He can be like Roman Abromovich but instead of offering a week on his yacht, he can offer players a week in his MJ mansion in New York. It’ll still be a tough sell to get players to choose that over Eamon McManus and his villa in Parr though.

Very good I'm really hoping that we can bring some really quality overseas players from the NRL,top of the list for me would be the second row captain of Cronulla,he's an ideal replacement for o'loughlin plus he has a really good kicking game with his left foot

.... did Mike Danson abolish the salary cap and convince the Aussies to change their position on only selecting NRL players for the national side? Until then we aren't signing a current aussie international

I do really wonder about the expectations of some of our fans.
If IL buys the stadium then he will need to provide jobs for many people. One of the major concerns must be the state of the pitch.
One of the 1st things the administrators did was to make the head groundsman redundant and from what I hear the pitch is being looked after by apprentice groundsman and that only consists of mowing it at this time.
How much work and the cost of re-employing the staff to get things back in shape is anyone's guess. Then of course there are the other positions, ticketing staff, front office and catering staff etc etc.

All of this has to be done at a time of NO income.

What I will say, is that if IL does buy the stadium then all those fans who used the excuse not to attend because it wasn't ours have to good grace to get off their backsides and get down there again (once fans are allowed).

Somehow I don't think it'll happen as they will find another "reason" to not attend.

Rant over.

Why not all we have to do is clear a marquee spot and then we can pay them what we want,that's the whole idea behind the marquee spots so rich benefactors can pay players what they like out of their own pockets

Not that I expect a response, but...

What are your expectations should IL buy the stadium? I'll happily list mine & some assumptions that I have;

1 - Mike Danson hasn't invested in us to make money - no one invests in sports clubs, nevermind RL to see a return.

2 - Whoever takes over the ownership of the stadium will have to change some things as it can't continue 'as is'.

3 - IL is a very smart man and will have short and long-term plans. The short term will prioritise the things you listed like re-employing staff and making sure it's COVID secure.

If assuming point one is correct, then Damson is a fan and, as a fan, he'll want to see us do well. That means at the very least a continuation of us being in for big name players when they come available (Burgess, Hastings, Bowen, Hoffman, Tomkins, Bateman etc). Now current Aus internationals have never been an option for us, but that doesn't mean we can't bid for other big name players if they become available. Could Danson's millions, coupled with the marquee spot make us more of a power player tho?

With option 2, I agree with your earlier point about different ways to generate more revenue (Business Manager, meeting room use etc). You can't however just dismiss the genuine thoughts of a large proportion of our fan base who think the atmosphere at the DW is pretty weak. I can't see why it's one or the other btw - why can't they invest a little in safe standing (follow the Celtic model) and also try to maximise the use of the stadium? IL wants to increase our gate numbers and the only way to do that is to make it a must see/go to event, of which the atmosphere plays a huge (but not exclusive) part.

Over the years on here I've seen many posters lecture others about self-fulfilling prophecies and how if we keep talking about negative things they will eventually ruin us. This for once is a positive thread and has people sharing ideas on how things can be improved and has a genuine positive outlook for the club - new investment and a chance to own a stadium. Sadly many people can't practice what they preach and have instead have to dismiss the thoughts of others whilst proclaiming their own way as the only viable solution.

IL has always said that he wants the club to be self sufficient, so to that end the stadium will have to generate money. I've heard differing values of how much the stadium needs spending on it, varying between £3 million to £8 million. That will have to be first priority.
It has to be run as a business.
To that end I believe we need top people in the right positions to run it. Marketing seems to have gone backwards since Simon Collinson and Paul MacLeod left although I believe new people are now in place.

I don't think it will cost a little to put safe standing in. Comparing it to Celtic who have the 5th highest average football attendance in the U.K. is unreasonable.
If we did the same ratio Standing to seat conversion at Wigan it would remove around 1000 seats. It just isn't cost effective.

That's not being negative it's being realistic. You wouldn't go and buy a top of the range BMW when you have no idea what money is coming into your house would you? Especially in todays Covid world.

As for players, keep on investing in our youth systems has to be the priority and the back that up with bringing in the best that we can afford.

Nobody wants to see IL succeed more than I do.

1. How do we just clear a marquee spot? They're both taken by players under contract for 2021 and 2022.
2. Why on earth would Wade Graham give up playing Origin and for the Australian national side to fly round the world and play in a second rate competition? It's not like he will be on a low wage in the NRL

All that is aside from the fact we have quite clearly spent a lot of money securing Lockers' replacement on a marquee contract.

I've no doubt that IL will make the club self sufficient and that owning the stadium (in one way or another) will play a part in that. I'm sure he wants to leave a legacy of both on and off-field success and he's well on the way to achieving it.

I'm not sure why introducing standing isn't a cost effective option? I keep harping back to it, but ultimately something needs to be done to increase the atmosphere at the DW. One of my main gripes is that the only time the place comes alive is when it's full. The marketing dept will be the worlds best if they can get 25k on every week & let's face it it won't happen. Now reducing the capacity might hinder us financially Vs Saints, but that's only once or twice a year. I'd argue however that I would more than benefit us for the rest of the games & increase attendances overall.

Have we? How have we done that if the marquee spots are full?

Because Bateman took one of them. Next year's marquee players are G.Burgess and Bateman

I'm sure the club never confirmed his marquee status, but I'm probably wrong.