G Coughlan...

I thought it was more of a childish rant but you can call it a straight bat if you like.   

People told me that you were Wael's mouthpiece, they had a point, as I've found out. 

Mate, seriously? Firstly, I'm gettng yours more than those of the Devonian Bolshevik's from this thread. Secondly, let's both of us get a life, as there's clearly loads of things better than showing up someone's true colours, like poor Coughlan (whose thread this remains) getting us near the top of the third division, and like going to my first game in person since the 22nd February atrocity, at Carrow Road tomorrow. I fear a battering, but I will be delighted with any kind of draw or victory.

That would be me. We live and learn.

Really? That radio interview suggested to many of us that Coughlan felt Al Qadi had already demonstrated his wish not to keep him on. Al Qadi got lucky with Coughlan, and should have appreciated him, not needing to forgive him, nor replace him with his first 'great' reset in Garner.

In my view all our owners have had good and proper intentions but they all failed with the exception of the Dunfords who did succeed in getting Rovers into the Championship and securing ownership of the Mem before losing their way and eventually handing over to Nick Higgs.

There is no shame in accepting failure and I freely admit that the miniscule part I played in Rovers history was a failure because I never managed to achieve any of the targets set personally when I joined up with Geoff and Denis.

So I don't understand why you continue to say that Wael's time at the helm was positive for the club and come out with the platitude about DC saying "best owner I've ever worked for" which, just like Barton's "superb owner" line, we can all see through so easily.  He is undoubtedly a likeable chap and all supporters desperately wanted him to succeed but the facts and figures speak for themselves. You've listed things which you don't like about the way some supporters have criticised Wael but much of that criticism stands up to scrutiny. The previous debt has not been fully capitalised because the 2022 accounts show 7 million still owed to Dwane Sports which is roughly the same amount owed to the previous directors and MSP Capital in February 2016. The training ground is costing 500k pa to run, it is barely fit for purpose (as per Rovers own planning consultants)  and a lot of money still needs to be spent to comply with planning conditions. We've discussed the South Stand  earlier and it's another case of bad judgement leading to extra unnecessary cost being incurred. Keeping us afloat through the pandemic was a line which caught on but it just doesn't stack up because Dwane Sports actually had to put less money in during that period due to Rovers benefitting from the sale of JCH plus grants received from the government. And at my age I'm certainly not going to get into embezzling an innocent man !

For me the difficult is reconciling the fact that about 30 million has been ploughed into Rovers over the last eight years with no tangible benefit and that the club has been left with a dangerously high cost base plus other significant liabilities. I wonder what the Rovers the Agenda for Change people could have achieved if someone had agreed to provide them with 3 or 4 million a year for 8 years ?  My guess is that we would have a new stadium by now and probably be in the Championship though whether it would be as a Brentford or a Rotherham is open to question.

The challenge we face is to find a way to help the Al-Saeeds stabilise the club and then go forward to achieve a regenerated stadium we can be proud of and a football operation which can sustain a team in the Championship. We shouldn't go back to a situation where constructive criticism is stifled and the owners are revered just because they have put money into the club or purely out of a sense of duty. I hope Hussain and Abdullatif will appreciate that supporters asking them to provide more details of their plans and making the suggestion that they consider using PR professionals is done with Rovers best interests at heart. 

 
  

 

A lovely lady Anne Craig, Vice President of the club and widow of former Chairman Ron passed away last Monday. Has the club or anyone else announced her departure from this world and thanked the Craigs for their involvement keeping the club afloat during difficult times !
Is there anyone at the club left apart from the lady in the ticket office who was aware of her !
Does anyone know if Gorringe is still at the club. According to those who know, he has been forbidden to comment on any subject related or relevant to the club in public or social media !
Taxi at the door Sir !

A mutual friend of Ann and Rons has just asked about funeral details. Can you PM me with the details if you have the info?

But who at the club is employed to inform or contact with information like Anne's passing any longer.Wael looks as if he is also barred from making any comment regarding the club and there is no media manager.
Thank God we now have a manager who does present the club properly in his sector.

if true (and I must admit it rings true to me) that reflects really poorly on GC - enough to rule him out of management positions, and the Board did the right thing

I found Cogsball dull, but not as dull as Garnerball

As I understood it, it was Wael who wanted to develop youth and make profit in selling , that is when the talk of Rovers DNA started to do the rounds. Hopefully we now have people who will be less changeable and will see things through