That's what's so annoying, I feel that incident and the unfortunate situation over at Wakey has made what should have been a difficult decision that bit much easier.

Do you really think that if Widnes hadn't qualified that year they would have sat back, cheated their fans of 2 years of rugby and watched other teams win the league and cups whilst they were laughed at? Not a chance, SOC would have thrown much more resource into the first team to make sure they ticked the on field box.

If you believe a lot of the Widnes fans it is not that they had a poor squad it was more the injuries which meant they had a relatively poor season. Also buckets loads of money will not always buy the success, you only need to look at Man City for an example.

because having 13 of your first choice 19 out for several weeks and in some cases months or indeed the whole season isnt a reasonable reason for having a poor season?
i think if your were objective you would say it is.
what exactly does 'bucket loads of money' have to do with it?
you really need to let go of that. widnes have exaclty the same scope for spending on players as any other team in the league. SALARY CAP ringing any bells?
we are completely self sufficient, without the need for the chairman to put money in to cover operating costs, whether they be bills, wages or anything else. we have by far the biggest income from sponsorships in the championship, a huge merchandise turnover and the biggest attendances, therefore the most money coming in. steve O connor could walk away tomorrow and the club would be perfectly fine.
of course all his has been pointed out to you and many others a thousand times on these boards. but please just keep believing whatever gives you something to snipe about.

And probably the biggest operating costs. Just beacuse you have might have the highest income doesn't automatically mean the highest profit margins. Ask Wakefield.

who said anything about profit. but we did have by far the biggest in the championship last year. just thought i would point out that having a 'sugar daddy' is in no way giving us some kind of huge advantage, no matter how much people allude to that.

It's at posts like this that we are completely justified in labelling the author a monster prick!

Think you are talking rubbish to be honest. Widnes have had likely a couple of million poured into them and its got them being clear of debt and in a good position. But if Mr o´Connor walked out on Wdnes they would be buggered in SL. To compete in SL you need a Sugar Daddy or end up being a Cas, Salford etc and stuck mainly down the bottom and unlikely to win any cups. Widnes hope of winning anything lie in Mr o´connors hands. Without his guidance as well as money Widnes would be lucky to survive. Crowds are dropping and without O´connor Widnes would be struggling to make a profit. Widnes are lucky they are probably going in to SL as without it they would be struggling

2010 3,021
2009 3,808
2008 4,517
2007 3,407

It doesn't read well does it? But deep deep down, you know it's true. If the main pre-requisite was success on the field do you really think nothing would have changed at Widnes over the last two years? You're in MASSIVE denial if not. SOC set out to do what was necessary to get into SL. When you won the NRC that was one door opened. No need to keep wasting his resources by continuing to open the same door. As i've said many a time - not his fault or the fault of Widnes - but totally the fault of the RFL that they have created this situation.

Personally I don't think Widnes would have done any better no matter if they had ticked the box or not , in recent years they have been poorly coached and have under performed in a very competitive league , I really don't believe all this bull that they have put resources into their juniors to the detriment of the 1 st team , I don't think Mr O Connor will be that happy with their performances in the last 2 years , and I don't expect much if any improvement this year either