Planning for our Tier Ten rebirth

Communication is a big issue with the owners, but I don't believe they will let us go under. I think Wael has just realised that running Bristol Rovers is a lot more difficult than he thought. He has openly said they would be willing to sell to somebody who can take the club forward better than them. To be fair they have brought in a manager who has promised to play better football and backed him in the transfer window, albeit this hasn't been a success so far. Twerton Park has a lot of character and some great memories for many gas heads, but the facilities at The Mem are far better and lots of short term improvements have been made. I'm dissolutioned at the moment, but if Garner's results don't improve, someone else will come in and turn things around to some extent. That's football.

Not sure why the comparison with the other mob keeps coming.  They are miles ahead of us in every respect, and have been for quite some time.  We'll never compete with them, unless their multi billionaire owner decides he's had enough.  

Wael took over in 2016,  when we were in debt.  We've always been in debt.  It's their debt,  they look after it.  We were also in League 2.  Now,  League 1 where players wage demands and signing on fees have increased,  which doesn't help.  And unless something goes seriously wrong,  we'll be in League 1 next Season as well.

It's not a brilliant situation we find ourselves in but lets's not get into the frame of mind where you're saying we're on our way to the Conference.  We're not Dads Army. Yet.

Looking at the worse case scenario is sensible given our history, infrastructure and debt.

Agree with so much of that. But the overhaul is needed for the Championship as well. The level of debt in that league is way off the scale and clubs think they can avoid it by clever schemes that enable them to keep building the debt in the hope they win the golden ticket of promotion to the PL. We talk about Bury but see the level of debt that Derby and Sheffield Wednesday and they are both in the “in-tray” of the EFL to be dealt with. That will be interesting, either dealt with or swept under the carpet.

Regionalisation I’m not too sure. Not completely convinced it’s the travelling costs that are sending clubs into debt more the unsustainable wages for what are only mediocre players. Certainly sending Carlisle to Plymouth on a Tuesday night is stupid but a more common sense approach could overcome the scheduling problems. I see players who can’t pass a ball, wingers that can’t clear the first defender and generally poorly skilled players being paid wages that the incomes of the clubs can’t afford. Crazy, and would never happen in any other business, which we are told football is. But there will be pressure to change as you say and that will be good. The current system is unsustainable yet the clubs will go further into debt before they do anything about it. Bury were the first but I suspect that others will follow, even this summer.

As regards Rovers, I would never complain if they started to make efforts to live within their means even if it meant playing in League 2. But I’m sure I would be in a minority of under 10 people! 😉

UTG!

After watching that car crash of a Q&A, the prospect of a Phoenix club is looking more attractive. Wouldn't mind betting a fan owned BRFC would build a new ground in a shorter timeframe than the current owners either.