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Post by xplosivgas on Feb 19, 2018 23:37:31 GMT
I haven't watched the interview yet, but from skimming the thread I gather there's a hint of positivity because Wael made a rare appearance more so than any actual progress to report.
Perhaps if everyone put £1 in a kitty in every time the words 'evolution' or 'patience' were spouted, we'd have ourselves a top 6 budget!
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Post by xplosivgas on Feb 6, 2018 12:37:30 GMT
I remember a few people begging for the club to go under administration and save us from Higgs back in the Conference days. Can't remember of it was here or on gasheads.org though BRFC fans - well, any other fan really, but us a bit more - have a tendency to fly off the handle when things go wrong, no matter how wrongYou say that, but personally I think the owners have had a remarkably easy time of it from the fans after the UWE stadium cancellation: months of silence, the blasé manner its scrapping was announced and subsequent lack of coherent explanation....I don't think you'd fans from many other clubs accepting such treatment as well as we (as a fanbase) did.
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Post by xplosivgas on Feb 2, 2018 21:24:59 GMT
It took a bit of scrolling through the thread to realise the OP wasn't being sarcastic! Wish I could be that pleased with the owners progress to-date.
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Post by xplosivgas on Feb 1, 2018 17:51:48 GMT
Does anyone know if Wael still attends games on a regular basis?
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Post by xplosivgas on Feb 1, 2018 0:29:10 GMT
I'm reading on here we've signed a couple players, but can't find any mention of this on the club's website / twitter feed or BBC sport list of late deals. Can anyone provide a link to confirmation of our new signings please?
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Post by xplosivgas on Jan 31, 2018 20:40:26 GMT
We're ready for it; it's Wael and co. that aren't. They showed that with the stadium and they are showing it again today.
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Post by xplosivgas on Jan 31, 2018 19:21:22 GMT
Al Qadi has messaged a fan to advise to turn his phone off when asked about potential incomings. If that is true its an absolute disgrace. I feel for us but most of all DC. The bloke is at a total dead end with us and deserves so much more. The AQs have lost all interest and I for one would like some answers why the likes of other smaller clubs with a lot lesser crowds can spend money on players without selling and we CANT!! watered off to say the least. Was it a DM? Just checked Twitter and couldn't see anything from Wael.
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Post by xplosivgas on Jan 31, 2018 11:00:26 GMT
I suspect this evening a sob story will be put out describing how the club pulled out all the stops but how silly money and moving goalposts prevented any permanent signings.
Unless the club are prepared to offer the going rate to close the deals, there's no hope - bit like trying to haggle with a First bus driver over the fare.
Hope I'm wrong and at the end of the day it's whoops and high-5s all round!
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Post by xplosivgas on Jan 25, 2018 17:57:25 GMT
Don't underestimate the desire to push Jordan as a country and a brand to Western climes via football, in a similar (albeit reduced manner with our outfit!) that the Qataris and Chinese are doing. I am surprised we've only seen one Jordanian player turn up so far, but if work permits can be sorted, there may well be more in due course. If their aim is to push 'Brand Jordan' over here they've got some way to go. I'd say they're currently standing alongside brands such as BHS, Woolworths and Ryanair.
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Post by xplosivgas on Jan 23, 2018 0:14:23 GMT
I can't see the owners doing anything that would reduce the Mem capacity and gate money. That aside it would also turn a shabby ground with a decent atmosphere into a just a shabby ground.
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Post by xplosivgas on Jan 4, 2018 21:01:09 GMT
The interviewers always seem so weak and don't challenge responses so the likes of Hamer get away with saying very little and sound so smug and non-commital. We fans deserve a bit more respect and want some real intent announced so that we can believe the Club are not moving backwards. Oh how long ago it now seems when the Jordanians took over and we were all so optimistic! When you say 'the likes of Hamer', who are you blaming? Surely not actually Hamer? He is a (well-paid) salary man, put in place to present the club in a positive light because the owners can't (or won't) be in Bristol all the time to face the press and the fans. I can't say I've ever warmed to the man, but I've realised he's just doing the job he's being paid to do. He stopped the fake-positive stuff, like the landing lights remark, some time ago, perhaps because he and the club were being criticised too much for it. So now he goes for the possibly-fake lower our expectations approach, for which he also gets criticised. He takes all the flak and then has to go home and sleep at night. Which he quite possibly does very easily, because I suspect he doesn't really care too much about Bristol Rovers. Meanwhile the real suspects are content to sit in their air conditioned luxury pads in Jordan and work out how they can rescue or dump the whole project, whilst saving face and continuing to look respectable to their business community. Sums it up nicely. One thing's for sure, the owners are coming across (IMO) as shockingly bad bankers. I wouldn't trust them to invest my kid's pocket money.
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Post by xplosivgas on Jan 4, 2018 13:23:07 GMT
Hamer: "I think the money will be invested as to what Darrell Clarke wants to improve," he said. "He'll decide what he wants, where he wants to improve things on the field of play and where he wants to freshen up things. "We'll have a chat and we'll back him as best we can. If those are quotes from SH the key words that stand out for me are "I think" and "as best we can". Some nicely placed disclaimers from someone making a comment with no authority / clue what's going on.
In another thread there are suggestions that the training ground statement was put out there as a crude smoke-screen to divert attention away from the BB transfer, or to at least cushion the blow. However, maybe it was because of the transfer the club can now afford to finally nudge the development plans along..?!
I suspect the purpose of the transfer fee non-disclosure was to prevent the fans keeping tabs on how much is spent on re-investment in players in January (I mean, why would Preston care who knows the fee?). My guess is some of it will be creamed off to go towards the training ground with a proportion for new players.
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Post by xplosivgas on Jan 3, 2018 7:52:58 GMT
Unfortunately there will be no regeneration of the Memorial,Stadium or a new training facility whilst the AQ family own the club. They have no money. I think the reality is that they have sh*tloads of money; but are somewhat prudent how they want to spend it. They are bankers after all They do have loads of money compared to your average man on the street. But when you're talking about football club owners, "small fry" springs to mind!
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Post by xplosivgas on Dec 24, 2017 12:58:18 GMT
My son messaged wael last night and asked if there was money available in January and he gave the 👍up What amount that is time will only tell Who's gonna want to come here don't get your hopes up Also, there doesn't seem to be much correlation between what Wael says to people through social media and the truth.
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Post by xplosivgas on Dec 24, 2017 12:56:02 GMT
maybe this is a little harsh, but to me not being able to sit on a bench for 90 mins due to flu-like symptoms seems a bit poor. He didn't need to be on the touch line bellowing orders, just observe the game and be on-hand to make changes when needed. Perhaps it wouldn't have made a difference today, but one thing's for sure DC's absence didn't help! How about he didn't want to pass it on to the squad in what is a very busy time for football and what is a crucial part of our so far poor season, maybe he didn't want to risk it. The last thing we need right now is a virus sweeping the camp. I wouldn't have expected him to be in the dressing room giving the team talk breathing into everyone's faces. Maybe just somewhere in the ground watching the game making the occasional tactical decision - which we probably could've done with.
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Post by xplosivgas on Dec 24, 2017 0:50:40 GMT
maybe this is a little harsh, but to me not being able to sit on a bench for 90 mins due to flu-like symptoms seems a bit poor. He didn't need to be on the touch line bellowing orders, just observe the game and be on-hand to make changes when needed. Perhaps it wouldn't have made a difference today, but one thing's for sure DC's absence didn't help!
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Post by xplosivgas on Dec 23, 2017 22:36:34 GMT
Even by your standards this is utter tosh both SH & Wael have never suggested they didn't have the financial backing to build the UWE and also develop the training ground, plus where was our top 6 budget and DC's 5 year contract going to be financed this summer if it wasn't ALQ's own money paying for it, as we are clearly not generating that kind of money ourselves. Thanks for the insult - I look forward to you showing anywhere where any of the family said 'we are billionaires' or 'we are wealthy' - I was merely pointing out that those terms were used by the media. The fact that any of the family have not dispelled those thoughts is another matter and it remains to be seen in the future if they have the financial means? at least we know they have been able to put their hands on £12million I don't believe for a second that their bank accounts are anywhere near £12mill worse off than before they took over. Unless I've misunderstood and you're including loans secured against the club's assets? Even then, I haven't seen any tangible signs of £12 mill having been injected into the club. Unless perhaps they've had gold panelled walls fitted in the boardroom!
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Post by xplosivgas on Dec 22, 2017 13:03:11 GMT
With absolute respect it would certainly explain why, for the most part, we are so happy to accept false dawn after false dawn. I have not witnessed any false dawns yet Isn't the UWE stadium deal collapse the dictionary definition of 'false dawn'?
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Post by xplosivgas on Dec 22, 2017 13:01:19 GMT
Ashton Vale was panned 7 years ago. It took them 7 years to go from the Ashton Vale plan to the rebuild of Ashton Gate. It took time. The Al-Qadi's have been here 18 months compared to Lansdowns decade. The people who are expecting the Al-Qadi's to pull off in 18 months what its took Lansdown 10 years to do, are also living in some sort of make believe world. The AG redevelopment was announced in late 13 as soon as the AV project died. It was given planning sign off in March 14 enabling build to start at the end of that season. So it took around 6 months to go from no plans to planning sign off and get the diggers in. In fact they waited another 2 months to start to finish off the season. It 2 years to complete. The ALQs came in to a club with PP signed off on a brand new development which was given in 2014. According to Wael, the finances not being a problem. The whole club and project were on display for all the tentative new owners. After 18 months, we pull out. Another 6 months have past of complete silence, no plans and no future vision let alone any form of planning permission. All of the above gives you an idea of timescales. So if we are looking at a Mem redevelopment nothing is going to be built until at least 2020. That’s if we start in June. That is the realistic time frame and why we need to crack on now. In some ways how long the ALQs is kind of irrelevant. If you are looking at what the club actually needs right now, then a stadium is top of the list and number 1 priority. I’m sick of Wael banging on about how things take time. If you don’t have the finances then of course it will, you need to find investors or find a way to raise the cash. If so tell us. Conversely if the money is there, tell us what is taking the time as I’m sure there are some people who can help and advise in getting things done and sorted. The training ground is now 4 pitches and a clubhouse and offices and should take around 6 months to do. So all of this taking time is a complete nonsense as well. I don’t think anyone is unrealistic about build timescales but no one is stupid enough to believe it takes 6 months to get some plans drawn and ideas in place. You could do that inside a couple of weeks. Good post: the definitive summary of the position!
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Post by xplosivgas on Dec 21, 2017 12:44:46 GMT
based on that I would assume you didn't have much faith under the old owners(s) either.
So my point again what do people want?
I guess you want the Al-Qadi's to sell up based on your post? So that means trying to find people prepared to throw lots money at the club with little thought of ever seeing a monetary return. Maybe there is someone out there, but they don't just walk up to football clubs and say here is some money
I would love us to compete at the highest level we can in a decent stadium, but the one thing I really want and always will do is to have my football club to support, wherever it may be.
If we can never keep up with the Jones' so be it. It doesn't mean I don't want better and won't hold my club up to be better at whatever level we are at, but what we cannot do is magic up money from nowhere
We can't expect anyone to rock up with a magic money tree and start watering cash up the wall. The frustrating thing for me though is that there *could* be people out there who could be convinced to invest in a club that took 40,000 to Wembley but we don't even appear to be trying to find them. I would totally back the owners if they came out today and said 'look, we accept the evolution is going to take x number of years and while we progress along this path we are working hard to identify other sites for a stadium and are always seeking outside investment" or "we are more than happy to sell to anyone who can display an appetite to get this club a new stadium". Something that shows they have the desire to see this club progress as quickly as possible. All we get is silence punctuated by Wael stating he is in it for the long haul. Why? He's got no money! Our owners are absentee landlords who bring nothing but neglect to the table (albeit well meaning neglect). What young supporters would want to support a club that has no hope of being anything better than mid-table league one while across the City there is a club with ambition trying to make something of itself? It is the sheer lack of ambition and desire that kills, not the lack of a money tree. This club is swimming in apathy from the top of Dwane Sports right down to the fans. I remember when Buckle got slated for trying to lower expectations, well blow me down if the Al Qadi's haven't delivered a masterclass in it with little fuss from the fans. It seems Wael communicates with more fans on Twitter than to the whole fanbase on the OS. I've given up even checking the OS, as inevitably there's going to a couple of news articles a about a youth teamer going on loan to a local club and maybe a job ad for a dinner lady - nothing of interest to me at all.
I get the impression he likes the glamour and PR of the title of owner / president, but isn't willing and/or capable of living up to what's required to fulfil the role. At the level of investment he's currently looking at, he'd be better off ordering a copy of Football Manager from Amazon.
If things don't rapidly improve with communication (i.e. what's the plan for the tarting up of the mem?! Contrary to some people's belief, we are stakeholders in the club and it IS our business to know) and player investment, I really fear for us next season.
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