fgrsimon

Oh dear, how sad, never mind...

It's not just that they don't add up, it is literally insane. Every home supporter could be accomodated in hospitality! The costs were from 4 or 5 years ago and that includes a green business park. Building costs have gone through the roof since then and a large percentage of the UK workforce now work from home. The supporter base is more from the other side of Stroud than west and if he thinks large numbers from Gloucester or Cheltenham or even N Bristol will suddenly start watching he is catastrophically mistaken. The attendances are actually even worse than it appears because almost every other Sat game is Kids Go Free which adds 200-300. Last I read Dale Vince was worth £100 million but a high percentage of that is tied up in Ecotricity. So it could quite easily bankrupt him. Would that stop him going ahead, who knows???? His ego and thirst for publicity overrides everything. Last time I walked down that way J13 M5, Autumn last last year, work was proceding on the new training pitches. Well there were a couple of diggers and a vaguely flat bit of ground but I don't think anything has moved on any further since then.

What about if he's the signing to stop us sleepwalking or even nosediving towards the relegation zone? The gap to the bottom 3/4 is a healthy one right now but last 3 league games have been poor and the next 5 are very tough. There's usually one team that sinks like a stone after Christmas.

Seems pretty clear that Dabo's head has gone in one way or another. He was one missed penalty (his own) away from the Premier League last season but 4 months later he's ended up at the bottom of L2 playing in front of <2000. That's got to have an impact on even the most resilient of mindsets. Probably why no-one else picked him up when Cov let him go. He seemed to be fairly well regarded by the Cov supporters last season.

Yeah my benchmark was that if he improves on NP's points per game this season I'll be happy and we'd be in the top 10 by May. It was looking good 3 games ago....

Deeney may well be right but he seems to forget that, for almost 6 months, he's had a senior role on and off the pitch and I'm told his attitude on the pitch in that time was one of the worst. He scored I think 4 goals in total but 3 of those were in the same game which they lost. It's nothing but a circus under Dale Vince which is why I've had nothing to do with the club for many years now. The club became everything I hate about football. Ironically the least sustainable (financially) football club in the Football League. Top 5 or so budget in L2 on gates of 1500. Vince will still be happy though, lots more publicity in the national and probably international media today and tomorrow.

Without a new investor, its a pointless exercise. If they were to walk out tomorrow it would be Administration, -10 points minimum and probable relegation. Until something/anything is confirmed about a takeover there is no choice.

I could have sworn that I saw the new temporary stand at Wrexham was in use over Christmas? I think they only started building it in November. Amazing how having competent people in charge means that things actually get done in a timely manner...meanwhile over at Bristol Rovers...

They've got to beat Wigan first

Bit harsh of the chairman complaining that they've fallen down the league table when they've only played like 1 or 2 games in a couple of months!

Apparently an Ashton Gate 2024 Springsteen gig was on the cards at one point but it fell through for unknown reasons. I was told by a good source at a well known Springsteen-connected record shop in Cheltenham.

Corey Taylor's album last year was probably my favourite album of 2023. Excellent mix of punk, metal and Power Pop.

Nice side swip at Barton though "Well I needed somebody with experience of the championship and a dedicated, professional individual to be in the role."

Fair play to him, it was before before New Year's Eve too. That's some sort of achievement! Maybe still time for a third this season...

So 3 gigs in these accounts vs 1 in 21-22 presumably accounts for some of the increased staff costs?

Killers and Elton John in 2022 Only Arctic Monkeys in 2023 Not sure if all of these were in the 13 month period? I think none in 2020 or 2021 due to Covid

From a contractual / employment / legal basis I suspect there are many reasons why they couldn't say that, even if it were even partly true. For one NP would have to agree to it and if he didn't, it could have got very messy. Until NP writes his memoirs we will probably never know the complete story. In fact probably never will as I'm sure there will NDAs in place on both sides. Having been through redundancy recently, it's far more complicated if medical reasons are involved. I should say though, in my case I was more than happy with it as I was planning to quit by the end if the year and the process was very simple.

[Trainspotter Alert!] Physically it is now possible because the new Elizabeth Line (CrossRail) runs from west of Paddington direct to Stratford, it is connected end-on to the GW mainline and is built to mainline not tube dimensions. I doubt the GWR IEP trains would fit through the Elizabeth Line tunnels though because of restrictive clearances and curvature but they would be needed to get from Bristol TM to Parkway on diesel power. In theory I think it would be possible to run Bristol Parkway to Stratford using the new Elizabeth Line rolling stock.

Commentator "Bristol City are on the pitch... have a massive following from uh the South Coast" WTF

My mind is telling me 0898 12 11 76 but could be mistaken.

Me too! I've only just got the Alice in Wonderland pun. Growing old is a terrible thing. 10/1/2024 will be the 40th anniversary of my first game at AG. Notts Co in the FA Cup 3rd round replay 0-2. Amazingly Notts Co were a top flight team at the time.

Dale Vince at FGR knows more or less zero about football and it's finally catching up with him. His only method is throwing huge sums of money at it. Current squad size is 33 and he's talking of getting more than a few more in for January. The playing budget is reportedly Top 5 in L2, maybe even Top 3 and certainly much higher than say Notts Co for example. Currently 23rd in L2, 5 points from safety. CEO that came from Tennis NZ, DOF and 1st Team Manager with only U21 experience between them, core home support dwindling to about 1300. The only thing saving them from implosion is the lack of effective FFP in L1/L2.

Ha, yes that was me! Thought Ipswich would draw and Leeds win tonight but that's why I don't bet. But a long, long way to go yet, Leeds have already beaten Ipswich at PR and as we have seen here, things can change drastically after Christmas.

Yes he's always given the impression of the work experience boy who by some terrible mix up, has been given a powerful job. The new stand has been an absolute fiasco, he said it would take 2 months to build and would be ready for the start of the season.

I still think Leeds will hunt them down eventually this season. Bigger, better squad, more intimidating ground/support and every club will have a losing wobble at some point, Leeds have already had theirs (start of season). Yeah Lee Johnson lost 3-0, 3-0, 4-0 3-0 and 3-0 in last 5 games, it's officially a 'streak'! Next games v Peterborough and Pompey.... has a manager ever been sacked twice before Christmas?