AN EDINBURGH supporters' chief has urged the SRU to loosen the purse strings in 2008 to give the city side a genuine opportunity to take the professional game into new territory in Scotland.
Rumours of Jim Hamilton, the Scotland lock, moving to the capital last month remain no more than that, while Edinburgh supporters are still smarting from the collapse of Stephen Larkham's capture. And Bert Lawson, the chairman of the supporters' clu
b, insisted that the recent optimism growing around the squad needs the fuel of new signings to help it continue into the new year.
He said: "There is a positive feel around, and I think we should be very positive going into 2008, but we still have apathy towards pro rugby to battle through and I have to admit that I still have my reservations about the SRU.
"I hold my hand up and apologise for doubting Andy Robinson because, although he's only been in place a few months, I think he's shown already what a great signing he was. I said at the time he wasn't my first choice, but he has proven me wrong and I've been delighted with the way the squad has started to perform under him and Rob Moffat.
"But the SRU said last year that they disbanded the Borders to free up funds to help the remaining two teams, and, while they've obviously helped Glasgow quite a bit, in 2008, they have to show they are serious about giving Edinburgh a real chance to compete for silverware – and that means new quality signings to add to the talent we already have.
"The other thing we'd like to see is more players being released during and after the Six Nations Championship. Guys starting for Scotland every week are different, but there are a lot of fringe guys who could be playing Magners League rugby for us and haven't been in recent seasons. We don't have the depth of other sides, so we need as many of our guys available as possible to really compete."
Lawson was also quick to praise the existing players at the club, especially the younger, newer faces, and added: "Maybe it's because the youngsters have still to prove themselves, while the older internationalists probably felt they'd done that, but there's more hope about the team now.
"I don't think we'd have won last week against Glasgow if we'd still had all our 'superstar' internationalists, because, after Dan Parks scored to put Glasgow ahead, we'd have said that was it. But the young guys won't accept anything; they are desperate to win and I think that was clear in the way Nick De Luca and Ben Cairns combined to score the winner.
"I'm a lot happier now than I was at the start of the season. I can't speak for all the Edinburgh fans, of course, but I know many share my feelings, and there is a better feel than there was in September.
"Now all we need is for the SRU to follow through with their promises to make us truly competitive."
The full article contains 522 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
