Recent content by Italophile

Racing and Stade 10th and 12th. Good grief. And to think Racing's star recruit will be going on a Lions tour.

Whatever the community clubs take out is piffling compared to the money blown by the WRU. They received £84m as their share of the CVC rights deal. They bought a hotel adjacent to the stadium which they are paying a hotel company to manage ... and, at the same time, cut funding to the regions...

No surprise. Welsh rugby, unfortunately, is a basket case from top to bottom with the vast majority of the problems stemming from the top.

Sums it up. Heads in the sand over the viability of the Prem. In fact, rugby in general. Its fanbase is limited, predominantly in the south, around London, and the SW to a lesser extent. Once Newcastle folds, and they will, Sale will be the only club anywhere near the north. The north is RL...

Racing had to get something right sooner or later! Good for Bayonne. Has taken them a long time to get over the Mike Phillips curse. LaR's -69 is bizarre.

I think you're right. They're looking enviously at Tottenham's multi-use of their stadium and Haringey Council's support for the stadium from the get-go, not always to the delight of the locals. They've also floated the notion of buying 50% of Wembley, a shit stadium if ever there were one. It's...

The RFU is threatening to move rugby away from Twickenham (aka Allianz Stadium) because the local council won't ease restrictions on non-rugby use of the stadium. Eg, concerts. They are currently allowed 3 non-rugby events a year with attendance capped at 58,000. In contrast, Tottenham FC's...

Quite.

Worcester, at least, have a stadium and training ground. Irish have neither.

Looks like another Premiership rugby club circling the plughole. Newcastle having to borrow £4m from the other clubs and CVC to meet the Prem's financial requirements. No promotion/relegation again this season because the top Championship clubs have failed to meet the Prem's minimum stadium...

Plus White going all out Premier League footballer reaction, as if he'd been hit with a hammer.

Yep. 5 years max for amortisation.

I agree. Finn the coach killer.

Rocky Elsom sentenced to 2 years in jail and fined €100,000 (50% suspended) in absentia for "misusing corporate assets" at Narbonne. He was living in Ireland but fled before an earlier trial on the same matter. Current whereabouts unknown. A French arrest warrant has been issued.

I follow Chelsea too. They exploited a loophole in the rules with their 7-8 year contracts. It was nowt to do with not having to renegotiate contracts but everything to do with amortisation and FFP/PSR. Sign a player for £50,000. Amortised over 5 years, that's £10,000 per year booked against...