Rob spoke at some length about this at one of the trust meetings; which I and others provided a fairly detailed write up on, I suspect that the twitter account quoted has just regurgitated it rather than having an exclusive interview with Rob.
He clearly stated that the biggest hurdle to any expansion was gaining a second access route to overcome the main objection from the local authority.
Booker certainly didn’t cross my mind, @Malone. I suppose I’m just an innocent abroad who likes to kid himself that that kind of thing doesn’t go on. Maybe it does but I couldn’t see any particular relevance to the current debate. Interesting to consider whether the recent advent of a unitary authority makes susceptibility to such inducements more or less likely, if indeed they are ‘a thing’. Ugh.
The next major hurdle to this plan is getting Dashwood to give up / selling us his land so that we can build a new road! I bet his lawyer has seen this and suddenly added 2 more 0's onto the price
I'm with those who think this is just the first stage of a a plan that might go something a little like this...
1) say you want to increase the capacity
2) produce a glitzy model of new stands that will get the fan base salivating
3) Feasibility study says we'll need more access routes / too expensive to cut into the hills
4) Council refuse planning permission because there's no viable option for more access at cost
5) with "reluctance" the Couhigs look elsewhere for a new stadium, identify some land...
6) outline planning permission is obtained for development for a new 20k-capacity stadium
7) but the Couhigs don't have the funds for a new stadium
8) they say they've taken the club as far as they can
9) they put it on the market at a very high asking price, the outline planning permission being the key selling point
10) we're bought by a Middle East/ Chinese consortium attracted to the idea of building a new stadium and sold on the vision of creating a Championship / Premier League-ready club
A very simple business model. At some stage in the process the Trust will have run out of funding giving the Couhigs complete control. And at the end of the process a massive pay off.
This, by the way, is not intended as criticism of the Couhigs - just a very obvious play from the moment they came into the club and one I think we might be seeing start to play out.
Wasn't this a play-by-play model of what Steve Hayes wanted and instead of being brought out by Middle East / Chinese he got brought out by the fans after holding the club to a ransom?
The Couhigs are doing things to increase the value of the club, just like any business but I don't see them going anywhere in the next 5-10yrs minimum. Steve Hayes was business, business, business and was only seen on brief occasions when the team was doing well or there was some free / TV publicity around the club that he could capitalise on whereas Rob, Missy and Pete are fully invested in most/all aspects of the club. Talking to the community and fans alike, been very open (except for transfers) with everyone on their goals and have got their hands dirty with some jobs around the ground (I recall Missy serving pints and Pete has been a very active member too) and offering us free fireworks shows!
I fully believe that the Couhigs won't be going anywhere and that their ambition to expand the stadium and increase the club's reputation comes fully from the interest and attraction that the club as instilled in them.
Adams Park is now 30 years old, The terrace hasn't been changed at all since it was first built and the Main Stand (Beechdean Stand) as had very small upgrades to it while it's been around. Both are is desperate need of improvement and modernising to give the club a firm footing to move forwards.
The only issues with all this lovely tale of yours is that if they wanted the club all out they could have got it at the outset and pretty cheap with a simple bit of haggling and very few challenges, Oh and point 10 assumes someone with loadsamoney and any interest in building us a new stadium exists.
If the general point is that the Couhigs could splash some cash and make the value go up I'm not sure what the problem is there.
@Wendoverman I'd say five years or so. I'm sure you'll still be around, probably still repeating your same two or three lines.
@Otter87 I completely agree with you, the Couhigs are masters at the publicity stunt. If they ever start a PR agency I'm investing. But on Steve Hayes disappearing away from high profile matches - doesn't he still turn up quite regularly? Maybe he's advising the Couhigs on how to make the play better than him? 🤷
@StrongestTeam I don't think they would have got complete control of the club at the start of the process when the Dutch consortium were still in play. I suspect that's why we've ended up with Trevor Stroud still on the board now but that's just pure guesswork. Anyway that's besides the point - the terms of the deal pretty much guarantee the Trust will be out of the picture by the time my suggested game plan comes to fruition. And on your general point, I agree with you and I was clear to state this suggestion isn't a criticism of the Couhigs. As they've pointed out themselves, they won't be around forever and consider themselves shrewd business people. So do I. And this is an example of how they can get out with a big profit, in principle leaving the club in a much stronger position than they found it in.
There were quotes from the council when the Booker Project fell apart along the lines of they would have been willing to open dialogue on extending Adams Park, but that doesn't mean the access challenges can be easily averted.
The idea of moving stadium when we are not selling out regularly really doesn't make sense on any business level to me. I can see commercial benefits to improved facilities and capacity at AP assuming they can do them within a reasonable budget.
I could be wrong but though you agree completely with @Otter87 you seem to have misconstrued what he actually said about the Couhigs into what you think.
'I fully believe that the Couhigs won't be going anywhere and that their ambition to expand the stadium and increase the club's reputation comes fully from the interest and attraction that the club as instilled in them.'
becomes: I completely agree with you, the Couhigs are masters at the publicity stunt. If they ever start a PR agency I'm investing.
By the time they actually got to a vote, with the trust, management and suppliers desperate for some £, the Dutch long gone (funny they didn't turn up elsewhere) and half of our fan base insisting you were desperate for a return to the conference if you suggested any checks and balances I'd assume they could have got it all for whatever they wanted. If there was a grand plan they could have simply suggested the books were worse than expected as was the state of the ground and waved about the idea of a new ground then.
Sure we'll hear some more information from Rob shortly, he's hardly shy of an interview, probably alongside new kits and players when ready.
Very little has been made of the fact that Marlow FC will be devolping a conference standard stadium within the plans in little Marlow. No doubt the property developers will make a killing on the sale of the Alfred Davies Memorial ground.
Not huge detail but a few good titbits and positive as usual, Preference to stay at AP and redevelope but not at all costs, progress over access road but with bigger crowds parking becomes a bigger issue, some kind of onus on Derby to pay us some money after takeover completes, Stewart may have struggled for playing time with new additions (screams Mawson already lined up but we'll see), Auto promotion target, upgrades required, Interesting few weeks ahead maybe.
Assume he worded it suggesting new signings rather than Forino developing?
We've all assumed Stewart left for the offer too good to refuse element, but maybe our offer was more befitting of a squad player rather than star player?
I suggest that maybe the case, Stewart wasn't an automatic choice last season, and the previous one Knight and Taff's were the better two central defenders.
If we had got the chap from Morecambe, who went to Charlton, then I suspect Stewart would have been 3rd choice.
You can be certain he wouldn't have said it at all if Stewart had signed the contract we offered him, take it with a pinch of salt maybe but if you're serious about improving the squad like he says, and we were already looking for another Centre back to at least challenge if not improve on what we had then maybe we didn't bust the bank on the offer.
Comments
As said above this is nothing new.
Rob spoke at some length about this at one of the trust meetings; which I and others provided a fairly detailed write up on, I suspect that the twitter account quoted has just regurgitated it rather than having an exclusive interview with Rob.
He clearly stated that the biggest hurdle to any expansion was gaining a second access route to overcome the main objection from the local authority.
Apparently the Twitter 'interview' is with someone trying to set up a North East supporters division. Fair play, I guess.
Booker certainly didn’t cross my mind, @Malone. I suppose I’m just an innocent abroad who likes to kid himself that that kind of thing doesn’t go on. Maybe it does but I couldn’t see any particular relevance to the current debate. Interesting to consider whether the recent advent of a unitary authority makes susceptibility to such inducements more or less likely, if indeed they are ‘a thing’. Ugh.
The next major hurdle to this plan is getting Dashwood to give up / selling us his land so that we can build a new road! I bet his lawyer has seen this and suddenly added 2 more 0's onto the price
I'm with those who think this is just the first stage of a a plan that might go something a little like this...
1) say you want to increase the capacity
2) produce a glitzy model of new stands that will get the fan base salivating
3) Feasibility study says we'll need more access routes / too expensive to cut into the hills
4) Council refuse planning permission because there's no viable option for more access at cost
5) with "reluctance" the Couhigs look elsewhere for a new stadium, identify some land...
6) outline planning permission is obtained for development for a new 20k-capacity stadium
7) but the Couhigs don't have the funds for a new stadium
8) they say they've taken the club as far as they can
9) they put it on the market at a very high asking price, the outline planning permission being the key selling point
10) we're bought by a Middle East/ Chinese consortium attracted to the idea of building a new stadium and sold on the vision of creating a Championship / Premier League-ready club
A very simple business model. At some stage in the process the Trust will have run out of funding giving the Couhigs complete control. And at the end of the process a massive pay off.
This, by the way, is not intended as criticism of the Couhigs - just a very obvious play from the moment they came into the club and one I think we might be seeing start to play out.
I'm quite old @aloysius so 1) how long do you reckon all of that will all take?
2) Does this mean purchase of The Player might be delayed?
Wasn't this a play-by-play model of what Steve Hayes wanted and instead of being brought out by Middle East / Chinese he got brought out by the fans after holding the club to a ransom?
The Couhigs are doing things to increase the value of the club, just like any business but I don't see them going anywhere in the next 5-10yrs minimum. Steve Hayes was business, business, business and was only seen on brief occasions when the team was doing well or there was some free / TV publicity around the club that he could capitalise on whereas Rob, Missy and Pete are fully invested in most/all aspects of the club. Talking to the community and fans alike, been very open (except for transfers) with everyone on their goals and have got their hands dirty with some jobs around the ground (I recall Missy serving pints and Pete has been a very active member too) and offering us free fireworks shows!
I fully believe that the Couhigs won't be going anywhere and that their ambition to expand the stadium and increase the club's reputation comes fully from the interest and attraction that the club as instilled in them.
Adams Park is now 30 years old, The terrace hasn't been changed at all since it was first built and the Main Stand (Beechdean Stand) as had very small upgrades to it while it's been around. Both are is desperate need of improvement and modernising to give the club a firm footing to move forwards.
The only issues with all this lovely tale of yours is that if they wanted the club all out they could have got it at the outset and pretty cheap with a simple bit of haggling and very few challenges, Oh and point 10 assumes someone with loadsamoney and any interest in building us a new stadium exists.
If the general point is that the Couhigs could splash some cash and make the value go up I'm not sure what the problem is there.
@Wendoverman I'd say five years or so. I'm sure you'll still be around, probably still repeating your same two or three lines.
@Otter87 I completely agree with you, the Couhigs are masters at the publicity stunt. If they ever start a PR agency I'm investing. But on Steve Hayes disappearing away from high profile matches - doesn't he still turn up quite regularly? Maybe he's advising the Couhigs on how to make the play better than him? 🤷
@StrongestTeam I don't think they would have got complete control of the club at the start of the process when the Dutch consortium were still in play. I suspect that's why we've ended up with Trevor Stroud still on the board now but that's just pure guesswork. Anyway that's besides the point - the terms of the deal pretty much guarantee the Trust will be out of the picture by the time my suggested game plan comes to fruition. And on your general point, I agree with you and I was clear to state this suggestion isn't a criticism of the Couhigs. As they've pointed out themselves, they won't be around forever and consider themselves shrewd business people. So do I. And this is an example of how they can get out with a big profit, in principle leaving the club in a much stronger position than they found it in.
What needs doing to the terrace?
There were quotes from the council when the Booker Project fell apart along the lines of they would have been willing to open dialogue on extending Adams Park, but that doesn't mean the access challenges can be easily averted.
The idea of moving stadium when we are not selling out regularly really doesn't make sense on any business level to me. I can see commercial benefits to improved facilities and capacity at AP assuming they can do them within a reasonable budget.
Easy to answer, what doesn't need doing in the Terrace......
The Macarena?
Air conditioning?
Installation of a koi carp fish pond with ornamental water feature?
Ouch! I am wounded.
I could be wrong but though you agree completely with @Otter87 you seem to have misconstrued what he actually said about the Couhigs into what you think.
'I fully believe that the Couhigs won't be going anywhere and that their ambition to expand the stadium and increase the club's reputation comes fully from the interest and attraction that the club as instilled in them.'
becomes: I completely agree with you, the Couhigs are masters at the publicity stunt. If they ever start a PR agency I'm investing.
Do you work in politics by any chance?
By the time they actually got to a vote, with the trust, management and suppliers desperate for some £, the Dutch long gone (funny they didn't turn up elsewhere) and half of our fan base insisting you were desperate for a return to the conference if you suggested any checks and balances I'd assume they could have got it all for whatever they wanted. If there was a grand plan they could have simply suggested the books were worse than expected as was the state of the ground and waved about the idea of a new ground then.
Sure we'll hear some more information from Rob shortly, he's hardly shy of an interview, probably alongside new kits and players when ready.
A couple of escalators would be handy to save trudging up the steps!
Very little has been made of the fact that Marlow FC will be devolping a conference standard stadium within the plans in little Marlow. No doubt the property developers will make a killing on the sale of the Alfred Davies Memorial ground.
Hmm, so we want a bigger capacity, Oxford United need a brand new ground. Plenty of space around Lewknor... we're never at home the same time as them.
Or let's go one further - Chiltern-Thames-Valley Allstars, anyone?
Probably the same people that are convinced that Boris is a paragon of virtue along with his merry band of devoted ministers!
Just no words. 😫
This is cynicism of Carrots / Marlow Chair and the Banner Gang levels x a million!
Haven't watched it yet, but Rob talks about stadium expansion/relocation in the interview that just went up on the site
Highly advise all on here to watch it. It's a lengthy expansion on his views of where Wycombe will be in the future.
Not huge detail but a few good titbits and positive as usual, Preference to stay at AP and redevelope but not at all costs, progress over access road but with bigger crowds parking becomes a bigger issue, some kind of onus on Derby to pay us some money after takeover completes, Stewart may have struggled for playing time with new additions (screams Mawson already lined up but we'll see), Auto promotion target, upgrades required, Interesting few weeks ahead maybe.
That's only really true though if you think the location of, and access to, Adams Park isn't an impediment on our current attendances.
Assume he worded it suggesting new signings rather than Forino developing?
We've all assumed Stewart left for the offer too good to refuse element, but maybe our offer was more befitting of a squad player rather than star player?
https://www.wwfc.com/news/2022/june/27/rob-270622/
Interview by Phil C with Rob Couhig - requires WanderersTV subscription
I suggest that maybe the case, Stewart wasn't an automatic choice last season, and the previous one Knight and Taff's were the better two central defenders.
If we had got the chap from Morecambe, who went to Charlton, then I suspect Stewart would have been 3rd choice.
You can be certain he wouldn't have said it at all if Stewart had signed the contract we offered him, take it with a pinch of salt maybe but if you're serious about improving the squad like he says, and we were already looking for another Centre back to at least challenge if not improve on what we had then maybe we didn't bust the bank on the offer.