Let's take a Rec-ing ball to stadium debate

There's a lot of talk from within the Bath camp at the moment about the side gearing up to enter the business end of the season.
But come the season's end, is Bath Rugby going to be a viable business?
The B-word can be a dirty word for union purists but in this professional era of bottom lines, stadium capacity demands and salary caps, Bath Rugby – like the rest of the country's top-flight teams – is a business as much as it is a rugby club, and the power of sterling cannot be ignored.
Now, just for a second, imagine the following.
It's late February. Bath are third from bottom in the Guinness Premiership and their Heineken Cup ambitions are dead. They look destined for mid-to-bottom-of-the-table mediocrity.
Away from the pitch, it is not clear where they are going to be playing their home games next season. It is not even clear whether, if they manage to stay at The Rec, they will have permission for the current stands to stay in place. The authorities that have ultimate jurisdiction over what happens at the site are giving off negative vibes over the club's long, medium and even short-term there.
Would the word crisis be used in such circumstances?
Of course it would. Imminent homelessness or the prospect of a sharp reduction in the club's crowd capacity at its ramshackle current home is an intolerable position for a top-flight club to be in.
The fact of the matter is that Bath's on-pitch success this season is, to a large degree, glossing over the growing crisis off it.
But because all is well in the Premiership and because the European campaign remains on track, the crisis away from the pitch loses its immediacy and urgency.
If Bath were having a dud season, then I'd wager that the homelessness issue would appear far more pressing and the debate about the club's future would be more vociferous, possibly even plain nasty.
That is not to say, of course, that the issue of Bath's future at The Rec isn't being keenly commented on and discussed. Members of the Real Friends of The Rec and contributors to supporters' website bathrugbyere are among those at the heart of this debate, and this paper carries almost weekly updates on the convoluted discussions between the Recreation Ground Trustees, the Charity Commission and the club itself.
But on the whole, these discussions are being conducted in, on the face of it at least, a restrained, gentlemanly way. The parties involved may have frustrations and reservations about the way other parties are going about the issue but these criticisms are being couched in soft, diplomatic terms.
Sooner or later, however, and I hope it is sooner, there are going to be ructions. And why do I want ructions? Because this whole debate needs to be brought to a head – quickly. Firm deadlines need to be imposed so the club and supporters alike can escape this purgatory and know exactly where they stand.
Bath Rugby cannot draw up a meaningful business plan in this current state of limbo. And if it isn't able to draw up a plan, then its future is uncertain.
Silverware may well be on its way to Bath this year but whether or not the trophy cabinet that houses it will be in Bath, Swindon, Corsham or Timbuktoo is still, sadly, anyone's guess.

For more of Tom's thoughts on Bath Rugby and the state of English union, click here