eppinggas
Administrator
Ian Alexander
Don't care
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 8,191
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Post by eppinggas on Jan 29, 2018 21:04:12 GMT
To a certain degree I am glad that there is the 'control' there is shown by some members of the al Qs. From the beginning, although I was extremely grateful the club was rescued from the quagmire it was heading, I was puzzled why Bristol Rovers was chosen by rich Jordanians to buy, a potentially new stadium was probably one reason. It's so so easy to over-stretch and -spend, and clubs end up in dire situations, administration, points loss, relegation... Many argue a period of mid-table seasons would not harm the club, if the infrastructure is gradually improved; lots of things have been added/changed in the club, but not the massive developments expected by the fans from new rich owners. A few mid-table seasons - yup - I'd be happy with that. The infrastructure gradually improved. OK - We have been told of new hand driers in the toilets and a lick of paint in the bars. Potentially this summer we will upgrade our Club Shop. Hopefully it will become less akin to walking into the local shop for local people in Royston Vasey. "not the massive developments expected by the fans from new rich owners". Sorry - I have to take issue with that statement. The owners came in and gave every indication that we would be moving to the UWE. This obviously failed. They then told us they were going to totally re-develop the Memorial Stadium. This was the mythical Plan B. There is no sign of this happening. We were told they would build a Grade 2 Training Facility - which has now been scaled back due to "reality setting in". It is not due to open until July 1st 2019. So it's not fans with unrealistic expectations. It's the owners over-promising and raising fans expectations to unrealistic levels. However they are not guilty of under-delivering, because they haven't delivered anything tangible yet.
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Igitur
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 2,294
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Post by Igitur on Jan 29, 2018 22:19:45 GMT
To a certain degree I am glad that there is the 'control' there is shown by some members of the al Qs. From the beginning, although I was extremely grateful the club was rescued from the quagmire it was heading, I was puzzled why Bristol Rovers was chosen by rich Jordanians to buy, a potentially new stadium was probably one reason. It's so so easy to over-stretch and -spend, and clubs end up in dire situations, administration, points loss, relegation... Many argue a period of mid-table seasons would not harm the club, if the infrastructure is gradually improved; lots of things have been added/changed in the club, but not the massive developments expected by the fans from new rich owners. A few mid-table seasons - yup - I'd be happy with that. The infrastructure gradually improved. OK - We have been told of new hand driers in the toilets and a lick of paint in the bars. Potentially this summer we will upgrade our Club Shop. Hopefully it will become less akin to walking into the local shop for local people in Royston Vasey. "not the massive developments expected by the fans from new rich owners". Sorry - I have to take issue with that statement. The owners came in and gave every indication that we would be moving to the UWE. This obviously failed. They then told us they were going to totally re-develop the Memorial Stadium. This was the mythical Plan B. There is no sign of this happening. We were told they would build a Grade 2 Training Facility - which has now been scaled back due to "reality setting in". It is not due to open until July 1st 2019. So it's not fans with unrealistic expectations. It's the owners over-promising and raising fans expectations to unrealistic levels. However they are not guilty of under-delivering, because they haven't delivered anything tangible yet. The trouble is we do not have a scooby about what is going on behind the scenes. We also do not know what the al Qs were told about UWE, perhaps they thought everything was in place and when it was obvious to them that they could not go ahead had to back paddle like mad. The 'unrealistic expectations' of the fans came first when any sniff of money was detected. The family's control measures in place appear to ensure the budget does not get overstretched. Just about all clubs in the lower leagues are leaking money. Yes it can be argued that the owners have not delivered large projects, but there had to be a re-think after UWE fell through which was handled clumsily at best. Other suitable sites have not been located for a new ground, the only option appears to be a rebuild of the Mem, which is difficult to do and convince fans and quite a loss of face. There has been clear activity of a slow improvement - players have been bought (and sold, not a lot they could realistically do,) significant extensions of contracts signed, academy developed, titillations around the ground...
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Jan 29, 2018 23:06:40 GMT
To a certain degree I am glad that there is the 'control' there is shown by some members of the al Qs. From the beginning, although I was extremely grateful the club was rescued from the quagmire it was heading, I was puzzled why Bristol Rovers was chosen by rich Jordanians to buy, a potentially new stadium was probably one reason. It's so so easy to over-stretch and -spend, and clubs end up in dire situations, administration, points loss, relegation... Many argue a period of mid-table seasons would not harm the club, if the infrastructure is gradually improved; lots of things have been added/changed in the club, but not the massive developments expected by the fans from new rich owners. It is quite a question isn't it? Why us? I think a lot of people overlook that they were on the verge of completing a deal to take over a struggling league one club until it seems a key condition was not met (allegedly the chairman giving up his role) and then they suddenly rock up at Rovers talking about building new stadiums with all the investment that entails. It isn't congruent, for me, so I struggle to rule out that it was ever their intention to build a stadium in the first place and as of 2 years later I am still nowhere near changing my opinion on that. There was nothing special, per se about Bristol Rovers that brought them here, it didn't work out with their first choice so they turned to us. As for the expectation I recall Wael being quick to play down the wealth aspect but I do think he also made good on the political capital gained by taking over from such a disliked regime so I don't think fans could be blamed for feeling like we were encouraged to believe in a dream that had absolutely no chance of becoming reality. One thing is for sure, comparing his body language from his first interview with his feeble performance recently is like night and day. He isn't enjoying the media spotlight anymore and one has to wonder what he knows to make him seem so shifty and evasive. IIRC GT was trying to get him on his show in January wasn't he? [Sarcasm] I wonder why that never happened? [/sarcasm]
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faggotygas
Byron Anthony
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 1,862
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Post by faggotygas on Jan 30, 2018 8:45:44 GMT
Let’s say the rumours are true and the owners are cold footed about the investment needed to move us forward. As I see it, our asset is out fan base which has massive potential. Owners have come and gone but the same issue remained: We have shed loads of debt. Any investment is minus £12M on day one. Until Sergei Abramobicikov finds us, we will always struggle because of the millstone of debt sinking us to the fetid depths of the stagnant waters of mediocrity. So, could the answer be to go bust and reform, debt free? With 9,000 potential gates, and almost guaranteed 5,000, I think we would absolutely sail up the leagues back to pro football. I’m not saying we should, it’s a discussion point. What do you think? I guess the ground is the issue which would be lost if we were wound up. Also, I assume we have to play up leagues from Park football, but how did City do it? They never went back to bostick glue premier? A company doesn't necessarily have to be wound up to sort out debts. We could go into administration, and come to an agreement with creditors through a CVA, like so many others have. With the asset of the Mem, the fact that our creditors are our owners, and our relatively high attendances, that would be quite likely imo.
I believe the punishment for doing this is a 12 point penalty, plus 15 more points if certain criteria are not met. Not chucking out the league.
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