VSC meeting with JR - Fans update....

[Gartom]

Meeting with JR – July15th

Hi all,
Just finished sorting out all our notes, so here goes.....
Steve Kendrick (Berkshire Rover) and I had a long meeting - nearly 4 hours!! - with JR yesterday at his place in Cheshire.
We talked through a lot of issues maintaining the VSC’s role as a ‘critical friend’ and gave JR feedback on a number of issues that have been popular topics on the forum recently including season ticket and match day ticket pricing. We agreed to disagree on a number of the points but we will keep the pressure up on this with JR.
 In my opinion the main points of interest for the VSC /Rovers fans are:
1   Players budget (the largest ever and been increased from the original by half a million) is just about spent – so don’t expect any more significant signings, although we still aim to get Mason back on loan
2   Season ticket sales are disappointing- hopefully they will reach about 5000 – but this impacts on our player budget, and has already cost us a quality loan player from Man Utd., as we could not justify the expense / balance the books......
3   The squad looks very good for this season – at least a top half finish – if we get the ‘rub of the green’ and a few decent ref decisions for us – as opposed to the appalling decisions we have suffered over past few seasons, and we don’t have  the injury crisis like last season.
4   Rumours about Billy and Copps are a bit ‘OTT’ but yes we have turned down a £3 million plus bid for Billy, and a sizeable bid for Copps.  JR wants to keep the squad / enhance the squad – and the Billy Sharp business highlights JR’s resolve to have a great Championship squad.
5   JR will support the VSC in as many ways as he can to help us generate income for the Rovers. As a result we will look to have the Hospitality box available for VSC members this year- we will run monthly free prize draws for current VSC members – and also look for raffle / auction prizes of signed shirts.    
6   JR is hoping to get the VSC  2 free tickets to away league games this season –so again we will raffle these tickets to current VSC members – a really great value prize to win !
7   JR is still trying to get the Keepmoat – and hopes to have good news by the time of the first home league game.
8   JR will be at our AGM at the Keepmoat – in the Lakeside Bar – kick off at 11.30am. All fans are welcome. We will post AGM details on a separate link.
9   JR would like fans to join the Lottery to help with our day to day running costs – there is a Paypal link on the left hand side of our website “Play the Rovers Lottery”– so please try and join if you can as every little helps!
10   JR is still very committed to the club, without going into details he is obviously thinking several years ahead.
11      Last but not least, JR wants black shorts for the home games!! - does nt like the red ones! And.....he hates the green away outfit, so Morris has been tasked to try and sort it....so hold your breath on the away kit folks !

Steve has a great idea for another VSC fund raiser, so will post this later....

Hope the above covers most of your hopes and fears !
Cheers, Gareth

[graingrover]

Thankyou you two for the feedback. Thankyou JR ! The stadium.... an acquisition would make the future of the club much more viable .... and attractive to additional shareholdings provided we continue to progress ion the field as per JR's intentions?

[redbrez]

cheers for the update ,bit disappointing about point one would of loved to have had another quality center half and would of been better business and a investment to try and buy mason,only reason being if he has a successful loan he will definitely be out of our price range plus other teams will be alerted of his talent.
  don't want to sound unappreciative because my glass is full and quite hopeful for a good season.

[Berkshire Rover]

JR confirmed an offer to buy Mason had been made but rejected, still expects to get him on loan though.

[RedJ]

JR confirmed an offer to buy Mason had been made but rejected, still expects to get him on loan though.

It'd be nice if there was a clause giving us first option, or agreeing a future fee clause as part of the deal if we wanted to take him permanently at some point.


Thanks for reporting back Gareth.

[Jonathan]

Thanks for the update.

Disappointing in many parts.

Think most of us can appreciate point 2 from the board's perspective, even if pricing is a major factor.

I'm afraid I certainly don't agree on point 3 as it stands, but would love to be proved wrong.

[Drover]

Hi,thanks for the info guys.As regards the strips,who decides on the design/colours in the first place?Always thought it was down to the board of directors or chairman to give their approval or not?Or is it the kit makers decision now?Just asking because it sounds like JR did not know what they was going to be.

[Gartom]

Hi Jonathan,
Appreciate your points....You know the optimism of JR.
Lets see how we go - and how the likes of Bennett and Spurr et al 'gel', and how the intro of Brown can bring extra dimensions to our attack....We may strengthen with a few loans too....finances depending....
Last time we were favourites for relegation - we won the league !!! - remember our return to old Div 3 as it was.....Lets dare to dream!

[yapper1901]

Certainly disagree with the squad thoughts only have to look at last season
And the players we bought alot have been injury prone in past

Anyway. My question he says there no more budget for players
Does this mean we are wasting trialist time if sod wanted to sign them

[Drover]

Thanks for the update.

Disappointing in many parts.

Think most of us can appreciate point 2 from the board's perspective, even if pricing is a major factor.

I'm afraid I certainly don't agree on point 3 as it stands, but would love to be proved wrong.

Point 2 is understandable but hope it's not going to be regularly used excuse to have a dig at fans for not having many Season ticket sales.Constructive critism would be better pointed to Their own marketing department and Mr Morris first.Kilgallon was touted as a quality loan but it turned out not to be.I am pleased with a few of the signings though,that hopefully have been shrewd,Spurr,Bennett+Brown in particular.

[grayx]

JR confirmed an offer to buy Mason had been made but rejected, still expects to get him on loan though.

Like everyone else, I would have preferred to buy Mason, but a loan would be better than nothing. Don't quite get the \"biggest player budget ever\" almost being spent despite being increased by 500k from the Mills transfer. I really hope that a quality centre-half arrives before the season starts because we desperately need one. Naylor is not the answer to our problems there.

[Berkshire Rover]

Certainly disagree with the squad thoughts only have to look at last season
And the players we bought alot have been injury prone in past

Anyway. My question he says there no more budget for players
Does this mean we are wasting trialist time if sod wanted to sign them

JR stated that they had secured the targets SOD had identified, the point Gareth made was about significant new signings, i suspect they may squeeze in one or two of the triallists / loan players that have been mentioned.

JR is very upbeat about the squad, in particular he believes that Bennett and Spurr will be big players for us and believes Brown will give us that differnet dimension up top that most people had been crying out for.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

We talked through a lot of issues maintaining the VSC’s role as a ‘critical friend’ and gave JR feedback on a number of issues that have been popular topics on the forum recently including season ticket and match day ticket pricing. We agreed to disagree on a number of the points but we will keep the pressure up on this with JR.

Are you able to elaborate?

[Red wizard]

JR confirmed an offer to buy Mason had been made but rejected, still expects to get him on loan though.

Like everyone else, I would have preferred to buy Mason, but a loan would be better than nothing. Don't quite get the \"biggest player budget ever\" almost being spent despite being increased by 500k from the Mills transfer. I really hope that a quality centre-half arrives before the season starts because we desperately need one. Naylor is not the answer to our problems there.

In your opinion Naylor is not the answer. But two men who eat sleep and know alot more than all of us put together about football think he will be. Leeds stopped letting goals in by the boat load when he came back so he can't be that bad. People are looking at is age and thinking he is past it.

[Berkshire Rover]

We talked through a lot of issues maintaining the VSC’s role as a ‘critical friend’ and gave JR feedback on a number of issues that have been popular topics on the forum recently including season ticket and match day ticket pricing. We agreed to disagree on a number of the points but we will keep the pressure up on this with JR.

Are you able to elaborate?

JR remains intensely loyal to all members of his team, a quality we admire in spades when it comes to the footballing side of things, and one we might wish he had a different view on elsewhere.

JR also regrets the price increases, but I think has been convinced that it's a pricing structure that will maximise revenues, an approach that we would like to see changed and one that will remain a focus for our future discussions.

[DonnyBazR0ver]

Thanks Steve and thanks for the update.

It's good to hear your relationship with JR remains strong and to the degree thathe welcomes you in to his home.

Did you get to play with his trains ??

[Jonathan]

In your opinion Naylor is not the answer. But two men who eat sleep and know alot more than all of us put together about football think he will be.

In that case it begs the question why he was only given a 3 month deal?

Looking at it rationally, it doesn't seem like a player would be given just a 3 month contract if the management were convinced he was the solution to our problems.

Given the budget situation, perhaps it was all we could afford for now?

[deebee]

Hi Gartom and The Members. Let me offer my help I can donate several signed photos framed of course to help with raffles. These are quality items not available anywhere else. I would also like to know how much it costs to advertise on this site like the ones down the lefthand side. Regards Derek. PS I can also frame shirts of course.

[Berkshire Rover]

In your opinion Naylor is not the answer. But two men who eat sleep and know alot more than all of us put together about football think he will be.

In that case it begs the question why he was only given a 3 month deal?

Looking at it rationally, it doesn't seem like a player would be given just a 3 month contract if the management were convinced he was the solution to our problems.

Given the budget situation, perhaps it was all we could afford for now?

I'm sure I read somewhere it is a rolling three month contract, so that as long as Naylor stays fit he has a three month contract but if he gets badly injured, we are only exposed to a 3 month period. Makes sense all round.

[Pintolager]

In your opinion Naylor is not the answer. But two men who eat sleep and know alot more than all of us put together about football think he will be.

In that case it begs the question why he was only given a 3 month deal?

Looking at it rationally, it doesn't seem like a player would be given just a 3 month contract if the management were convinced he was the solution to our problems.

Given the budget situation, perhaps it was all we could afford for now?

But you could also look at it as a further 3 month trial....maybe not fully convinced, but enough to say he is worth looking at further. Look at how employers in every day business employ folk on short term contracts, just to have a look at them.

[Berkshire Rover]

Hi Gartom and The Members. Let me offer my help I can donate several signed photos framed of course to help with raffles. These are quality items not available anywhere else. I would also like to know how much it costs to advertise on this site like the ones down the lefthand side. Regards Derek. PS I can also frame shirts of course.

PM'd you.

[RedJ]

In your opinion Naylor is not the answer. But two men who eat sleep and know alot more than all of us put together about football think he will be.

In that case it begs the question why he was only given a 3 month deal?

Looking at it rationally, it doesn't seem like a player would be given just a 3 month contract if the management were convinced he was the solution to our problems.

Given the budget situation, perhaps it was all we could afford for now?

But you could also look at it as a further 3 month trial....maybe not fully convinced, but enough to say he is worth looking at further. Look at how employers in every day business employ folk on short term contracts, just to have a look at them.

I just hope it doesn't go tits up and we end up arsing about getting a less than adequate replacement if Naylor can't cut it..

[Berkshire Rover]

Thanks Steve and thanks for the update.

It's good to hear your relationship with JR remains strong and to the degree thathe welcomes you in to his home.

Did you get to play with his trains ??

To give a slightly different perspective on the meeting, it was as Gareth said held at JR's place in Cheshire, in his office to be precise which is covered in framed Rovers shirts amongst other things, including what is obviously one of his most prized possessions, one of Alick Jeffreys England caps, partly because it says \"Doncaster Rovers and England\"

At times the conversation could have been between any three rovers fans in any bar anywhere, first and foremost JR is a fan and he obviously still has a passion for the club. At one point he even started reminiscing about old songs that used to be sung.

This was my first real experience of talking with JR and although we didn't agree about everything, we certainly agreed that we wanted the club to continue to succeed and progress. I can't believe there are many other Chairmen who would be prepared to do what he does.

At the risk of being described as 'happy clappy' or even sycophantic, in my opinion we all owe this man a debt we can never repay.

[BillyStubbsTears]

So we turned down a bid for Sharp but Sharp would have negotiated if the deal was right?

Yet more Chinese Whispers coming out of the club. You'd think it wouldn't be hard to establish who had decided to turn the deal down - player or club?

[Berkshire Rover]

So we turned down a bid for Sharp but Sharp would have negotiated if the deal was right?

Yet more Chinese Whispers coming out of the club. You'd think it wouldn't be hard to establish who had decided to turn the deal down - player or club?

From what JR said, I believe it went like this,
Bids from Ipswich for 2.3 m and then 2.8 m from Southampton were turned down by the club, after further contact a bid of 3.25 m was received from Southampton, at which point BS was informed and allowed to talk to Southampton but it was made very clear to him that we didn't want him to leave, so whether the bid was  accepted or not is not clear. BS spoke to Southampton and turned down the move. I don't suppose we will ever know what would have happened if BS said he wanted to go.

More importantly, both BS and Coppinger have made it very clear they are happy to stay and want to play for DRFC.

[BillyStubbsTears]

That's pretty straightforward then. We didn't turn down a bid of £3M plus.

[hoolahoop]

Thanks fellas that was very informative, please can you let us know your perception on just how far we are down the line on the stadium purchase ?

[Berkshire Rover]

Thanks fellas that was very informative, please can you let us know your perception on just how far we are down the line on the stadium purchase ?

My perception is that JR thinks we are very close to an agreement and if that ids reached, we will be playing in our stadium very quickly.

I have to say though that based on my personal experience of working with local authorities ( Sheffield city council) on property related matters they can take an awful long time. I hope JR's optimism is proved right.

[RedJ]

If we do get hold of the KMS - are we likely to see lecky turnstiles at all, or do you not have any idea about that?

[Berkshire Rover]

If we do get hold of the KMS - are we likely to see lecky turnstiles at all, or do you not have any idea about that?

Wasn't discussed.