ROS proposes breakaway tour

Dan-cat wrote:The top 16 in darts did it in the 90s successfully, and everyone said that it wouldn't work, dismissed it out of hand. Ronnie has all the machinery in place - his manager runs the Legends tours and Senior events, so he has the skills on his team required.

We'll see!

If that had been in place ten years ago he might have had a chance but there's now too much money for it to be worth the hassle for top players now. It's the same reason why the breakaway tour in the early 2000's didn't happen as that was just before the Tobacco ban and Sky getting rid of it's coverage. With Darts there was only one tournament left on TV by the end of the 80's so there was nothing to lose.

Godot wrote:"We want the crème de la crème, so it'll be me, Hendry out of retirement and those two Chinese lads who have just been banned for match fixing"

Rightio.

Also, "I don't like to travel. But I will go to Abu Dhabi, Dubai, China and Europe."


"I want to play people like John Higgins, who wouldn't be up for it."

snooker_loopy wrote:Playing devil's advocate but you could argue Hearn/the WPBSA/World Snooker would be within their right to ban Ronnie from the sport? What I mean is - for a pro player to be suggesting a rival tour is somewhat treasonous? You're biting the hand that feeds in the worst kind of way.

If Hearn said to Ronnie "we've decided your comments are a major breach of the snooker code, you're banned, you have a right to appeal" or sent him a warning "if you repeat this again you're banned" then Ronnie would have to put up or shut up.

I'm guessing Ronnie is trolling mostly for attention but players actively saying "let's revolt and start a new snooker league" shouldn't be tolerated. If Ronnie is genuine he should quit.

Ronnie would have to pretty much murder Eddie Hearn before Barry would ever consider banning Ronnie. He knows Ronnie is so popular/important to the sport.

They're grilling him on the BBC at the moment and tbh he's not making much sense and is bordering on trolling.

I'm sure there's players that share his concerns but this is going nowhere.

mantorok wrote:They're grilling him on the BBC at the moment and tbh he's not making much sense and is bordering on trolling.

I'm sure there's players that share his concerns but this is going nowhere.

Snookerbacker said the same thing.

And it all kicked off a bit.

https://twitter.com/snookerbacker/statu ... 2760552448

SnookerFan wrote:

mantorok wrote:They're grilling him on the BBC at the moment and tbh he's not making much sense and is bordering on trolling.

I'm sure there's players that share his concerns but this is going nowhere.

Snookerbacker said the same thing.

And it all kicked off a bit.

https://twitter.com/snookerbacker/statu ... 2760552448

This is more interesting that Ronnies proposals

mantorok wrote:They're grilling him on the BBC at the moment and tbh he's not making much sense and is bordering on trolling.

I'm sure there's players that share his concerns but this is going nowhere.

Yes spot on. There are players like Perry and Robertson who I think said a few times ROS is right about certain things. But there's no point saying things to the media or BBC and then contradicting yourself in the next interview. If you wanna have a genuine discusison and changes to be made then talk to the other pros, form groups or whatever and make a joint statement.

I thought Ronnie came across very well

TheRocket wrote:

mantorok wrote:They're grilling him on the BBC at the moment and tbh he's not making much sense and is bordering on trolling.

I'm sure there's players that share his concerns but this is going nowhere.

Yes spot on. There are players like Perry and Robertson who I think said a few times ROS is right about certain things. But there's no point saying things to the media or BBC and then contradicting yourself in the next interview. If you wanna have a genuine discusison and changes to be made then talk to the other pros, form groups or whatever and make a joint statement.

Ronnie doesn't want genuine discussion. He wants to moan on about it, without doing anything constructive.

SnookerFan wrote:

TheRocket wrote:

mantorok wrote:They're grilling him on the BBC at the moment and tbh he's not making much sense and is bordering on trolling.

I'm sure there's players that share his concerns but this is going nowhere.

Yes spot on. There are players like Perry and Robertson who I think said a few times ROS is right about certain things. But there's no point saying things to the media or BBC and then contradicting yourself in the next interview. If you wanna have a genuine discusison and changes to be made then talk to the other pros, form groups or whatever and make a joint statement.

Ronnie doesn't want genuine discussion. He wants to moan on about it, without doing anything constructive.

yes and thats why it should be regarded as an attention seeking behaviour. Which is a pity cuz maybe there a few things which could be better. And players want to change. But doing it the way Ronnie does wont help anyone.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/46432531

Interview with Ronnie after his 6-0 win.

mantorok wrote:They're grilling him on the BBC at the moment and tbh he's not making much sense and is bordering on trolling.

I'm sure there's players that share his concerns but this is going nowhere.

What don't u get ?
He sounds crystal clear to me. He's just reiterating what he was saying a few weeks ago:
1. decrease the number of tourneys that count as rankers or just take into account a player's best 10 performances during a calendar year in order to determine the rankings.
2. a top player shouldn't have to go to Barnsley or similar places in order to qualify for an event.
3. if changes are not made towards those lines and if they continue to using crappy venues, he's considering a breakaway tour, but only as a last resort.

I wouldn't want a breakaway tour, but his first 2 points are more than reasonable. I've said this before, cutting down the number of tourneys that count as rankers is a very good idea.
10 a season would be perfect.
IMO those 10 could be: the WC, the UK, China Championship, the 4 Home Nations Events, German Masters, European Masters, Shanghai Masters.

And if most top players don't go to events such as Riga Masters, World Open, Shoot-Out, Indian Open, Gibraltar Open, this will benefit the lesser players bank accounts, who will get to compete among themselves.
It's a win win situation.

And since some of you might say that the sponsors will shy away from non-rankers, that is not true. The ITV events + the Masters are a good counter-argument to this. Plus there will be top players that won't do very well in certain rankers and will want to play in non-rankers in order to make more money.
Even in tennis, top players only go to certain events. But that hasn't stopped sponsors from sponsoring lesser events.

Yes Johnny thats pretty much what ROS says.

His breakaway tour is nonsense.

But the points you make are valid ones and what I think him and other top pros feel.

All that being said and done, I don't agree with the way Ronnie's trying to implement these changes.
Basically all he does is moan in front of the press.

He should round up all the top players, tell them about his ideas, see who agrees and if he has enough top players behind him, barge into Barry Earn's office and force his hand into submission.

Johnny Bravo wrote:All that being said and done, I don't agree with the way Ronnie's trying to implement these changes.
Basically all he does is moan in front of the press.

He should round up all the top players, tell them about his ideas, see who agrees and if he has enough top players behind him, barge into Barry Earn's office and force his hand into submission.

He prefers media attention so I'm afraid he would never do that. That would be the right approach though.

The World Grand Prix was a non-ranking event when it started in 2015 but I think ITV wanted it made a ranking tournament the year after. Maybe only count these events for one year as qualification is based on one seasons results.

Ash147 wrote:https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/snooker/46432531

Interview with Ronnie after his 6-0 win.

Cheers Ash - that is really funny. He is out of his depth when he is questioned about his moaning.

Especially funny that he likens himself to Federer - I doubt Federer has heard of snooker let alone ROS.

Where the buck is the joke regarding almost backing cheating players this guy is the biggest numpty of the lot.

Wildey wrote:Where the buck is the joke regarding almost backing cheating players this guy is the biggest numpty of the lot.

He figures their bans were a bit harsh. After all, Higgins only got 6 months.

Plus, he will need opponents, he can't play alone.

But this "alternate tour" is a last option resort. Like Andre said, he just want a ranking system similar to golf, so he won't have to play in every event.

For the last time anyone to mention Higgins as a parakeet again in the same breath as these 2 banned players will be banned for 2 weeks.

Only Fools thinks its the same thing. I'm on hols so Dan cat and Andre will have to act on it but later tonight when I've got chance I will take a look what's been done or not regarding this rubbish.

Johnny Bravo wrote:

Wildey wrote:Where the buck is the joke regarding almost backing cheating players this guy is the biggest numpty of the lot.

He figures their bans were a bit harsh. After all, Higgins only got 6 months.

Plus, he will need opponents, he can't play alone.

But this "alternate tour" is a last option resort. Like Andre said, he just want a ranking system similar to golf, so he won't have to play in every event.

Do you agree with him their bans were harsh?

"I am just waiting for four or five unhappy players. I am ready to go and if someone offered me the opportunity to play on another platform, I would be gone tomorrow!

Does not sound like a last resort according to the leader...

Badsnookerplayer wrote:"I am just waiting for four or five unhappy players. I am ready to go and if someone offered me the opportunity to play on another platform, I would be gone tomorrow!

Does not sound like a last resort according to the leader...

That's cause he probably feels he won't be able persuade Barry Earn to make the changes he wants. Or maybe he probably feels these sort of threats will do the job. My guess is as good as anyone's.

Badsnookerplayer wrote:

Johnny Bravo wrote:

Wildey wrote:Where the buck is the joke regarding almost backing cheating players this guy is the biggest numpty of the lot.

He figures their bans were a bit harsh. After all, Higgins only got 6 months.

Plus, he will need opponents, he can't play alone.

But this "alternate tour" is a last option resort. Like Andre said, he just want a ranking system similar to golf, so he won't have to play in every event.

Do you agree with him their bans were harsh?

No, I don't don't. However I don't understand why one of them got triple the amount the other got. There should be a standard punishment for cheats. I know that admitted his "crime", but that doesn't make him any less guilty.
And I still ain't convinced about Stephen Lee.

I think you are right in that Cao got a lesser ban purely for co-operating with the investigation.

I am interested in your thoughts on Stephen Lee - do you mean the length of his ban or whether he was guilty?

Badsnookerplayer wrote:I think you are right in that Cao got a lesser ban purely for co-operating with the investigation.

I am interested in your thoughts on Stephen Lee - do you mean the length of his ban or whether he was guilty?

I was talking about whether he was guilty or not. They should provide us mere mortals with the evidence, so we can see with our own eyes. I still don't know the full details about the investigation.
And IMO they provide top players with more protection. I know this is the case in most sports, and there have been some alleged doping cover ups in tennis, basketball, football, etc, but snooker was suppose to be a gentleman's game.

I think Ronnie is just using the idea of a breakaway tour as leverage. He clearly wants something to change, and maybe he feels that Hearn isn't listening to him. Perhaps the threat of something like this might open Hearn's ears and force his hand.

Ash147 wrote:I think Ronnie is just using the idea of a breakaway tour as leverage. He clearly wants something to change, and maybe he feels that Hearn isn't listening to him. Perhaps the threat of something like this might open Hearn's ears and force his hand.

That's how I see it too. You're a very good poster Ash.

Wild is right...

Higgins was found NOT GUILTY so he isnt in the same breath as the banned players.

You can say he should have gotten a longer ban, personally I think so too..

But if anyone else puts Higgins in the same bracket as these guys a ban will be in order.

Andre147 wrote:Wild is right...

Higgins was found NOT GUILTY so he isnt in the same breath as the banned players.

You can say he should have gotten a longer ban, personally I think so too..

But if anyone else puts Higgins in the same bracket as these guys a ban will be in order.

Oh come on. That seems over the top to me.

For what it is worth, I agree with you about Higgins but are you saying that anyone discusses Higgins in a thread about cheating then they will be banned?