Bristol Oil Services

1 hour ago, Peter O Hanraha-hanrahan said:

Celebrating selling a poxy 3300 STs when they bore opposition fans to death with how supposedly loyal they are. Utterly tragic.

Dont forget they were recently trying to impress Barton by saying they’ll be taking 2000 away everywhere next season. 

As for this absolute nugget, in answer to his question “how many did we have in division 4?” 

Answer: more than the Gas were getting in the 3rd division at the time. 
 

 

 

How many did we have in Division 4? Not many, but then not (as) many went to football anywhere around the country in the early 80s because football was very unpopular, reviled even, and nothing like the fashionable thing it is today (which trickles down from the PL through the divisions), something they'll all take in to consideration on g4s chat when making their unbiased, unselective comparisons I do not doubt.

Wrexham in the National (non) league in 2019, for example, averaged more than Rovers in Division 3 a couple of times in the 80s. 

Some other average attendances from around that time 1982/83:

Arsenal, 24,000

Chelsea, 12,000 (in 2nd division)

Everton, 20,200

Leeds, 15,900 (2nd div)

Liverpool, 34000

Newcastle, 17000

Man City, 26000

Man Utd, 41,000

Sheff Weds, 16k  (in 2nd).

Cardiff, 7,036 (when they were promoted, from Div 3).

So as we can see, if we are inclined to, crowds were considerably smaller everywhere, when we were in Div 4. Everywhere except Bristol Rovers, interestingly, where crowds around 82-83 were just a little bit smaller than they are nowadays. But then their crowds never have been big enough to have been significantly smaller at some other point. 

Just reading a review of a new book: "The Delusions of Crowds; Why People Go Mad in Groups." It broadly covers two common kind of (American) delusions, stock market bubbles and end-of-time religions (you know: the world will end next January. No, scrub that, the year after that).

The author writes of an American, William Miller, who gained notoriety for prophecy of the end of times. The review goes on: "For various reasons his calculations animated many religious fellow countrymen and women, and Miller would travel from place to place, holding vast outdoor meetings, and even buying a 'Great Tent' that could hold 4000 people, telling of the end to come."

He predicted the end for 1843, then 1844. And so on.

So, it's all there: the crowds, the estimates of crowds (uncorroborated), the travelling (away) from place to place, the madness and delusions, the promises and  predictions of great things to come that never come, the crashes and let-downs, the tents.

34 minutes ago, BrizzleRed said:

I reckon you’re being a little generous there tbh MoP

The big club, little club debate crops up every so often and is pretty subjective and all depends on the criteria used.  

To put it into context, with our pretty poor record of success over our history, but balanced by our decent crowds and excellent stadium, I’d say we we’re still pretty medium to small at Championship level.  We could probably say we would be biggish at League 1 level.

Given how far those deluded f*****s are behind us in all crieria you could possibly compare in that horrible excuse for a club, to say they are only one division behind us is giving them far more credit than they deserve imho.

We're a "medium" in the Championship. Big in L1. And massive! in L2. 

They're a minnow in the Championship (I know. It's a stretch, but bare with me), medium in L1, big in L2.

We'd be fodder in the Prem. Miniscule. But minted.

8 minutes ago, Red-Robbo said:

 

My point was, Gray, how could they do worse than ending the season in last place?

What's amusing is that they assume they'll bounce back instantly. Every division they play in they assume they are a 'big club' at that level.

They made the same assumption last time they dropped to the basement. That didn't end too well....

I think they are a big club, at the bottom level. I think we can give them that. With their 5-7k crowds (should they win often enough; and perhaps with a generous voucher scheme to boost attendance numbers like they ran following their humiliating relegation from the bottom in 2014), I can see them throwing their weight around a bit and enjoying being "big" for once, as they mix with yer diddy Crawleys, Stevenages, Forest Greens and Barrows.

I think they will enjoy it, for a year at least.

7 hours ago, CyderInACan said:

And how was she? 

Doing ok, thanks for asking. 82 this year, "Granny 82"

Me and my 15 year old, last weekend:

Me: "Bristol Rovers have been relegated."

My 15 year old:" Have they? ..... How's Granny?"

16 minutes ago, Swede said:

If they're offering £3M then you know they really value him at £6M so I would say £10M

Yep. So, £12m, do I hear 13?

22 hours ago, Peter O Hanraha-hanrahan said:

Spot on.

I did have a screenshot of this fact from one of those ‘awaydays’ pages on Facebook which, annoyingly, I can’t find.

I did however come across this beauty from a typically deluded Saghead. We all know at least one Gas roaster....

 

I don’t. There aren't enough G4s roasters/belters/tossers to go round for all of us to know one each. Maybe every 10/15 of us know one G4s roaster?

Sunderland in the Championship with 40,000 crowds next season, or Lincoln/Blackpool (with 9,000 crowds)? Plenty of good reasons why it'd be better for us for LJ to flop there

23 hours ago, OneCity said:

 They've spent the vast majority of their history in the 3rd tier. 

Yes, what they might call "half" (63 seasons) of 92 glorious campaigns. The other "half" (19 seasons) in the Second tier. And about a quarter in the 4th, for the Blue six fifths of Bristol. 

1 hour ago, Rob k said:

People can keep having a dig at LJ all they like, the fact remains we were nowhere near as shit as we are now with him as manager 

We weren't? Not in 2016/17, when we set a club record for consecutive league defeats and finished 17th with 15 wins and 54 points? Nowhere near?

Saw their bus earlier, Peter Carol 'Bristol Rovers FC.' On the Portway, under the Bridge, I was heading towards the Glorious High Performance Stadium, it was going towards Shire. I tried to gesture to their Drive that Portsmuff was thataway and that he and they were heading in the wrong direction, but I think he probably thought I was indicating the he and they were a/are manual manipulator/s. And anyhow, I thought, no, they're going the right way, they're going down League Two. And they know the way there. They might not know where the goal is, but they know where L2 is.

sag, 

1. Sink, subside or bulge downwards under weight or pressure or through lack of strength. 

2. Decline to a lower level, usually temporarily *

And 3. (From the Oxford online 'learner' dictionary) to hang or bend down in the middle, especially because of weight or pressure, a sagging roof. 'The tent began to sag under the weight of the rain'**. 'Her shoulders sagged in defeat' ***.

"The tent began to sag because of the weight of the rain/League One"

So, sag: sink, subside, decline, down.****

* "usually"

** not made up. 

***I bet they did. "Goodnight," love.

****and "tent"

1 hour ago, cityloyal473 said:

You've got to be in the oppositions box to get a penalty. 

....with the ball, ideally

2 hours ago, myol'man said:

Benny Hill theme 

Yes, or Captain Pugwash.

They're a bit shouty, for me. Need to take note of Massive Attack, who mostly whispered, and mumbled.

Reading around about Joe E. Barton, Simon Kuper said in the FT in 2011 about him: "It's easy to mock" and he was right.

19 minutes ago, Ska Junkie said:

Might be a bit of a struggle for them now mate!

TTTT (These Things Take Thyme)

Clocks go forward tonight, and bringing L2 that little bit nearer/sooner in the morning for the Loyal and Few

4 minutes ago, Ska Junkie said:

I don't think they have to worry too much about that MoP.

Play-offs are gone?

2 minutes ago, Sleepy1968 said:

Rovers fan Ash on RB just now:

"I'm looking forward to next season Geoff. There are a few grounds in League Two I haven't visited"

And there'll be more in the Championship 

9 minutes ago, Lanterne Rouge said:

Using #gaslogic, Posh are six up v Accrington who put six past the s*gs.

How much better are Posh?

12?

1 minute ago, pongo88 said:

Something like this 

 

Bristol City/Somerset v Sheff Utd/Yorkshire, that. With an emphatic win for us (after they made all the "early running")

2 hours ago, slartibartfast said:

If not now, when ?

If not Lee, then Deano, Nige

3 hours ago, CotswoldRed said:

The cr*p we went through in 1982, my school days putting up with a majority of gas 'friends'. Girlfriends who supported the Gas. Family who never went to watch the Gas but revelled in them beating us (w*nkers). 

This is all for them

.... goading and belittling us.

Yes, same in this family. A beloved aunt, no longer with us, but she did like to decry the club in Bristol that had actually reached the top level, and contested an FA Cup final, made it to League Cup semi finals.

All this whilst not having set foot in Eastville (never mind Trumpton) since about 1959.

Also, used to work with a bloke at Aztec West that "used to go" down Eastville but long since stopped, but he didn't let this get in the way of him spouting off about us. And the bloke next door to him cleaning his car in the rain, I seem to remember. 

And I am now remembering a quite recent work encounter with what might be termed a "millennial" Fewer young chap, in which we struck up a conversation whilst waiting for an electrician to turn up, and on learning he was from Fishponds or some such, I enquired as to his allegiance, to which he answered "Rovers." I probed further, confident in my years of experience, my sharp wit and the current status imbalance and 18 years and all that, looking for some "sport" while we waited, only for him to reveal "I, er, don't actually go."

Oh, right. Where's that leccy to? I pondered, and that was that.

This city is a funny old place. If Big Nige manages to work the longed-for but unlikely miracle here, then a lot of people that are Rovers but don't watch Rovers are going to be upset, but not so upset that they aren't in the clamour for tickets to see Liverpool, Man Utd and all their other "Premiership teams" at AG.