I’ve been trying my hardest not to get involved in this thread as I just get wound up by it all.... the playing of a ‘concerned’ gas head card by spouting ‘facts’ which are not facts but assumptions or subjective views that align with a particular agenda view..... but at the risk of being called a rose tinter and happy clapper this is what I believe Wael has done that should be praised...
Pre Wael
- Unsustainable debt (yes it was lower than what was accrued since but the directors openly said they could not afford it)
- No training ground
- High cost loan and external debt - real risk of it being called in
- dated run down bars
- poor commercial capabilities
- limited player investment
- no food for players after training
- small limited back room staff e.g. limited performance analysis, nutritionist, coaching
- Limited and small academy with no reserve team
- Overnight stays pre away matches by exception
- manual ticketing
- poor pitch and pitch drainage
- averaged low to mid table league 2 side
- limited manual advert
- poor communication
Post Wael
- Debt cleared and converted to equity with ongoing costs committed to be covered
- no external debt
- no risk of administration
- modern updated bars
- own our own training ground which is being developed to suit our needs
- one of the best pitches in the lower leagues
- modern digital ticketing
- modern updated shop
- fantastic and much improved commercial capabilities with bigger revenues and deals
- larger improved academy
- reserve team
- food after training
- overnight stays for away games (norm pre COVID)
- higher investment in players
- new stands (tents admittedly)
- improved and increased back room staff
- improved scouting capabilities
- digital advertising
- average mid table league 1 team (this season exception)
- improving communication
These are just things off the top of my head rather than any real research. Wael has made mistakes for sure but to suggest he is taking us backwards or has delivered nothing is disingenuous in my opinion...
Rant over.....
Right lets dissect this shall we, given you’ve clearly put a lot of time and effort into posting.
First off I’m not playing any card, I could say you’re playing the Wael card, it’s a meaningless expression. Am I concerned? Yes. Which is why I post on here, like any other concerned Gashead would.
Again, no agenda just a different opinion. I could accuse you of having a pro Wael agenda, but I won’t as I think trying to diminish opposing opinions by dismissing them as agendas is rather underhanded.
Pre Wael:
1) We have an unsustainable and larger debt than we did Pre Wael. I’ve attracted a fair bit of critics on here for some that say I work in estimations, but it seems a pretty big estimation in my eyes to assume Wael has a much greater financial capacity than Higgs and is able to take on debts larger.
2) Unless you weren’t aware, we had a training ground. The ownership situation has changed, but considering there was lots of talk of taking inspiration from Fleetwood ect, I’m rather disappointed by the end result so far. No agenda, just an observation.
3) The Wonga loan wasn’t as threatening as the debt we’ve accrued now, why? Because it was an amount that Higgs could have footed at a personal expense and if not that the supporters could have easily fundraised. Internal debts of 3 million a year raise the real possibility that if Wael walks away, the rug will be pulled from under us and there will be no way for supporters to raise an extortionate amount of money owed.
4) We made stadium improvements under Higgs. They weren’t run down just different. Everything needs a lick of paint every now and then.
5) True, not trying to dispute that. Higgs certainly has his flaws, I’m not defending him here.
6) I disagree quite frankly, there was as much if not more player investment from Higgs. Remember the budget that Buckle was able to wield? John Ward had a decent budget too and DC was backed even though we were a national league club and haemorrhaging money. Not seen an improvement from Wael in this regard.
7) I don’t know why that’s even a big deal, I’d bet plenty of other clubs don’t offer that either.
8) Sometimes small is better, we got back to back promotions with a smaller back room staff didn’t we? In fact this is one of the criticisms I have of Wael, that he allowed Managers to appoint excessively, which in turn made our budget spiral out of control with very little tangible gain.
9) Another Wael failure. The development side was found to be too expensive, so was then cut back and is now just scholars and first team players trying to get fitness.
10) To the best of my knowledge, the away match routine hasn’t been changed since Wael arrived.
11) Manual ticketing but cash turnstiles which was great. We’ve actually gone backwards in that regard, for ease of accessibility for supporters.
12) We had a rugby team playing on the pitch. The 2015 pitch without the rugby was actually a great improvement and contributing factor to our success. Had Wael also had the rugby playing on the pitch, it would have been a similar story.
13) Until we got back to back promotions that is, something not replicated by Wael. We’ve managed to bumble around mid table and then got relegated, so go figure.
14) Advertising is as limited now as it was then. One electronic billboard in Cabot Circus was just a PR exercise, go into town and you’ll see plenty of City adverts around the place.
15) Communication under Higgs was better than it is now. He had monthly updates, circulated to every supporter via programs or the internet.
I’m not going to go through your post-Wael claims, as they seem to be the flip side of topics I’ve already covered. Laughable that you’ve included the family stand and south west stand as a pro, we had the south west stand under Higgs and the family stand, well that’s just an embarrassment.
Some of the things you’ve come up with are clutching at straws and again don’t really impact on the running of the club. Just a lick of paint here or there, or getting with the times a bit. Things I’m sure would’ve happened under the Dunfords or Higgs, because despite how they’ve been tarnished, they did want to make improvements to the club too.
Not trying to be disingenuous, Am actually just expressing my opinion. Do hate how people throw about words like disingenuous and agenda, then come up with their own set of claims with flaws and irregularities included in them.