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Post by returnofthedust on Nov 11, 2024 17:11:02 GMT
Ask Darrell Clarke what he thinks. Spoiler-he thinks that if it has been Wael’s decision it would have got built. Hani had no interest in building it, by the time Wael had full control it was too late. DC said exactly this to me as well. We had him in our box for the Barnsley game last season. "It's a shame Wael didn't have full control from the start because if he did, I fully believe it would have happened". He told a group of us this on a train back from Blackpool away when he was still the manager and clearly stressed about it all. His view then was that if it was Wael’s decision then he’d have signed the deal. |
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Post by Topper Gas on Nov 11, 2024 17:25:54 GMT
So why did your uncle + others fail to get this over the line then ? Do we need to do the Sainsbury's thread again? The main reason Higgs and Co sold out to the ALQs was we lost the Sainsbury's case and those 4 men alone couldn't unlock the funding themselves and Hani said he could and promised to build it. Hani then pulled the plug stating a bad deal. Then wanted to renegotiate all the terms which UWE, together with Ed did, in fact Ed paid for all the of the redrawings himself. Hani again pulled the plug. When Wael took over Ed was asked again to look at the UWE site as an option. After the 3rd attempt UWE didn't want to do business with us and to be honest, who can blame them. Why wouldn't the UWE want to do business with us when the land still remains undeveloped, I sense you've been convinced by Wael is side of the story is the only to accept. |
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Post by yattongas on Nov 11, 2024 17:29:02 GMT
Does any of the UWE stuff matter ?
I’m more interested in what plans lay ahead not failed plans from the past.
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Post by gashead1981 on Nov 11, 2024 17:54:39 GMT
Do we need to do the Sainsbury's thread again? The main reason Higgs and Co sold out to the ALQs was we lost the Sainsbury's case and those 4 men alone couldn't unlock the funding themselves and Hani said he could and promised to build it. Hani then pulled the plug stating a bad deal. Then wanted to renegotiate all the terms which UWE, together with Ed did, in fact Ed paid for all the of the redrawings himself. Hani again pulled the plug. When Wael took over Ed was asked again to look at the UWE site as an option. After the 3rd attempt UWE didn't want to do business with us and to be honest, who can blame them. Why wouldn't the UWE want to do business with us when the land still remains undeveloped, I sense you've been convinced by Wael is side of the story is the only to accept. What part of my last 3 posts hasn't worked its way through to your grey matter yet? This isn't Wael's side or anyone's side you nugget. A few years ago, some may remember the evening with Ian Holloway that Ian Holtby arranged. That evening on our table I had one of the UWE board, invited by Ed. When talking about what was going on at the time he said "if we never have to deal with an Al Qadi again it'll be too soon" |
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Post by madridgas on Nov 11, 2024 18:07:10 GMT
If anyone is really interested in football business, then there are 2 great interviews on the Business of Sport Podcast from the CEOs of Cambridge United and Lincoln City. I recommend that you watch them via Youtube to appreciate that football at this level is not sustainable (and staying competitive is the key via wages) without an approx annual £3 million loss. You will learn more from Liam Scully (Lincoln City CEO) about the challenges of League One football finance, than a lifetime on here. DYOR. Many thanks for the recommendations. Just watched both Podcasts which brought different angles but both shared the fact that they are custodians of their clubs. For those that like headlines, Lincoln have 4 or 5 players that they see as assets and expect to sell on, they also talk openly with players about this when players join their club. Cambridge have a similar crowd base to ours, lose a similar amount but their focus on food / drink, shirts as revenue is good and they are just about to spend £20m revamping their stadium and will gain 3k in capacity up to 11.5k. They expect to be more comfortable then. Interview was just after they had won three on the bounce to move up to 10 points Strongly recommended |
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Post by justin blue on Nov 11, 2024 18:07:35 GMT
How good or bad our present owners turn out remains to be seen. However at the end of the day it was Weal who brought them here.
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Post by gashead1981 on Nov 11, 2024 18:08:20 GMT
Does any of the UWE stuff matter ? I’m more interested in what plans lay ahead not failed plans from the past. Not really. And herein proves my point. Some would rather apathetically argue about the Twerton days and missed stadium builds than prick their ears up to any current cluster by the current owners and willingly accept that as they are paying the bills that's ok, which is how we have ended up in this mess now. Successive ownership's promising much, delivering little, a stadium that's out of date and falling down losing millions per year. So far the current ownership have offered south glos council half of our training ground to raise finance to build the stadium which if successful means there will probably be a £30m liability against us to complete all parts of the build. I'm pretty confident the owners don't have the money to build anything straight away at the Mem because if that was really their goal, at the very least we would have some sort of vision released of the update as well as pre planning submitted. We also have a proper investor seemingly knocking on our door, and if the rumour is true, the AS have knocked them back. Why? Not only that, we have the appalling performance by Abdul at the fans forum evening where he gave some wild comparisons to us to Man C and Man U. 13 pitches on the 1/4s site (really of you're selling half of it for development..??!!) and was non committal about the structure of the club. Then fell apart under questioning by me on some basic financials. We've got players putting on SM they've been cast out of training with the first team (Hunt) by Abdul because he was in a twist that he got injured and couldn't be moved on in the summer window. Oh and he offered the managers job to 3 different people after sacking Barton. Everything is pointing south and it looks like they are out of their depth so why on earth won't they listen to a group of footballers with a chunk of change. Sounds like they need all the help they can get. |
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Post by yattongas on Nov 11, 2024 18:15:36 GMT
Does any of the UWE stuff matter ? I’m more interested in what plans lay ahead not failed plans from the past. Not really. And herein proves my point. Some would rather apathetically argue about the Twerton days and missed stadium builds than prick their ears up to any current cluster by the current owners and willingly accept that as they are paying the bills that's ok, which is how we have ended up in this mess now. Successive ownership's promising much, delivering little, a stadium that's out of date and falling down losing millions per year. So far the current ownership have offered south glos council half of our training ground to raise finance to build the stadium which if successful means there will probably be a £30m liability against us to complete all parts of the build. I'm pretty confident the owners don't have the money to build anything straight away at the Mem because if that was really their goal, at the very least we would have some sort of vision released of the update as well as pre planning submitted. We also have a proper investor seemingly knocking on our door, and if the rumour is true, the AS have knocked them back. Why? Not only that, we have the appalling performance by Abdul at the fans forum evening where he gave some wild comparisons to us to Man C and Man U. 13 pitches on the 1/4s site (really of you're selling half of it for development..??!!) and was non committal about the structure of the club. Then fell apart under questioning by me on some basic financials. We've got players putting on SM they've been cast out of training with the first team (Hunt) by Abdul because he was in a twist that he got injured and couldn't be moved on in the summer window. Oh and he offered the managers job to 3 different people after sacking Barton. Everything is pointing south and it looks like they are out of their depth so why on earth won't they listen to a group of footballers with a chunk of change. Sounds like they need all the help they can get. Are they really out of their depth anymore than new owners coming into any football club ? I’d hazard a guess most owners didn’t have past football experience. They must be pretty savvy to have enough wealth to buy the club in the first place , which is more than anyone on this forum could I’d bet ! I was at the fans meeting and I didn’t hear him fall apart like you claim. His Man City comparisons were a bit weird I’ll give you that ! |
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Post by Topper Gas on Nov 11, 2024 18:46:56 GMT
If anyone is really interested in football business, then there are 2 great interviews on the Business of Sport Podcast from the CEOs of Cambridge United and Lincoln City. I recommend that you watch them via Youtube to appreciate that football at this level is not sustainable (and staying competitive is the key via wages) without an approx annual £3 million loss. You will learn more from Liam Scully (Lincoln City CEO) about the challenges of League One football finance, than a lifetime on here. DYOR. Many thanks for the recommendations. Just watched both Podcasts which brought different angles but both shared the fact that they are custodians of their clubs. For those that like headlines, Lincoln have 4 or 5 players that they see as assets and expect to sell on, they also talk openly with players about this when players join their club. Cambridge have a similar crowd base to ours, lose a similar amount but their focus on food / drink, shirts as revenue is good and they are just about to spend £20m revamping their stadium and will gain 3k in capacity up to 11.5k. They expect to be more comfortable then. Interview was just after they had won three on the bounce to move up to 10 points Strongly recommended How can Cambridge have a similar crowd base to Rovers, if Cambridge ever got to Wembley they'd be lucky to take 20,000 fans? |
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Post by Topper Gas on Nov 11, 2024 18:52:27 GMT
Does any of the UWE stuff matter ? I’m more interested in what plans lay ahead not failed plans from the past. Not really. And herein proves my point. Some would rather apathetically argue about the Twerton days and missed stadium builds than prick their ears up to any current cluster by the current owners and willingly accept that as they are paying the bills that's ok, which is how we have ended up in this mess now. Successive ownership's promising much, delivering little, a stadium that's out of date and falling down losing millions per year. So far the current ownership have offered south glos council half of our training ground to raise finance to build the stadium which if successful means there will probably be a £30m liability against us to complete all parts of the build. I'm pretty confident the owners don't have the money to build anything straight away at the Mem because if that was really their goal, at the very least we would have some sort of vision released of the update as well as pre planning submitted. We also have a proper investor seemingly knocking on our door, and if the rumour is true, the AS have knocked them back. Why? Not only that, we have the appalling performance by Abdul at the fans forum evening where he gave some wild comparisons to us to Man C and Man U. 13 pitches on the 1/4s site (really of you're selling half of it for development..??!!) and was non committal about the structure of the club. Then fell apart under questioning by me on some basic financials. We've got players putting on SM they've been cast out of training with the first team (Hunt) by Abdul because he was in a twist that he got injured and couldn't be moved on in the summer window. Oh and he offered the managers job to 3 different people after sacking Barton. Everything is pointing south and it looks like they are out of their depth so why on earth won't they listen to a group of footballers with a chunk of change. Sounds like they need all the help they can get. So where's the evidence the Dutch trio are really interested in investing in Rovers, if they are what have they been doing since the Wycombe takeover collapsed 4 years ago? There's been plenty of takeover in L1 & L2 since that time but not once have they been rumoured to be involved. This all sounds like the usual Rovers takeover nonsense with zero proof anybody really wants to invest in the club. |
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Post by Topper Gas on Nov 11, 2024 18:56:49 GMT
Not really. And herein proves my point. Some would rather apathetically argue about the Twerton days and missed stadium builds than prick their ears up to any current cluster by the current owners and willingly accept that as they are paying the bills that's ok, which is how we have ended up in this mess now. Successive ownership's promising much, delivering little, a stadium that's out of date and falling down losing millions per year. So far the current ownership have offered south glos council half of our training ground to raise finance to build the stadium which if successful means there will probably be a £30m liability against us to complete all parts of the build. I'm pretty confident the owners don't have the money to build anything straight away at the Mem because if that was really their goal, at the very least we would have some sort of vision released of the update as well as pre planning submitted. We also have a proper investor seemingly knocking on our door, and if the rumour is true, the AS have knocked them back. Why? Not only that, we have the appalling performance by Abdul at the fans forum evening where he gave some wild comparisons to us to Man C and Man U. 13 pitches on the 1/4s site (really of you're selling half of it for development..??!!) and was non committal about the structure of the club. Then fell apart under questioning by me on some basic financials. We've got players putting on SM they've been cast out of training with the first team (Hunt) by Abdul because he was in a twist that he got injured and couldn't be moved on in the summer window. Oh and he offered the managers job to 3 different people after sacking Barton. Everything is pointing south and it looks like they are out of their depth so why on earth won't they listen to a group of footballers with a chunk of change. Sounds like they need all the help they can get. Are they really out of their depth anymore than new owners coming into any football club ? I’d hazard a guess most owners didn’t have past football experience. They must be pretty savvy to have enough wealth to buy the club in the first place , which is more than anyone on this forum could I’d bet ! I was at the fans meeting and I didn’t hear him fall apart like you claim. His Man City comparisons were a bit weird I’ll give you that ! G1981 was the little quiet chap stood at the back with his mates to support him, it's total b0ll0cks to say Abdullatif fell apart under questioning, from memory all he said was his father was in charge of the financial decisions. As far as Hunt how many games has he missed already since he returned from his last injury, he must be the biggest sick note we've had since Dom Blizzard. Last season the same posters were criticising JB for signing Hunt! |
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Post by gashead1981 on Nov 11, 2024 19:00:56 GMT
Not really. And herein proves my point. Some would rather apathetically argue about the Twerton days and missed stadium builds than prick their ears up to any current cluster by the current owners and willingly accept that as they are paying the bills that's ok, which is how we have ended up in this mess now. Successive ownership's promising much, delivering little, a stadium that's out of date and falling down losing millions per year. So far the current ownership have offered south glos council half of our training ground to raise finance to build the stadium which if successful means there will probably be a £30m liability against us to complete all parts of the build. I'm pretty confident the owners don't have the money to build anything straight away at the Mem because if that was really their goal, at the very least we would have some sort of vision released of the update as well as pre planning submitted. We also have a proper investor seemingly knocking on our door, and if the rumour is true, the AS have knocked them back. Why? Not only that, we have the appalling performance by Abdul at the fans forum evening where he gave some wild comparisons to us to Man C and Man U. 13 pitches on the 1/4s site (really of you're selling half of it for development..??!!) and was non committal about the structure of the club. Then fell apart under questioning by me on some basic financials. We've got players putting on SM they've been cast out of training with the first team (Hunt) by Abdul because he was in a twist that he got injured and couldn't be moved on in the summer window. Oh and he offered the managers job to 3 different people after sacking Barton. Everything is pointing south and it looks like they are out of their depth so why on earth won't they listen to a group of footballers with a chunk of change. Sounds like they need all the help they can get. So where's the evidence the Dutch trio are really interested in investing in Rovers, if they are what have they been doing since the Wycombe takeover collapsed 4 years ago? There's been plenty of takeover in L1 & L2 since that time but not once have they been rumoured to be involved. This all sounds like the usual Rovers takeover nonsense with zero proof anybody really wants to invest in the club. You'd be hard pressed to get any physical evidence beyond someone's say so. However we have a SC with 2 elected members on the board. How about they go about finding out and start acting in our interests? I mean, it's a pretty wild rumour to start from nowhere without there being some truth in it. |
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Post by gashead1981 on Nov 11, 2024 19:04:39 GMT
Are they really out of their depth anymore than new owners coming into any football club ? I’d hazard a guess most owners didn’t have past football experience. They must be pretty savvy to have enough wealth to buy the club in the first place , which is more than anyone on this forum could I’d bet ! I was at the fans meeting and I didn’t hear him fall apart like you claim. His Man City comparisons were a bit weird I’ll give you that ! G1981 was the little quiet chap stood at the back with his mates to support him, it's total b0ll0cks to say Abdullatif fell apart under questioning, from memory all he said was his father was in charge of the financial decisions. As far as Hunt how many games has he missed already since he returned from his last injury, he must be the biggest sick note we've had since Dom Blizzard. Last season the same posters were criticising JB for signing Hunt! Just goes to show how much you mis-remember. I arrived on my own and stood next to one person I knew and have known for years who just so happened to be as late as I was and it was standing room only in the corner. I held the mic for around 5 mins and he never mentioned once his father's finances. Afterwards I had a chat with Vaughan who is on here who came and introduced himself and John Malickyj as well as saying a quick hello to Mancgas who sits adjacent to me in box 7. |
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Post by bridgygas on Nov 11, 2024 19:12:53 GMT
So where's the evidence the Dutch trio are really interested in investing in Rovers, if they are what have they been doing since the Wycombe takeover collapsed 4 years ago? There's been plenty of takeover in L1 & L2 since that time but not once have they been rumoured to be involved. This all sounds like the usual Rovers takeover nonsense with zero proof anybody really wants to invest in the club. You'd be hard pressed to get any physical evidence beyond someone's say so. However we have a SC with 2 elected members on the board. How about they go about finding out and start acting in our interests? I mean, it's a pretty wild rumour to start from nowhere without there being some truth in it. |
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Post by Topper Gas on Nov 11, 2024 19:18:06 GMT
I think there's still only 1 at the moment, I assume the second one still needs approving by the Board? The one already elected seems as useful as a chocolate teapot.
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Post by bridgygas on Nov 11, 2024 19:19:46 GMT
Not sure we even have board meetings anymore as the Kuwait's will make the final decision anyway. Also someone said about new owners not knowing about football elsewhere which I agree with but you should surely get people in that know what they are doing and not employ yes men to go along with what they want anyway. No one is putting up any opposition to them and they will bleed us dry and leave us with a undeveloped ground and housing on the best training facility we have ever had. And also cash in with university housing on our car park.
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Post by Topper Gas on Nov 11, 2024 19:25:47 GMT
As the thread seems to be becoming an anti ALS one, I was thought I'd list the positives since they took over:
1) Decided JB and his mob needed moving on.
2) Appointed a decent person to replace JB, whether he goes on to be a decent manager only time will tell.
3) Fully backed MT across two transfer windows, signing some exciting young players.
4) Sorted out the planning saga for the new stands and got them both completed.
5) Got pp for the large TV without any issues (why it's not been installed is anybody's guess)
6) Held a Q&A with fans, something Wael showed no interest in doing.
7) Announced the FM was not going to happen but a Mem redevelopment was being considered, held a session with the local residents.
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Post by Topper Gas on Nov 11, 2024 19:29:41 GMT
Not sure we even have board meetings anymore as the Kuwait's will make the final decision anyway. Also someone said about new owners not knowing about football elsewhere which I agree with but you should surely get people in that know what they are doing and not employ yes men to go along with what they want anyway. No one is putting up any opposition to them and they will bleed us dry and leave us with a undeveloped ground and housing on the best training facility we have ever had. And also cash in with university housing on our car park. Surely they wouldn't be spending £1m+ on new players whilst making a number of senior appointments if they just wanted to bleed us dry? That's just more anti ALS nonsense with zero evidence they are taking money out of the club. The housing development at The Quarters was Wael's original idea, so was he also trying to bleed us dry? |
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Post by glosandgas on Nov 11, 2024 19:31:32 GMT
As the thread seems to be becoming an anti ALS one, I was thought I'd list the positives since they took over: 1) Decided JB and his mob needed moving on. 2) Appointed a decent person to replace JB, whether he goes on to be a decent manager only time will tell. 3) Fully backed MT across two transfer windows, signing some exciting young players. 4) Sorted out the planning saga for the new stands and got them both completed. 5) Got pp for the large TV without any issues (why it's not been installed is anybody's guess) 6) Held a Q&A with fans, something Wael showed no interest in doing. 7) Announced the FM was not going to happen but a Mem redevelopment was being considered, held a session with the local residents. |
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Post by glosandgas on Nov 11, 2024 19:32:05 GMT
Think first two points are very subjective.
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