Eddie Hitler

As it's the season of goodwill I will be honest enough to say that I like that. It's reminiscent of Bristol Blue glass and a few of those on a shelf would like decent. I'd like to see us nab that idea.

I would say it's all in the thread but I guess you don't have three hours to spare to read it. Quick answer: they are not in financial trouble nor do they have s string of unpaid creditors. For now. Much longer answer: Rovers are owned by Dwane Sports which is owned by the Al Qadi family who have a large but minority shareholding in Jordan's ?sixth largest bank. Rich but not even close to our own owner. Their annual dividend income from this holding is c. £6m per year. Nice but compare that against football clubs' losses. Dwane Sports has taken out a £10m charge on their ground (valued at £11m) and Rovers is drawing money under this charge on which they are paying an estimated 6% interest. DS has also directly purchased land for a training ground for £2m; Rovers don't own this or owe for it. Thus far the owners have put none of their money, bar the purchase price, at risk but when Rovers' debts to Dwane Sport and the rolled up interest on this hits £10m then they will have to do this as there is nothing left against which to secure loans. My estimate for this point is March 2018 though the owners are unlikely to sit upon their hands until this happens. When the £10m is hit they have several options. If they are not prepared to put any of their money at risk then they may: seek external unsecured (expensive) funding to finish the season then sell, or sell the ground and put the club into administration, seek another investor to put money in though this would have to be a lot as losses and interest are c. £2m a year. If they are prepared to put some money at risk: pump in £0.5m to finish the season and then sell. If they are as devoted to Rovers as Steve Lansdown is to City: keep covering the losses for ten years, give DC a big transfer budget, entirely rebuild the ground, and aim for the premiership. I include the last paragraph for comic effect.

Yes, lots of bad bugs going around this month. I had one that saw me take my first sick days in years and if DC had anything like that, or proper 'flu which is much worse, then he wouldn't have been up to leaving the house let alone watching a whole match.

To be fair he carries a tune better than I do; and as he is praising a City player I will cut him some slack.

Couldn't find it on a search but this swedish flag from the 3 lions flag day is impressive:

Indeed; you only have to look at their away following to see that actually they are the best supported club in Bristol and people only ever come to Ashton Gate after being locked out at The Memorial Ground. In actual fact I'm only posting on here because I have been banned by Gaschat. In other news Bristol Rovers' new club song has been announced:

"Do something quickly?" Does Hugo not listen to Wael and Hamer? After three, one two three: IT TAKES TIME!

Oh dear, Big Jock has got us sussed. Hopefully the rest will put him on ignore and keep pumping out the laughs anyway: http://gaschat.co.uk/thread/11235/again

Really? I didn't realise that they missed the big one hundred. Their accounts say 1883 and I presumed that this referred to both their foundation and attaining league status. Very happy to be corrected!

Love that image. Ten years' ago the Merchant Venturers in a bold move decided to turn Bristol's second football team into an exhibition of living art through creating bizarre and inexplicable scenarios in order to challenge people's preconceptions of what constitutes a football club. Their many successes include: Making people question the consumerist aspect of Christmas by creating a Santa's Grotto in a portable toilet. Highlighting how ephemeral are our lives by showing how 120 years of football league history can be snuffed out in a single season. Showing that our implicit trust in the law is misplaced by very publicly illustrating how a watertight contract isn't worth the paper it's written on. It's brilliant really; I think Banksy must have a hand in it.

Brief and powerless is Man's life; on him and all his race the slow, sure doom falls pitiless and dark. Even a majority of gasheads, on the forums anyway, have woken up to the reality and that it wasn't just gurt teds winding them up.

Even more shocking is that they haven't even bothered to take a picture of over a dozen of their alleged first team players. If they cut any more corners their pitch would be circular.

The best way to actually make some money in the lower leagues is to be like Yeovil continually yo-yoing up and down so you get the packed houses of promotion seasons every two or three years, be like Crewe in selling your best players at top dollar, and supplement it with the occasional cup run whilst all the time keeping your costs really tight. So the owners are going to be, in private, fine with relegation this season because they sold a lot of STs on the back of last season's promotion and, back in Div 4, they can have another good season and sell a lot more. Hamer was very explicit about their lack of ambition and the reason for it; and it should be on their club badge as a permanent reminder of their status: Championship Clubs Lose Money

The Traveling Henburys

It was the best bit, I'll type it out as I was just going "What?" when he was rambling about it: Geoff: Is this true that the [Academy] lads buy their own kit? Steve: Let me tell you, let me tell you that we have an exceptionally fine Academy manager in Johnny Henderson... Geoff: Do they pay for their own kit? Steve: ... and part of the basis that he wants to feel, you know, he believes that these guys should actually earn the right to be part of our Academy. Now this is his policy, we support it, and I think that's one of the introductions he's made Geoff: That they buy their own kit? Steve: Absolutely, because you know they believe that actually that's part of, part of the make-up of being part of our Academy. Geoff: Can they afford to do that? Steve: Well.... if they can't then obviously, uh, they can find support elsewhere in terms of people helping them. That is something that I think he wants to introduce. Uh, I saw them last Wednesday night at Oxford United in the youth cup and they played extremely well we've got some very talented young mans (sic). I am very happy about that department of the football club, it's well run and so far we haven't lost anybody that we don't wish to lose and, uh, there's a great loyalty bond there, and uh, I think that's one area that I feel very pleased about.

Absolutely superb performance by Mr Twentyman there; take a bow sir. He remained polite and kept it moving but Hamer was clearly rattled and defensive. He's the owner - you don't hear from Roman Abramovich He's the manager - he can shut up and look after the team And the loan won't be called in until Rovers reach the Premiership Great listen, I love the random references that Hamer shoves in "World War Two Bomber Found on the Moon". That thing about it being good that their Academy boys have to buy their own kit was reminiscent of those Bird and Fortune head to heads where one becomes more and more ludicrous and the other, whilst goggling incredulously at him, keeps going "Yes, I see, yes". http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05lps2z Comedy programme of the week! I turned off Alexei Sayle's show earlier and this was far funnier.

Hamer's a very entertaining raconteur who would have a great career as an after dinner speaker so I might well listen; he can entirely avoid answering a question but in such a diverting and amusing way that you don't mind. I can see why he was employed by a club that has no real answers to the big questions: what are they going to do about the poor state of the: finances ground field, sorry, training ground, and team.

Think what a state they'd be in if they weren't owned by one of the world's richest families

Um, yes. (feels not entirely innocent in this case)

Everything's up for sale including the white plastic chairs as that's the only way they can finish the season without Dwane Sports actually putting some cash in unsecured. They are being taken to the cleaners and applauding the people doing it; I did actually read one lone voice calling for a pitch invasion and protest today. There's one fan who can see the truth. It's tipping from funny into tragic. I speak as one who wants Bristol to have two professional football clubs.

Yes. That was hard to watch; he looks a broken man. I was going to post some witty quip but it doesn't seem appropriate. I actually feel sorry for him. Crikey

Very good!

Ditto. I am sure Bob is entirely correct as he's a longstanding respected poster but as I don't recall it then I think it highly likely that people, including myself, didn't realise it at the time.

That looks to be about the size of it. They just need to somehow prevent any potential investors who, on the strength of that article, think that they are buying the next Man City from ever visiting the ground.

I was having a quick browse of gaschat, or "slumming it" as I believe it to be known, and the mood has very much changed. It seems to be yesterday's DC interview that has passed around the collective coffee which most of them have now smelt and woken up. Little steps I know but you need that realisation phase as a first foot on the road to becoming a normal fan base that holds "Sack the Board" demos when they're being taken for a ride. Has their fan base genuinely woken up though; or will a couple of decent wins see them drifting off again?