Cheshiregas
Global Moderator
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 2,166
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Post by Cheshiregas on Mar 4, 2021 15:23:32 GMT
you mean Lord super wealthy tax dodging Brexit voting NHS depriving Guernsey? **** for short. ******. I do get where you're coming from, but this line wins neither friends nor arguments. Remember where Dwane Sports are a registered company, and where Al Qadi is domicile. Let's get our own house in order. However high and however vain the Lansdowne losses are, his is an ownership of immense investment and developmental progress. Just look at the Memorial Ground! Indeed - Billions vs millions Developed ground vs tents Championship vs League One Fans want Lansdowne to stay vs Fans want WAQ out (apparently) Success with Bristol Rugby and Bristol Ladies vs Gas Ladies team in Gloucester League However both are failing where they are and have seen little or no progress, League position wise, in recent years.
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axegas
Joined: November 2015
Posts: 222
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Post by axegas on Mar 4, 2021 15:39:08 GMT
Being very honest with you I’m not as irate about the B***** appointment as others. I’m certainly not a fan of the appointment but I can’t honestly say I feel as strongly as others. To me the B***** appointment is a massive, massive risk and it’s not one I would have taken! The main issue for me is more to do with the overall on field plan. B***** is just another huge sign that there is no plan, it’s reactionary, hasty, ill thought through and desperate. Exactly the same as everything else (almost without exception) that the shambolic leadership at the club oversee. With the utter s**t show going on at rovers I am intrigued to understand why our leadership haven’t made more of the one seemingly positive which is the training ground. I took a drive out there on Sunday and it looks an impressive site with huge potential. Without sounding rude, it seems to me that the leadership are too stupid to make more of that positive situation and really engage with the supporters to let them know the positive work that is going on. Some plans, CGI’s and a webcam showing progress would be a massive lift amongst the negative mood of the support base and wider issues in society at present. These things would cost little but would generate massive good will and pr, even if it did somewhat mask the bigger picture. I really do despair that this opportunity hasn’t been jumped all over in a more professional and opportunistic way. I think the reason that only fans seem interested in publicising the training ground may be because the club are embarrassed over the way it is being developed. I agree the size of the site offers huge potential but is a gym in an old barn and a 4000 square foot club house to a 1990 design what we expect from a professional football club in 2021 ? Many months ago Wael waved a piece of paper to participants at a Zoom conference which he said contained the new design of the inside of the club house, the analysis suite etc, but despite promises they have never been revealed to us. The gym was shown very briefly in an interview with George Williams and, to say the least, it did not look very impressive. The construction work has meandered on at a snails pace for many months when with any normal development of this size it would have been completed much more quickly. And no plans or artists impressions have ever been offered to show how the training ground will look when it is finished. The defensiveness of the club was illustrated when a spokesmen said a few weeks ago (echoing Womble's words) that the club house could be extended in size in the future. Is this a normal thing to say when the building isn't yet finished ? Surely you would assess what your space requirements will be in the foreseeable future and build to that size. The only explanation for using 1990 plans rather that commissioning new bespoke ones would be to allow a quick construction timescale but that has certainly not been the case. IMO there is something not right about this development. The Gym is temporary is it not? It represents a massive improvement over not having one and having to travel to a public gym some miles away, which truly was embarrassing for a professional football club in the 21st Century. The reason why the training ground might appear to be a bit of a work in progress is that we had to depart our old base in Cribbs and move to Almondsbury for the start of this season. There was no leeway, the lease wasn’t going to be renewed. The site is designed in two stages. The first enables the club to move the first team in at short notice, providing it with all it needs. So that’s a clubhouse with offices and changing rooms, gym facilities, two fantastic pitches, a car park. For something that’s only been months in the making, I’d argue that is quite impressive, so hats off to Wael. Stage two from what I can gather is where the potential of the site will start to be realised, expansion of the clubhouse as you mentioned, permanent gym facilities, a third pitch and an all weather pitch meaning that the club can move the academy and Women’s teams over and also make some money out of the site. We could have waited for the “ideal” training ground, where both stage 1 and 2 are realised together before we moved in, but then we would have been without a training ground to prepare for this season. The construction work supposedly was held up due to the club getting permission to tweak certain elements of the original Rugby club design. I don’t know if that is true or not, just what I’ve heard which makes sense given the club are going to be using the building for a long time to come.
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2021 15:40:22 GMT
I do get where you're coming from, but this line wins neither friends nor arguments. Remember where Dwane Sports are a registered company, and where Al Qadi is domicile. Let's get our own house in order. However high and however vain the Lansdowne losses are, his is an ownership of immense investment and developmental progress. Just look at the Memorial Ground! Indeed - Billions vs millions Developed ground vs tents Championship vs League One Fans want Lansdowne to stay vs Fans want WAQ out (apparently) Success with Bristol Rugby and Bristol Ladies vs Gas Ladies team in Gloucester League However both are failing where they are and have seen little or no progress, League position wise, in recent years. It's an odd one alright. He seems content to chuck £5~10m a year at it to threaten to get into the play offs rather than do a 'Bournemouth' and just go all in and spend £30~40m in one year, get promoted, take the 50p FFP fine and trouser the £300 million or whatever obscene sum it is now for getting into the PL. I'll wager that if you asked him, he wouldn't be able to tell you his nett worth to the nearest £50m anyway, so it seems strange to me that he carries on 'almost' getting 1982 to where it appears he wants them to be. Once they were there, in a wealthy place like Bristol there would be sponsors all over the club, desperate to get involved and have that global exposure. His female team are struggling, they aren't relegated yet but it's looking like a strong possibility.
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Cheshiregas
Global Moderator
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 2,166
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Post by Cheshiregas on Mar 4, 2021 15:46:19 GMT
Indeed - Billions vs millions Developed ground vs tents Championship vs League One Fans want Lansdowne to stay vs Fans want WAQ out (apparently) Success with Bristol Rugby and Bristol Ladies vs Gas Ladies team in Gloucester League However both are failing where they are and have seen little or no progress, League position wise, in recent years. It's an odd one alright. He seems content to chuck £5~10m a year at it to threaten to get into the play offs rather than do a 'Bournemouth' and just go all in and spend £30~40m in one year, get promoted, take the 50p FFP fine and trouser the £300 million or whatever obscene sum it is now for getting into the PL. (1) Once they were there, in a wealthy place like Bristol there would be sponsors all over the club, desperate to get involved and have that global exposure. (2) His female team are struggling, they aren't relegated yet but it's looking like a strong possibility. (1) I believe not only Bristol but the surrounding counties would be ripe for sponsorship. Plus, as has been seen when a Bristol team gets to a final the attendances are large. There is definitely latent support in the region and access with the motorways even if town itself is poor. (2) They may be failing this season but at least they got to the Premiership!
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Post by emperorsuperbus on Mar 4, 2021 15:48:22 GMT
you mean Lord super wealthy tax dodging Brexit voting NHS depriving Guernsey? **** for short. ******. I suspect that HL have put many hundreds of thousands more into the exchequer's coffers than you or I ever will, and in 2019 were employing 1610 people in Bristol. So yes, shame on those 2 local boys made good, and let's double down on our green eyed nastiness because one of them operates within tax laws and is domiciled outside of the UK. If you have an issue with tax laws it needs to be taken up with Westminster, not with people acting within the system that successive governments, both blue and red, have deemed fit for purpose. Tell you what, I would swap their tax exile for our pathetic excuse for a tax exiled company, all day long. I actually doubted you really were Groiny till this post. I found myself agreeing with you too much.
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kingswood Polak
Without music life would be a mistake
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 10,282
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Post by kingswood Polak on Mar 4, 2021 15:52:34 GMT
We're being played by the club here. They wouldn't have done this with supporters in the ground. The risk of him 'losing it' when someone, like me, tells him in no uncertain terms that I want him nowhere near my club would be high, and then the Rose Tinters who think it's a duty to support a doggy sausage if it's wearing the club shirt would wade in, and it would all kick off. Nobody is left working at the stadium now who are Rovers people, apart from our loyal shop staff and maybe also one or two in back offices, the rest are all recent recruits. It's no wonder that the people making decisions have no idea what the values of our club are. So let's get this straight Wael, and whoever else was involved in bringing this lout to my club, employing him represents your values, not mine. Not true, Tom Foley is still at the club. Please tell us before you confront B***** I would like to see that or do you mean 'someone like me' as in someone else ? As I understand it, it was he that told him about Brian
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2021 15:54:41 GMT
I suspect that HL have put many hundreds of thousands more into the exchequer's coffers than you or I ever will, and in 2019 were employing 1610 people in Bristol. So yes, shame on those 2 local boys made good, and let's double down on our green eyed nastiness because one of them operates within tax laws and is domiciled outside of the UK. If you have an issue with tax laws it needs to be taken up with Westminster, not with people acting within the system that successive governments, both blue and red, have deemed fit for purpose. Tell you what, I would swap their tax exile for our pathetic excuse for a tax exiled company, all day long. I actually doubted you really were Groiny till this post. I found myself agreeing with you too much. It's one of the great things about football, we can fundamentally disagree on issues like tax policy, Brexit etc, but the vast majority of the time we have at least 1 thing that unites us and will do all our lives.
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2021 16:00:49 GMT
It's an odd one alright. He seems content to chuck £5~10m a year at it to threaten to get into the play offs rather than do a 'Bournemouth' and just go all in and spend £30~40m in one year, get promoted, take the 50p FFP fine and trouser the £300 million or whatever obscene sum it is now for getting into the PL. (1) Once they were there, in a wealthy place like Bristol there would be sponsors all over the club, desperate to get involved and have that global exposure. (2) His female team are struggling, they aren't relegated yet but it's looking like a strong possibility. (1) I believe not only Bristol but the surrounding counties would be ripe for sponsorship. Plus, as has been seen when a Bristol team gets to a final the attendances are large. There is definitely latent support in the region and access with the motorways even if town itself is poor. (2) They may be failing this season but at least they got to the Premiership! Point 1 we seem to be in agreement on. His Women's team, it's been an unusual season, they were dire at the start but have picked up a few points recently so may survive, but I doubt it. I don't know much about transfer windows etc, so can't comment on whether the team could have been strengthened, but even if they do get relegated he won't allow them to drift. Just like Bristol Rugby, he'll have a plan. Even from that poor team one of the girls got called up to the England squad a couple of weeks back.
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Post by o2o2bo2ba on Mar 4, 2021 16:03:09 GMT
I actually doubted you really were Groiny till this post. I found myself agreeing with you too much. It's one of the great things about football, we can fundamentally disagree on issues like tax policy, Brexit etc, but the vast majority of the time we have at least 1 thing that unites us and will do all our lives. No it won't 😋.
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kingswood Polak
Without music life would be a mistake
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 10,282
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Post by kingswood Polak on Mar 4, 2021 16:04:21 GMT
Shhhhhhheeeeeeee..... anyways. Kneejerk alarm bell reaction there... As far as we're aware, no refund offered just yet. When we're relegated, will they become cheaper because we're consuming an inferior product? I certainly will not be paying £26 to watch L2 dross. I’m afraid this is the straw the broke this proverbial camels back. 49 years of paying my own way and we have lost any semblance of looking like evolving. Looks like I will be joining the many many other Kingswood fans that have had enough. IF there was any plan to improve, instead of some truly incredible decisions, maybe I’d reconsider.
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kingswood Polak
Without music life would be a mistake
Joined: May 2014
Posts: 10,282
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Post by kingswood Polak on Mar 4, 2021 16:07:06 GMT
you mean Lord super wealthy tax dodging Brexit voting NHS depriving Guernsey? **** for short. ******. I suspect that HL have put many hundreds of thousands more into the exchequer's coffers than you or I ever will, and in 2019 were employing 1610 people in Bristol. So yes, shame on those 2 local boys made good, and let's double down on our green eyed nastiness because one of them operates within tax laws and is domiciled outside of the UK. If you have an issue with tax laws it needs to be taken up with Westminster, not with people acting within the system that successive governments, both blue and red, have deemed fit for purpose. Tell you what, I would swap their tax exile for our pathetic excuse for a tax exiled company, all day long. SL is not there now. Not for a few years
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2021 16:09:39 GMT
It's one of the great things about football, we can fundamentally disagree on issues like tax policy, Brexit etc, but the vast majority of the time we have at least 1 thing that unites us and will do all our lives. No it won't 😋. I said most of the time, and was talking about just that subject amongst people who support the same team. But if you want an argument about literally any other subject, you know where I am.
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2021 16:11:18 GMT
I suspect that HL have put many hundreds of thousands more into the exchequer's coffers than you or I ever will, and in 2019 were employing 1610 people in Bristol. So yes, shame on those 2 local boys made good, and let's double down on our green eyed nastiness because one of them operates within tax laws and is domiciled outside of the UK. If you have an issue with tax laws it needs to be taken up with Westminster, not with people acting within the system that successive governments, both blue and red, have deemed fit for purpose. Tell you what, I would swap their tax exile for our pathetic excuse for a tax exiled company, all day long. SL is not there now. Not for a few years I wouldn't know KP, I'm not obsessed with the guy's tax arrangements. But thanks for letting me know anyway.
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Post by o2o2bo2ba on Mar 4, 2021 17:10:19 GMT
I said most of the time, and was talking about just that subject amongst people who support the same team. But if you want an argument about literally any other subject, you know where I am. No I don't! (Haha! Sounds like a Monty Python sketch!)
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trymer
Joined: November 2018
Posts: 1,504
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Post by trymer on Mar 4, 2021 17:41:03 GMT
I think the reason that only fans seem interested in publicising the training ground may be because the club are embarrassed over the way it is being developed. I agree the size of the site offers huge potential but is a gym in an old barn and a 4000 square foot club house to a 1990 design what we expect from a professional football club in 2021 ? Many months ago Wael waved a piece of paper to participants at a Zoom conference which he said contained the new design of the inside of the club house, the analysis suite etc, but despite promises they have never been revealed to us. The gym was shown very briefly in an interview with George Williams and, to say the least, it did not look very impressive. The construction work has meandered on at a snails pace for many months when with any normal development of this size it would have been completed much more quickly. And no plans or artists impressions have ever been offered to show how the training ground will look when it is finished. The defensiveness of the club was illustrated when a spokesmen said a few weeks ago (echoing Womble's words) that the club house could be extended in size in the future. Is this a normal thing to say when the building isn't yet finished ? Surely you would assess what your space requirements will be in the foreseeable future and build to that size. The only explanation for using 1990 plans rather that commissioning new bespoke ones would be to allow a quick construction timescale but that has certainly not been the case. IMO there is something not right about this development. The Gym is temporary is it not? It represents a massive improvement over not having one and having to travel to a public gym some miles away, which truly was embarrassing for a professional football club in the 21st Century. The reason why the training ground might appear to be a bit of a work in progress is that we had to depart our old base in Cribbs and move to Almondsbury for the start of this season. There was no leeway, the lease wasn’t going to be renewed. The site is designed in two stages. The first enables the club to move the first team in at short notice, providing it with all it needs. So that’s a clubhouse with offices and changing rooms, gym facilities, two fantastic pitches, a car park. For something that’s only been months in the making, I’d argue that is quite impressive, so hats off to Wael. Stage two from what I can gather is where the potential of the site will start to be realised, expansion of the clubhouse as you mentioned, permanent gym facilities, a third pitch and an all weather pitch meaning that the club can move the academy and Women’s teams over and also make some money out of the site. We could have waited for the “ideal” training ground, where both stage 1 and 2 are realised together before we moved in, but then we would have been without a training ground to prepare for this season. The construction work supposedly was held up due to the club getting permission to tweak certain elements of the original Rugby club design. I don’t know if that is true or not, just what I’ve heard which makes sense given the club are going to be using the building for a long time to come. There was a period of months when Rovers were training at Coombe Dingle sports centre,then they moved to Almondsbury.
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trymer
Joined: November 2018
Posts: 1,504
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Post by trymer on Mar 4, 2021 17:42:43 GMT
Not true, Tom Foley is still at the club. Please tell us before you confront B***** I would like to see that or do you mean 'someone like me' as in someone else ? As I understand it, it was he that told him about Brian Yes mate and JB will learn more about Rovers supporters from Tom than he would by reading this thread.
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Post by swissgas on Mar 4, 2021 17:45:21 GMT
I think the reason that only fans seem interested in publicising the training ground may be because the club are embarrassed over the way it is being developed. I agree the size of the site offers huge potential but is a gym in an old barn and a 4000 square foot club house to a 1990 design what we expect from a professional football club in 2021 ? Many months ago Wael waved a piece of paper to participants at a Zoom conference which he said contained the new design of the inside of the club house, the analysis suite etc, but despite promises they have never been revealed to us. The gym was shown very briefly in an interview with George Williams and, to say the least, it did not look very impressive. The construction work has meandered on at a snails pace for many months when with any normal development of this size it would have been completed much more quickly. And no plans or artists impressions have ever been offered to show how the training ground will look when it is finished. The defensiveness of the club was illustrated when a spokesmen said a few weeks ago (echoing Womble's words) that the club house could be extended in size in the future. Is this a normal thing to say when the building isn't yet finished ? Surely you would assess what your space requirements will be in the foreseeable future and build to that size. The only explanation for using 1990 plans rather that commissioning new bespoke ones would be to allow a quick construction timescale but that has certainly not been the case. IMO there is something not right about this development. The Gym is temporary is it not? It represents a massive improvement over not having one and having to travel to a public gym some miles away, which truly was embarrassing for a professional football club in the 21st Century. I've never seen or heard anything from the club to say the Gym is temporary I think "this is it". And in my opinion professional athletes won't care who owns the building they work in and would rather train in a modern, airy and welcoming environment than in an old barn at the end of a track.
The reason why the training ground might appear to be a bit of a work in progress is that we had to depart our old base in Cribbs and move to Almondsbury for the start of this season. There was no leeway, the lease wasn’t going to be renewed. The club knew years in advance when the lease at Cribbs ran out and had plenty of time to find an alternative as any normal business would do. And there were plenty of alternative venues available so a smooth transition could have been made with minimal disruption and no additional annual cost.The site is designed in two stages. The first enables the club to move the first team in at short notice, providing it with all it needs. So that’s a clubhouse with offices and changing rooms, gym facilities, two fantastic pitches, a car park. For something that’s only been months in the making, I’d argue that is quite impressive, so hats off to Wael. The work started in June 2020 so that's actually nine months in the making, it's still not finished and the players will be having to change at the Gloucestershire FA headquarters down the road till the end of the season. That sounds like a "cock up" to me ?
Stage two from what I can gather is where the potential of the site will start to be realised, expansion of the clubhouse as you mentioned, permanent gym facilities, a third pitch and an all weather pitch meaning that the club can move the academy and Women’s teams over and also make some money out of the site. We could have waited for the “ideal” training ground, where both stage 1 and 2 are realised together before we moved in, but then we would have been without a training ground to prepare for this season. When you say "I can gather" I understand what you mean because no one really knows. We are only given vague notions of what the intentions are for the full development of the site. No timescales, no plans or artists impressions and no mention of how it would be paid for. I think it's another example of someone's imagination running away with them and Gasheads being "played"
The construction work supposedly was held up due to the club getting permission to tweak certain elements of the original Rugby club design. I don’t know if that is true or not, just what I’ve heard which makes sense given the club are going to be using the building for a long time to come. The announcement of work starting was made in June but it was October before someone realised that a planning application would have to be made to change the colour of the bricks and tiles. The Zoom Forum at which Wael waved the piece of paper was in July last year but we still don't know what "tweaks" have been made to the inside of the club house if any were actually permitted ? What you have written is how most Gasheads perceive it Axegas but to me it seems incredible this should be so. I've made my comments in bold and tried to be fair but straight to the point. I know fans always want to give the club the benefit of the doubt but I just cannot believe that a properly run business would ever manage a project in this way.
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Post by emperorsuperbus on Mar 4, 2021 18:00:59 GMT
I actually doubted you really were Groiny till this post. I found myself agreeing with you too much. It's one of the great things about football, we can fundamentally disagree on issues like tax policy, Brexit etc, but the vast majority of the time we have at least 1 thing that unites us and will do all our lives. I appreciate you are only trying to make me feel better, but I still feel uneasy about our new found friendship. 😦
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2021 18:14:42 GMT
It's one of the great things about football, we can fundamentally disagree on issues like tax policy, Brexit etc, but the vast majority of the time we have at least 1 thing that unites us and will do all our lives. I appreciate you are only trying to make me feel better, but I still feel uneasy about our new found friendship. 😦 Turns out The Duke of Guernsey has retired anyway, so no need for pistols at dawn. It's all good fun though. Me and towngas are miles apart on this thread but agree on several threads, that's just the nature of it isn't it?
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Deleted
Joined: January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Mar 4, 2021 18:25:48 GMT
I said most of the time, and was talking about just that subject amongst people who support the same team. But if you want an argument about literally any other subject, you know where I am. No I don't! (Haha! Sounds like a Monty Python sketch!) www.dailymotion.com/video/x2hwqn9.
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