Local Team gets its digs in -

[Neils]

Undoubtedly written by the local bias professional -

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/64026368

[wycombewasp]

so if Wasps had not gone into admin. but got relegated because they finished bottom of the table what would his argument be then.

[baldpaul101]

"The clubs in the Championship are in limbo again because nobody will tell us what our league looks like and what the funding model looks like while they sort out and prioritise two failed clubs."

This half of the article is correct. Champ clubs need to understand what their league is going to look like asap. That's not necessarily an issue question for anyone to answer. How can RFU/PRL plan for a new season not knowing for example if Warriors will be playing or not? Warriors or Wasps dropping out the prem into it are just another variable.

The second half is a bit of an anti Wasps rant. I wonder if its been edited to male it appear so?

[NellyWellyWaspy]

No, it is not edited. It was a rant. If you listen to the CWR interview, and see the tweet that Cov RUFC released, you will see that they are not happy.

The tweet:

https://twitter.com/CoventryRugby/status/1604776587744137216

I have seen some ex-Cov players saying the tweet and radio interview were not the best idea that Nick Johnston has ever had.

The CWR tweet:

https://twitter.com/BBCCWRSport/status/1604775259999272960

If you listen to the audio, the rant/interview starts at 2:22

Thing is, Cov RUFC also went in to liquidation in 2009, and looked for donations and all sorts to dig themselves out of the hole. They also engaged in shenanigans over the ground. Coventry City Council had effectively given Butts Park to them to use, as previous financial mismanagement had cost them Coundon Road (I think that was the site). But, the then owner changed who owned the ground, so that when the club went bust again, he kept the ground. Much as has happened at Worcester. People in glass houses. The players and people of Coventry do not so easily forget, as a lot of local businesses lost a lot of money (as they have with our demise).

The other issue is about the Rule that a Pheonix club should remain at its ground. But the rule does not say that. It says staying at the ground should be something the RFU should consider. On the one hand, he is saying he wants Wasps out of Coventry, and then he says he wants them to play in Coventry.

How does playing in Solihull make any difference? Would he complain if any of the other local rugby clubs got promoted to the Championship?

[MarleyWasp]

Also worth noting that Coventry were only deducted 15 league points that season, not automatically relegated.

Ultimately they were relegated that season, but by virtue of finishing last in the relegation playoff table.

[Nigel Med]

Well that is most certainly a rant and so full of contradictions it's actually difficult to make much sense of it!

Solihull is in their "Back Yard" is it? It's a hell of a lot closer to Birmingham than Coventry so you when we play them you could call it a Midlands derby in the same way as Tigers playing Saints but we're hardly going to be stealing supporters from them so what's the problem exactly?

So they changed their business model and survived Covid unlike Wasps? Congratulations but according to the RFU, Covid wasn't the reason that we went under, we had an unsustainable business model before then.

Apparently we shouldn't be given a "helping hand". What helping hand??? We've been stripped of our Premiership shares and relegated and the new owners had to undergo a rigorous check to make sure that the new business met sustainable criteria.

We think we're Real Madrid with our "Propaganda Machine" do we? You might want to be careful making analogies with Soccer teams, many of those have debts that make ours look like small change.

Forgive my ignorance of club ruby history but were Coventry really the best club in England in the 70s and 80s? I'd have thought that Bath and Tigers might dispute that claim.

But he's looking forward to a "proper local derby" even though we might be playing in Scotland. WTF?

He's got a lot to say for someone who doesn't pay us much attention!!! Idiot.

[Shugs]

Yes, I think he should have had a think before going to air all puffed up and annoyed. His valid points, few though they were, just got lost in the nonsense bits (I.e. don’t come and play in our back yard coupled with you should stick to the rule and play in Coventry)!

[Vespula Vulgaris]

Nice to see the rugby family pulling together again.  A very merry Christmas to him too.

[westwaleswasp]

"You'd think with the propaganda machine Wasps have they think they're Real Madrid, not a team with a million-odd pound debt."



Real Madrid debt.
"The Club's Net Debt, excluding the stadium redevelopment project, has reached a value of -€263 million as of 30 June 2022."

Well, I bet this guy is really informed and on the ball.......
With stadium redevelopment.....
Real Madrid   €662m

[Garuda]

It seems Mr Johnston believes the Championship is HIS league or CRFC's league. He mentions it more than once. It's not his league or his club's league at all. Does he seriously believe the RFU must consult him for his approval before relegating a premiership team into the Championship? And our relegation is definitely not done as a helping hand out of RFU favouritism.

[Marlovian]

I have a great deal of sympathy with Championship clubs. What given right do Wasps (or Worcester come to that) have to be parachuted into the Championship. We have no squad, no administration, no ground, no staff; we do have a training ground (arguably retained by dubious means), a sullied name and a history of huge debt.

Yet we seem to expect the Championship clubs and supporters to welcome us with open arms and believe it a privilege that we play in their midst. So what's going to happen? One up and 2 enforced relegations to give a championship of 13? Who's going to tell London Scottish/Ampthill/Caldy they're being relegated in addition to the bottom club and that Rams/Sale FC/Rosslyn Park aren't being promoted from Nat One? This is the core of this "rant".

As I've said in another thread, let's have less arrogance, more realism and a great deal more understanding and humility.

[Shugs]

To be perfectly honest Marlovian I couldn’t give a tinkers cuss what any other team thinks. As far as I am aware administration where you can’t prove no fault carries the sanction of relegation. So we’ve not really bullied our way into the Championship or been parachuted in - that’s just where the process puts us. The RFU now have to sort that out. I don’t think anyone’s saying the Championship should be glad to have us etc and I don’t think there is any particular arrogance. I also dont think we need to regard ourselves as sullied. We tried something eminently laudable and it failed. Let’s face it, in the recent past a team has blatantly cheated it’s way to, and kept multiple titles and when found out took “some” punishment but then peddled the “let’s draw a line under things now” agenda. Don’t see why we can’t do the same.

[NellyWellyWaspy]

To be perfectly honest Marlovian I couldn’t give a tinkers cuss what any other team thinks. As far as I am aware administration where you can’t prove no fault carries the sanction of relegation. So we’ve not really bullied our way into the Championship or been parachuted in - that’s just where the process puts us. The RFU now have to sort that out. I don’t think anyone’s saying the Championship should be glad to have us etc and I don’t think there is any particular arrogance. I also dont think we need to regard ourselves as sullied. We tried something eminently laudable and it failed. Let’s face it, in the recent past a team has blatantly cheated it’s way to, and kept multiple titles and when found out took “some” punishment but then peddled the “let’s draw a line under things now” agenda. Don’t see why we can’t do the same.

+1

[jamestaylor002]

To be perfectly honest Marlovian I couldn’t give a tinkers cuss what any other team thinks. As far as I am aware administration where you can’t prove no fault carries the sanction of relegation. So we’ve not really bullied our way into the Championship or been parachuted in - that’s just where the process puts us. The RFU now have to sort that out. I don’t think anyone’s saying the Championship should be glad to have us etc and I don’t think there is any particular arrogance. I also dont think we need to regard ourselves as sullied. We tried something eminently laudable and it failed. Let’s face it, in the recent past a team has blatantly cheated it’s way to, and kept multiple titles and when found out took “some” punishment but then peddled the “let’s draw a line under things now” agenda. Don’t see why we can’t do the same.

+1

+2

[Neils]

To be perfectly honest Marlovian I couldn’t give a tinkers cuss what any other team thinks. As far as I am aware administration where you can’t prove no fault carries the sanction of relegation. So we’ve not really bullied our way into the Championship or been parachuted in - that’s just where the process puts us. The RFU now have to sort that out. I don’t think anyone’s saying the Championship should be glad to have us etc and I don’t think there is any particular arrogance. I also dont think we need to regard ourselves as sullied. We tried something eminently laudable and it failed. Let’s face it, in the recent past a team has blatantly cheated it’s way to, and kept multiple titles and when found out took “some” punishment but then peddled the “let’s draw a line under things now” agenda. Don’t see why we can’t do the same.

+1

+2

+3