Ross Reynolds speaks out

Ross Reynolds
By Roth Admin
August 18 2004

Rotherham Titans Head Coach Ross Reynolds took time out on Monday to give us his thoughts. In a very frank and honest interview, Ross bares his soul at a very difficult time for all involved with the club.

The following is a detailed report on the questions and the answers that Ross gave.


Ross, what are your feelings about what has happened?

I’m not impressed at all. It looked like the South African thing was going to be successful, but obviously they declared their honesty in going to London in the 2nd year. And that was rightfully knocked back by the RFU.

Where do you and the players stand now?

It really disappoints me that it’s happened but more so the timing, because if we were told in June that there was the likelihood that this might happen, the players all had options. I knocked back options after I had accepted this job and I had options before. We are all in a predicament where we don’t have any flexibility to move. And if we do it’s going to be pretty difficult. Stuff I’ve looked at in the last couple of days is half of what I’m on now. So it’s going to be extraordinary difficult to survive over here. My family is flying out over here at the weekend from Australia and they may turnaround within a week and we have to fly home.

Presumably there was no indication when you were first approached by the club?

No. I actually asked that direct question. I asked if we were going to be financially strong enough not only to win this division but to compete in the Premiership. And to do that we had to commit some money. I asked that several times because I didn’t want to come here just to go up and come straight back down. That was not my interest at all. I wanted to come here because I thought there was a future to compete, that’s where I feel misled. Obviously at this time everyone feels bitter, twisted and angry.

What’s the likelihood of a new investor coming in before the Friday deadline?

I think that now it’s out in public, you might get a few investors that might not have known about it. There’s a likelihood that they may come up, but that’s difficult to say. The solvency experts have done well before and if they can do something I’m sure they will.

Does it look like you’ve had a wasted summer?

I’ve been working here for three and a half months. I was assisting here when I was still on the payroll with Orrell and I’ve only had one months pay out of three and a half. Yeah, I feel pretty angry, I can’t put it any lighter than that.

How do the players feel?

Because I was representing the clubs interest in terms of the budget and signing players according to the budget, these guys had options available. And they chose this one, partly out of respect for me and for the vision we had for the club. And it was good, it’s a hell of a group of players, it’s a very strong squad. It would have won this decision I would have thought – nothings certain in sport – but I would have put a lot of money on it. We would have been in the Premiership in 9 months. So as a vehicle for an investor it’s pretty attractive. But now it’s very short league time for an investor to get in. It’s hard for them to do their due diligence to satisfy themselves it’s worth doing.

There’s rumours abound that some of the players have lined up new clubs – Have you heard anything?

No. But if they haven’t been on the phone all weekend they’re silly. I imagine these guys are smart enough to do that, but if they do find something it’s not likely to e for the same money. It’s a buyers market.

Do you feel let down?

Yeah. I’ve always been up front with my dealings and I feel a bit betrayed in terms of not knowing what the true situation was. It’s not been easy for me, my family live at the other side of the country. I’ve driven over on a Monday morning and gone back on a Thursday night. I’ve done extraordinary hours to get the squad together we did. We worked very hard – went on holiday for 4 weeks – and came back in to an ambush. I feel pretty disappointed. I was talking to players in Australia about joining the squad for next season in the Premiership, with the view of competing not just fighting for 11th or 12th. We did a lot of research on the right guys to get that in place. I spoke to a lot of them down there off-contract, in key positions that would have helped us to compete in the Premiership.

You and the players have had a tough time not being paid, had assurances been made to what the position was or were you just taking that on trust?

I was obviously told that we were going to be paid on Monday, then Friday, then Monday and so on. They dangled a carrot there for a while, so I asked players to keep training. They have done fantastically well under trying conditions and they are an extraordinary group of people to do that. And that’s what makes it all the more galling; that they’ve had their hearts ripped out them and pulled them apart. Because it is a group that - as I have said – would have been very successful and if we had got through this demise, this incident, we would have been far better for it. Playing away at Plymouth in the rain wouldn’t have been a patch on this.

The boys are a cracking bunch of guys; they’ve got mortgages, families. One guy is committed to a house for £180,000; there are guys that are tied into 6 months rental deals. They’ve made significant investment deals on what they thought was going to happen. You can’t just turnaround and sell that, nor can you just get out of a 6 month rental deal. So it’s not just the fact that you are not getting paid, the ongoing costs are ticking away.

Will all the players be able to find work?

There are probably half of them that can find work pretty quickly because they are so talented, but I’ve spoken to a lot of Premiership coaches and their books are all full. They have a budget to adhere to just like us and they are committed. They can’t just throw a couple of hundred thousand to sign another 4 or 5 players, it’s not going to be physically possible. As much as the talent is sitting around, unless you’ve got injuries the opportunities are not going to arise. The timing is the worst possible timing. You are just in to pre-season, you are about to play your 1st comp game and all the clubs are set. Players are transportable and with injuries they may be an option, but with coaches they’ve all been done and cooked 6 months ago. I’ve got to make a decision very quickly because my rents chewing its head off. The club should be paying for that, but it’s not. So I’ve got to take care of that as well as not being paid and try and survive. Also I’ve got to try and get back to Australia and finance that – that’s not cheap either. I really don’t know where to go! It’s probably a worst possible scenario.

If the club does go into liquidation – What’s the chance of you and the players getting the money owed?

I don’t think there’s any chance. The only money the boys will get is the government money for redundancy, which is £270 a week or whatever it is. As I’ve said I work on trust, looking people in the eye and it’s not been reciprocated. All these guys I look them in the eye if I’m going to drop them and tell them why. I show them the video of what they’ve got to do to get back in. I don’t announce a team and let them read it on a list, they find out from me eyeball to eyeball. That’s how I work and that’s how you get trust and respect. The fact that no one has come and talk to us is absolutely galling.



We would just like to say a big thanks to Ross for giving his time for the interview and to wish him and all his staff the very best of luck in the future.

Hopefully still at Rotherham.