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Post by alftupper on Aug 30, 2021 12:44:15 GMT
You remember the tv you had when you were a nipper?
Full of valves, transistors and, er, other things? It was so bulky that if you had one in the front room, there was no space left to put a chair, so you could sit and watch it. Well, all those things have gone now.
The tv is full of plasma. It`s what makes the thing work ( memo to self; check this out). Anyway,as a consequence, modern tvs are now slimmer than Bobby Sands. You really ought to treat yourself.
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bondigas
Joined: December 2017
Posts: 393
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Post by bondigas on Aug 30, 2021 15:11:43 GMT
Martin's post cuts to the bone and is excellent, a lot of people who support the club are in denial and can't even bring themselves to accept that things can go wrong. Even Rolls Royce went bust and the way the club is heading and run as a shambles you could see the same outcome coming Rovers way. To be a good liar you need a good memory, on Saturday we had Barton looking for self pity after another poor result at Barrow telling the Bristol Post he had been living out of the boot of his car for the past few months, but the Post ran a story on March 12 about how Barton, Clint Hill, Andy Mangan and Eddy Jennings were all sharing a flat in Bristol and Mangan was good at cooking. Why is Widdrington still with the club when Barton praises Eddy Jennings for his recruitment of players in interviews when he's not even employed by the club, who's paying Jennings's wages and travel expenses, he's at every game isn't he, home and away. If he is so vital to Barton, why hasn't the club run a profile on him or are they embarrassed to reveal he was a character witness in a murder trial. What players want to come to Rovers when the manager has been so critical of former players and managers, can you imagine turning up for training every morning with Barton whingeing about everything to start your day. If Nick Higgs were running the club as it is now he wouldn't get out of the club alive on match day. You can't help but feel the way things are going there is something around the corner that will catch the owner out financially and heap more misery and despair on the club. This has to be a possibility as no one at the club at the moment appears to have a clue how to run a business, they just sit there picking up their pay cheques every month and don't give a toss.
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Post by fatherjackhackett on Aug 30, 2021 15:24:01 GMT
The more I’ve read it, the more I think this is like some massive rewriting of history where we only came rubbish after 2016. Like the previous 17 years were all sweetness and light. And I’m not buying it.
Martin Bull is too close to the Dunfords, Higgs and the SC to ever give a neutral view.
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eppinggas
Administrator
Ian Alexander
Don't care
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Post by eppinggas on Aug 30, 2021 15:30:34 GMT
Let’s just say that amongst the accusations against our owner was the worst thing imho you can accuse a human being of doing. I thought that was old Jim and Ken Masters? Steve got the boot by Hani not Wael. OK. So why do people throw in Hamers name regarding the allegations? I always thought Hamer was Hani's guy. So how did Hani and Hamer fall out? Obviously not enough room for Hamer and Starnes - I think we opted for the wrong choice. But if people have evidence (rather than tittle tattle) about Hamer, then fair enough. Things don't add up. One thing is for sure, things have got markedly worse since Starnes appointment.
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Post by a more piratey game on Aug 30, 2021 15:42:18 GMT
I thought that was old Jim and Ken Masters? Steve got the boot by Hani not Wael. OK. So why do people throw in Hamers name regarding the allegations? I always thought Hamer was Hani's guy. So how did Hani and Hamer fall out? Obviously not enough room for Hamer and Starnes - I think we opted for the wrong choice. But if people have evidence (rather than tittle tattle) about Hamer, then fair enough. Things don't add up. One thing is for sure, things have got markedly worse since Starnes appointment. the story I understood was that Hamer was acting for Hani (and maybe himself) in trying to manage a re-arrange the ownership of the club Wael wanted to retain ownership. To try to budge Wael, allegations against him reached the press (who did not pursue them for lack of evidence, or any substance at all) and the football authorities (who also found no substance). Hani was so outraged that he exited Hamer, and the club statement lacked the usual 'thank yous' etc the situation was stuck in a bit of a quagmire until Al Qadi pere's passing, after which Wael moved to acquire 90-ish % of the club (with his brother Samer retaining a smallish share, as well as the SC whose approx 7% was diluted again down to approx 4%). The training ground development, which had been mothballed for so long, also started the SC and Plebs' Club had been very supportive of the re-arrangement of ownership - hence the teaser post from knowall about October(s) etc - but were now on the wrong side of history, having contributed to the anti-Wael noises (and continue to do so - hence knowall's post yesterday about getting rid of the rubbish etc) which all might or might not be right, but is my understanding
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eppinggas
Administrator
Ian Alexander
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Post by eppinggas on Aug 30, 2021 16:26:28 GMT
Thanks NAPAB. The 'missing' piece for me is Hamer was still very supportive of Wael after he was exited. People will have it as 'fact' that Hamer was at the centre of the allegations. So for me it doesn't quite add up. The language used by some people in relation to Hamer is over the top given the lack of any evidence. Perhaps irenestoyboy and Father Hackett are privy to information that we are not. Anyway, past history. I agree with Martin, time for the senior management team to 'step up'.
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Post by mehewmagic on Aug 30, 2021 18:45:03 GMT
Stole this from the other place. Hope you don't mind me sharing on here Martin ( mehewmagic ) but it's a great read. ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Thanks for copying Jeff. My kids gave me COVID-19 so my energy levels have been up and down a bit! I haven't followed the forums for several years now, so apologies for not being on here usually. General point Re Steve Hamer - maybe I should have written something broader, like 'in my limited personal experience of him'. I'm not interested in politics and lack of definite knowledge so I genuinely don't know all of that, but I can say from my limited personal experience of him he came across as a decent guy, and this is after my first ever contact with him being a very snotty email passed through Keith Brookman not long after the takeover. My point is that that first (and only email) encounter did not totally blindside me or define what (admittedly little) I later saw in him as someone interested in the history and heritage of lower level football and lower level football supporters.
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Post by mehewmagic on Aug 30, 2021 19:01:47 GMT
Absolute Masterclass from Martin and I agree with all the subsequent accolades from Teamgashead. The sentence that hit me the most was: 'We are tiny and unsuccessful, and all this talk of being a big club defies the statistics' For last 40 odd years, I've been telling anyone who wanted to listen what a massive club we were and how we went 'toe to toe' in the Second tier against the likes of Newcastle, Palace, Chelsea, West Ham, Sunderland, Tottenham ( we also perfirmed pretty well on the pitch ) Neverthess, we have never been in the Top Division or won a major Cup in all our History so my lifetime belief that Rovers are a big club has been shattered. That said, the long suffering fans do deserve much better and there lies the problem and the possible solution. Our fans are a cut above the rest and we still capable of taking 40k to Wembley. In fact our supporters are potentially Premier league Quality, Tim , however is running out fast we have gone from the blue half of Bristol to tihe blue quarter as the club continues to self destruct. if either the Mem had been rebuild or the UWE had happened we would be shouting with pride from the housetop's In the meantime, this shi#fest contines to run its course whiilst a totally fractured, and disallusioned fanbase watch on Helplessly...................... Thanks. I think both of us are 'right'. we are a fascinating club with brilliant fans, brilliant history, special nicknames, special memories and a large and strong catchment area. We can rise to the occasion, and have certainly had some great days, and a few great seasons in the past. AND we've still got a chance of success but we have to do something different, and do it as soon as possible. The problem is that loads of other clubs, including those at our level (and below), have similar histories and achievements, and many have much more successful ones. Even when we were in the National League I wrote one article about how old the other clubs in our division were. Of course there were a few of the Eastleigh's and Welling's of the world but most were, not totally surprisingly, late Victorian incarnations with a 100+year history. The only difference is that most had not joined the football league, or if they had it didn't last as long as us. We've won nothing, never been in the top division, never owned good facilities really, mainly had an inferiority complex and rarely thought outside the box or ran with an ethos like the Brentford's or Brighton's in the current era. City were formed after us and were in the FL like a rat up a drainpipe and in the FA Cup final whilst we sat in a comfy chair, smoked a pipe and played cribbage
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Post by mehewmagic on Aug 30, 2021 19:28:06 GMT
The more I’ve read it, the more I think this is like some massive rewriting of history where we only came rubbish after 2016. Like the previous 17 years were all sweetness and light. And I’m not buying it. Martin Bull is too close to the Dunfords, Higgs and the SC to ever give a neutral view. As a history graduate I obviously did not mean it to read like that and I did try in the intro to suggest that this is not just a knee jerk reaction to the plummet since GC walked. I'm not covering all the past. I have though written a lot about Rovers' past, and it certainly isn't filled with success or visionary people. We can agree on that! I totally support yours, or anyone's, decision to not agree with what I write or the evidence I offer, but I would like to point out that your second paragraph is wildly inaccurate. Feel free to disagree to me, but not for those reasons. - Never met Nick Higgs or spoken to him, or ever been in anyway involved with him, his businesses or anything. When I started writing in the BRFC programme it was the end of his era, but it all went through Keith and nothing was EVER mentioned about what anyone at the club wanted us to write etc. I know that some contributors were a little frowned upon when people 'up top' read their stuff, but there was never an editorial line on what to write for me and nothing i ever wrote was suggested or edited. TBH it was pretty bloody miraculous for writers!
- Ditto the Dunfords. Never met or spoke to any of them. The closest was a little twitter convo with Geoff about 6 years ago who thought that something I wrote about Rovers / his idea to write a book about his time was not completely fair. The word hagiography was mentioned
- Ditto SC except being a member for many years, purely to get the ticket priority and to generally show that I am supportive in principle of a supporters club (I've rarely had a ST due to living here there and everywhere and having no cash). Never had any dealings other than that, and them selling my books at 199. Never been to their meetings, on committee or anything.
I have written for the BRFC programme for several years, written for the BRFPA and helped organise events etc, helped the Blue Diamond Club with their website, and done my own books. That's it. No politics. No handshakes. No special favours. Just a free ticket when writing for programme, most of which I never used. I write what I see and what I think.
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Post by richmace on Aug 30, 2021 20:28:21 GMT
Absolute Masterclass from Martin and I agree with all the subsequent accolades from Teamgashead. The sentence that hit me the most was: 'We are tiny and unsuccessful, and all this talk of being a big club defies the statistics' For last 40 odd years, I've been telling anyone who wanted to listen what a massive club we were and how we went 'toe to toe' in the Second tier against the likes of Newcastle, Palace, Chelsea, West Ham, Sunderland, Tottenham ( we also perfirmed pretty well on the pitch ) Neverthess, we have never been in the Top Division or won a major Cup in all our History so my lifetime belief that Rovers are a big club has been shattered. That said, the long suffering fans do deserve much better and there lies the problem and the possible solution. Our fans are a cut above the rest and we still capable of taking 40k to Wembley. In fact our supporters are potentially Premier league Quality, Tim , however is running out fast we have gone from the blue half of Bristol to tihe blue quarter as the club continues to self destruct. if either the Mem had been rebuild or the UWE had happened we would be shouting with pride from the housetop's In the meantime, this shi#fest contines to run its course whiilst a totally fractured, and disallusioned fanbase watch on Helplessly...................... I’m not sure we would be able to take 40K to Wembley again. I feel our fan base is contracting (based on feeling, no actual data). We also must be losing fans to the dark side. We are a small club. You could argue we are underachievers, but that is purely hypothetical based on the past, and the catchment area. Having said all that, I remember the times when The Mem was rocking to 12K fans, so I still believe that if the product is right, people will turn up in their droves. I would love us to test the theory that Bristol is large enough for two Championship + teams. I am dreaming again. I imagine that was (and still is) Wael’s dream. UTG
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Post by chelt_gas on Aug 30, 2021 22:17:09 GMT
Absolute Masterclass from Martin and I agree with all the subsequent accolades from Teamgashead. The sentence that hit me the most was: 'We are tiny and unsuccessful, and all this talk of being a big club defies the statistics' For last 40 odd years, I've been telling anyone who wanted to listen what a massive club we were and how we went 'toe to toe' in the Second tier against the likes of Newcastle, Palace, Chelsea, West Ham, Sunderland, Tottenham ( we also perfirmed pretty well on the pitch ) Neverthess, we have never been in the Top Division or won a major Cup in all our History so my lifetime belief that Rovers are a big club has been shattered. That said, the long suffering fans do deserve much better and there lies the problem and the possible solution. Our fans are a cut above the rest and we still capable of taking 40k to Wembley. In fact our supporters are potentially Premier league Quality, Tim , however is running out fast we have gone from the blue half of Bristol to tihe blue quarter as the club continues to self destruct. if either the Mem had been rebuild or the UWE had happened we would be shouting with pride from the housetop's In the meantime, this shi#fest contines to run its course whiilst a totally fractured, and disallusioned fanbase watch on Helplessly...................... I’m not sure we would be able to take 40K to Wembley again. I feel our fan base is contracting (based on feeling, no actual data). We also must be losing fans to the dark side. We are a small club. You could argue we are underachievers, but that is purely hypothetical based on the past, and the catchment area. Having said all that, I remember the times when The Mem was rocking to 12K fans, so I still believe that if the product is right, people will turn up in their droves. I would love us to test the theory that Bristol is large enough for two Championship + teams. I am dreaming again. I imagine that was (and still is) Wael’s dream. UTG The influences in choosing a football team to support is very different now, and will be in the future, compared to the eras of yesteryear. People can feel close to teams from any part of the world whilst teams are less representative of the locality today than they ever have been. There's much less to bind a new supporter to a club in today's era. Rovers have so many barriers to overcome before generating new fans. We lack image, identify, supporting environment and success.
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Post by a more piratey game on Aug 30, 2021 22:45:37 GMT
Thanks NAPAB. The 'missing' piece for me is Hamer was still very supportive of Wael after he was exited. People will have it as 'fact' that Hamer was at the centre of the allegations. So for me it doesn't quite add up. two possibilities spring to mind; Landing Lights Crazy Gang was trying not to burn his bridges Landing Lights Crazy Gang wasn't at the centre of the allegations, but Hani was cross with him for not scotching them at a very early stage possible explanations?
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Post by CabbagePatchBlues on Aug 31, 2021 4:28:09 GMT
You remember the tv you had when you were a nipper?
Full of valves, transistors and, er, other things? It was so bulky that if you had one in the front room, there was no space left to put a chair, so you could sit and watch it. Well, all those things have gone now.
The tv is full of plasma. It`s what makes the thing work ( memo to self; check this out). Anyway,as a consequence, modern tvs are now slimmer than Bobby Sands. You really ought to treat yourself.
Keep up, Alf. They were discontinued by the major manufacturers in 2014 when two-a-penny LEDs swamped the market and are hardly symbolic of ill-gotten opulence anymore. :-)
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Post by alftupper on Aug 31, 2021 6:15:04 GMT
You remember the tv you had when you were a nipper?
Full of valves, transistors and, er, other things? It was so bulky that if you had one in the front room, there was no space left to put a chair, so you could sit and watch it. Well, all those things have gone now.
The tv is full of plasma. It`s what makes the thing work ( memo to self; check this out). Anyway,as a consequence, modern tvs are now slimmer than Bobby Sands. You really ought to treat yourself.
Keep up, Alf. They were discontinued by the major manufacturers in 2014 when two-a-penny LEDs swamped the market and are hardly symbolic of ill-gotten opulence anymore. :-) Well, if that`s your attitude, I shan`t try being helpful again. Don`t even bother asking me to tape something for you, on my Betamax recorder.
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Post by toteend3 on Aug 31, 2021 7:54:31 GMT
Absolute Masterclass from Martin and I agree with all the subsequent accolades from Teamgashead. The sentence that hit me the most was: 'We are tiny and unsuccessful, and all this talk of being a big club defies the statistics' For last 40 odd years, I've been telling anyone who wanted to listen what a massive club we were and how we went 'toe to toe' in the Second tier against the likes of Newcastle, Palace, Chelsea, West Ham, Sunderland, Tottenham ( we also perfirmed pretty well on the pitch ) Neverthess, we have never been in the Top Division or won a major Cup in all our History so my lifetime belief that Rovers are a big club has been shattered. That said, the long suffering fans do deserve much better and there lies the problem and the possible solution. Our fans are a cut above the rest and we still capable of taking 40k to Wembley. In fact our supporters are potentially Premier league Quality, Tim , however is running out fast we have gone from the blue half of Bristol to tihe blue quarter as the club continues to self destruct. if either the Mem had been rebuild or the UWE had happened we would be shouting with pride from the housetop's In the meantime, this shi#fest contines to run its course whiilst a totally fractured, and disallusioned fanbase watch on Helplessly...................... I’m not sure we would be able to take 40K to Wembley again. I feel our fan base is contracting (based on feeling, no actual data). We also must be losing fans to the dark side. We are a small club. You could argue we are underachievers, but that is purely hypothetical based on the past, and the catchment area. Having said all that, I remember the times when The Mem was rocking to 12K fans, so I still believe that if the product is right, people will turn up in their droves. I would love us to test the theory that Bristol is large enough for two Championship + teams. I am dreaming again. I imagine that was (and still is) Wael’s dream. UTG Even a Blue quarter of Bristol, if mobilised and engaged would be a force to reckon with. As for the remaining quarter, this tends to be made up predominately of football fans who dont like City but cant bring themselve's to supporting the Gas because we are so Sh#te. Could we muster up 40k gasheads for a trip to Wembley? -Absolutely, however it won't be any time soon, the only way any of us will be going to Wembley would be if we changed allegiances to either meatfree Forest Gump or Maggotsfield Old Spot!
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 31, 2021 9:54:37 GMT
Keep up, Alf. They were discontinued by the major manufacturers in 2014 when two-a-penny LEDs swamped the market and are hardly symbolic of ill-gotten opulence anymore. :-) Well, if that`s your attitude, I shan`t try being helpful again. Don`t even bother asking me to tape something for you, on my Betamax recorder. Alf, I'll swap. Fancy my VHS2000 and a cine camera to boot? (Not literally, although some of our players would probably get closer to the goal kicking an antiquated filming device than they so a football).
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Post by fatherjackhackett on Aug 31, 2021 10:02:01 GMT
Well, if that`s your attitude, I shan`t try being helpful again. Don`t even bother asking me to tape something for you, on my Betamax recorder. Alf, I'll swap. Fancy my VHS2000 and a cine camera to boot? (Not literally, although some of our players would probably get closer to the goal kicking an antiquated filming device than they so a football). I get my Dad to come round in his D.E.R. car. Is Roger Malone on commentary?
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eppinggas
Administrator
Ian Alexander
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Post by eppinggas on Aug 31, 2021 10:11:29 GMT
Thanks NAPAB. The 'missing' piece for me is Hamer was still very supportive of Wael after he was exited. People will have it as 'fact' that Hamer was at the centre of the allegations. So for me it doesn't quite add up. two possibilities spring to mind; Landing Lights Crazy Gang was trying not to burn his bridges Landing Lights Crazy Gang wasn't at the centre of the allegations, but Hani was cross with him for not scotching them at a very early stage possible explanations? 1. The very positive email about Wael was after the unceremoniously sacking... the bridges were burnt by then. 2. Sacking for not scotching rumours? Very sensitive area. "If" an allegation was made - there would be a process in place regarding safeguarding. Maybe the correct protocol was not followed? Who exactly made the allegations - I don't believe it was Steve Hamer (someone correct me if I'm wrong). So, I still don't get it. The people with an agenda against Hamer go to ground when they're asked to back up their assertions. Without any evidence it's just unpleasant tittle tattle.
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Post by alftupper on Aug 31, 2021 10:44:21 GMT
Well, if that`s your attitude, I shan`t try being helpful again. Don`t even bother asking me to tape something for you, on my Betamax recorder. Alf, I'll swap. Fancy my VHS2000 and a cine camera to boot? (Not literally, although some of our players would probably get closer to the goal kicking an antiquated filming device than they so a football). Appreciate the offer, Dr F, but I`ll stick with my trusty Betamax. It records one programme every three weeks; can`t ask for more than that.
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Post by alftupper on Aug 31, 2021 11:01:17 GMT
Going back to the dim and distant past, my flatmate and I did actually buy a second hand Betamax. We`d only had it a few days, and a fuse inside blew. My mate, who was an electrician, said that if we replaced the fuse with a safety pin, it would be fine. So we removed the fuse, inserted the safety pin in it`s place, and switched it on. There was a great blue flash, a bang like Little Boy going off over Hiroshima, and the safety pin flew across the room like it had been hurled by Fatima Whitbread. And it never worked again.
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