mistakes? I agree we need more props we all know it and assuming Thackery retires and Slyney goes back to 0z then we have a huge hole to fill!

Let's get the 8s out of the way see how we get on and go from there
Next season is a long way away, club are securing contracts and getting signatures on contracts already, yep some will go but then they always do.
As for putting money in, what will happen in the future will happen, I hope dh is planning his succession who that will be and what form it will take goodness knows but until then dh is what we have.

Super business planning Mickey. Live for today worry about tomorrow tomorrow.

One day, even by accident (possibly at work) you may hear someone come up with the term 'forward looking (business) strategy'. Not something that's overused in Ealing I don't think.

It's something EVERY succesful business does. A bit like Tescos buying land for possibly future stores, Mining companies having exploration business units.......... are you starting to see what companies do??

Wire quin. Obviously you are not aware that it's a business based on sport, and a sport that is vastly under supported and under funded in compared to some.
So no you cannot use a normal business model when looking at a rugby you league club.
In sport you have to live for today, especially as our today is what will dictate our tomortow, so yep worry about the super 8s which is the "today" When you look at the tomorrow the mining business you mention can only invest in exploration if firstly they have the money and secondly the share holders invest. The money is running the club, the share holders (fans) are not there.
But as I said, I hope DH is looking at a succession plan as in a new owner investor for when he decides he wants to go.

By the way half the land tesco buys is nothing to do with building new stores

Tesco probably isn't the best business model you could have used

Micky , it's not a case of preference and you're wrong - I DO get the argument OK? ,God give me strength!
It's the selective amnesia I have problem with!

I know fine well no Hughes = no club, don't be so patronising! -And if he is working to rectify the mistakes of the past that's great. Appointing Hendo as coach seems to be the best thing he's done in years! And his backing of Hendo in transfer dealings too.

But before we get too carried away let's not forget it was HIS appalling decisions re choice of Chief Exec, Head Coach etc...that have seen us get relegated, seen our crowds slump to a fraction of what they were, seen us move from proper stadiums to Ealing etc...etc..

Wire quin not wanting to get petty but me patronising? Have you read your own posts?
We have had all the arguments.
Why are we at ealing, the hard fact is no one else wanted or would have us.
Why are we in championship, mainly because the players we had did not perform.
Root cause, it's never a single thing, do you honestly believe dh pumps his money in with an expectation of being where we are now? Do you really think he employed coaches expecting them to fail. If you look at it properly the clubs position is not just down to one man.
In sport you are in reality only as good as yr last season.
For the first time in an age there seems to be a feeling that we are a club, are we super league material yet, in my opinion no but we need the ambition and drive.
We can't rely on js every year tho

says Mickey in response

Get your name in the hat for the next CEO job at the Broncos because your thinking is as daft as some of the previous ones

There is no 'normal business model' you prune but there is a business model for every business no matter what commodity, product, service etc they offer. The business model for a market trader selling fruit will be different to the business model of Aldi- do you see the difference??? Have a listen to Mike Ashley in front of the commons committee a few weeks back. He could run his business when he had one shop, now he has warehouses and hundreds of shops its gone beyond his abilities. The model has now changed, risks are different.........

If the product is sport and it is vastly under supported & under funded there is still a model to manage that. In fact in his interview last week Hughesy made reference to not having a marketing team in this league but would initiate one in SL- See how the model changes.

Why have a junior set up if you are living for today- talk me through that one??

Fans are not shareholders for god sake, just like Shoppers at Tesco are not shareholders. Shareholders are people that invest in companies and as such 'own it'. Not all companies have shareholders. Some of the biggest companies in the world are privately owned. Are you tapping this rubbish via a Dell computer?? see how many shareholders that company has.

Well if we want to compare business models. Basic principles of business, sell your product for more than you buy it for ensuring you have enough income to cover your costs, hopefully having some spare to call profit.
How many pro rugby league clubs in this country can claim that? Certainly not London so as a business model very few rl clubs can really fall into a normal business model.
Clubs like ours keep going because of folk like dh despite them, is constant harping on about what has and hasn't been done not just living in the past? You can't plan for tomorrow when you don't know what that's going to be like either, so let's get the 8s out of the way and go from there.

Not many rugby league clubs are successful, Bradford seem to have problems again, even a club like St Helens do not seem to have the big money to compete with the likes of Leeds, Warrington & Wigan, I don't think the owner has big money, the money he has had was borrowed from a colleague in Hong Kong and they are still paying interest on it, only good thing is they own their own ground. Kieron Cunningham whose press conferences show him for what he truly is, kept telling everyone about Brown from Widnes signing, then it was Matty Smith and now this weekend it was Jamie Soward, some people really live in another world.

The sport itself survives and with Sky, the recent monies announced by RU that their Premiership Clubs will receive this next season makes ours look like peanuts. One day the RFL may wake up, will it be too late.

According to the RLW article Jamie is certainly talking to other clubs and I think he specifically mentioned Saints, also his desire to finish his playing career playing top flight after being dropped down the ranks in Aus. But I think he pretty clearly states that if we managed to do the un doable and got back into SL his preference would be to stay with us,a nd certainly sounds like that is what he has suggested to DH and Hendo.

As for the finances a lot of sports clubs are in the same boat, even some of the big football teams out there live on borrowed money. Luckily or not depending on how you look at it, the benifactors out there with deep pockets still want to spend their money on what they love, be it Rugby League or any other sport, the down side on that is if you are relient on a single owner then its up to him/her how they run the club, as fans we have 2 choices generally, go and watch em or dont go and watch em. Voting with feet and not going to watch em because you dont like the owner to me is just daft, if you love the sport you watch it whatever.

Not voted with my feet! Took volountary Severence (from London Underground) at the end of March and start my new career nearer the family home (Derby, at the end of August. Only really been checking the scores and watching the table on the Beebs' website.
Completely missed the return of Soward, hows he doing, guys? is it the same (as good) as last time, has he slowed or deteriorated any?