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Post by mftc on Jul 27, 2022 6:44:07 GMT
I don't think there are many "free" signings these days.
Agents fees, signing on fee, re-location bonus, accomodation costs etc they all mount up. Wouldn't surprise me if Marquis "free" transfer cost us around £50k. Still better than paying an additional £100,000 up front as well.
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Post by mftc on Jul 23, 2022 21:16:55 GMT
It certainly sounds as the focus was on sales, and not much else - a shame for those who took their kids along, expecting a bit more. Were the players available for authographs afterwards? Yes tilly about 8 of the players stayed behind and went up the along the whole terrace to sign the kids autographs which made their day 🙌. To be honest youv hit the nail on the head their. It felt exactly like the day was done as cheap as possible to make the club the most money. Don’t fall out with the club needing to make money but come on 1 pathetic activity in the whole footprint of the ground for a advertised fun day really? How much would it have cost to have a few stalls bouncy castles and a bit of music? We need to attract as many of the kids that we’re coming last season as possible. I brought a mate and his boy along and had to apologise as I said I thought there would be a lot more for his boy to do. In previous Fun Days there were lots of fairground rides and stalls, tour of the stadium, shirt sales, fashion shows featuring the players in new training gear, supporters groups renewals, YP events, tombola, the police and army turned up, Southmead hospital fundraising stalls, players selling in the shop, face painting, Cadbury's merch, pasty tasting, forum with manager or chairman, kids pirate fancy dress, penalty shoot out v youth team keeper, chance to view from the directors box, etc etc. Not expensive but good community events helped run by the SC. How can the club describe standing in a queue as a good thing other than for sales! Sounds far too money orientated. Might as well call it a Shirt Sell Day, rather than open day or Fun Day.
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Post by mftc on Jul 23, 2022 7:45:04 GMT
Sad to hear, he will be missed.
I went to support the club at many of the social events held around the start of the Sharescheme period.
Despite being not so good on the pitch, there was a great unity between the Board, players, staff, SC and the fans.
I feel it would be great if a new generation of Steve's, Rick's John M's, etc helped build the feel good factor we have now to create an even better rapport. Hopefully this will be the case with the new SC.
It would be great to have the chance to meet the players in an unofficial setting at an unticketed social event at the Mem. (although having a darts match may not be allowed by H&S or SAG. Rovers hooligans armed with darts - better reduce the capacity again!
Well done Steve et al for helping create a few laughs and memories and importantly helping fundraise so we survived to allow us to have memories like the 7-0.
RIP
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Post by mftc on Jul 21, 2022 16:54:17 GMT
Not quite. David Bright was doing the same job at Glamorgan CC where he had turned around their commercial sales. Mr and Mrs G eldest plays for their female team and in a chance conversation one day, Mrs G mentioned to David that we were looking for someone so he should apply. It will be interesting to see how our sales fare when the club hits a bad patch, it's always easier to sell when success is in the air. He certainly hasn't covered himself in glory with some of his rather brusque replies to supporters regarding the season ticket fiasco, thank goodness that Clare and Pete don't take their lead from him. I certainly don't feel we have maximised the promotion feel good factor. I am sure we could have made tens of thousands with an end of season celebration and to announce a limited attendance open day just a few weeks before the event is not great. I know a DVD and promotion book is a bit of a risk as it may not make a great profit but judging by the response on here, people were willing to pay over the odds to guarantee to cover the costs. Plus Mr B could have always reduced the cost with some form of advertising/sponsorship. Let's hope he has some good contacts and brings in some good deals to the club. At least he cannot be worse than Ralph Ellis!
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Post by mftc on Jul 19, 2022 12:55:08 GMT
At least it is good that the club and media are making people aware.
The proof is in the pudding as they say.
Hopefully we get a decent crowd as the first game back after the 7 up game and the programme and 50/50 volunteers have had ample training to provide their usual excellent service.
If we get a 2 thousand gate, I would expect it to be mostly regular fans so the 50/50 should be around £400. I've made sure there is enough on my card to pay for two.
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Post by mftc on Jul 18, 2022 22:29:04 GMT
How dare the club to announce on twitter that all purchases at tomorrow nights game are to be paid for by cashless means only. Maybe it's a good job I sent the club a reminder to remind fans. However as not everyone goes on Twitter or here, I honestly believe the club will not sale as many programmes or 50/50s at least for the Stoke and FGR games as they could have done if, people had choice, or if the club advertised the fact more beforehand. Still I have told the non forum and twitter mates I have seen, including completely strangers, who I met just chatting to in Weatherspoons (who had no idea it was cashless) so with word of mouth, hopefully a few more now know.
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Post by mftc on Jul 18, 2022 7:12:27 GMT
I think the main problem tomorrow and v FGR is that a lot of people don't know it is cashless.
Programmes and 50/50 were cash only last season and now it is a total turnaround.
Surely they have to put a reminder (although lots of people did not know about the plans anyway) on the official website today and before the FGR match?
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Post by mftc on Jul 17, 2022 18:38:39 GMT
Not many leagues are currently in action but Rory Gaffney is the 9th top scorer overall in the Irish Premier league for top of the table Shamrock Rovers.
In Scotland, they have started the league cup and Ayunga got a brace for St Mirren yesterday.
Victor Adeboyejo moved from Barnsley to Burton. I think he was a regular in the squad the season before last when they surprised a lot of people and almost got in the Championship play offs.
Surprisingly former youth keeper Matt Macey's move for a fee from Hibs to Luton seemingly went under the radar on here. I know he left Arsenal on a free, but I believe they had a sell on clause, so depending on the deal we made, and if he makes a big money move to someone else, could there be a chance of a some sell on monies for us?
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Post by mftc on Jul 16, 2022 13:49:40 GMT
I know the plan was to make the Mem cashless but have the club recently confirmed this is the case? I know it was mentioned in the programme towards the end of last season, but other than this thread, I haven't seen anymore about it and can't remember hearing anything from the FC. I bet a lot of people (not forum/Twitter users etc) will be caught out on Tuesday and if the club don't officially confirm anything by FGR, it will be absolutely chaos. Imagine someone not in the know suffering from dehydration, queuing up for a cold drink on Tuesday and then being told they can't be served! It could lead to health implications. I assume fans can have access to free water somewhere? I wouldn't fancy playing cricket in the 7pm temperature on Tuesday, let alone football. For players safety, I would assume that there will be regular drinks breaks during the match? If I was standing behind that person in the queue, I would offer to pay with my card and let them give me the money, I'm sure lots of other Gasheads would do the same. I have seen various reminders about going cashless, in the days before the internet, the local paper or Radio Bristol was the only source of information in the close season, and we seemed to manage ok. I think we have digressed. I personally have not seen any mention of the Mem going cashless other than here. Out of interest, where have you seen the club mention this Tilly? and is this medium available to fairweather, newbie, or away fans who would not necessarily go out of their way to look for this information? I don't go on line everyday so may have missed it being advertised. On Tuesday, I am sure there are lots of supporters who would swap cash for paying by card to help a fellow fan, but would a jobsworth agency staff person behind the counter be so helpful? The issue is that lots of fans don't know anything about it. Last seasons programmes and 50/50 tickets were cash only and the pasty huts and bars had cash sales. If they are totally going to change the policy,surely it would have been very simple for the club website to officially advertise this a few weeks ago, together with a reminder a few days before the Stoke and FGR games? Tuesdays weather is exceptional, that's why I mentioned free drinking water. I would not expect it to be the norm. I would hope the club would have the fans safety in mind.
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Post by mftc on Jul 16, 2022 8:11:19 GMT
I know the plan was to make the Mem cashless but have the club recently confirmed this is the case?
I know it was mentioned in the programme towards the end of last season, but other than this thread, I haven't seen anymore about it and can't remember hearing anything from the FC.
I bet a lot of people (not forum/Twitter users etc) will be caught out on Tuesday and if the club don't officially confirm anything by FGR, it will be absolutely chaos.
Imagine someone not in the know suffering from dehydration, queuing up for a cold drink on Tuesday and then being told they can't be served! It could lead to health implications. I assume fans can have access to free water somewhere?
I wouldn't fancy playing cricket in the 7pm temperature on Tuesday, let alone football. For players safety, I would assume that there will be regular drinks breaks during the match?
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Post by mftc on Jul 12, 2022 19:26:42 GMT
Wasn’t it 4-0? (Might be my memory fading after 30+ years). Definitely 4-0 Yeah Boris was recalled from loan at Trowbridge due to an injury crises. Played well on right midfield and scored. The rest is history.
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Post by mftc on Jul 12, 2022 19:23:43 GMT
Somewhere on here I read that someone did not know anything about Helpline.
I believe it started in 1985 as a fans initiative, based on Bolton's scheme, as the club were losing money every week and this was a way to boost income. The losses then (a few grand a week) were nothing like the losses the club make now. Thank God for Wael.
I believe Martyn Radenadge has been organizing it ever since. (A well deserved and belated supporter of the year?) And I think it is still only £2 a week?.
My mate joined because Steve White and Mike England came round his house asking him to join. They did this in their own time and expense, just to help keep the club afloat.
In years gone by the annual party was a sell out and the players were amongst the last to leave and were Helpline members themselves.
I am pretty sure that Helpline has raised over a million quid for the club and the prizewinners. In the days before Wael this was literally a club saver, similarly to the 50/50 and the sharescheme.
I am sure someone better qualified than myself can provide more information, but hopefully this raises the profile a bit.
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Post by mftc on Jul 12, 2022 12:32:56 GMT
Is there a particular reason why the club did not organise an end of season party and now have not seemingly organised a pre season fun day?
It seems like a potential for a massive pay day has been allowed to slip through our fingers.
And it would have been fantastic for everyday fans to create memories and build a great rapport with the players
No promotion party, no DVD, no shirt, no fun day, no promotion book (other than the kids comic). I am sure other clubs would have done something other than prints and mugs by now.
With the cost of living rises, if we are around 15th in the table by October, we may have really missed out on the best feel good factor at the club for years.
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Post by mftc on Jul 12, 2022 12:20:22 GMT
Hendricks and Bowie signed for Northampton and Reading. Would be good for a 70s festival.
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Post by mftc on Jul 8, 2022 17:40:14 GMT
Although he does have the advantage of being the manager at a time where sport has advanced in the fitness, medical and nutritional aspect of the game Our previous managers in the last few years had the same advantage, yet their teams were nowhere near as fit as the players we watched last season. It’s only an advantage if you have the knowledge to harness it, and make it work for you. Difficult to compare - it's like saying any song now should be better than the Beatles or the Stones as they have the most up to date technology. No doubt apart from Ollie signing Hayles, Foster, Penrice, Ellington etc, no manager has had the financial backing that Joey has. Getting coaches to leave Burnley etc, getting the facilities at the Quarters, paying off 7-8 of Garners signings etc does not come cheap. I am sure JB would not like training at the Beeches, Golden Hill or treking all the way to Colerne.
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Post by mftc on Jul 8, 2022 16:24:08 GMT
Probably a question for Mike Jay but how many full internationals have played in this competition at the Mem?
Not including Lambert, Jakkola, Bodin, Lockyer, Hayles, Roberts etc for Rovers, how many for the u-21 teams - Rice, Gilmour, the Chelsea kid who played for Southampton on loan last season Bora? or similar, etc
I would guess it is over 20 in total.
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Post by mftc on Jul 8, 2022 7:33:54 GMT
Reading have sent a letter to all championship clubs saying that they will only charge away fans £20 for a ticket if opposing clubs reciprocate. A number of clubs have agreed to this. Would you consider charging away fans less to get into the Memorial Stadium if it meant travelling Rovers fans could also enjoy reduced prices? Like this question, but unfortunately finished the interview a couple of hours ago! Cheers for the Qs all 👍🏻 Will the answers be shown here idc, or is it just going to be on the podcast? Maybe his programme articles could feature a similar Q&A? I think it is a waste of his precious time, when individuals contact him, when the club already know the answers - last season ticket master fiasco was an example. Rather than rumours and scaremongering on here, the club could have released a statement weeks before, rather than have him respond in piecemeal fashion to several individual messages and wait for someone to put it on the forum. No doubt the club knew weeks ago the dates of the open day, shirt release date etc. That would help parents budget so they know that on X July they will have to spend £60-70 quid. Kids want the shirts straight away. If you have now budgeted until payday so cant afford it, the few days after it is announced - but have just taken the family for a meal a week before, so could have afforded at that time, it causes strain on family life. Even with joint incomes of over £35k, fans will have to start picking and choosing between buying Rovers stuff or other treats, so advance notice would be helpful.
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Post by mftc on Jul 7, 2022 14:57:00 GMT
Is Westbrooke our highest earner? I remember reading Frostys assumption he was on £3k a week under Garner and was "amongst" the top earners. Remember this was when Garner had a much, much smaller budget than we have now.
I would suspect a fair few of Joeys signings are on a lot more. I would guess £5k a week to be the top earners now.
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Post by mftc on Jul 7, 2022 14:50:13 GMT
Can he reinstate Keith brookman as programme editor because the last few seasons issues have been embarrassing. Don't think it is the new blokes fault as he only become Editor around Feb/March, at which point it did improve. However, KBs programmes were regularly in the top 15 in the country and nearly always first or at least in top 3 in our division. Far to many adverts and space fillers. I am sure someone on here could write some decent interesting articles in return for a free programme.
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Post by mftc on Jul 7, 2022 10:00:16 GMT
Will the England World Cup matches be shown at the Mem?
With the cost of living increases only going to get worse in the winter, what actions are the club taking regarding a possible massive drop in income as people have less disposable income to spend at the stadium?
Due to the smaller capacity meaning fans cannot attend league games, will the club actively promote any home cup games, especially The EFL Trophy?
Does he regret not holding some promotion celebration evening at the Mem for ordinary fans, that would have potentially earned the club tens of thousands in merchandise and food and bar takings?
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