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Post by Jomo on Dec 11, 2023 22:28:04 GMT
My thoughts exactly. The new South Stand was advertised as an improvement while we were still at the Mem, hence short constructuon time/sign off etc. Yes it turned out more time consuming than the club planned (naivety on the club's part) but to now consider the new stand to be a permanent "phase 1" of the Mem's official redevelopment plans is just revisionism. Otherwise it was meant to be phase 1 all along, in which case the club would have deliberately mislead the fans. Indeed they even published a teaser video for the Fruit Market in pre-season. I'd like to think that they wouldn't do that, so I do hope the next phases of development are better thought out. I say all this knowing that the new stand is a huge improvement on the old one, but the story has to be straight. Have you looked at the new south stand from the west side of the ground, if so, then it looks clear that the club always intended continuing it round to the east side, otherwise the stand would have always remained open to the elements at that end and the away terracing would have always looked odd being only ever used to 50% capacity. If Hussian decided in two meetings the FM was a non starter then I find it hard to believe that Wael thought it was still a goer, however naive he may be as a business man. That may well be the case, I'm not saying it's not, but that would leave a real sour taste for me considering the FM site teaser put out in pre-season. Was it for the season ticket sales? What's done is done and all that and I accept the Mem redevelopment as the way forward, but if they secretly planned this as phase 1 all along, I'd feel mislead and frankly p'd off at the principle of it.
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Post by Jomo on Dec 11, 2023 18:46:42 GMT
Do you honestly believe Wael would spend £m's building a temporary stand when he has spent a penny previously? The FM must have been dead well before the new stand was signed off, assuming it was ever a goer or just something used to attract potential investors/keep fans demanding stadium new quiet for a few months/years. Yes, I do. I know I may be a bit naive, but I genuinely think that Wael thought that it was worth spending £1.5 million to increase capacity and revenue for a few years because the Fruit Market was years away, if ever. It was, and is, a very temporary structure which can be taken down very quickly. The clear reason he hadn’t spent very much on the Mem was because we wouldn’t be staying there. I know we’re Bristol Rovers, so not usually up with the times, but no one builds a permanent stand with pillars these days……Not even us. My thoughts exactly. The new South Stand was advertised as an improvement while we were still at the Mem, hence short constructuon time/sign off etc. Yes it turned out more time consuming than the club planned (naivety on the club's part) but to now consider the new stand to be a permanent "phase 1" of the Mem's official redevelopment plans is just revisionism. Otherwise it was meant to be phase 1 all along, in which case the club would have deliberately mislead the fans. Indeed they even published a teaser video for the Fruit Market in pre-season. I'd like to think that they wouldn't do that, so I do hope the next phases of development are better thought out. I say all this knowing that the new stand is a huge improvement on the old one, but the story has to be straight.
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Post by Jomo on Dec 11, 2023 6:57:08 GMT
Players signed to play a passing game, manager leaves..... New manager implementing a more direct style, players uncomfortable playing this way, different players required. I've watched Taylors style at both Exeter and Rotherham, very direct, second ball teams. Doesn't mean to say it won't be different here? But the owners must be aware they've signed a manager that isn't going to follow after the project that Barton started? For Taylor to be successful, it's going to cost the owners some serious backing. This is the thing, I don't think the owners do know that. We don't have a vision or identity really, it's basically "hire someone who did well somewhere else and fingers crossed it works out". Hasn't changed since DC left, every new manager had a completely different way of playing.
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Post by Jomo on Nov 29, 2023 19:56:09 GMT
I’m also asking that. Perhaps I don’t know anything about football. Can someone explain why Monk would be a good appointment? His stats on pure numbers are not brilliant and it’s also fairly telling that he hasn’t held onto a job for long anywhere he’s been. Genuinely interested in the case for him. Well he's managed at a higher level than we've been used to for a considerable amount of time. Clubs such as Swansea, Birmingham, Sheff Weds, Boro & Leeds. Ok so he has'nt lasted more than 18 months but not many managers do. Compared to others listed to the position at Rovers he seems to be the better qualified. Agreed this is my opinion you may have another. I'm not sure that having only managed at a higher level means he's a better manager. He didn't have to work his way up as he landed the Swansea job off the back of his playing and coaching days with them. He's inched his way down the ladder ever since.
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Post by Jomo on Nov 26, 2023 10:02:02 GMT
White shorts soooooooo much smarter. I agree. I get those that want more blue in our strip, but the white shorts make the blue quarters on the shirts stand out more somehow.
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Post by Jomo on Nov 17, 2023 10:10:47 GMT
Looking pretty good! Although just wondering about the seats in the corner, these look like they will have pretty obstructed views due to the number of pillars in that area?
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Post by Jomo on Nov 7, 2023 21:52:29 GMT
Thomas has perhaps tired, his final ball has been pants.
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Post by Jomo on Nov 7, 2023 21:22:32 GMT
Superb play from Vale.
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Post by Jomo on Nov 7, 2023 21:13:54 GMT
Second half a lot more open.
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Post by Jomo on Nov 7, 2023 21:11:46 GMT
Jevani should've scored. Decent effort from Collins just after.
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Post by Jomo on Nov 7, 2023 11:23:27 GMT
Personally the Aldershot volley vs Swindon was my pick, what a strike!
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Post by Jomo on Oct 31, 2023 9:12:27 GMT
Why not just wait until we see some architect drawings before writing the development off - god some people love to join a pile on and give the club a kicking. You never know it may look a lot better than everyone thinks and after 10 years at an awful non league ground followed by over 20 years in a crumbling rugby stadium an 18,000 Mem would be more than I dreamed of as a kid. It's not "giving the club a kicking" it's expressing concern that based on the very words uttered on Saturday, the redevelopment (welcome as it is for a stop gap) sounds and already looks from the South Stand, pillars and all, to be a far cry from the modern purpose-built stadium we were all hoping for. Nonetheless, I agree let's wait and see what the remaining plans look like.
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Post by Jomo on Oct 30, 2023 22:59:50 GMT
Totally agree. He doesn’t say they’ll rebuild the East stand but “north and south” of it which makes me think they’ll just add to either end of the existing structure which is likely to make it look shoddy. It just disappointing when you think what the Mem could have been like had the original redevelopment gone ahead back in 2007 Well, the South Stand is being done on the cheap (let's face it, it's not a proper permanent 21st century stand). Knowing now that this is the first of 3 phases of redevelopment, the remainder will be similar. Very underwhelming when comparing to the proper redevelopment plans in 2007 and indeed the UWE and Fruit Market plans. I'm glad we're getting on with making improvements, it's very welcome, but for this to be "instead" of us building a new 21st century stadium, it's a cop out.
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Post by Jomo on Oct 30, 2023 18:37:53 GMT
This is precisely what I imagine when I heard the owner say "North and South East" or words to that effect. I fear we'll get something very similar, possibly even more bizarre and cheap!
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Post by Jomo on Oct 30, 2023 18:30:24 GMT
Calm down. It wont be Holden. They'd be better off seeing what Mangan/Wheelan can do. I really hope we give Mangan and Whelan a few games at least. We could really do with continuity and stability. If they do well, give them the job. I'd rather that than hire someone like Holden who has proven to be a failure in both managerial posts he has held.
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Post by Jomo on Oct 28, 2023 20:57:40 GMT
Who said I'm a hater? It's embarrassing to start a petition to get a manager back for us who was mediocre. Makes us look tinpot. I signed the petition, sacking Joe at this point is huge mistake Do you expect the petition to go in front of parliament, with eventually a reinstatement of Joey as manager?
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Post by Jomo on Oct 28, 2023 13:16:37 GMT
Only worry for me is the revenue opportunities outside of football. Can't see us being allowed to stage concerts etc because of the residents. That's my main concern is that we might be limited on revenue opportunities which we definitely need if we're to be able to progress. This. I'd be very interested to hear what the specific plan is, because it seems like such a limited site for future growth and non-matchday revenue which is essential to long term sustainability. Also, if we're redeveloping along the same lines as the South Stand, which is a big improvement on the tents but still not a proper 21st century permanent stand, I won't be impressed.
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Post by Jomo on Oct 27, 2023 12:25:23 GMT
Been told by someone that Dean Holden is talking to Rovers. Reliable source, unfortunately. Beggars belief we'd go in for him. Dear god no! 2 jobs in and he was sacked for having no idea what he was doing at either of them.
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Post by Jomo on Oct 27, 2023 11:38:30 GMT
Clubs with long term success have a vision and philosophy that runs through the whole system and builds on previous work even with a change of manager. Starting again with random choices (as we did for many years) can give short term success but usually leads to long term decline. Purely based on football I think sacking Barton makes no sense but if we appoint someone likely to build on what he started I can forgive the decision. The next choice will reveal how much vision is coming from the club and ho much change has been driven purely by the motivation of managers (Clarke and Barton) rather than anything greater than that. Completely agree. JB essentially overhauled everything at the club, which ultimately resulted in Starnes and Tommy Widdrington leaving the club. This to me at the time felt like a total abandonment of whatever strategy that was in place then, which I think was essentially "suck it and see" philosophy with each appointment, was thrown out. This struck me as the club openly admitting that they had no idea what they were doing. Now that JB has gone, what strategy do we have now? Time will tell, but I'm not optimistic.
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Post by Jomo on Oct 27, 2023 9:10:00 GMT
As a "centrist" in this debate, I'd just like to say that on the extremes of both sides of the argument, it is just overblown bias, which massively reduces the impact of any points you make. Just like those that blindly defend Barton in everything he did or does, you are an example blinded by bias on the opposite end of the spectrum. There are many Rovers fans that like Barton and appreciate what he did for the club. Why can't you try to respect that? I completely get what you are saying. My comment was a flippant response to a ridiculous comment that was based on nothing but the posters emotional bias towards JB. As a Centrist, are you happy with any manager assembling the best squad (and most expensive wage bill) ever and returning 1.23 pts per game this season? The really interesting thing is, remove the name JB and I think any manager in that situation would be sacked. Remove the name JB and most of the fan base would be unhappy with that return and calling for the owners to do something before its too late. And for what did he do for the club. As a centrist, what do you think he did? To answer your questions, I wouldn't say I'm happy with the points return, but I think there are enough extenuating circumstances and enough credit in the bank, and signs, that we could have turned it around once players returned from injury and we clicked a bit more. I think it's too early to sack him on footballing terms, and hiring someone else is a big gamble. That's regardless of the name JB or not, I'd say the same about any manager and I certainly don't have blind faith in Barton, I just favour stability, the lack of which 3 years ago saw us go from an established L1 club to a basket case in less than 18 months. What do I think he did for the club? He certainly sorted out what was a dire track record of recruitment, and improved playing standards across the board, and did what many others struggle to do in reality and got us straight back up and kept us back in L1 pretty easily. Sadly his in-game tactical knowledge was what was lacking more often than not.
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