Coach Lee Crooks has blasted "narrow minded" and "jealous" First Division clubs after Keighley Cougars were threatened with a transfer embargo.

The threat emerged at yesterday's Rugby League Council meeting after a question was posed about Keighley's transfer activity.

Rumours had swept the game in the previous week that Cougars had exceeded their salary cap restrictions as a result of signing players such as Christian Tyrer, Adam Fogerty and Lee Hansen.

The question came as a shock to Cougars representative, director Allan Clarkson, but the threat soon passed after he told the meeting that a representative of the Rugby League had given the club the all-clear last week.

However Crooks was still visibly angry after last night's 37-22 defeat at Widnes.

He said: "People are getting jealous of us trying to re-build the club. I want to get the team as strong as possible and yet people are knocking that.

"There is nothing wrong with trying to build your club up. We have done nothing wrong. For certain of our fellow clubs to try and get a transfer embargo put on us is narrow minded."

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.