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Post by a more piratey game on Oct 11, 2024 5:24:50 GMT
I think it's disingenuous and unfair to attribute the blame wholly to Wael for the way the club was run up to his father's death. The ALQ family made it abundantly clear that it was a family partnership with equal say in what should be done and the accounts sheet clearly showed that Hani was the money man and the one which the club relied upon for finances. So how much of an influence and say Wael had in major decisions was probably pretty minimal, even though by title he was our club president. I had a long chat with Darrell Clarke last year and one thing he said was that he was constantly fighting a battle between the 2 brothers and the dad. Wael said he could have something, Hani said no he couldn't. Him and Wael wanted to do something a certain way, Hani said it wasn't going to happen or if it did it would be his way. Who can forget DCs off the record comments about certain members of the board that were recorded by the Bristol Post saying that some of the board were lying to him. It certainly stacks up. Where Wael becomes fully accountable is from 2020 onwards when it was his show. His allowing MS more control to run the club in its entirety with Tommy W was a mistake as was the decision to not appoint another executive to the board to help him and eventually Tom leading to fiascos such as the south stand redevelopment. The appointment of JB that ultimately led to our relegation and the takeover of the scousers, even if ultimately that debt was partially repaid with promotion back to L1. So yes, Wael does have to answer for somethings, but not all, simply because he didn't have the power, influence or money to do anything about it and as I said, the silky football executive who was meant to be the one to lead the club with the ALQs money was a fraud and a liar which caused us more harm and trouble than any other person since Flook and Bradshaw. You may see that as me standing up for Wael, I simply see that as being fair and yes, I lay the first 4/5 years of the ALQs failure of ownership squarely at Hani's door. He didn't like football, wasn't interested in us, didn't see us as any form of investment or with any vision, was dragged along for the ride by the rest of the family, messed up our best chance of getting a new stadium that we'll ever have and then ditched us as soon as the old man died. I'm on the fence about a DOF. I feel that the club needs someone to handle the admin side of player transfers, dealing with agents, scouting players, reviewing data, building a structure of development of youth to first team which frees up the manager to coach and manage all first team affairs. What the manager and DOF need to do occasionally with owners is to say why they perhaps need to open the cheque book to obtain a player for a fee or for higher headroom on the wage budget and with the owner negotiate with the owners of other clubs. Having a good DOF, like Barry Fry for example, is priceless. One mistake Wael made was not taking Gary Penrice up on his offer to work for the club again. Penny would have loved to have come back but Wael dilly dallied and Penny went to Leeds instead. I totally agree that we need a proper business structure at the club to minimise the £4m a year loss we currently have. BTW, it's very rare I speak to Wael, and if I do, it's mainly at games where we say a quick hello and we ask after each others families etc. I'm in no position to persuade him to do anything, ask him for anything and least of all what to do and say on any particular pod cast. Regarding whom I'm blaming for current failures, it's HAS. Hes our owner and chairman, he's the money man and the one with the majority of influence. Hes also Abdul's father and he should be able to control the activities of his son and counsel him on any flaws in his personality which may be causing conflict. However, Abdul is over 18 and should know how to behave and quite frankly, he's being childish in his behaviour currently. Do you agree with Wael when he says “ don’t apply business rules into football” ? There is a lot of common ground between us because we both believe that having a proper business structure in place provides the foundations for sustained football success but Wael believes the opposite. He thinks football success is completely random so sometimes you win and sometimes you lose but it has nothing to do with the way a club is run off the pitch. This wouldn’t matter if he remained in the background and kept his thoughts to himself or offered advice to Hussain privately but he’s not doing that. He’s used the Reading interview to openly challenge the Al- Saeeds and their plan to run the club in a more businesslike way and his sudden reappearance as Mr Popular is a clear attempt at undermining his partner. But once again he’s misjudged the situation because although many Gasheads are unhappy with the way the Al- Saeeds are running the club and disagree with Abdullatif being given a free rein to do things his own way they are not prepared to say “ bring back Wael”. And that’s because the love in is over and fans know that Wael had his chance and no matter how many excuses you make for him he blew it badly. If we want what’s best for Rovers we’ve got to look forward and try to find a way of persuading Hussain that he should put a business structure in place and let Abdullatif be guided by more experienced people. I know it may hurt you and other Gasheads to hear it but Wael’s experiment with “ randomness” failed and now Roverst have to move on from that. Unfortunately, I think there’s a lot of truth in that post The clue for me was the ‘can’t apply business rules in football quote’. That’s a copout. And hints at some kind of mystical skill being required Football is very much a business, and increasingly so - see the networks of clubs like Red Bull, the Man City court cases, the vastly increased number of club and international games, the emergence of feeder teams in competitions like the Cuddly Toy Cup etc as evidence What is obvious is that money is key to success - a necessary if insufficient condition The interesting discussion would be about how football is different to most other businesses, and how leadership and management needs to be different/adjusted, especially in the lower leagues to reflect that - and I don’t remember that being commented upon |
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Post by a more piratey game on Oct 11, 2024 8:14:03 GMT
I’ve just read The Debrief thread at the other place
The core of it is that roadman and gashead1981 are sure that Abdullatif and his crowd are behaving badly, and MT’s interview post-Swindle seems to indicate that things are coming to a head
Some echoes of DC and Wael working with Hani and Hamer
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eppinggas
Administrator
Ian Alexander
Don't care
Joined: June 2014
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Post by eppinggas on Oct 11, 2024 8:34:10 GMT
I’ve just read The Debrief thread at the other place The core of it is that roadman and gashead1981 are sure that Abdullatif and his crowd are behaving badly, and MT’s interview post-Swindle seems to indicate that things are coming to a head Some echoes of DC and Wael working with Hani and Hamer Men Behaving Badly. That was another long running comedy. |
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Post by irenestoyboy on Oct 11, 2024 9:22:57 GMT
I think it's disingenuous and unfair to attribute the blame wholly to Wael for the way the club was run up to his father's death. The ALQ family made it abundantly clear that it was a family partnership with equal say in what should be done and the accounts sheet clearly showed that Hani was the money man and the one which the club relied upon for finances. So how much of an influence and say Wael had in major decisions was probably pretty minimal, even though by title he was our club president. I had a long chat with Darrell Clarke last year and one thing he said was that he was constantly fighting a battle between the 2 brothers and the dad. Wael said he could have something, Hani said no he couldn't. Him and Wael wanted to do something a certain way, Hani said it wasn't going to happen or if it did it would be his way. Who can forget DCs off the record comments about certain members of the board that were recorded by the Bristol Post saying that some of the board were lying to him. It certainly stacks up. Where Wael becomes fully accountable is from 2020 onwards when it was his show. His allowing MS more control to run the club in its entirety with Tommy W was a mistake as was the decision to not appoint another executive to the board to help him and eventually Tom leading to fiascos such as the south stand redevelopment. The appointment of JB that ultimately led to our relegation and the takeover of the scousers, even if ultimately that debt was partially repaid with promotion back to L1. So yes, Wael does have to answer for somethings, but not all, simply because he didn't have the power, influence or money to do anything about it and as I said, the silky football executive who was meant to be the one to lead the club with the ALQs money was a fraud and a liar which caused us more harm and trouble than any other person since Flook and Bradshaw. You may see that as me standing up for Wael, I simply see that as being fair and yes, I lay the first 4/5 years of the ALQs failure of ownership squarely at Hani's door. He didn't like football, wasn't interested in us, didn't see us as any form of investment or with any vision, was dragged along for the ride by the rest of the family, messed up our best chance of getting a new stadium that we'll ever have and then ditched us as soon as the old man died. I'm on the fence about a DOF. I feel that the club needs someone to handle the admin side of player transfers, dealing with agents, scouting players, reviewing data, building a structure of development of youth to first team which frees up the manager to coach and manage all first team affairs. What the manager and DOF need to do occasionally with owners is to say why they perhaps need to open the cheque book to obtain a player for a fee or for higher headroom on the wage budget and with the owner negotiate with the owners of other clubs. Having a good DOF, like Barry Fry for example, is priceless. One mistake Wael made was not taking Gary Penrice up on his offer to work for the club again. Penny would have loved to have come back but Wael dilly dallied and Penny went to Leeds instead. I totally agree that we need a proper business structure at the club to minimise the £4m a year loss we currently have. BTW, it's very rare I speak to Wael, and if I do, it's mainly at games where we say a quick hello and we ask after each others families etc. I'm in no position to persuade him to do anything, ask him for anything and least of all what to do and say on any particular pod cast. Regarding whom I'm blaming for current failures, it's HAS. Hes our owner and chairman, he's the money man and the one with the majority of influence. Hes also Abdul's father and he should be able to control the activities of his son and counsel him on any flaws in his personality which may be causing conflict. However, Abdul is over 18 and should know how to behave and quite frankly, he's being childish in his behaviour currently. No. Although what I think he meant was that football isnt like a normal business where you can expect to run it to make a profit year on year and that there will always be an expectation on owners to pick up the shortfall. We should be maximising our revenue and doing everything to minimise our losses. Again, if we had built the UWE, we would be in a much stronger position than we are now with a tumble down ground in an area where any form of ROI on build investment is minimised. But as we didnt, our investment now should be in people with experience to lead the club and any future projects forward. There is a lot of common ground between us because we both believe that having a proper business structure in place provides the foundations for sustained football success but Wael believes the opposite. He thinks football success is completely random so sometimes you win and sometimes you lose but it has nothing to do with the way a club is run off the pitch.
I think the ALQs and Wael should have, and now the AS should look at a club like Oxford and their executive management, just look at their experience and skillset! We could only dream about having someone like Tim Williams as CEO. This wouldn’t matter if he remained in the background and kept his thoughts to himself or offered advice to Hussain privately but he’s not doing that. I very much get the impression that has been done. I was told last week (again not from Wael) that after the disconent from interference from Abdul with Matt a meeting was arranged for HAS, Abdul, Wael and George with MT to discuss the situation. HAS and Wael were there, Abdul turned up 30 mins late and George didnt bother. Wheres the respect? Where is the cohesion and working together? He’s used the Reading interview to openly challenge the Al- Saeeds and their plan to run the club in a more businesslike way and his sudden reappearance as Mr Popular is a clear attempt at undermining his partner.
But once again he’s misjudged the situation because although many Gasheads are unhappy with the way the Al- Saeeds are running the club and disagree with Abdullatif being given a free rein to do things his own way they are not prepared to say “ bring back Wael”. And that’s because the love in is over and fans know that Wael had his chance and no matter how many excuses you make for him he blew it badly. I think you are reading too much into that there personally. If he wanted to be Mr Popular with Rovers fans and undermine his partners, even he knows that something like Gascast would be the podcast and platform to curry favour with Rovers fans. Not some Reading fan with a 2k subscription podcast. If I wanted to buy the club back or wanted to undermine someone I would go to where the biggest audience is and that wouldnt be some bald bloke in his bedroom 80 miles up the M4. If we want what’s best for Rovers we’ve got to look forward and try to find a way of persuading Hussain that he should put a business structure in place and let Abdullatif be guided by more experienced people. I know it may hurt you and other Gasheads to hear it but Wael’s experiment with “ randomness” failed and now Rovers have to move on from that.
It doesnt hurt me at all, in fact, I dont really have any feelings towards Wael not being the majority owner now, in some ways its a bit like when DC left, you liked him, but you move on to the next. It's funny that you keep pedaling that line bevause when I had family on the board before I had more skin in the game then in terms of wanting Ed to succeed! I still feel a little disappointed that they never got the chance to build the UWE and its even more galling that a family who came in and spent £30m didnt spend it on a stadium. All I have ever wanted is for the gas to succeed, to have a professional united boardroom, to grow the club into better facilities and see succeess on the pitch. I literally could not give a rats arse who is in charge of us as long as they are trying their best to do whats right. It's so glaringly obvious right now that its not working and the new ownership does not have the first idea on how to run a football club and that their experience in construction and engineering cannot be copy and pasted. The neoptism will only serve us badly as we have seen previously, the lack of leadership and experience will only mean more money is wasted and the interference at board level into team affairs will only end up in us getting relegated. The insistance that MT has to play players that we have paid a fee for like Hutchinson to showcase them for future sale is just a joke. Players should be picked on form and on what will get the club the best results on the field and that should always be the managers decision. |
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bondigas
Joined: December 2017
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Post by bondigas on Oct 11, 2024 10:06:43 GMT
I've read these exchanges with great interest but have to say, any man who single handedly appoints Barton as manager and then refers to him as being charismatic has to be questionable.
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Post by irenestoyboy on Oct 11, 2024 10:44:51 GMT
I’ve just read The Debrief thread at the other place The core of it is that roadman and gashead1981 are sure that Abdullatif and his crowd are behaving badly, and MT’s interview post-Swindle seems to indicate that things are coming to a head Some echoes of DC and Wael working with Hani and Hamer Although I am friends with Roadman, we dont have the same wider network of contacts and friends. However he works in the football industry and knows lots of people. The football industry talks because so many people know each other from being at clubs together, or the clubs work together on transfers etc its amazing how word gets around and quickly. When you have a collective people all saying the same thing and then you hear it first hand from someone inside the club, you know it must be true. I agree completely with the last line of your statement. |
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Post by swissgas on Oct 12, 2024 13:20:01 GMT
Do you agree with Wael when he says “ don’t apply business rules into football” ?No. Although what I think he meant was that football isnt like a normal business where you can expect to run it to make a profit year on year and that there will always be an expectation on owners to pick up the shortfall. We should be maximising our revenue and doing everything to minimise our losses. Again, if we had built the UWE, we would be in a much stronger position than we are now with a tumble down ground in an area where any form of ROI on build investment is minimised. But as we didnt, our investment now should be in people with experience to lead the club and any future projects forward. There is a lot of common ground between us because we both believe that having a proper business structure in place provides the foundations for sustained football success but Wael believes the opposite. He thinks football success is completely random so sometimes you win and sometimes you lose but it has nothing to do with the way a club is run off the pitch.
I think the ALQs and Wael should have, and now the AS should look at a club like Oxford and their executive management, just look at their experience and skillset! We could only dream about having someone like Tim Williams as CEO. This wouldn’t matter if he remained in the background and kept his thoughts to himself or offered advice to Hussain privately but he’s not doing that. I very much get the impression that has been done. I was told last week (again not from Wael) that after the disconent from interference from Abdul with Matt a meeting was arranged for HAS, Abdul, Wael and George with MT to discuss the situation. HAS and Wael were there, Abdul turned up 30 mins late and George didnt bother. Wheres the respect? Where is the cohesion and working together? He’s used the Reading interview to openly challenge the Al- Saeeds and their plan to run the club in a more businesslike way and his sudden reappearance as Mr Popular is a clear attempt at undermining his partner.
But once again he’s misjudged the situation because although many Gasheads are unhappy with the way the Al- Saeeds are running the club and disagree with Abdullatif being given a free rein to do things his own way they are not prepared to say “ bring back Wael”. And that’s because the love in is over and fans know that Wael had his chance and no matter how many excuses you make for him he blew it badly. I think you are reading too much into that there personally. If he wanted to be Mr Popular with Rovers fans and undermine his partners, even he knows that something like Gascast would be the podcast and platform to curry favour with Rovers fans. Not some Reading fan with a 2k subscription podcast. If I wanted to buy the club back or wanted to undermine someone I would go to where the biggest audience is and that wouldnt be some bald bloke in his bedroom 80 miles up the M4. If we want what’s best for Rovers we’ve got to look forward and try to find a way of persuading Hussain that he should put a business structure in place and let Abdullatif be guided by more experienced people. I know it may hurt you and other Gasheads to hear it but Wael’s experiment with “ randomness” failed and now Rovers have to move on from that.
It doesnt hurt me at all, in fact, I dont really have any feelings towards Wael not being the majority owner now, in some ways its a bit like when DC left, you liked him, but you move on to the next. It's funny that you keep pedaling that line bevause when I had family on the board before I had more skin in the game then in terms of wanting Ed to succeed! I still feel a little disappointed that they never got the chance to build the UWE and its even more galling that a family who came in and spent £30m didnt spend it on a stadium. All I have ever wanted is for the gas to succeed, to have a professional united boardroom, to grow the club into better facilities and see succeess on the pitch. I literally could not give a rats arse who is in charge of us as long as they are trying their best to do whats right. It's so glaringly obvious right now that its not working and the new ownership does not have the first idea on how to run a football club and that their experience in construction and engineering cannot be copy and pasted. The neoptism will only serve us badly as we have seen previously, the lack of leadership and experience will only mean more money is wasted and the interference at board level into team affairs will only end up in us getting relegated. The insistance that MT has to play players that we have paid a fee for like Hutchinson to showcase them for future sale is just a joke. Players should be picked on form and on what will get the club the best results on the field and that should always be the managers decision. Here’s another question for you ITB. If you were Rovers owner and reached a point where you could no longer cover the club’s losses would you ; a) Be willing to pass 100% ownership to a “ Premier League” class investor with the skill and resources to build us a new stadium and transform Rovers into a successful progressive football club by using modern business methods ? or b) Insist on keeping a large minority stake for yourself which would immediately reduce the pool of potential investors to those in the “ Third Division” category and make it more likely we end up with someone willing to spend a few million for a few years on a “ bit of fun” for their family ? |
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Post by irenestoyboy on Oct 12, 2024 13:56:23 GMT
Here’s another question for you ITB. If you were Rovers owner and reached a point where you could no longer cover the club’s losses would you ; a) Be willing to pass 100% ownership to a “ Premier League” class investor with the skill and resources to build us a new stadium and transform Rovers into a successful progressive football club by using modern business methods ? or b) Insist on keeping a large minority stake for yourself which would immediately reduce the pool of potential investors to those in the “ Third Division” category and make it more likely we end up with someone willing to spend a few million for a few years on a “ bit of fun” for their family ? If there was an (a) option then an obviously, which is what Higgs and co did when they thought the ALQs were it. However if there is no (a) option then (b) it is which is better than going into full admin. Wasn't it the same for GD when he too Higgs on and Barry Bradshaw increased his shareholding? He tried to sell us at least twice with no bidders wanting to buy us. |
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Post by swissgas on Oct 12, 2024 14:47:45 GMT
Here’s another question for you ITB. If you were Rovers owner and reached a point where you could no longer cover the club’s losses would you ; a) Be willing to pass 100% ownership to a “ Premier League” class investor with the skill and resources to build us a new stadium and transform Rovers into a successful progressive football club by using modern business methods ? or b) Insist on keeping a large minority stake for yourself which would immediately reduce the pool of potential investors to those in the “ Third Division” category and make it more likely we end up with someone willing to spend a few million for a few years on a “ bit of fun” for their family ? If there was an (a) option then an obviously, which is what Higgs and co did when they thought the ALQs were it. However if there is no (a) option then (b) it is which is better than going into full admin. Wasn't it the same for GD when he too Higgs on and Barry Bradshaw increased his shareholding? He tried to sell us at least twice with no bidders wanting to buy us. Yes, I’m with you on this, I’d definitely choose option (a). |
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Post by irenestoyboy on Oct 12, 2024 22:31:56 GMT
If there was an (a) option then an obviously, which is what Higgs and co did when they thought the ALQs were it. However if there is no (a) option then (b) it is which is better than going into full admin. Wasn't it the same for GD when he too Higgs on and Barry Bradshaw increased his shareholding? He tried to sell us at least twice with no bidders wanting to buy us. Yes, I’m with you on this, I’d definitely choose option (a). What if (a) was never on the table? About 18 months ago I asked Wael if anyone had ever approached us that was like (a) and he said only 2 of about 50 approaches he had were credible, and when it got down to the nitty gritty of wanting to do a deal, they backed away. I also asked him if that meant selling the club completely and he said to me he'd happily move everything on if it put us in better hands so I don't think there is any desperation there to stay at all costs, but I only have his word on that obviously. I have a feeling, that AS option was our only option of medium term security regardless of whether Wael wanted to stay on or not. What say you? |
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Post by swissgas on Oct 13, 2024 1:04:24 GMT
Yes, I’m with you on this, I’d definitely choose option (a). What if (a) was never on the table? About 18 months ago I asked Wael if anyone had ever approached us that was like (a) and he said only 2 of about 50 approaches he had were credible, and when it got down to the nitty gritty of wanting to do a deal, they backed away. I also asked him if that meant selling the club completely and he said to me he'd happily move everything on if it put us in better hands so I don't think there is any desperation there to stay at all costs, but I only have his word on that obviously. I have a feeling, that AS option was our only option of medium term security regardless of whether Wael wanted to stay on or not. What say you? I’d say that’s an astonishing conversation to have for someone who rarely speaks to Wael and then only to say a quick hello and ask after each other’s families. |
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Post by irenestoyboy on Oct 13, 2024 6:15:43 GMT
What if (a) was never on the table? About 18 months ago I asked Wael if anyone had ever approached us that was like (a) and he said only 2 of about 50 approaches he had were credible, and when it got down to the nitty gritty of wanting to do a deal, they backed away. I also asked him if that meant selling the club completely and he said to me he'd happily move everything on if it put us in better hands so I don't think there is any desperation there to stay at all costs, but I only have his word on that obviously. I have a feeling, that AS option was our only option of medium term security regardless of whether Wael wanted to stay on or not. What say you? I’d say that’s an astonishing conversation to have for someone who rarely speaks to Wael and then only to say a quick hello and ask after each other’s families. Would you? Do you not remember all the noice that some were posting on both forums that Wael had rejected a big American investment? And then there was someone else who was saying there was another deal that because he insisted on staying that it all fell through. I just asked the question one day. It was over 18 months ago and I probably did speak to Wael more then at games than I do now. I just don't see him as much. I had absolutely no idea the AS family were coming in and that he was selling his majority stake, put it that way. |
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Post by CabbagePatchBlues on Oct 13, 2024 7:25:48 GMT
Do you agree with Wael when he says “ don’t apply business rules into football” ? There is a lot of common ground between us because we both believe that having a proper business structure in place provides the foundations for sustained football success but Wael believes the opposite. He thinks football success is completely random so sometimes you win and sometimes you lose but it has nothing to do with the way a club is run off the pitch. This wouldn’t matter if he remained in the background and kept his thoughts to himself or offered advice to Hussain privately but he’s not doing that. He’s used the Reading interview to openly challenge the Al- Saeeds and their plan to run the club in a more businesslike way and his sudden reappearance as Mr Popular is a clear attempt at undermining his partner. But once again he’s misjudged the situation because although many Gasheads are unhappy with the way the Al- Saeeds are running the club and disagree with Abdullatif being given a free rein to do things his own way they are not prepared to say “ bring back Wael”. And that’s because the love in is over and fans know that Wael had his chance and no matter how many excuses you make for him he blew it badly. If we want what’s best for Rovers we’ve got to look forward and try to find a way of persuading Hussain that he should put a business structure in place and let Abdullatif be guided by more experienced people. I know it may hurt you and other Gasheads to hear it but Wael’s experiment with “ randomness” failed and now Roverst have to move on from that. Unfortunately, I think there’s a lot of truth in that post The clue for me was the ‘can’t apply business rules in football quote’. That’s a copout. And hints at some kind of mystical skill being required Football is very much a business, and increasingly so - see the networks of clubs like Red Bull, the Man City court cases, the vastly increased number of club and international games, the emergence of feeder teams in competitions like the Cuddly Toy Cup etc as evidence What is obvious is that money is key to success - a necessary if insufficient condition The interesting discussion would be about how football is different to most other businesses, and how leadership and management needs to be different/adjusted, especially in the lower leagues to reflect that - and I don’t remember that being commented upon |
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Post by swissgas on Oct 13, 2024 15:48:48 GMT
I’d say that’s an astonishing conversation to have for someone who rarely speaks to Wael and then only to say a quick hello and ask after each other’s families. Would you? Do you not remember all the noice that some were posting on both forums that Wael had rejected a big American investment? And then there was someone else who was saying there was another deal that because he insisted on staying that it all fell through. I just asked the question one day. It was over 18 months ago and I probably did speak to Wael more then at games than I do now. I just don't see him as much. I had absolutely no idea the AS family were coming in and that he was selling his majority stake, put it that way. Yes I would because it’s so obvious you are close to Wael and take every opportunity to defend him, which is your choice and there’s nothing wrong with that, I just don’t see why you feel the need to keep denying it. What you said in the previous post is also astonishing to me. BDO are the fifth biggest business consultancy and accounting firm in the world and when they started seeking investors for Rovers in early 2022 they weren’t doing it by handing out flyers to shoppers at Cribbs Causeway Mall. There was a vetting process before any party expressing an interest was given access to the prospectus so to say that 48 out of 50 (96%) were not credible is, well, not credible. And then the two which were credible backed out when it got down to the nitty gritty ? I wonder what the nitty gritty was ? You say the conversation about this took place about 18 months ago and we know the Al- Saeeds contacted BDO 20 months ago so what does that say about them ? Were they initially viewed as non-credible but became credible when things got desperate ? This thread is in response to serious revelations on the other forum from yourself and Roadman. My input was initially to try to discourage you from using abusive language towards Abdullatif because I think that’s likely to do more harm than good. For what it’s worth I tend to agree about it being unnecessary to describe you as “ our least favorite car salesman” on the other thread because from what you’ve said in the past it appears you’ve actually got a very good niche business. But when you post so viciously about the VP you are bound to get a reaction. The revelations didn’t come as a surprise to me because after initial enthusiasm about the Al- Saeeds apparent recognition of the need for Rovers to be run in a more businesslike way I’ve been disappointed about what has actually happened. The question now is how we can get back to the original Al- Saeed plan which I thought embraced a properly structured business taking a path to sustainability and promised full transparency. But I don’t think abuse or trying to undermine them via a “ man of the people” route is the answer. |
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Post by irenestoyboy on Oct 13, 2024 21:23:12 GMT
Would you? Do you not remember all the noice that some were posting on both forums that Wael had rejected a big American investment? And then there was someone else who was saying there was another deal that because he insisted on staying that it all fell through. I just asked the question one day. It was over 18 months ago and I probably did speak to Wael more then at games than I do now. I just don't see him as much. I had absolutely no idea the AS family were coming in and that he was selling his majority stake, put it that way.
And yet most of this thread I've said he's made errors which we both agree to there being a different path he could have and should have taken. Ill defend him where its fait that he should be and criticise where he has failed. Seems the most objective way to be, don't you think? What you said in the previous post is also astonishing to me. BDO are the fifth biggest business consultancy and accounting firm in the world and when they started seeking investors for Rovers in early 2022 they weren’t doing it by handing out flyers to shoppers at Cribbs Causeway Mall. There was a vetting process before any party expressing an interest was given access to the prospectus so to say that 48 out of 50 (96%) were not credible is, well, not credible.And then the two which were credible backed out when it got down to the nitty gritty ? I wonder what the nitty gritty was ?Would it be possible that some of these didn't come via BDO? I have no other information than what I have written. You say the conversation about this took place about 18 months ago and we know the Al- Saeeds contacted BDO 20 months ago so what does that say about them ? Were they initially viewed as non-credible but became credible when things got desperate ?Your guess would be as good as mine. This thread is in response to serious revelations on the other forum from yourself and Roadman. My input was initially to try to discourage you from using abusive language towards Abdullatif because I think that’s likely to do more harm than good. For what it’s worth I tend to agree about it being unnecessary to describe you as “ our least favorite car salesman” on the other thread because from what you’ve said in the past it appears you’ve actually got a very good niche business. But when you post so viciously about the VP you are bound to get a reaction.
Thank you for your compliment, I believe I have too. I appreciate your counsel. I don't post to deliberately get a reaction. I guess part of it is frustration that we seem to be in another cycle of an owner coming in, being completely green about how things should be run, making some very obvious avoidable errors, being completely divided in the boardroom, and having a CEO which is out of his depth and damaging the reputation of the club. If not sorted out soon it will also likely see us relegated, if not this season, then the next. It seems to be more unprofessional than it was previously, in fact its even worse with the Kuwati undergrads trying to get involved in 1st team affairs, something that has never happened to any great degree at our club. The revelations didn’t come as a surprise to me because after initial enthusiasm about the Al- Saeeds apparent recognition of the need for Rovers to be run in a more businesslike way I’ve been disappointed about what has actually happened. You and me both. Why do you think the initial plan has gone awry or not happened? The question now is how we can get back to the original Al- Saeed plan which I thought embraced a properly structured business taking a path to sustainability and promised full transparency. But I don’t think abuse or trying to undermine them via a “ man of the people” route is the answer.
I don't think they ever had a plan. They certainly have never openly communicated a plan. HAS and Abdul have said lots of things, but that means nothing. I think they thought they would come in, see some obvious errors in the accounts and close off the loss, see us overstaffed in certain areas and make the obvious cuts to staff and salary savings and add another stand to the stadium that would cure most of the if not all of the problem with the club and fans and off we go to get promoted. I went to the forum around 6 months after they took over where Abdul did most of the talking and not much listening. I said to him that night over the mic that he was certainly saying all the right things, but when lightly pressed on some of the things he said as well as matters to do with financing us, what the plans were with the stadium and training ground, he either didn't have an answer but waffled some BS which you knew wasn't even close to being possible (13 pitches on the TG for example) or tried to deflect the question. It smacked of someone being out of their depth and I came away with a feeling we weren't getting what we thought we were getting and that we could be in trouble. Looks like that's proving true so far sadly. |
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Post by a more piratey game on Oct 16, 2024 20:05:22 GMT
Roadmap now suggesting that Wael is on his ‘farewell tour’
Can’t help but hope not
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Post by chelt_gas on Oct 16, 2024 21:10:38 GMT
Roadmap now suggesting that Wael is on his ‘farewell tour’ Can’t help but hope not What is Wael's shareholding worth? Is it worth more to the Al-S than it would be on the open market? Would any purchaser have to work with the Al-S prior to purchase? Is it actually a liability which neither the Al-S or Wael wants to keep? |
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baldrick
Joined: July 2024
Posts: 1,344
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Post by baldrick on Oct 16, 2024 22:29:45 GMT
Roadmap now suggesting that Wael is on his ‘farewell tour’ Can’t help but hope not What is Wael's shareholding worth? Is it worth more to the Al-S than it would be on the open market? Would any purchaser have to work with the Al-S prior to purchase? Is it actually a liability which neither the Al-S or Wael wants to keep? 40.5% of Dwane Sports, compared with 55% the Al-Ss own. Samer owns the 4.5% balance of DS. |
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Post by a more piratey game on Oct 17, 2024 4:38:21 GMT
Roadmap now suggesting that Wael is on his ‘farewell tour’ Can’t help but hope not Roadman is also saying that the owners have stopped talking to MT. I really hope not - I’ve still got high hopes for this squad If he’s right on both, it seems to point to an imminent huge upheaval |
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Post by The Concept on Oct 17, 2024 5:59:15 GMT
Roadmap now suggesting that Wael is on his ‘farewell tour’ Can’t help but hope not Roadman is also saying that the owners have stopped talking to MT. I really hope not - I’ve still got high hopes for this squad If he’s right on both, it seems to point to an imminent huge upheaval All not good, any internal problems at the club. Roadman has been saying these things a while though. Back on 9th Oct on 'The Debrief' thread says about not talking at the club photo shoot. Can't remember which thread, but I've seem several mentions of 'farewell tour', which I think I first saw in relation to the away end at Burton. |
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