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Post by xplosivgas on Dec 20, 2017 23:01:21 GMT
Yet another kick in the Bollocks for our club tonight. We have invisible owners who have gone from being carried down Glos Road after a few months in charge, to not even communicating through the club's website via text, video... wtf is going on at our club. In hindsight what a bloody cheek taking the praise for DC's hard work. Had we known then what we do now, I'm sure the blokes carrying Wael aloft would've kept going down Gloucester Rd and tossed him over Bristol bridge.
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Post by xplosivgas on Dec 9, 2017 9:52:39 GMT
I find it hard to tell jokes / injokes / rhetorical questions etc on the internet. Genuine question... Is this a genuine question that you want an answer to?innuendo - the meal was sponsored by the best independent computer company in Bristol that offers large discounts to Gasheads...... A company that i just happen to own and work for What’s the name of your company and where in Bristol is it at? it’s just I may need the services you offer! Feel free to DM if if you prefer. would rather go to a gashead than PC world!
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Post by xplosivgas on Dec 6, 2017 18:34:51 GMT
Youve touched on part of the problem,most of us havnt got a clue how big business works and we just dont know what to make of all this stuff. We watch a game and can put our views across about the match whether we played 100 league games,400 western league games,watched rovers for 30 years or just started watching them this season but the strange world of wealthy bankers is from another planet even though its obvious swiss gas has good business insight. I don't think you need to be a financial guru to understand that we can't continue to lose £2m+ pa, with no obvious plan to curtail the losses? January will be crunch time for me as will the ALQ's continue to pour money into the club by backing DC & not selling BB/EH or look to cut some of those losses. I suspect we'll sell a few players, bring a few in. No fees disclosed either way, creating sufficient fog for many to think perhaps there has been some investment...maybe. When in fact we've just tredded water, at best.
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Post by xplosivgas on Dec 5, 2017 19:18:25 GMT
We need to get Wael to agree another radio interview. And last minute substitute 20man for Jeremy Paxman. It feels like so much has been allowed to go unanswered.
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Post by xplosivgas on Dec 5, 2017 13:37:50 GMT
I too disagree about the UWE. Had it got over the line - even if it was not on ideal terms - I feel we'd be in a far better position. That's because if it went tits up financially, we'd be an appealing prospect for prospective new owners - as we'd still have a sparkly new ground with a good fan base. I'm sure someone would have put a bid in to enable the owners to cut their losses and move on. However.,,now we're well and truly stuck at the Mem, I can't see anyone ever wanting to mount a serious take over. Especially several years down the line by which time we'll have suffocating debts. I wonder if Coventry fans said the same when they sold Highfield Rd, or even our owners said when we sold Eastville? Same thing could happen at the UWE as the Ricoh where we could end up bing tenants to Bristol RFC if we did ever fall on hard times, although why would the ALQ's gamble £30/40m of investors money in the hope it would turn out OK in the end? It would've been a totally different set of circumstances, and my personal view is we'd be far better off than we are now. But the opportunity is now long gone, so no point in dwelling on it I suppose.
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Post by xplosivgas on Dec 4, 2017 20:36:21 GMT
I think that Hamer (for once) told the truth last week and DC has also made it clear where we are. I think the SH interview was good because it got a lot of things out in the open and has stopped a lot of the little drip drip stuff we have been subjected to on here. Basically, we are sh**e and broke and there is little in the way of funds to rectify that. Wael is well intentioned but I dont think the rest of the family are interested at all and as such we will do well just to tread water. I still believe pulling out of the UWE deal was right and do not trust any of the previous BoD to be the answer. Agree with this Hugo except the last sentence. I think it is more likely that the ALQs pulled out of the UWE because they didn't want to or couldn't afford to invest the necessary capital. I too disagree about the UWE. Had it got over the line - even if it was not on ideal terms - I feel we'd be in a far better position. That's because if it went tits up financially, we'd be an appealing prospect for prospective new owners - as we'd still have a sparkly new ground with a good fan base. I'm sure someone would have put a bid in to enable the owners to cut their losses and move on. However.,,now we're well and truly stuck at the Mem, I can't see anyone ever wanting to mount a serious take over. Especially several years down the line by which time we'll have suffocating debts.
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Post by xplosivgas on Dec 3, 2017 17:34:00 GMT
Take no notice Knowall. Blueridge is another newbie on here, slagging a poster off on only his fourth ever post. Mods please note! Any thoughts on yesterdays game Blueridge, where do you watch games from? Thankyou bidefordgas, but I do take notice because being one of a small group who worked with the Dunfords family in the 1980s to stop the Club going out of existence and seeing us back in peril just a couple of years ago, I know that it is the people who help and support and not the people who criticise that will ensure that our Club will continue. The Al-Qadi family like the Dunfords have currently ensured that Bristol Rovers continue to exist and everybody who seriously wants the Club to survive into the future should rally around them and give whatever they can to help. Carping is easy (and cowardly) By all accounts they bought the club at a bargain price. It's unlikely they paid more than the Mem land is worth. I expect they thought it was a no lose situation. It's probably too early to know for sure if the owners will end up being saints or sinners. But based on their record to-date, I'm feeling pessimistic about our short and long term future. I can't see Hani and co. being prepared to inject money from their own wallets into the club, and to write off much or any of it. I just hope once they've had enough we're still left with ownership of our own ground.
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Post by xplosivgas on Nov 24, 2017 21:17:30 GMT
As Hamer told us yesterday DS (Hani controlled) do not communicate publically so little chance of public assurances. A white knight is our best hope but I guess Hani would want the £12m loan repaid as part of any deal which would limit interest. White knights are rare and I don't think the club could servive another period of excile. Performance on the field is our best hope because is crowds drop then so will budgets and that well-known vicious circle of decline will bite. Know anyone with £50 million spare? I took those comments about Dwane Sports with a large pinch of salt. Steve was implying they are a huge corporation with a portfolio of international investments when we all know they are a brass plate company which was incorporated by the Al-Qadi family just prior to the Rovers acquisition and is based at a formation agents office in Jersey. There is no need to try to put up this fog of intrigue it only serves to lessen trust. Brass plate? I'd say more tin pot!
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Post by xplosivgas on Nov 24, 2017 8:11:24 GMT
Having pondered overnight, I guess we are no worse-off than we were 18 months ago with the wonga loan coming to maturity and the possibility of administration only months away. I guess the budget is bigger than it would have been under Higgs and DC has a stronger medical team and we have a development squad albeit one run on a shoe-string. We may in 18 months have use of a basic but functional training ground. So I guess we are marginally better off than we were even if promises were not delivered and it's questionable if they ever will, I guess we now know a little more about how the club is run by the owners. We now know the Hani definately controls the purse strings at DS and he calls all the big decisions and Hamer and our FD have to persuade Hani of the need and prudence of every penny of the family's money put into the club by way of an interest baring secured loan. We know the interest is not paid but rolled up into the loan. We know Wael is a football fan but has little say and we know Hani is a banker who is not a football fan and that he is trying to manage the family investment in a way that protects the family's wealth and that one day in the future the loan may be recalled, when and how that might be handled we do not know. We know that the future of the club is in Hani's hands not Wael's and that evolution may result in a club very different to the one we expected and hoped for. Will know know that the Mem. redevelopment is years away and may never happen in the way we had expected or hoped, we know the dream of a top-six budget has gone. We will go forward knowing not to expect any communication from our holding company (DS) and that we will operate on tight budgets and will always operate in an uncertain environment with the owners intentions never being clear or certain and with the ongoing risk of Hani one day in the future seeking to recoup the family's secured loan to the club. We operate in a strange situation of a family, with no real interest in football, investing in a club they bought for Wael but will not allow Wael to fully own or operate. The club goes forward in hope without any business plan and with difficult communication channels with the owners (DS). Can't say it's a good situation and it's certainly an unusual one and not one I like but we are where we are and personally I have little faith that things will improve and it's just that much harder to dream about the future. It's all sounds like Hani is trying to operated as a private equity fund but without any real plan of how the investment will ever come good or be realised. Thanks for setting it all out clearly, as I couldn't bring myself to listen to the interview. It seems to me they are relying heavily on fan loyalty to turn up each week just to avoid monumental losses. Fans are loyal but with no hope of improvement there's only so much they will take before spending their dosh on more enjoyable things. I admit since the UWE news already the 'feel good factor' has left me and motivation to drag myself to the Mem on a Saturday isn't what it was. I feel sorry to say that, but it's true.
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Post by xplosivgas on Nov 24, 2017 6:47:37 GMT
At the end of the interview twentyman asked about championship football and hamer pointed out that championship clubs financial accounts dont make pretty reading. This is totally true but its because the various owners are all chasing the dream and disregarding normal business practise. The club is just a cold run of the mill financial investment for hani and co but because he dosnt get football its a very bad investment for them imo. Twentyman and hamer did their best in the interview but the end result is that we are going nowhere fast at all if at all. Fed up. We were going nowhere fast before they came here, so whats different. Unless a mentalist with no regard for personal fortune wants to buy into us, not much will ever change will it. Perhaps having a well run football club is something we should aspire to have first What's different was the hope and 'billionaire' nonsense after the takeover. It feels like on this occasion we've fallen from a significantly taller height due to the hope and expectations. Being more on the pessimistic/realistic side of the scale, I came to the conclusion the UWE wasn't progressing because they were skint and/or not willing to invest a long time ago (nothing else made sense from walking away from the opportunity of a lifetime for the club). Reading about that interview still hurts and frustrates all the same though.
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Post by xplosivgas on Nov 23, 2017 23:28:29 GMT
I’ll be eternally grateful to DC for the promotion seasons and the joy they brought to myself and my family. He must feel as let down by the owners as most of us fans do, and deserves so much better. If he received an offer from a more ambitious club and left at the end of the season, or before, I couldn’t blame him one bit and would wish him all the best.
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Post by xplosivgas on Nov 23, 2017 23:00:21 GMT
What a depressing read. Only rovers could be taken over by Arab owners that are tighter than a gnats ass and with no interest in football or ambition. They're wasting our time and theirs.
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Post by xplosivgas on Nov 22, 2017 23:01:54 GMT
Any news of note would be announced on the BRFC website. This will be yet more waffle with not a word of substance. As such, I shall not be tuning in!
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Post by xplosivgas on Nov 20, 2017 13:57:59 GMT
The way things have panned out off the field, and the way they are going on it, the likelihood is DC will be shown the door in another month or two if things don't turn around.
If that happened, yes, he'd probably get a decent pay-off, but IMO he will wish he took the move to a big championship team while his stock was at its peak.
This is just my considered opinion. I hope he turns it around because anyone that comes in will be in the same boat.
So what would be the point then? In sacking DC? None, IMO. It wouldn't surprise me if the board did it anyway, though, in an attempt to divert the heat / blame.
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Post by xplosivgas on Nov 20, 2017 13:43:58 GMT
Bet DC is kicking himself for not taking the Leeds job when it was on offer. He must feel royally duped. Why ? Recent interview he said he wanted to stay here long term, do you know something different or just your considered opinion ? The way things have panned out off the field, and the way they are going on it, the likelihood is DC will be shown the door in another month or two if things don't turn around.
If that happened, yes, he'd probably get a decent pay-off, but IMO he will wish he took the move to a big championship team while his stock was at its peak.
This is just my considered opinion. I hope he turns it around because anyone that comes in will be in the same boat.
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Post by xplosivgas on Nov 20, 2017 13:28:18 GMT
Bet DC is kicking himself for not taking the Leeds job when it was on offer. He must feel royally duped.
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Post by xplosivgas on Nov 17, 2017 22:03:59 GMT
I thought the words 'billionaire' and 'Wael' in the same sentence would take some beating, but I think 'Rovers' and 'premiership' just knocked it out the park!
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Post by xplosivgas on Nov 15, 2017 23:21:04 GMT
Keep it here but I would like to see one dedicated thread rather than multiple ones. It would make cross referencing easier too. This is my view too. A dedicated thread called 'Financial & boardroom issues' is all that's needed - with leeway for separate threads only when significant and factual news stories break.
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Post by xplosivgas on Nov 15, 2017 14:15:15 GMT
Possibly. Provided the driver is earning a good living and pays at least the minimum monthly repayment then the credit card company will be happy. They are getting their money at an acceptable rate and if the card starts to get close to the agreed limit then it is likely that the limit will be increased. In addition, other card companies will see that he is a good payer and want to offer him their cards too. Credit card companies don't like defaulters, but neither do they particularly like those who clear their cards each month. They get their money through people paying off some as they can then charge interest. Their ideal person is someone in a steady job who spends and then pays off gradually (but not wholly) while still spending. Turning back to us, if Swiss's interest theory is right, then Dwane will know many who would be interested in investing for a 6% return (as bankers they will have their clients and contacts). The difficulty is in the servicing of the interest and eventual capital repayment which for me us why the UWE fell through, the club/Dwane couldn't get UWE to agree commercial revenue terms (as Bidefordgas suggested in a previous post).That said, I am pretty poor at getting even football scores right so probably am here too. Summed up perfectly Stuart1974 - if the deal offered was any good - investors would have been knocking at the door - everybody is trying to find a good return on investments I've kind of come to terms with no UWE stadium, but what concerns me now is the current financial limbo we appear to be in. The owners don't seem willing (or able, perhaps?) to risk their personal wealth on Rovers. So at some point - probably quite soon - it's going to come to a head. I can't even think up a good outcome to this situation that's remotely realistic.
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Post by xplosivgas on Nov 14, 2017 23:31:37 GMT
That money is ALL on a charge against the mem. We are effectively borrowing from ourselves to fund the club right now Not sure I see it that way, for me it is more like an Uber driver taking out a credit card knowing that if necessary he could sell his car. Your analogy doesn't provide any reassurance; it sounds just as bad to me!
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