Kid in the Riot

How the hell is Mayweather as long as 3/1 on with some bookies? Free money.

Embarrassed that so many so called boxing fans give two shits about this 'fight' I enjoy the discussion on here of proper boxing bouts

Precedent most certainly does come into planning, particularly when we're talking about exactly the same site and type of development. That said, the proposed development would not be exactly the same as previous. For starters the previous scheme for an 18,000 capacity rebuild included a lot of student accommodation for UWE which is no longer required. A new scheme would be assessed against the latest planning policy which has changed a lot since 2005 or whenever it was they last got permission. However, it hasn't changed substantially enough for the principle of redeveloping the Mem into a decent sized stadium to not be acceptable. I'm sure they could achieve an 18,000 capacity stadium on that site again. Inconvenient question again is: where's the funding coming from and what will the revenue stream be like? Will it be good enough to make the upfront funding worthwhile. Have my severe doubts.

I think Mr Dunford is spot on there.

Incredible presser from Hamar - it came across very clearly that he has absolutely no idea what is going on and that they have no plan B. 18 months of negotiation. They knew they'd have to break the news to fans this week and they have no plan B. Extraordinary.

They seem to slowly be cottoning on over on AssChat: Always one 'tard though:

The land alone will cost £10's millions! They were being gifted the land at UWE in exchange for naming rights and still couldn't make that happen!

Make no mistake, this was the best opportunity of them securing a new stadium in a generation, and it's gone. Aside from there literally being no available sites within Bristol anymore, if Wael didn't even have the funds to realise UWE then there's absolutely no way he has enough to start a project from scratch. Piecemeal redevelopment of the Mem seems most likely now.

Only in regard to the mystery of why the Jordanians can't afford the few million quid and bridge (loan) money to make UWE happen. Seeing as though they founded an investment bank you'd have thought it'd have been easy enough. Don't know anything about creditors not being paid though.

HAPPY DAYS

All it comes down to is finding the money for the project. If only they had an owner who was part of a family that founded a massive Investment Bank and may have an idea of how to access the funds required to realise the project. Ah well!

The position is very clear at the moment RRH - no deal has been struck with UWE due to their being a shortfall in the funding at the Rovers end. The business plan doesn't add up. Therefore the job hasn't gone out to tender/construction company are not in place. Therefore, with all the aforementioned time constraints, it would appear rather unlikely that Rovers will be able to 'implement' the extant UWE planning permission.

All true. And I said as much in my update a fortnight ago. Wael will have to come clean by Sept time as to whether it's a goer or not. My money still on the latter...

No. Planning consent expires in January 2018. It was Wael who said it expired in August but he was wrong. Still, I'm sure he's got it all under control.

Absolutely. One theory though could be that he is playing hard ball to get the best deal for BRFC and when it comes to it (ie planning permission expiring) he will eventually cough up. If he doesn't then questions have to be asked about how committed he is to any sort of spending at Rovers. If he simply wants to balance the books then you might as well have any old person in charge

I'm not surprised VK doesn't want the rematch. He's had a pretty easy life for the past 10 years as champ and has had a great career. He tasted the power against AJ, and I suspect it really hurt! At his age does he really want or need to go back in with such a dangerous fighter?

He does. I can only assume he was aware of the rumoured 'boardroom interference' at Bristol before he joined and made it a condition of joining that this would cease and he would have the final say on signings/team selection. Otherwise he's in for a rude awakening and things could go south pretty quick.

Had a mildly interesting conversation with someone today who is rather close to the UWE stadium project () Nothing new said really. Funding still the number one problem, particularly the bridging money between sale of the Mem and completion of the UWE stadium, but there is of course now a shortfall due to the value of the Mem falling now Sainsburys won't be buying. It was however opined to me that the shortfall was not actually that significant, possibly £5m or less. All very confusing that a supposedly wealthy family with a banking background can't submit a business plan that stacks up An opinion on whether the UWE stadium would be built was sought and received: "No". Anyway, given the planning consent expires in January we are going to see Wael's hand very shortly.

All true. I would add a couple of things: 1) middle eastern businessmen buy football clubs in this country because having assets in 'the west' is great for their reputation and business. They are essentially buying themselves a nice status symbol meaning Rovers are the very definition of a rich man's plaything - just like lot's of other clubs (us included) so they are not, contrary to what they believe, a special case. 2) they refer to SL/us as tax dodgers. Wael to my knowledge pays no tax in the UK just like SL. They are also now owned by a company based in Guernsey exactly like we are (wonder where they got the idea?) for tax purposes. Basically in terms of ownership their set-up is now exactly the same as ours. Their desire for new training faciltiies/stadium etc is all so that, guess what, they can be just like us.

Ward is at a point in his career where he needs big name fights. Stevenson is the name you've mentioned there but does he really want it? He seems very unreliable. That fight would make the most sense.

Who else does he fight to be fair? Cleaned his division up and there's no one at cruiser worth fighting...

McGregor to end up on his hotpants inside 5.

You mean billions, sir, surely?

It's worth remembering actually that the scheme to redevelop the Mem relied on student accommodation being provided on-site, which is no longer required.