Tell you something Smokey
If the RFC was perfect and the correct decisions made
We would be on top of the ladder and playing finals
Sadly off and on the field we have failed for the past 30 years
We are getting somewhat better but are still a long way off the pace.off and on the field
The argument about selling games is a disgrace if you cannot win the actual games
Especially against a team who were winless
End of story
If the RFC was perfect and the correct decisions made then we would not be having this conversation. But.......I challenge you to present the name of any football club (global, any code) in history who are perfect and make all the correct decisions. Actually, I'll up the ante, I challenge you to present the name of any entity - football club, business, corporation, not for profit, government, religion etc etc - in any historical era who were/are perfect and made/make all the correct decisions. Just one Jack, give me just one and I'll admit that the RFC are negligent in their efforts.
How do you think any football club will go, climbing out of the molasses of muck that RFC circa 2009 was in, if it's not "We are getting somewhat better but are still a long way off the pace, off-field and on-field"? Really, what were your expectations of the future of our club back in 2009? I don't know what your point of "selling games is a disgrace" in the context of the timing of digging up Punt Road is but I will say this - I am an advocate of Gale's mantra that the club needed to correct it's off-field issues first, before concentrating on-field, and to that end I will always believe that what the club did was right in taking the money for a couple of years in an effort to accelerate debt-reduction and regain financial control, especially considering that during those years they were never going to be a genuine threat to the flag. Gale stated this very thing from Day One and has not deviated, thankfully, as the reactions and pressure from disappointed supporters to unforeseen losses have impacted publicly on the club.
And finally, I will correct your misinterpretation (not necessarily your fault) of my statement "some of us are heavily invested in this very area". What I meant was that some of us are heavily and directly involved in the very industry(s) performing the ground reshaping and landscaping work at Punt Road, and as such have solid and extensive knowledge on the realities of the work and timeframes involved. It is an arrogant statement to admit you work in an unrelated area in stadia, yet dismiss other opinions as "garbage".