Transfer news, rumours, suggestions, frenzied speculation, and outright lies - Season 2023-24

[francoisfou]

Herbst, Hammond and Lamb all at once is a lot. Didn’t realise Lamb was going. It’s a shame, though he is very injury prone. Launch/Lewies not much better in that regard though.

Looking forward to seeing Petti come in.

Herbst's deal to Brive apparently fell through after a failed medical so Lamb is going instead.

I've read that Lamb isn't going to sign for Brive because of a shoulder problem so Brive have pulled out of the deal.

[FKAS]

Red Bull looking at investing in rugby. Apparently looking at Bristol or Newcastle. Bristol supposedly have a board meeting to discuss it. Advantage of Newcastle is their cheap but come with huge COVID loans to pay off..


https://archive.ph/PorEq

Very speculative and I'm not sure about the ethics of moving away from the Newcastle fans - the attendances have been going downhill of late, but you can't blame them after the last two seasons and they were at one point getting a better average crowd than Sale. Plus starting afresh in a new town is a huge risk, especially Darlington - the writer references Bath, Northampton, Gloucester, Exeter which sounds nice, but Exeter and Gloucester are in existing rugby hotbeds where there's not a huge number of alternative sports to go to in neighbouring towns, and Bath and Northampton have populations of 190k and 240k each. He's talking about a 25k stadium in a town that only has 100k people - there's a reason it was a white elephant in the first place! I'd be worried about having a crowd so small it'd be embarrassing.

I'm worried that Bristol will get that sweet Red Bull money and Newcastle will be left to continue to twist. Red Bull are after an advertising and branding vehicle - they might be tempted by the idea of raising a club from the brink of disaster and being able to rebuild it entirely in their own image (Newcastle Red Bulls?), but there's no denying it would be substantially easier and less risky to buy into an already decent team with crowds and a big stadium (that play in red and blue, no less!).

Puja

Red Bull have previously preferred to do it the hard way. RB Leipzig started in the fifth tier for instance.

The COVID loans might be hefty at Newcastle but should be repayable over a period of time so easier on cashflow than dropping a considerably bigger amount on Bristol who don't have a stadium of their own and Lansdowne has no pressure to sell.

The Red Bull Falcons representing the NE of England and creating a rugby hub up there does make sense though I'd have thought playing games primarily on Newcastle with the occasional visit to Darlington or Hull maybe Tynedale (for PRC) to spread it around the other NE rugby sides and bring a sense of representation together.

[FKAS]

Herbst, Hammond and Lamb all at once is a lot. Didn’t realise Lamb was going. It’s a shame, though he is very injury prone. Launch/Lewies not much better in that regard though.

Looking forward to seeing Petti come in.

Herbst's deal to Brive apparently fell through after a failed medical so Lamb is going instead.

I've read that Lamb isn't going to sign for Brive because of a shoulder problem so Brive have pulled out of the deal.

Maybe it was Lamb and not Herbst then. Sounds messy either way.

[francoisfou]

Herbst's deal to Brive apparently fell through after a failed medical so Lamb is going instead.

I've read that Lamb isn't going to sign for Brive because of a shoulder problem so Brive have pulled out of the deal.

Maybe it was Lamb and not Herbst then. Sounds messy either way.

Herbst apparently has an ankle issue that may put an end to Brive's interest in him.