I agree with what you have said VL absolutely.
This is all hugely positive and there is increasingly a sense of permanency about it all.
On a totally separate note, I can heartily recommend to those of us who have not got them yet that the club shop Patrick leopard print trainers are a must buy. Popped down to the stall in the market yesterday and got myself a pair. Apparently they are selling very well. Good quality trainers, good make, look good and are very comfy. I have them on as i write this.
It is good to see for a change club merchandise that is good quality and worth getting. Club merch plug now finished!

[quote="Septimius Severus"]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cPlin5uClM
If you don't want to watch, the answer is quite simple - The finance can be manipulated, with Owner loans and levels of finance that can be moved around. Leigh scored rock bottom in this field and will gain another 3


I would have preferred him to concentrate on us and not slag off other clubs.I would also have preferred an open interview with straight questions and simplified answers maybe Mike Latham could have done this with his finance background.
Would removing catchment areas benefit other clubs more than us.

[quote="satanicmills"]
Just noticed that the actual quote isn’t in the post here, not sure why. Sorry about that Satanic.

Re catchment areas, not sure of the answer to your question SM, which is a valid question in the short term, but I think the point Derek is making is, it is not a controllable for clubs, and not relevant if the goal is for rugby league to become a greater force and a more widely watched sport.

Re “slagging off” other teams, he uses specific club situations in relation to how IMG have applied points to date, to more clearly illustrate his points, but also clearly goes out his way to say that he is not being critical of those teams, but how certain grading applications benefit their situations in a non balanced way, compared to other areas. He also is very clear to say that he is not being critical of IMG either, just pointing out where he can see some areas that need tweaking to create a fair playing field for all (or spread sheet comparison !).
Re finances, I am confident that this is not Derek pulling numbers out of the air. He is talking about what has been, and will continue to be, some significant financial commitment to get us in the Grade A picture. This won’t have been done by him on the back of a cig packet, hence taking sometime before responding (even after he returned from his trip), and his clear confidence on how many points can be added in the financial area.

[quote="Vancouver Leyther"]

We can't be a Cat A without an academy can we

[quote="Vancouver Leyther"]

I do not know what the catchment areas are.We divide by two with the pies.Some may be divide by three or even four.
He will be covering himself with other clubs he has to sit down at a table with them this month.If I was London/Bradford I would not be too happy.
Why did we only score 1.5 for finance.
The black and white went from round sums 200 to 750 with 500 giving the 1,25 debt owing to his business.Paying for two new players another 500.
I do not quite follow the explanation how we adjust this to give us 3points.
Is he going to do what his pal Marwan did write off the debt.
Maybe its beyond my ken maybe someone on here has an explanation beyond manipulation.

[quote="ColD"]

we can - academies arent included in any IMG grading

Correck, Tipsy, no Academy needed - at least for IMG purposes. One will be introduced regardless.

Regarding catchment areas: the English clubs are judged on Borough (and if there is another pro/semi-pro club in said Borough, halved or cut into three accordingly); the French clubs are judged on "departments" rather than "communes" (the latter the nearest equivalent to Boroughs). This gives the French clubs an advantage in catchment areas.

Could the RFL STILL be championing their inclusion of Les faux crapauds?

Derek is right to question it on that alone!

And (never start a sentence with "And"), as Vanners says, DB was not slagging off other clubs, he was careful and balanced.

As to financial shuffling: sounds promising but Bongser's not your man.

COYL!

I am no financial wizard, but I will still chuck in my penn'orth on the basis that it might help someone.

If DB has invested £1.5M in the fantastic venture that is Leigh Leopards, at the moment DB cares not if he see's that money again. In that sense it is Derek's gambling stake.

IMG on the other hand want the Club to be run on a professional basis, with a financial structure including Long term liabilities and short term liabilities. In that sense any money invested by DB can be re-packaged into long and short term loans as required in the IMG strategy.
If Derek decides one day to throw his toys out of the pram, or alternatively has a near death experience out on safari, the club can be sold or refinanced more easily. It is Derek's money and Derek's club and he can collect on his loans or not, but it futureproofs the Club in an emergency.

If you want to look at what can happen, look no further than Eddie Davies (Bolton Wanderers). Davies revoked his investment in the club. This led to published debts of almost £200m and brought the club very close to being wound up over unpaid tax bills owed to HMRC. As a gesture of his goodwill and as incentive to sell the club, Davies promised to wipe over £125m of debt owed to him when the club was sold, which wiped a significant proportion of debt the club owed.

IMG are merely trying to support better financial management in a sport famous for not being able to manage it's own finances.

Your comments may be correct.If its a question of simply kicking the debt down the road then it casts even more doubt on the IMG reimagining process.
Stains have debts to mcmanus and his mates in the city. Lenegan had to call a halt at pies.Take that tour keeping wire going.
Davies called a halt at Bolton didn't write all the debt of though did he. Bolton still not recovered haven't they recently sent cap round to the speccies.
We are likely paying some players more than anyone at Bolton is on.
I have been pessimistic about Rl for some time.They report participation is up though cant really see the evidence.
One positive I did see was the interview with Phil Gould on You Tube sorry dont know how to post link Bloke in a bar think it was called

Bloke in a bar - Phil Gould

Bloke in a bar - Phil Gould