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Post by knowall on Feb 29, 2020 16:50:05 GMT
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Post by knowall on Feb 29, 2020 16:24:26 GMT
It’s too risky keeping BG in charge next season with performances like this. We will cut adrift by December. We can’t sit and wait for an improvement. What if it never happens? I tend agree BG isn't working out and there are no signs that he will. Time to cut our losses and start looking for a new manager now while we are relatively safe. But isn't he on a two and a half year contract?
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Post by knowall on Feb 29, 2020 16:01:28 GMT
Poor first half, only positive is no goals conceded. Let’s hope for a Blackpool style 2nd half But Blackpool only had 10 players on the pitch
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Post by knowall on Feb 29, 2020 12:11:14 GMT
The fan base and club seems so low at the moment and makes me ponder what impact someone like Ollie could have had. Too late now of course, but doesn't stop me thinking what might have been. i hold you responsible for me wasting so much time delving into who this Ben Garner fella was. I quickly discovered he was a great talker and networker. Unfortunately nowhere could I find he was a great manager. Mind you, you’re weren’t alone in falling for the crap he espoused. The board did as well. I detect a slight backtracking on your part at least. Both of them?
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Post by knowall on Feb 28, 2020 16:00:37 GMT
Getting back on subject, if we can't get Martyn Starnes out to answer any questions, how will we ever get anyone to answer the more serious questions about Stadium, training ground and where the finance is coming from? It looks like there is no real commitment to take the Club further and so how will we keep our best players? And what chance of attracting any to the Club (decent players and supporters)?
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Post by knowall on Feb 24, 2020 13:24:20 GMT
I guess they like losing games even less as they seem to be staying home nowadays Says more about them then doesn't it. So you go week after week to watch the team lose do you? You must be very happy these days then. Apart from winning against ten men two weeks ago our previous win was December 17th - bound to bring the crowds in.
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Post by knowall on Feb 24, 2020 13:07:26 GMT
I've yet to see any evidence BG is management material. Granted, he may be a decent coach, but that doesn't make him a decent manager. I agree we may as well give him until the final game now as nothing really to lose. But anything less than 16 points and he has to go in my opinion. I think he thinks he's a hell of a lot better than he is - seems to fancy himself as the next Pep Guardiola but the bloke needs to wake up FFS; we're League One Bristol Rovers without a proverbial pot to p*ss in. Mix it up, adopt a plan B, don't be afraid to play ugly and - crucially - win the odd football match. Hey our fans don't like ugly and winning they stay at home then I guess they like losing games even less as they seem to be staying home nowadays
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Post by knowall on Feb 24, 2020 10:41:37 GMT
But someone will have to confirm that the Club can meet it's debts on the accounts - not easily dismissed Come on, it's Martyn Starnes we are talking about here. I doubt it, Hani Al-Qadi had to sign previously as an 'owner', which Martyn is not.
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Post by knowall on Feb 23, 2020 21:04:50 GMT
Unfortunately, I will be unable to make the Q & A this week, and whilst I note the Agenda will be limited to a specific theme, there are a number of questions (apart from stadium and training ground) which I contend should be of concern and maybe could be answered by Mr Starnes to reassure supporters? (1) Who is actually in charge of THE football club at the moment? Wael Al-Qadi (President) and his brothers are in Jordan which is, of course, understandable and no doubt they have everyone's sympathy and good wishes. (2) That leaves two remaining board directors - CEO Martyn Starnes is the most senior and Supporters representative Ken Masters. We know the 'club' have legally banned Mr Masters, so presumably, there can be no meaningful cooperation in the boardroom? (3) Who is in charge of finance? With a significant wage bill due this week, an AGM due within weeks, the Club losing a significant amount weekly, monthly, annually, and no finance director in place who is taking responsibility for keeping an important eye on the Club's accounts, and are bills being paid, and on time? A good question about who's in charge, although I doubt if they'll want to answer it since it doesn't concern the matchday experience. I wouldn't get too concerned about the accounts. Bringing in accountants or finance professionals on short term contracts is easy enough. I find it hard to imagine that even our hands-off owners are just letting that drift. But someone will have to confirm that the Club can meet it's debts on the accounts - not easily dismissed
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Post by knowall on Feb 23, 2020 14:50:45 GMT
Unfortunately, I will be unable to make the Q & A this week, and whilst I note the Agenda will be limited to a specific theme, there are a number of questions (apart from stadium and training ground) which I contend should be of concern and maybe could be answered by Mr Starnes to reassure supporters?
(1) Who is actually in charge of THE football club at the moment? Wael Al-Qadi (President) and his brothers are in Jordan which is, of course, understandable and no doubt they have everyone's sympathy and good wishes. (2) That leaves two remaining board directors - CEO Martyn Starnes is the most senior and Supporters representative Ken Masters. We know the 'club' have legally banned Mr Masters, so presumably, there can be no meaningful cooperation in the boardroom? (3) Who is in charge of finance? With a significant wage bill due this week, an AGM due within weeks, the Club losing a significant amount weekly, monthly, annually, and no finance director in place who is taking responsibility for keeping an important eye on the Club's accounts, and are bills being paid, and on time?
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Post by knowall on Feb 23, 2020 13:01:06 GMT
The heart has been ripped out of this club. Clueless post Clueless reply
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Post by knowall on Feb 17, 2020 12:43:36 GMT
The music on saturday was shocking and totally disrespectful to us old ones who like a bit of matt Monroe to go with the sh** stadium we have Sack the DJ i say You got it more Vera Lynn, Frank Sinatra, Cilla Black and The Clash - some to put us to sleep and the Clash to wake us up again!
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Post by knowall on Feb 17, 2020 12:21:53 GMT
Good to see a decent mark for a ref.Radio Stoke today both Stoke and Crewe were complaining about their refs.The Crewe manager really angry how their Ref turned down a defo pen but gave a non existent one to Muff.Refs usually get bad marks from losing teams but the Crewe manager really lost it.Think he'll be in trouble. I'm generally in agreement with Steve, but have to disagree with his high mark for "lumbering" Brett Huxtable.
In his defence, conditions were atrocious and this led to some abnormal incidents due to the difficult flight of the ball. I counted about five handballs (for either side) that were not given, but were as a direct result of the exceptionally windy conditions. But even so, he seemed to ignore every clear push in the back when a long ball was competed for.
The sending off was quite clear and I don't really think anyone would have any genuine complaint about that, so fair play for making that straight red decision.
One minor beef is that the guy is not fit enough for the speed of League football. He was often positioned well behind the play and is making decisions from a long distance.
He warned the Blackpool keeper midway through the first half for time wasting, but then ignored the 7-8 instances later of this by the same player. I can only say that Huxtable seemed very gullible in this respect.
But then come the inconsistencies, that seemed as though he wanted to even things up for Blackpool's inconvenience of being down to 10 men. Upson's booking was harsh in my opinion. Their player was fouled on the half way line, but Huxtable read it that Upson had deliberately fouled to stop a break away. If so, why not take the same action when JCH was brought down in a more advanced position when Rovers were breaking away. Minutes later, an inexplicable decision to penalise Abraham, when he was clearly being fouled by the defender.
The coup de gras for me was late on, when Rovers were 2:1 up. A Blackpool attack broke down and he awarded a goal kick, only to be surrounded by the Blackpool players (something I thought referees were supposed to be clamping down on). Inexplicably, he chose to reverse his decision and award a corner, only after those protests. I can't tell whether the assistant was in his ear to say that he got it wrong, but that would be a first.
He won't be scoring highly on my assessment report anyway!
Maybe not the best ref in the world but we always seem to do well when he is in the middle for league matches, 8 wins, 2 losses, 1 draw last 6 seasons
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Post by knowall on Feb 14, 2020 20:37:24 GMT
Exactly. The thing is if they're not actively trying to sell the club (which I would kind of understand if they want to keep that under wraps), then there's no reason I can see that they couldn't give some form of update over the stadium and training ground issues. Currently it just comes across as though they're burying their heads in the sand. Personally I would be more satisfied than I am now, if we got quarterly updates simply stating along the lines of "We appreciate that the supporters would like to know more about the stadium and training ground developments, but rest assured that the club are in continued dialogue with third parties, planners and [insert relevant council here] and are confident of a positive resolution to these discussions in the coming months. Pending resolution of these issues, supporters will regrettably have to remain patient while we do our utmost to improve the sustainability of future prospects of Bristol Rovers Football Club. We will continue to do our best to improve the supporter experience in the immediate term, and thank all Gasheads for their exceptional patience and support throughout this period." See, I knocked this up in less than 5 minutes, and it's probably better than anything the club has come out with in years. It may not be what we all want to hear, but if it's true just f**king tell us and stop treating us like idiots. If they ARE trying to sell the club they can still pedal the same lines that they are exploring the best possible avenues to help the club move forward. If you were TG, would you be advising the club to make a statement of some sort? Everyone on here says that TG must surely understand what the fans are feeling, which makes sense. But surely as commercial director it's absolutely vital that fans are happy as this encourages them to spend more money? If he does know, is he telling the people up top that they should speak to us more? If not, why? If he doesn't know, then seriously - why not? And if he does tell them & the club have admitted they want to improve, why don't they bother trying? I'm getting sick of the same line "we know that we need to improve our communication with supporters and are working to do that", but then we don't hear from them for a year. Then repeat this again basically. Something is seriously wrong somewhere in the running of the club.The performance in any organisation is dependent on the person at the top - that is where the buck lies.
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Post by knowall on Feb 13, 2020 16:26:41 GMT
I suggest you obtain a copy of the BRFC Constitution as you appear not to have read it. Feel free to IM me a copy or provide a link. Which bit would prevent the majority shareholding owners from diluting the SC shareholding further? How would it prevent the majority shareholding owners from changing the constitution and falling back to statutory law? I suggest you contact the Club secretary for a copy of the constitution, and study the basic rules around the arrangements for meetings and AGM's - quorums etc. (all companies are not the same) The point you make about dilution of shares is not unusual in the history of our Football Club and is not unique to the current Board.
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Post by knowall on Feb 13, 2020 15:22:45 GMT
Not so many years ago, this was the Rovers Strategy and very successful it was
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Post by knowall on Feb 13, 2020 13:37:35 GMT
I am sure you are correct Holmes as that is my understanding too. However, it raises a more significant point of concern in that the fall out of Board members since the Al-Qadi family took control of the Football Club is unprecedented and if the Constitution has not changed then surely the Board is legally under staffed? No doubt this can be confirmed/denied at the forthcoming AGM when we shall also learn the exact financial state of the Company, and if Hani Al-Qadi will be guaranteeing the Company as an ongoing concern as per the last accounts. There is no statutory requirement for a private limited company to hold board meetings. In the case of a shareholders' meeting, the minimum number that must be present to make the proceedings of that meeting valid is two (or one in the case of a company with a single member). I have a private limited company with a single director (me) private ltd company FAQA majority of shareholders can remove a director at any time. The only power I see the SC having right now, is that 5% of shareholders are needed to call a general meeting. Although, if the family wanted to, they could increase the shares in circulation. They could then convert loans to shares and dilute the SC holding to below 5% and without pre-emption rights the SC would be left with nothing of use. I suggest you obtain a copy of the BRFC Constitution as you appear not to have read it.
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Post by knowall on Feb 13, 2020 13:14:02 GMT
I am sure you are correct Holmes as that is my understanding too. However, it raises a more significant point of concern in that the fall out of Board members since the Al-Qadi family took control of the Football Club is unprecedented and if the Constitution has not changed then surely the Board is legally under staffed? No doubt this can be confirmed/denied at the forthcoming AGM when we shall also learn the exact financial state of the Company, and if Hani Al-Qadi will be guaranteeing the Company as an ongoing concern as per the last accounts. knowall when is the AGM scheduled for please ? You ask an excellent question (as always) because the A/C's will be to 30th June 2019 and is normally presented within 9 months of that date. Sometimes (as per last year) accounts are presented late, but should also give an up to date position of the Company. Normally the 'Chairman' writes a forward to the accounts - but who the Chairman now is I have no idea - do you? or does anyone? At last years AGM the Club's secretary (who is no longer in place) took the Chair and was obviously keen to not answer questions from the shareholders and excused himself as he had an 'important' meeting to get to. (one wondered what was more important than our AGM?) We were then entertained for the balance of the meeting mainly by the assistant football manager (again no longer at the Club!) I guess the top table will be rather sparse as currently there are only President Wael Al-Qadi and CEO Martyn Starnes from the Boardroom and possibly the Supporters representative Ken Masters (although under current circumstances will they insist a cardboard cutout is there instead?) All in all I suggest ALL shareholders should do their very best to attend because I have a feeling the AGM could be more fun than a Brian Rix farce. In fact if they charged an entrance fee we might eat into the Club's mounting overdraft!
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Post by knowall on Feb 13, 2020 11:58:43 GMT
We would all like to know what the reason was, but my understanding is that he was not given the courtesy of a reason. I haven't read the share scheme agreement for over a decade Knowall but I don't believe that a reason to reject a SC member from sitting on the board has to be given but the clause was built in to prevent somebody from starting a tenure not after 14 years. Nevertheless it exists. I am sure you are correct Holmes as that is my understanding too. However, it raises a more significant point of concern in that the fall out of Board members since the Al-Qadi family took control of the Football Club is unprecedented and if the Constitution has not changed then surely the Board is legally under staffed? No doubt this can be confirmed/denied at the forthcoming AGM when we shall also learn the exact financial state of the Company, and if Hani Al-Qadi will be guaranteeing the Company as an ongoing concern as per the last accounts.
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Post by knowall on Feb 12, 2020 20:07:17 GMT
perhaps they are selling man skirts now
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