This newspaper has a long track record of pressing for work on the redevelopment of Odsal Stadium to be progressed as a matter of urgency. We fought long and hard to expose the constant delays and prevarication that surrounded the ill-fated Superdome plan - a scheme we warned from the outset was too ambitious and destined to fail.

It gave us no pleasure when Superdome collapsed but we cautiously welcomed the bidding which followed and the promises of much more vigorous control and monitoring of the scheme chosen to be its successor.

That control has been less obvious than Odsal-watchers would have wanted but the announcement that Tesco had officially joined the project gave Sterling Capitol's scheme a significant boost and convinced many that the development may be going to happen after all.

Bulls chairman Chris Caisley's frustration at the continuing delays in signing off the agreement are, therefore, fully understandable. But the timing of his announcement that Bulls are pulling out of the deal is surprising given that the Council has had assurances that Sterling will sign today.

It could be, of course, that Mr Caisley is simply trying to give the developers one last push towards putting pen to paper. But this kind of brinkmanship can have fatal consequences. What is there to stop Sterling walking away from the deal citing a lack of co-operation from the Bulls?

We have enormous sympathy for the Bulls and we strongly believe that they have been messed about to an appalling degree. But it would be a tragedy if Mr Caisley's gamble puts paid to any chance of Odsal ever being developed into the top-notch stadium the Bulls deserve.