LPGas
Stuart Taylor
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 1,240 
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Post by LPGas on Oct 10, 2018 17:05:31 GMT
I'm on the other forum and it is just plain Bollox
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Oct 10, 2018 17:12:57 GMT
Only 21 more days of this to go.
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Post by droitwichgas on Oct 10, 2018 19:51:33 GMT
according to slideaway at the other place.... (Wael) was there again today in box 5 I believe, even had a chat before the game the after his taxi dropped him off, but no- all is not well.....
Have you tried to approach him? He seemed to offer as much as he could today.
Reassured that they have been working behind the scenes which is now extremely close and once they are in a position to announce something they will, until then haven’t been able to say anything because of being undermined in the past and due to restrictions through Non-Disclosure Agreements that are currently in place for all parties but assured that will be out in the open very soon if we're succesefull or not. Make of that what you will, sometimes it's just worth asking the question!Those posts don't even make sense "all is not well" but "they've been working behind the scenes...................will be out in the open very soon if we're succesefull of not"? So they are working hard to bring us bad news?? Then today Slide away posted on the training ground thread: "Surely there is something going on behind the scenes? If not, DC is then completely right in continually digging out the board, imagine trying to convince players to come here and we don't even know where we will be training next season...turning in to a bit of embarrassment all of this" Did he forget he only posted yesterday that Wael told him they are working " behind the scenes"?? |
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harrybuckle
Always look on the bright side
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 5,576
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Post by harrybuckle on Oct 11, 2018 7:26:40 GMT
according to slideaway at the other place.... (Wael) was there again today in box 5 I believe, even had a chat before the game the after his taxi dropped him off, but no- all is not well.....
Have you tried to approach him? He seemed to offer as much as he could today.
Reassured that they have been working behind the scenes which is now extremely close and once they are in a position to announce something they will, until then haven’t been able to say anything because of being undermined in the past and due to restrictions through Non-Disclosure Agreements that are currently in place for all parties but assured that will be out in the open very soon if we're succesefull or not. Make of that what you will, sometimes it's just worth asking the question!Those posts don't even make sense "all is not well" but "they've been working behind the scenes...................will be out in the open very soon if we're succesefull of not"? So they are working hard to bring us bad news?? Then today Slide away posted on the training ground thread: "Surely there is something going on behind the scenes? If not, DC is then completely right in continually digging out the board, imagine trying to convince players to come here and we don't even know where we will be training next season...turning in to a bit of embarrassment all of this" Did he forget he only posted yesterday that Wael told him they are working " behind the scenes"?? Players don't give a thought about where they train as long as they are paid. Has the colony and Mem been sold for housing that is the more relevant question for fans. |
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c4h10
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 476
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Post by c4h10 on Oct 11, 2018 12:21:33 GMT
Those posts don't even make sense "all is not well" but "they've been working behind the scenes...................will be out in the open very soon if we're succesefull of not"? So they are working hard to bring us bad news?? Then today Slide away posted on the training ground thread: "Surely there is something going on behind the scenes? If not, DC is then completely right in continually digging out the board, imagine trying to convince players to come here and we don't even know where we will be training next season...turning in to a bit of embarrassment all of this" Did he forget he only posted yesterday that Wael told him they are working " behind the scenes"?? Players don't give a thought about where they train as long as they are paid. Has the colony and Mem been sold for housing that is the more relevant question for fans.Agree with you one hundred per cent, Mike.
Blimey, that's a notable first!
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Post by a more piratey game on Oct 14, 2018 11:40:45 GMT
according to slideaway at the other place.... (Wael) was there again today in box 5 I believe, even had a chat before the game the after his taxi dropped him off, but no- all is not well.....
Have you tried to approach him? He seemed to offer as much as he could today.
Reassured that they have been working behind the scenes which is now extremely close and once they are in a position to announce something they will, until then haven’t been able to say anything because of being undermined in the past and due to restrictions through Non-Disclosure Agreements that are currently in place for all parties but assured that will be out in the open very soon if we're succesefull or not. Make of that what you will, sometimes it's just worth asking the question!swissgas at the other place has the following..... My take on the current situation is that some fans, ex employees and current employees (including DC) were briefed by those attempting to take over the club. And as soon as these people became aware of what was planned many of them made the assumption that everything would be plain sailing, tens of millions of £50 notes were already being packed into cardboard boxes and it was just a matter of dotting the i's and crossing the t's. Which is exactly what happened with the UWE Stadium when those who had been briefed by the "top dogs" were absolutely convinced nothing could go wrong.
But as time went by perhaps the ITK know people started to wonder why it had not happened and so they are fed snippets of information to explain and eventually the media starts to poke around as well. Then the true picture begins to emerge which is that it is far from easy to put together a deal for a loss making football club which has one tangible asset and that asset is mortgaged to the hilt.
Most people would assume that if you are having to put £1.5 million into the club per year and have no way of turning the financial performance around you may be grateful to cut your losses and sell to someone who came in with a reasonable offer. And if you had taken control of the club by buying shares for cash then your choices would be limited because if you needed to sell you would have to accept the best offer you could get. But if you own the club and the mortgage then your bargaining position is almost impregnable and a potential buyer may be forced to pay the asking price or walk away. Which for a Rovers fan would be a very difficult thing to do but which they may have to do rather than make an emotional decision which would be financial suicide.
If this scenario were true, and if ITK fans, ex employees, and current employees including DC were aware of it, then it is highly likely they would be gloomy.
then.... The fair market value for a piece of development land is one thing but the fair market value of that piece of land with a loss making football club attached is likely to be different. Therefore the fair market value of the Mem, as a development site, was about £11 million in February 2016 (according to the formal valuation) but Dwane Sports only paid about £7.2 million to clear the MSP Capital loan and former owners loans in order to take ownership.
They paid less than market value for the land because in theory they were also taking responsibility for the ongoing football club losses. That theory vanished when we found they had registered a charge over the Mem which meant they were effectively declining to take on the responsibilities or risks attached to our loss making football club because any money they put in was secured by the land.
My suggestion is that, if they are Rovers fans, the potential new owners would try to construct a deal which would compensate Dwane Sports for their initial investment and possibly the accrued interest on their loan but leave in the pot sufficient equity from the sale of the Mem to provide part of the capital needed for a new stadium. And in turn that Dwane Sports would accept responsibility for the trading losses incurred under their stewardship and so agree to waive part of the loan repayment due and certainly not take advantage of any "windfall" increase in land value which had occurred since February 2016.
The difference between the offer and the asking price may be as much as £10 million (say between £8 million and £18 million) and my fear is that a compromise will not be reached.
I think swiss has been around BRFC for a long time, and knows both some onions and some people, though he is geographically remote. The above reads pretty plausibly to me |
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Post by a more piratey game on Oct 14, 2018 11:54:55 GMT
so, to check my understanding of the theory above;
the AQs paid £7.2m, plus say £1m for former owners' loans - £8.2m, and got a bit of land with a valuation of £11.1m for their money plus a football club. That's a £2.9m 'profit'
this looks like a super deal, until you add in the 'negative earnings' of, say, £1.5m a year. That wipes out the profit in a couple of years (ie now!)
but....the land will be going up in value - firstly with inflation (say £300k pa), and then with a 'revaluation windfall' if it is revalued with planning permission
a further uptick is possible if the club gets revalued - eg by promotion, or if someone else wants to buy it
the AQs are now not looking to be long-term controlling owners, but looking for a 'financial fix' which will save face, and keep Wael in football
they have found some willing partners, and are just stalling over price
the new partners reckon that the longer they wait, the greater the strain on AQ finances, and the greater the noise from fans (and maybe hit to Wael's reputation)
the AQs reckon they can hold out as long as is required, and that the asset they are selling is in some way maybe uniquely interesting to the new partners - so they need to pay what is required to get what they want
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Oct 14, 2018 12:00:04 GMT
according to slideaway at the other place.... (Wael) was there again today in box 5 I believe, even had a chat before the game the after his taxi dropped him off, but no- all is not well.....
Have you tried to approach him? He seemed to offer as much as he could today.
Reassured that they have been working behind the scenes which is now extremely close and once they are in a position to announce something they will, until then haven’t been able to say anything because of being undermined in the past and due to restrictions through Non-Disclosure Agreements that are currently in place for all parties but assured that will be out in the open very soon if we're succesefull or not. Make of that what you will, sometimes it's just worth asking the question!swissgas at the other place has the following..... My take on the current situation is that some fans, ex employees and current employees (including DC) were briefed by those attempting to take over the club. And as soon as these people became aware of what was planned many of them made the assumption that everything would be plain sailing, tens of millions of £50 notes were already being packed into cardboard boxes and it was just a matter of dotting the i's and crossing the t's. Which is exactly what happened with the UWE Stadium when those who had been briefed by the "top dogs" were absolutely convinced nothing could go wrong.
But as time went by perhaps the ITK know people started to wonder why it had not happened and so they are fed snippets of information to explain and eventually the media starts to poke around as well. Then the true picture begins to emerge which is that it is far from easy to put together a deal for a loss making football club which has one tangible asset and that asset is mortgaged to the hilt.
Most people would assume that if you are having to put £1.5 million into the club per year and have no way of turning the financial performance around you may be grateful to cut your losses and sell to someone who came in with a reasonable offer. And if you had taken control of the club by buying shares for cash then your choices would be limited because if you needed to sell you would have to accept the best offer you could get. But if you own the club and the mortgage then your bargaining position is almost impregnable and a potential buyer may be forced to pay the asking price or walk away. Which for a Rovers fan would be a very difficult thing to do but which they may have to do rather than make an emotional decision which would be financial suicide.
If this scenario were true, and if ITK fans, ex employees, and current employees including DC were aware of it, then it is highly likely they would be gloomy.
then.... The fair market value for a piece of development land is one thing but the fair market value of that piece of land with a loss making football club attached is likely to be different. Therefore the fair market value of the Mem, as a development site, was about £11 million in February 2016 (according to the formal valuation) but Dwane Sports only paid about £7.2 million to clear the MSP Capital loan and former owners loans in order to take ownership.
They paid less than market value for the land because in theory they were also taking responsibility for the ongoing football club losses. That theory vanished when we found they had registered a charge over the Mem which meant they were effectively declining to take on the responsibilities or risks attached to our loss making football club because any money they put in was secured by the land.
My suggestion is that, if they are Rovers fans, the potential new owners would try to construct a deal which would compensate Dwane Sports for their initial investment and possibly the accrued interest on their loan but leave in the pot sufficient equity from the sale of the Mem to provide part of the capital needed for a new stadium. And in turn that Dwane Sports would accept responsibility for the trading losses incurred under their stewardship and so agree to waive part of the loan repayment due and certainly not take advantage of any "windfall" increase in land value which had occurred since February 2016.
The difference between the offer and the asking price may be as much as £10 million (say between £8 million and £18 million) and my fear is that a compromise will not be reached.
I think swiss has been around BRFC for a long time, and knows both some onions and some people, though he is geographically remote. The above reads pretty plausibly to me An ex director from twerton days |
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Post by a more piratey game on Oct 14, 2018 12:02:51 GMT
thanks padstow - I thought swiss was something like that, wasn't sure of the details
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Oct 14, 2018 12:38:11 GMT
I know Swiss and can assure people he is himself a very astute and honest businessman and raving gas head he ploughed a lot of personal money into the club when we were struggling to survive in the early days at Twerton.
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eppinggas
Administrator
Ian Alexander
Don't care
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 8,612
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Post by eppinggas on Oct 14, 2018 13:50:40 GMT
If the deal can't get over the line, then we are in the hands of the Dwane Sports for the foreseeable future.
I can't imagine there is going to be a lengthy queue of potential buyers snaking around the block.
With operating losses running at £2mil a year - I hope they have deep enough pockets to keep funding us.
(In fact one could argue that they aren't funding us. They have just added debt to the point where our assets are now pretty much in line with our liabilities).
So if we don't get new owners soon - then it's fingers crossed that An Other Buyer will come along in the future and bail us (and Dwane Sports) out of this mess.
If said Buyer doesn't appear - and I'm not saying this will happen... but their other option is to sell the Mem for housing and we become nomadic. This is what Swissgas was hinting at as a potential disaster scenario about 18 months ago. That threat has not gone away.
Dwane Sports is a business, not a charity. Any Gashead who is not concerned about whether a take-over happens or not, needs a lobotomy.
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Post by a more piratey game on Oct 14, 2018 21:44:13 GMT
so, to check my understanding of the theory above; the AQs paid £7.2m, plus say £1m for former owners' loans - £8.2m, and got a bit of land with a valuation of £11.1m for their money plus a football club. That's a £2.9m 'profit' this looks like a super deal, until you add in the 'negative earnings' of, say, £1.5m a year. That wipes out the profit in a couple of years (ie now!) but....the land will be going up in value - firstly with inflation (say £300k pa), and then with a 'revaluation windfall' if it is revalued with planning permission a further uptick is possible if the club gets revalued - eg by promotion, or if someone else wants to buy it the AQs are now not looking to be long-term controlling owners, but looking for a 'financial fix' which will save face, and keep Wael in football they have found some willing partners, and are just stalling over price the new partners reckon that the longer they wait, the greater the strain on AQ finances, and the greater the noise from fans (and maybe hit to Wael's reputation) the AQs reckon they can hold out as long as is required, and that the asset they are selling is in some way maybe uniquely interesting to the new partners - so they need to pay what is required to get what they want Thinking about it, it seems to me that the AQs are as stumped and out of options as the previous owners - unless they can find an alternative buyer/investor if they can't, they'll continue losing money week-to-week until something crystallises. And doubtless their response at some stage, like that of the previous lot, will be to minimize spending it it must be frustrating for DC and 'the football side of the club' to have to wait while all this plays out. Without even a lawnmower at the Colony |
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Peter Parker
Global Moderator
Richard Walker
You have been sentenced to DELETION!
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 4,920
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Post by Peter Parker on Oct 15, 2018 8:38:48 GMT
If the deal can't get over the line, then we are in the hands of the Dwane Sports for the foreseeable future. I can't imagine there is going to be a lengthy queue of potential buyers snaking around the block. With operating losses running at £2mil a year - I hope they have deep enough pockets to keep funding us. (In fact one could argue that they aren't funding us. They have just added debt to the point where our assets are now pretty much in line with our liabilities). So if we don't get new owners soon - then it's fingers crossed that An Other Buyer will come along in the future and bail us (and Dwane Sports) out of this mess. If said Buyer doesn't appear - and I'm not saying this will happen... but their other option is to sell the Mem for housing and we become nomadic. This is what Swissgas was hinting at as a potential disaster scenario about 18 months ago. That threat has not gone away. Dwane Sports is a business, not a charity. Any Gashead who is not concerned about whether a take-over happens or not, needs a lobotomy. Its not about being concerned if a takeover happens or not. For me its much like the AQ takeover and peoples expectations of said takeover. Unless someone with no concern for money takes over Any new ownership is not necessarily a magic bullet and the club will have to work within its limitations. People need to understand that |
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Oct 15, 2018 9:04:32 GMT
If the deal can't get over the line, then we are in the hands of the Dwane Sports for the foreseeable future. I can't imagine there is going to be a lengthy queue of potential buyers snaking around the block. With operating losses running at £2mil a year - I hope they have deep enough pockets to keep funding us. (In fact one could argue that they aren't funding us. They have just added debt to the point where our assets are now pretty much in line with our liabilities). So if we don't get new owners soon - then it's fingers crossed that An Other Buyer will come along in the future and bail us (and Dwane Sports) out of this mess. If said Buyer doesn't appear - and I'm not saying this will happen... but their other option is to sell the Mem for housing and we become nomadic. This is what Swissgas was hinting at as a potential disaster scenario about 18 months ago. That threat has not gone away. Dwane Sports is a business, not a charity. Any Gashead who is not concerned about whether a take-over happens or not, needs a lobotomy. Its not about being concerned if a takeover happens or not. For me its much like the AQ takeover and peoples expectations of said takeover. Unless someone with no concern for money takes over Any new ownership is not necessarily a magic bullet and the club will have to work within its limitations. People need to understand that It's pretty clear what the club needs to stem the blood loss, unfortunately the AQ's have clearly never been in the position to invest that much into the club. |
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Oct 15, 2018 9:35:23 GMT
If the deal can't get over the line, then we are in the hands of the Dwane Sports for the foreseeable future. I can't imagine there is going to be a lengthy queue of potential buyers snaking around the block. With operating losses running at £2mil a year - I hope they have deep enough pockets to keep funding us. (In fact one could argue that they aren't funding us. They have just added debt to the point where our assets are now pretty much in line with our liabilities). So if we don't get new owners soon - then it's fingers crossed that An Other Buyer will come along in the future and bail us (and Dwane Sports) out of this mess. If said Buyer doesn't appear - and I'm not saying this will happen... but their other option is to sell the Mem for housing and we become nomadic. This is what Swissgas was hinting at as a potential disaster scenario about 18 months ago. That threat has not gone away. Dwane Sports is a business, not a charity. Any Gashead who is not concerned about whether a take-over happens or not, needs a lobotomy. Its not about being concerned if a takeover happens or not. For me its much like the AQ takeover and peoples expectations of said takeover. Unless someone with no concern for money takes over Any new ownership is not necessarily a magic bullet and the club will have to work within its limitations. People need to understand that There by hangs a tail the al qadis fell into the trap of thinking that by spending money on backroom staff management offices in London and development side was the way forward without realising that the only way this was sustainable was to have a successful side operating in front of full houses. Unfortunately the side has suffered from lack of investment so available money is now not available and as long as results carry on as they are then less will be there for spending on players and cuts will have to be made.the question is where? Do we get rid of the new chief executive or the head of recruitment or the development squad or sell the last few saleable players.something has to give the evolution plan has made us deeper in debt than ever and don't say it's in house because that is just ignoring the fact that bankers always want their money back so it will have to be repaid. Until 12 months ago I wasn't that worried because I knew that whatever happened gd wouldn't let this club die but now we haven't got this to rely on and unless something happens soon I dint think we will either have a club to support in 5 years or won't have a home to call our own again. |
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eppinggas
Administrator
Ian Alexander
Don't care
Joined: June 2014
Posts: 8,612
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Post by eppinggas on Oct 15, 2018 11:20:18 GMT
If the deal can't get over the line, then we are in the hands of the Dwane Sports for the foreseeable future. I can't imagine there is going to be a lengthy queue of potential buyers snaking around the block. With operating losses running at £2mil a year - I hope they have deep enough pockets to keep funding us. (In fact one could argue that they aren't funding us. They have just added debt to the point where our assets are now pretty much in line with our liabilities). So if we don't get new owners soon - then it's fingers crossed that An Other Buyer will come along in the future and bail us (and Dwane Sports) out of this mess. If said Buyer doesn't appear - and I'm not saying this will happen... but their other option is to sell the Mem for housing and we become nomadic. This is what Swissgas was hinting at as a potential disaster scenario about 18 months ago. That threat has not gone away. Dwane Sports is a business, not a charity. Any Gashead who is not concerned about whether a take-over happens or not, needs a lobotomy. Its not about being concerned if a takeover happens or not. For me its much like the AQ takeover and peoples expectations of said takeover. Unless someone with no concern for money takes over Any new ownership is not necessarily a magic bullet and the club will have to work within its limitations. People need to understand that "Peoples expectations" were largely set by Wael Al-Qadi. He has failed to deliver. "Unless someone with no concern for money takes over..." No, no, no, no. We failed to get a move to the UWE was because these BANKERS could not get the required ROI. This meant that external funding could not be sourced. We desperately need new owners who can move this Club forward. Owners who are genuinely in this for the long run and have a lower expectation on ROI than Dwane Sports. Owners that can deliver a new Stadium. I think we are all agreed that this is the only way we can ever realistically achieve sustainability at championsh*t/League 1 level. Are these new potential owners capable of delivering this? Oldie (and others) contend that the numbers never stood up and that UWE is fundamentally undeliverable. One can but pray. (I'm agnostic - I like to keep my options open). "IF" we are still owned by Dwane Sports in another 2 1/2 years time IMHO we will be right royally f*cked. And probably homeless. Just look at the new Family Stand FFS. Look at it. Just look at it. |
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eppinggas
Administrator
Ian Alexander
Don't care
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Post by eppinggas on Oct 15, 2018 11:26:00 GMT
Its not about being concerned if a takeover happens or not. For me its much like the AQ takeover and peoples expectations of said takeover. Unless someone with no concern for money takes over Any new ownership is not necessarily a magic bullet and the club will have to work within its limitations. People need to understand that There by hangs a tail the al qadis fell into the trap of thinking that by spending money on backroom staff management offices in London and development side was the way forward without realising that the only way this was sustainable was to have a successful side operating in front of full houses. Unfortunately the side has suffered from lack of investment so available money is now not available and as long as results carry on as they are then less will be there for spending on players and cuts will have to be made.the question is where? Do we get rid of the new chief executive or the head of recruitment or the development squad or sell the last few saleable players.something has to give the evolution plan has made us deeper in debt than ever and don't say it's in house because that is just ignoring the fact that bankers always want their money back so it will have to be repaid. Until 12 months ago I wasn't that worried because I knew that whatever happened gd wouldn't let this club die but now we haven't got this to rely on and unless something happens soon I dint think we will either have a club to support in 5 years or won't have a home to call our own again. "offices in London". Pretty damn sure the only reasonable explanation for this unbelievable extravagance is for them to be used as a base to talk to potential buyers of the Club. Anyone seen the offices? Anyone know who works there? Can you pop in to see for yourself what they actually look like? No you cannot. |
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Peter Parker
Global Moderator
Richard Walker
You have been sentenced to DELETION!
Joined: May 2014
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Post by Peter Parker on Oct 15, 2018 11:36:32 GMT
Its not about being concerned if a takeover happens or not. For me its much like the AQ takeover and peoples expectations of said takeover. Unless someone with no concern for money takes over Any new ownership is not necessarily a magic bullet and the club will have to work within its limitations. People need to understand that "Peoples expectations" were largely set by Wael Al-Qadi. He has failed to deliver. "Unless someone with no concern for money takes over..." No, no, no, no. We failed to get a move to the UWE was because these BANKERS could not get the required ROI. This meant that external funding could not be sourced. We desperately need new owners who can move this Club forward. Owners who are genuinely in this for the long run and have a lower expectation on ROI than Dwane Sports. Owners that can deliver a new Stadium. I think we are all agreed that this is the only way we can ever realistically achieve sustainability at championsh*t/League 1 level. Are these new potential owners capable of delivering this? Oldie (and others) contend that the numbers never stood up and that UWE is fundamentally undeliverable. One can but pray. (I'm agnostic - I like to keep my options open). "IF" we are still owned by Dwane Sports in another 2 1/2 years time IMHO we will be right royally f*cked. And probably homeless. Just look at the new Family Stand FFS. Look at it. Just look at it. I am not saying they haven't let themselves down in some regards with talk of experts and the stagnation of the colony and a lack of communication
My point was at the time of the takeover, some were getting carried away. People were talking about Billionaires, but Wael never suggested that and since day 1 extolled the virtues of evolution not revolution. i.e Wael was trying to manage expectations somewhat, even if it has all gone a pear shaped for whatever reasons now
If we get taken over tomorrow and announce UWE will be built, some people still give off the impression that think that UWE is the sole answer, rovers will be raking it in and whomever the manager is will get loads more money to spend, without the considerations that the stadium has to be paid for and all the other aspects/trade offs with the UWE.
people have talked about a land swap and that gives off the impression that all will be good, UWE gets built and we are off and rocking, but clearly going to be more to any deal then just that
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irishrover
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Post by irishrover on Oct 15, 2018 12:01:39 GMT
If the deal can't get over the line, then we are in the hands of the Dwane Sports for the foreseeable future. I can't imagine there is going to be a lengthy queue of potential buyers snaking around the block. With operating losses running at £2mil a year - I hope they have deep enough pockets to keep funding us. (In fact one could argue that they aren't funding us. They have just added debt to the point where our assets are now pretty much in line with our liabilities). So if we don't get new owners soon - then it's fingers crossed that An Other Buyer will come along in the future and bail us (and Dwane Sports) out of this mess. If said Buyer doesn't appear - and I'm not saying this will happen... but their other option is to sell the Mem for housing and we become nomadic. This is what Swissgas was hinting at as a potential disaster scenario about 18 months ago. That threat has not gone away. Dwane Sports is a business, not a charity. Any Gashead who is not concerned about whether a take-over happens or not, needs a lobotomy. Its not about being concerned if a takeover happens or not. For me its much like the AQ takeover and peoples expectations of said takeover. Unless someone with no concern for money takes over Any new ownership is not necessarily a magic bullet and the club will have to work within its limitations. People need to understand that I have sympathy for this.
I think a lot of Gasheads are stuck on a 'white knight' mentality. Ie. There's going to be some benevolent super-rich owner who is going to come in and invest the neccesary time, energy and money to get this club which is 'stuck in the Dark Ages' (Clarke, 2018) up to a level in which we can at least hope to compete at League 1/Championship standard. This is surely based on assumptions from an era which has passed. The Jack Waker's/Jack Heywood's of this world have gone - the football world has evolved beyond them. There is no longer any symbiotic relationship between fans and owners in which the interests of both will always be aligned.
It seems to me that we are now in an international marketplace and, as fans, we are simply reliant on whether our owners are a)competent b)interested enough to be bothered c)rich enough to match our ambitions. When the AQ's first took over I never joined in the loveathon which broke out because it seemed to me that these situations are a faustian pact which is only going to be as positive for as long as the interests of the owners are in line with the interests of the fans. We seem to have reached that point of departure faster than I expected but I think it was always likely to happen at some point. Fans need to learn to be as hard-headed in our attitudes to owners (no matter how committed their language) as they are. Just because the Nick Higgs era was an absolute disaster never made the AQ's the visionary saviours some made them out to be.
It's why I don't think Padstow's right about GD as having been some backstop saviour either. It's not even about attitudes to the club - I don't think he could have stepped in even if he had wanted to. The level of investment etc needed to do that has just moved beyond people like that now. I think that should be clear in the rumours we now hear about the likes of Ed Ware trying to put together a consortium including overseas investors. That's the level we are at now - unless you really are internationally super-rich on a Steve Lansdowne level or letting your heart completely rule your head then you are not buying an English League football club like ours. When I was a kid people used to dream of winning the lottery (or Euromillions) and taking over Rovers - that seems comically naive now in the current climate of football finance.
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
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Post by Deleted on Oct 15, 2018 12:22:24 GMT
Its not about being concerned if a takeover happens or not. For me its much like the AQ takeover and peoples expectations of said takeover. Unless someone with no concern for money takes over Any new ownership is not necessarily a magic bullet and the club will have to work within its limitations. People need to understand that I have sympathy for this.
I think a lot of Gasheads are stuck on a 'white knight' mentality. Ie. There's going to be some benevolent super-rich owner who is going to come in and invest the neccesary time, energy and money to get this club which is 'stuck in the Dark Ages' (Clarke, 2018) up to a level in which we can at least hope to compete at League 1/Championship standard. This is surely based on assumptions from an era which has passed. The Jack Waker's/Jack Heywood's of this world have gone - the football world has evolved beyond them. There is no longer any symbiotic relationship between fans and owners in which the interests of both will always be aligned.
It seems to me that we are now in an international marketplace and, as fans, we are simply reliant on whether our owners are a)competent b)interested enough to be bothered c)rich enough to match our ambitions. When the AQ's first took over I never joined in the loveathon which broke out because it seemed to me that these situations are a faustian pact which is only going to be as positive for as long as the interests of the owners are in line with the interests of the fans. We seem to have reached that point of departure faster than I expected but I think it was always likely to happen at some point. Fans need to learn to be as hard-headed in our attitudes to owners (no matter how committed their language) as they are. Just because the Nick Higgs era was an absolute disaster never made the AQ's the visionary saviours some made them out to be.
It's why I don't think Padstow's right about GD as having been some backstop saviour either. It's not even about attitudes to the club - I don't think he could have stepped in even if he had wanted to. The level of investment etc needed to do that has just moved beyond people like that now. I think that should be clear in the rumours we now hear about the likes of Ed Ware trying to put together a consortium including overseas investors. That's the level we are at now - unless you really are internationally super-rich on a Steve Lansdowne level or letting your heart completely rule your head then you are not buying an English League football club like ours. When I was a kid people used to dream of winning the lottery (or Euromillions) and taking over Rovers - that seems comically naive now in the current climate of football finance.
£30-£40m investment in physical infrastructure would actually give Rovers a ground and training ground though. That in real terms is the investment needed...
If that is done Rovers could be in a position to compete at this level and potentially the one above, unfortunately it needs someone to look for a long term return on their investment...
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