The Virtual Terrace • ELSTONE

Sure the facts are that he hasn't produced a big TV deal for Superleague.

But the big deal we got last time wasn't produced by Blake Solly either, it was produced by a combination of a potential second bidder and a plan to increase the competetiveness across the clubs with BOTH the battle for the Superleague Crown and the enhanced relegation battle.

Blake Solly set that up and arguably he won more money for that from SKY, but it bombed as crowds went down, and the focus of the game at the top was lost and interest shifted to the relegation battle.

So that left Elstone with the same old same old to sell........... I just don't believe that when selling to organisations like SKY, when you are up against smarter and harder negotiators than any freelance salesman you could ever employ, your going to get a contract worth more than the products value.

I don't even believe they even bothered to listen to him. What could Elstone say? What cards could he play?

We receded back to the whole focus being on an M62 league, and consequently we receded back to the same deals we had before the Solly deal.

Expecting Elstone or anyone else to outwit an organisation like SKY sports just isn't feasible........

For me Elstone isn't there to get a massive TV deal for an average small product, he's probably there to push the agenda of the bigger Superleague bosses....