Kid in the Riot

Here's what basically happened: - In the last 12 months or so of Higgs' reign at Rovers the club looked at ways they could make UWE happen. These included plans/inquiries in regard to providing residential accommodation at both the UWE site and at the Mem in order to make the scheme viable. Problem is partners were needed for these schemes, so they were far from straightforward and the value of the Mem for residential was considerably less than what Sainsbury's were willing to pay. It is my impression that once these options were exhausted Higgs decision was made to sell up and he was looking for a buyer months before Wael eventually came in. - I do not know how Higgs sold the UWE project to Wael, though I expect a rather more positive spin was put on it than should've been. Remember the appeal to the courts was still being processed at this time. How much Higgs divulged in terms of the fact they had already looked at pretty much all possibilities of making it happen I don't know. But anyway, what is clear is that Wael soon found out there was a rather large hole in the funding of the project and instead of saying "no problem guys, I've got this!" he went on a number of business trips (like going to watch his beloved Chelsea!) to see if he could find OTHER PEOPLE willing to invest in the project and basically pick up the tab left by Sainsbury's deserting the project. Amazingly, there were no takers. Now, I have been out of the loop for sometime so don't know what the absolute latest is but the long and short of it appears to be that unless Wael (or his family or whatever) are willing to dip into their pockets to the tune of £20m-odd then it simply won't be going ahead. I have heard some say that UWE may help contribute to the costs for some kind of benefit - NOT going to happen! UWE already have the naming rights for the lifespan of the stadium AND are gifting Rovers the land! What else could this project possibly offer them? Despite being a charity UWE are a shrewd operator when it comes to making money and they ain't gonna piss money away just to help Rovers out. I suspect Rovers could start the build before next January if they really wanted to but likelihood of it happening is slim to nothing as far as I'm concerned. Have heard NOTHING to suggest it's going ahead. Either way they'll simply have to make an announcement by September I'd say. Will be interesting. If Wael isn't going to fund UWE, you have to wonder what he is willing to fund as a new site is going to cost a lot more than UWE and a redevelopment of the Mem similarly very pricey - must be looking at £20m ish and it's heavily constrained in planning terms. They're looking at 18k capacity max there.

And Sainsburys were going to pay £25 million for it and therein lies the massive problem Rovers now have. Coupled with the fact they were going to get the land off UWE for free it really was a once in a lifetime opportunity for them. Try £150k around that way.

Venus as a boy - Bjork

Adrien Broner in jail again, this time for contempt of court - what A grade a moron he is!

Bound to happen with the heavyweights I suppose. I'd imagine Joshua has put a fair few down whilst sparring!

Even David Price managed that tbf!

Anyone going to the Ireland ODI tomorrow? Just got my ticket...there's a few left

Let's have it right, she announced the fanzine would stop the day Rovers got relegated on 2nd May ! Sounds like a proper hissy fit to me. Funny though. To be fair it was a bad time for Rovers fans with some getting banned from the Mem I believe (John Majkeke sp?) for speaking out against the board! Like you say now AFC Wimbledon and follows the cricket abroad.

Canelo v Chavez Jnr on Saturday on BT Sport 2am. Expecting an easy enough nights work for Canelo. Lucas Mattyhese on the undercard. He's a puncher

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/rugby-union/39778988 Bristol have signed Worcester Warriors flanker Chris Vui, Gloucester pair Mat Protheroe and Dan Thomas, and Sam Bedlow from Sale Sharks.

Vitali in his pomp would've put his foot on the gas too, the more aggressive fighter of the two brothers. Not sure what now for AJ? Tonight's result might force Fury to get his ass in gear. Otherwise Parker, Wilder, er... EDIT just seen Ortiz in mandatory.

What a fight. I agree with @TRL about the muscle weight. AJ was gassing for 3 rounds after the knockdown and barely throwing anything back. He can't afford to do that again, particularly in with a younger fitter opponent with more of a killer instinct. I actually thought his corner could've thrown the towel in at one point. I thought Wlad could have finished him but knew he wouldn't as that's not his style, he prefers a chess match. Wlad was quality tonight though and deserves huge praise. The night was made complete by Eddie Hearn getting booed at the end and finally realising that no one wants to hear from you ya bell end! Great stuff. Could they do it all again?

We're on course for a crowd of 24,000 for a "meaningless" game from our point of view.

Do we know how much young Eddie stands to make from this fight? I see it's £20 to watch on box office which I'll probably pay!

Agree with most of that, nice summary. As I mentioned earlier, battle of the jab will be key. I would perhaps question the bit in bold. Over the years Wlad has had a habit of playing with his opponents and not finishing them off. He has never had the ruthless streak that his brother had. I'm siding with AJ as like you say Wlad has been poor of late and he won't be able to lean on AJ. Important to remember that we still don't really know how good Wlad is given the appalling lack of competition he's had over the years.

I haven't attended. Some nice beers in the Spotted Cow beer garden before the game with mates now heading home. Not supporting what's going on down there at the moment I'm afraid.

What is AJ's footwork like ? Is he going to be able to dance around Wlad like Fury did? Will be fascinating to see whose jab comes out on top.

Difficult to be confident with our abysmal away record. Get out of there with a point and it's nearly job done in terms of survival.

http://www.bristolpost.co.uk/sport/rugby/match-reports/bristol-rugby-v-wasps-live-26206 Clutching at straws but Bristol could remain in the Premiership if Ealing, or possibly Doncaster, win the Championship playoffs. Very, very unlikely though.

Reading home, Cardiff home, Forest away, Fulham home, Brentford away...just off the top of my head. The players do not respect or trust their manager, they are not playing for him and haven't been for approx 6 months. Brentford are not world beaters, they have a tiny budget at this level and an average home record. This was one of our most winnable games between now and the end of the season and we lost convincingly. Getting a point there would not have been 'excellent', we have 7 games left to save our skins and WINS are required, especially against average outfits.

Blimey. Not sure how that'd work. What would the team be called? Brisdiff?

So one of Bristol, Cardiff or Taunton? Would've thought Taunton has no chance sadly

Actually, I believe for international matches they cram in about 17k at the County Ground so if they could use the temporary stands for the whole month then that may suffice.

Agree with that. Bristol will miss out as the ground is way too small.

Haha so their magnificent away support looks like it was sat down for the whole game. They're so small-time.