Kid in the Riot

Oh yeah? When was that then? 70s? 80s? 90s? Fan behaviour was exemplarily back then, of course...

Better agent than Jermaine Jenas.

Before the inevitable diktat comes from the club on Monday morning stating that "fans are reminded they must sit in their allocated seat, we will be imposing additional checks in blocks A and B of the Dolman for the Blackburn game" they may want to consider the largely positive comments on this thread, and around the ground regards the atmosphere. Also, they may want to reflect that since vocal fans have moved to that area (really since the second half of the Swansea game) we do appear to have experienced an uplift in performance on the pitch. And I'd add that having vocal fans close to the away support, appears to have had a bit of a neutralising effect on the away support, which is surely to our advantage as the home team.

It was the second time Antoine did it. He knew what he was doing and deserved the yellow.

No comment.

Bermuda?

To be fair Graham, neither BCC or North Somerset Council have hardly stood in Steve Lansdown's way regards: The new stadium in the green belt AG redevelopment Sporting quarter 500 homes in the green belt BCFC training ground in the green belt Bears training ground in the green belt BCC did not really "find" the fruit market land. It has been optioned by a private investment company who are proposing the possibility of a stadium, which the Council supports.

That's because Percy knows Pearson's agent well. Which suggests this story has been leaked from the City end... ?

Nothing. It's a potential joint venture between investment firm Conygar and Bristol Rovers. Below image taken from the Temple Quarter consultation document, showing potential for a new stadium in character area 2 'South St Philip's Marsh'.

Given he's a lifelong Bladesman, I assume that was a joke.

You could well be right and there may be a legal agreement tying the two sites together. Again though, planning legal agreements can be varied, or there could be an overarching legal agreement between buyer/seller. Added complexity to the conveyancing but I'm not seeing anything that would be too off-putting to a determined buyer, or significantly impact the value of the football club. These prospective projects could add value, if anything.

May explain why there's only one centre back in the side!

The planning permissions for the sporting quarter and Longmoor village are separate and permissions run with the land, not the owner/applicant. It can all be divvied up however one wishes. If the money and will is there then a sale could happen. I don't accept that purchasing Bristol City should be anymore difficult than purchasing Newcastle United (off Mike Ashley no less!), Bournemouth or Gillingham for that matter. Land deals/asset purchases of this scale are complicated, but far from impossible.

Longmoor village. The site where the new stadium was to be built. 500 new homes 30% of which are affordable/social. Difficult to know what profit he'll make as I don't know how much he paid for the land, however given it was former landfill and green belt, probably not a massive amount. In terms of its land value now. Let's subtract the social housing, so we're down to 350 homes. Let's say £100k a plot = £35m. @Pedrowe will have a better idea! But suffice to say, he'll be walking off with a very nice profit; and the key detail here is that he would not have got this permission if it wasn't for Bristol City FC and trade offs with the sporting quarter.

Personally I'd imagine Steve's valuation is closer to £100m than £50m. It's estimated he's invested about £200m over the years.

Agreed, and maybe more specifically the turnover/income the stadium generates - which is £millions a year. The big financial carrot still remains promotion to the Premier League though. That unlocks £100s millions. I assume that is what Steve is trying to sell. Invest X amount at X% of the club and you get your slice of the Premier League pie if/when we get there. The problem is, who is going to be keen on that, given Steve would presumably still have the final say and given his record of football decision-making over the past 20 years?

UWE wasn't the reason the Al-Qadi's bought Rovers. It was for a very specific reason which I'd rather not say now, as I haven't seen it in the media at any point. Correct that with their current infrastructure any owner of them is just going to hemorrhage money. That's why any takeover would be dependent on guarantees on the fruit market stadium site. Bristol City Council are fully on board with it, so again it just comes down to money. Ah, good old "Steve Investments Ltd". Esteban of course being Spanish for Stephen. The in-joke here presumably being that Steve isn't listed as a director of Esteban. The directors are: Jon, Gavin Marshall and Martin Griffiths. However, little doubt "Esteban" is providing all the investment! Very good.

Wants investment but doesn't want to relinquish full control of the club. There's the problem and why a "takeover" is possibly still a way off. I wonder if part of the reason Alexander has been brought in though is to help make a deal more likely. He's worked with American owners at Palace and Wycombe. The Jordanians want out of Rovers too, by the way. There was interest from an American consortium, but that has cooled for now due to uncertainty regards the fruit market site, which has (like all potential building projects) been impacted on by the cost of living crisis/recession.

Tim Henman has a +1 handicap! Was playing off scratch even when he was still playing tennis.

This goal though....pfft

The not learning Spanish thing is utter BS as evidenced by this:

Have heard Cardiff are finally coughing up. First payment to Nantes of a little over £5m could be made as early as this week, which would then lift the transfer embargo.

Definitely. Though I did think Antoine was less keen to get involved in physical contacts yesterday. All the speculation may be having a subconscious impact.

Lam contracted until 2028 ?

Another uninspiring cup draw. Shock ?