How much more can we take? The last four years of drift...

Presumably the ongoing drain of funds since the pandemic precipitated the situation as well as the ex manager splashing the cash.

You know my views on it Droitwich. 

The Al-Saeeds have done well to sort out the mess and get planning permission and I liked their honesty when they said the main benefit of the stand is to provide safety and comfort for our own and visiting supporters. No BS about increasing revenue because unless crowds rise by about 25% it won’t do that. We will have to get used to seeing a wall of empty blue seats at the South end but at least the Al-Saeeds have picked up the baton. And  if they follow the philosophy Hussain set out in his first interview we will have a chance of seeing that stand full and paying its way in the future. 

Perhaps it was given to you in confidence, but there was plenty about it doing the rounds so it was an open secret and this was in the rumour mill just before Covid hit.

As I understand it, the Lyde Green site forms part of a huge development of industrial, science, sporting and homes. Rumours have been that Amazon were interested in a site there but looking at what has been developed in Avonmouth in the last 3 years there, I would have said that the Lyde Green development wouldnt have progressed quickly enough for them and they bailed on the scheme soon after realising the implications of it.

Either way, there was no direct involvement in terms of majority ownership from these "big boys". The council as well as the developers needed multiple partners in which to push through PP so there wasnt going to be a load of white elephants on the site. It was another FM sort of situation where Conygar were going to develop land and wanted us involved with it somewhere.

According to one person involved with it, it never actually got passed an initial conversation with the then CEO, rather than the owner, let alone an offer to join the board of directors or have any paperwork completed to do so. So I am not sure where this accusation of maltreatment of gashead businessman has come from? He has no reason to lie about it, being a rovers fan himself, as well someone who has supported the club financially out of his own pocket.

The Lyde Green site also sits on Greenbelt land in part, and has a very poor road network, it would need extensive infrastructure put in before things like Stadiums, homes and industrial districts. In fact, when you look at when these conversations were taking place, mid-late 2019, nothing much has moved forward on this particular site and it would be a mistake to think at this stage that GCCC are going to sell up and move at this point in time, and if they do decide to do so, what the time scales are going forward? Taking that into account, perhaps on paper, the FM looked a better or maybe a more viable proposition for us to pursue?

As you havent posted any evidence in terms of what you have seen, its difficult to understand your position in what you have posted, given what I know to be from one person involved, however the gashead who posted it here was David Townsend and one of the parties involved was Mike Fitzpatrick who owns Uplands. It would be interesting to hear from them directly if they do post here.

I just find it difficult to subscribe to the notion that the ALQ family wouldnt be open to agreement when they have now involved partners who can, on the face of it at least if you believe everything Hussain AS has said, move us forward. I would put it to you that this project that was put to you wasnt credible enough to proceed with beyond the initial conversation and like the FM market site, hinges on many pieces of a jigsaw being in place all of which were not guaranteed with no real timeframe to know either.

I have no idea, I'm not an avid reader of Bristol Live, I cant stand the pop up website for one and the journos are hardly renowned for writing accurate pieces.  

Like I said on the post above, and as per usual, there is a lot being said but not without much meat on the bones in terms of detail.  From the persons I know,  it David Townsend (gasandproud) tried to engage with the club, which is what I think Swiss is talking about, but neither of his parties progressed to the point of actually speaking directly to the owner let alone being directors.  

Unless he is talking about someone else, which if he is, it would be helpful to know who they are but certainly the context of which he writes it seems to refer to Townsend and the owner of Uplands who is a gashead and once sponsered the East Stand and who has been involved in the Lyde Green development.  Whether he is the one who is now working with GCCC I dont know.

Fair points.  I dont actually know what are facts on this at this stage and what arent, and neither does anyone else in fairness.  So far we have your partial version of events, Swiss version of events (which I am not sure if he is talking about the same people and events), and the versions that we dont have, which would probably be the most productive to have would be the your full account as well as the ALQs.  

I have quoted names, because thats the names I have been told who were involved and I am just saying verbatim what I have been told, if that is incorrect, then I am happy to stand corrected.  

Are you saying that Mike Fitzpatrick was never involved?  

You say you arent prepared to share communications, but if thats the case, why say anthing at all?  Either go the whole hog and lay it all on the table, so everyone knows exactly which way is up, or dont say anything.  Only sharing partial information is counter productive to everything, it actually contributes to a rumour mill, as is well being evidenced.

Always happy to meet passionate gasheads like myself, and as you say, the common thread amongst us is that we all want what is best for Rovers, even if it puts us at odds at times!  

Ok, so if you re read from the start you will see that I have basically laid it all out. I was prepared to put my name on here in order to answer those people who dismissed me as a fantasist because I wouldn’t provide my name. Myself and my friend (and fellow gas head) approached the club and were led a merry dance for many months. It was obvious to us at the time that the FM was never going to happen and I felt it important that supporters realised that Rovers had other options. The club in the ultimate end decided they wanted to run two horses / didn’t want to be involved so we moved on. Some people will still suggest we were / are fantasists which is fair enough but to date other stakeholders don’t feel that way and hence this is probably why this thread has re-ignited.

I don’t know who your source is but they are giving you wildly incorrect info. It should also be noted that a number of people / organisations are / were subject to an NDA and hence this is the reason I have never mentioned who my friend is. You are now suggesting it’s Mike and I would neither confirm or deny that but there is an NDA so whoever is sharing names may want to think about that.

To suggest we never met the owner is quite unbelievable and worrying in equal measure. Let’s assume we are complete fantasists…. Why is the GCCC deal being given serious consideration? We must be pretty convincing!
Let’s assume still that we are fantasists. Why were we given an official welcome to the board? I haven’t mentioned that previously as when previously asked I stayed professional and said ‘no comment’. Given someone at the club on multiple occasions now can’t do the same then I may as well confirm that happened. Why don’t you go and ask your source if that was the case? I have that in writing so they may want to think carefully.

So assuming we are nobody’s / fantasists / crack pots (whatever they want to portray), why would we be asked to join and welcomed to the board? Surely a professional club wouldn’t make such decisions Willy nilly?
Your source can’t have it both ways! Fantasists with no plan but come and join the board!!??

I would be more than happy to meet up and my friend also and I can give you an overview of our quite unbelievable experience and show you the evidence to back that all up.
If you still feel we are not credible / lunatics then you can come back on here and tell everyone. In the interests of having a balanced view though, If you think differently then I would only ask you report back on here what your findings were in the same way you are reporting on another side of the debate without knowing our side.

Either there is more to it than your source is telling you or the club have asked and welcomed a couple of crackpots to the board!

The whole thing had led to massive frustration and wasted time and the club are now under new majority ownership and new management on the playing side too so it’s all broadly irrelevant to the future anyway but when someone is clearly giving you false information and attaching names to that which you are putting in a public forum you can hopefully understand why I must comment on that.

I’m more than happy to meet you and demonstrate this first hand if you wish and this will hopefully show the situation in a different light. It will probably also demonstrate that your source is being very, very economic with the truth, which is quite a low blow when they are also supplying you names which you are putting on a public forum.
UTG

This sounds like a fifth rate barrister putting up a defence before a judge and going down for the third time.

Had to use a few of them have you Bondi...??